Meet the Finnish woman who graduated by hanging out on Reddit for a year

Salla Koivu, a 26-year-old Finnish woman, took hanging out on Reddit to a level of professional dedication. She gained her Master’s degree in the process. Salla is a Helsinki native and a graduate from Aalto University School of Business. She decided the best way to complete her thesis on Why do people share online? was to go undercover on Reddit for an entire year.

We spoke with her to find out what inspired this plan to spend a year on the internet and what she discovered about the platform.

Choosing Reddit as a research subject

Why did you decide to focus on Reddit for your thesis out of all the online communities available?

I did not consider other communities. For me, Reddit is the number one. I started redditing in 2008 or 2009 when my then-boyfriend showed me the site. Nowadays I hang out there much more than he does. I was fascinated by how Hitler jokes, cat gifs and political conversation all live side by side on the front page.

For many, Reddit is just a pastime. For me it is part of what made me who I am. I spent my early adulthood on the site, so Reddit molded my values and beliefs. I would not be skeptical of mundane things or know not to take Ambien without it. Reddit even encouraged me to shift to open atheism. I would have missed many r/aww posts otherwise.

The methodology of digital anthropology

What was your methodology and how easy was it to stay focused? How much time did you spend there daily?

My methodology was netnography. This is a form of ethnography, which is a branch of anthropological research. It means studying people and culture by taking part in that culture. One of my favorite ethnographies is on Harley Davidson bikers. Netnography is the nerdy cousin of ethnography. Instead of hanging out with African tribes in real life, I hung out with Redditors online. I studied Reddit actively for one year. The first half of that year I spent a few hours a day on the site. After that I focused on writing.

Reddit was always my procrastination site. Now I was allowed to hang out there as much as I wanted. I thought it would be easy. It was not. As soon as Reddit became a chore, I stopped enjoying the site. Instead of browsing what I wanted, I had to analyze my experience and save content. I still got strayed to irrelevant pun threads all the time. I was happy when I finished the thesis and could enjoy the site again.

Unexpected discoveries

What did you expect to discover and how did your conclusions differ?

I did not expect things to get so deep. Reddit is mostly about entertainment like memes and cute videos. Still, I found people being irrationally angry or faking cancer for karma points. I also saw people getting courage to leave abusive relationships. I was touched and angered by posts often. One of the most touching posts is called “Today you, tomorrow me”. It is worth reading.

Three surprising things about Reddit

1. Karma matters

Karma is the number of upvotes minus downvotes on a username. These are useless internet points. You cannot trade them and nobody in real life knows you have them. Still, humans are social creatures and crave acceptance. Many Redditors reported pondering endlessly on what they dare to post because they fear critique. It is common to be excited or scared of the reaction of others. Making a typo is seen as a significant failure.

2. You are not alone

If you think you are the only person to shave off your eyebrows while on Ambien, you are not. If you enjoy photoshopped pictures of birds with human arms, others do too. If you are a baker who secretly sells cakes made of Pillsbury mix, you have company. Reddit is a community where anyone can find a niche.

3. Reddit can improve lives

For some, Reddit is a place for emotional relief and confessions. r/atheism is a safe haven for those in the Bible Belt. r/raisedbynarcissists is a support group for people with abusive parents. r/loseit has encouraged many to lose weight.

One powerful thread is “Throwaway time! What’s your secret that could literally ruin your life if it came out?”. It contains dark and funny stories. One man secretly read a friend’s diary to make her like him and she became his wife. For some, this thread offered support. An ex-dispatcher with PTSD noted that messages of encouragement served as fuel to get through tough days.

A polarized perspective

How has your opinion changed about Reddit?

The thesis made me see Reddit as a more meaningful place. It has faults. It can be judgmental and repetitive. The community once harassed a missing student and his family on false premises in r/findthebostombomber. However, r/suicidewatch does a tremendous amount of good. Reddit is as polarized as humanity. It is capable of being horrible and unexpectedly awesome. For every touching story, there is a fake one. For every joke, there is a person who steals it.