Reddit Threads Research Articles

Structure and dynamics of growing networks of Reddit threads

Millions of people use online social networks to reinforce their sense of belonging, for example by giving and asking for feedback as a form of social validation and self-recognition. It is common to observe disagreement among people beliefs and points of view when expressing this feedback. Modeling and analyzing such interactions is crucial to understand social phenomena that happen when people face different opinions while expressing and discussing their values. In this work, we study a Reddit community in which people participate to judge or be judged with respect to some behavior, as it represents a valuable source to study how users express judgments online. We model threads of this community as complex networks of user interactions growing in time, and we analyze the evolution of their structural properties. We show that the evolution of Reddit networks differ from other real social networks, despite falling in the same category. This happens because their global clustering coefficient is extremely small and the average shortest path length increases over time. Such properties reveal how users discuss in threads, i.e. with mostly one other user and often by a single message. We strengthen such result by analyzing the role that disagreement and reciprocity play in such conversations. We also show that Reddit thread’s evolution over time is governed by two subgraphs growing at different speeds. We discover that, in the studied community, the difference of such speed is higher than in other communities because of the user guidelines enforcing specific user interactions. Finally, we interpret the obtained results on user behavior drawing back to Social Judgment Theory.

The patriarchal Western gaze and the discursive policing of fandom: “Koreaboo” as stigma

The derogatory label “Koreaboo,” used to stigmatize Korean popular culture fans, suggests Korean media's movements are treated as a contaminant rather than a welcome presence. In this research project, I conducted focus group research and analyses of Reddit threads to understand the ways women fans of color in this study interpret and navigate taste hierarchies that mock women's interests in celebrities and texts from a racialized Asian nation. Korean popular culture fans of color reject “Koreaboo” for themselves, but they project the label onto “bad” White fans, who are perceived as having inappropriate fannish interests that deviate from popularly held standards of intercultural and interracial fan interest. The self-disciplining within fandom distances itself from the Western patriarchal gaze by re-directing its focus. Even when fans of color seek Korean media to escape White hegemony and heteronormative patriarchy, they internalize and react to its gaze in their fan practice.

Evaluating the accuracy and reproducibility of ChatGPT-4 in answering patient questions related to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

BACKGROUND Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) poses diagnostic and treatment challenges due to its complex management and evolving guidelines. Patients often seek online information related to their health, prompting interest in large language models, like GPT-4, as potential sources of patient education. AIM To investigate ChatGPT-4's accuracy and reproducibility in responding to patient questions related to SIBO. METHODS A total of 27 patient questions related to SIBO were curated from professional societies, Facebook groups, and Reddit threads. Each question was entered into GPT-4 twice on separate days to examine reproducibility of accuracy on separate occasions. GPT-4 generated responses were independently evaluated for accuracy and reproducibility by two motility fellowship-trained gastroenterologists. A third senior fellowship-trained gastroenterologist resolved disagreements. Accuracy of responses were graded using the scale: (1) Comprehensive; (2) Correct but inadequate; (3) Some correct and some incorrect; or (4) Completely incorrect. Two responses were generated for every question to evaluate reproducibility in accuracy. RESULTS In evaluating GPT-4's effectiveness at answering SIBO-related questions, it provided responses with correct information to 18/27 (66.7%) of questions, with 16/27 (59.3%) of responses graded as comprehensive and 2/27 (7.4%) responses graded as correct but inadequate. The model provided responses with incorrect information to 9/27 (33.3%) of questions, with 4/27 (14.8%) of responses graded as completely incorrect and 5/27 (18.5%) of responses graded as mixed correct and incorrect data. Accuracy varied by question category, with questions related to “basic knowledge” achieving the highest proportion of comprehensive responses (90%) and no incorrect responses. On the other hand, the “treatment” related questions yielded the lowest proportion of comprehensive responses (33.3%) and highest percent of completely incorrect responses (33.3%). A total of 77.8% of questions yielded reproducible responses. CONCLUSION Though GPT-4 shows promise as a supplementary tool for SIBO-related patient education, the model requires further refinement and validation in subsequent iterations prior to its integration into patient care.

Disabled content creators on OnlyFans: Empowerment, representation, and precarity

This paper explores the intersection of disability and digital content creation on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform known for its diverse creator community. Through a content analysis of 10 news articles and 22 Reddit threads focused on disability and OnlyFans, we investigate the experiences of disabled content creators in this dynamic digital landscape. OnlyFans has emerged as a promising employment option for people with disabilities, offering financial stability, independence, and a newfound sense of career control. However, concerns persist regarding potential impacts on disability-related benefits, highlighting the need for clearer support mechanisms. Furthermore, the platform has redefined power dynamics, allowing creators to reclaim agency over their narratives, particularly during the pandemic. It has not only transformed financial prospects but also served as a tool for managing health conditions and boosting self-confidence. These findings underscore OnlyFans’ role in fostering inclusivity and financial empowerment for disabled individuals. Our analysis also unveils broader societal challenges linked to disability and sexuality, including the de-sexualization and hypersexualization of disabled individuals. This emphasizes the urgency of cultivating a more inclusive understanding of sexuality and consent. Additionally, the fetishization of disabled people, termed “devotees,” adds complexity to the conversation, underlining the importance of respecting autonomy. By shedding light on this underexplored intersection, our research seeks to contribute to a more informed discourse on disability, digital content creation, and online platforms. Ultimately, it highlights the imperative of ongoing exploration and support for disabled content creators within the evolving digital landscape.

How do medical professionals make sense (or not) of AI? A social-media-based computational grounded theory study and an online survey

To investigate opinions and attitudes of medical professionals towards adopting AI-enabled healthcare technologies in their daily business, we used a mixed-methods approach. Study 1 employed a qualitative computational grounded theory approach analyzing 181 Reddit threads in the several subreddits of r/medicine. By utilizing an unsupervised machine learning clustering method, we identified three key themes: (1) consequences of AI, (2) physician–AI relationship, and (3) a proposed way forward. In particular Reddit posts related to the first two themes indicated that the medical professionals' fear of being replaced by AI and skepticism toward AI played a major role in the argumentations. Moreover, the results suggest that this fear is driven by little or moderate knowledge about AI. Posts related to the third theme focused on factual discussions about how AI and medicine have to be designed to become broadly adopted in health care. Study 2 quantitatively examined the relationship between the fear of AI, knowledge about AI, and medical professionals' intention to use AI-enabled technologies in more detail. Results based on a sample of 223 medical professionals who participated in the online survey revealed that the intention to use AI technologies increases with increasing knowledge about AI and that this effect is moderated by the fear of being replaced by AI.

Assessing the informational credibility of conspiracy theories: online discussion about the Nord Stream damage

PurposeTo elaborate the picture of credibility assessment by examining how participants of online discussion evaluate the informational credibility of conspiracy theories.Design/methodology/approachDescriptive quantitative analysis and qualitative content analysis of 2,663 posts submitted to seven Reddit threads discussing a conspiracy operation, that is, the damage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. It was examined how the participants of online discussion assess the credibility of information constitutive of conspiracy theories speculating about (1) suspected actors responsible for the damage, (2) their motives and (3) the ways in which the damage was made. The credibility assessments focussed on diverse sources offering information about the above three factors.FindingsThe participants assessed the credibility of information by drawing on four main criteria: plausibility of arguments, honesty in argumentation, similarity to one's beliefs and provision of evidence. Most assessments were negative and indicated doubt about the informational believability of conspiracy theories about the damage. Of the information sources referred to in the discussion, the posts submitted by fellow participants, television programmes and statements provided by governmental organizations were judged most critically, due to implausible argumentation and advocacy of biased views.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study focuses on a sample of posts dealing with conspiracy theories about a particular event, the findings cannot be generalized to concern the informational credibility conspiracy narratives.Originality/valueThe study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the nature of credibility assessments by focussing on information constitutive of conspiracy theories.

(040) A Pandemic, Technology and Sex

Abstract Introduction Prompted by global restrictions on public gatherings, quarantine & lockdown measures, travel limitations, and decreased access to “non- essential” services, the Covid-19 pandemic has redefined our sense of normalcy in many ways. During this collective global trauma, there has been a substantial rise in the use of technology as the pandemic shifted most human interactions from physical settings to virtual interactions. People are now spending even more time with technology while consuming news media, watching television, using social media to connect with others, utilizing lifestyle apps to shop for groceries and other consumer goods, and engaging in home workouts (Nielsen Global Media 2020). Objectives In this paper we explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sexual health of individuals, and the technological adaptations that took place to allow maintenance of sexual health in a socially distanced manner. As appropriate, we stratify our findings by gender to highlight any differences noted. Methods We used primary and secondary sources and reports for this project. Primary sources included recorded interviews found online, Reddit threads and government guidelines released to the public. Secondary sources included various news articles and journal articles. We included any articles that discussed the following in the title or content “sex”, “sexual health”, “technology”, “online”, “social media”,“covid-19”, “coronavirus”, “pandemic”. Results We found 32 sources and included 19 of them in the final work. The main findings of this research were that the pandemic greatly affected people’s sexual health but society found many ways to adapt. The technological impact of the pandemic was seen in the sex worker industry, access to pornography and online dating tools. In the United States, many sex workers, who were mostly female, transitioned to an online platform as quarantine measures were instituted and the pandemic began to take an economic toll on their business. In interviews, female sex workers discussed how their interactions with their mostly male customers changed from purely sexual acts to intimate conversations about their mental health and coping during the pandemic (VICE 2020). The pornographic website PornHub became a free service in Italy and globally, doctors released guidelines on how to have sex while avoiding the coronavirus (Tacopino 2020). OnlyFans, which is a website for selling and viewing pornographic content, saw a great rise in their memberships as the pandemic worsened and more people were forced to stay at home (Cook 2020). Reports from popular dating applications Tinder and Bumble showed users interacting in longer conversations through the apps (relative to pre-pandemic durations) because they couldn’t meet in person (Today Show 2020). Conclusions The coronavirus pandemic reframed the use of technology in sexual health and changed the nature of intimate relationships. These findings provide us with an understanding of what people are willing to use technology for and could be the basis for using technology in telemedicine platforms for maintaining the biological aspects of sexual health such as, sexually transmitted diseases and mental health surrounding sex. Disclosure No.

Community and Opinion Leadership Effects on Vaping Discourse: A Network Analysis of Online Reddit Threads

Reddit is a popular hub for discussing vaping. A deeper understanding of the factors that influence this online discourse could inform public health messaging efforts targeting this platform. Using a network analysis framework, we sought to investigate the role of opinion leaders and online communities in facilitating vaping discussions on Reddit. We collected Reddit submissions about vaping posted in May 2021 and used these submissions to generate subreddit-level (N=261) and thread-level (N=8,377) data sets. We coded subreddits into four community categories: 1) Vaping, 2) Substance use, 3) Cessation, and 4) Non-specific. We used sociometric in-degree centrality statistics to identify subreddit opinion leaders. We computed non-parametric ANOVAs and negative binomial regressions to test associations between opinion leadership and subreddit community category variables on subreddit network composition (comprised of subreddit-level network nodes and edges) and the number of commenters on Reddit threads about vaping (thread-level). Subreddit network composition was largely dependent on opinion leaders in Non-specific communities, and less so in Vaping and Substance use communities. At the thread-level, the rate of commenters was higher among threads initiated by opinion leaders than non-opinion leaders (adjusted rate ratio [aRR]=4.84). Furthermore, threads posted in Vaping (aRR=1.64), Substance use (aRR=1.92), and Cessation (aRR=1.21) communities had higher commenter rates than those posted in Non-specific communities. Communities and opinion leaders play a key role in the composition and reach of vaping discussions on Reddit. These findings provide a foundation for public health campaigns and interventions targeting Reddit and perhaps other social media platforms.

Upvote or Downvote ABA for Autism? Content and Support in Reddit Posts

Reddit discourse surrounding treatments for autistic individuals is easily accessible. Multiple Reddit threads discuss Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as one option. Such content impacts decision-making despite the absence of gatekeeping mechanisms to identify misinformation. Using a cross-sectional design, this study explores perceptions of ABA-based interventions shared on Reddit by exploring posts’ content, stance and evidence used to support claims. Posts examined generally lacked support of scientific evidence. Additionally, perspectives on ABA were influenced by personal experiences with the intervention. This data provides insight to support healthcare professionals and families engaged in shared decision-making regarding intervention choices.

‘Just a little hack’: Investigating cultures of content moderation circumvention by Facebook users

As social media platforms adapt their rules to limit the presence, spread, and amplification of harmful content on their services, users develop strategies to circumvent content moderation policies. To better understand cultures of content moderation circumvention, including the types of rules that Facebook users seek to circumvent, we analysed a sample of YouTube videos and Reddit threads in which users discuss content moderation circumvention. We show how Facebook users turn to others across platforms to obtain information about circumvention methods. We observe that these users often discuss overcoming Facebook’s content moderation policies in terms that downplay the significance of their intended actions. We suggest that where Facebook’s policies and enforcement measures fail to deter rule violations that may facilitate harm, Facebook should consider new culture-driven approaches to platform governance that foster prosocial environments and engender compliance with platform rules.

Medicalizing risk: How experts and consumers manage uncertainty in genetic health testing

Given increased prevalence of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic health tests in recent years, this paper delves into discourses among researchers at professional genomics conferences and lay DTC genetic test users on popular discussion website Reddit to understand the contested value of genetic knowledge and its direct implications for health management. Harnessing ethnographic observations at five conferences and a text -analysis of 52 Reddit threads, we find both experts and lay patient-consumers navigate their own versions of “productive uncertainty.” Experts develop genetic technologies to legitimize unsettled genomics as medical knowledge and mobilize resources and products, while lay patient-consumers turn to Internet forums to gain clarity on knowledge gaps that help better manage their genetic risk states. By showing how the uncertain nature of genomics serves as a productive force placing both parties within a mutually cooperative cycle, we argue that experts and patient-consumers co-produce a form of relational medicalization that concretizes “risk” itself as a disease state.

Just on the Right Side of Wrong: (De)Legitimizing Feminism in Video Game Live Streaming

The participation of women in video games continues to be interrogated, especially the participation of women who are, or are perceived to be, feminists. A considerable portion of the discourse on the appropriateness of feminism in live streaming takes place on Twitch and gaming subreddits. This paper applies a qualitative analysis to several Reddit threads that address the subject of feminism in live streaming. The analysis of subreddit comments about feminism in streaming suggest that many Twitch users believe feminism is an ideology that is incompatible with video games and live streaming. Furthermore, many of these users believe that feminists actively harm live streaming communities. This paper presents an understanding of how and why the presence and legitimacy of feminism in games continues to be contested and demonstrates what is at stake for feminists who desire to participate in building a future for themselves in video game live streaming.

‘Wasn’t This Already Considered Sexual Harassment?’: Exploring the Confusion Around the Law Mandating Consent to Receive a Nude Sext Message

With the majority of individuals in the United States owning a mobile device, communicating via text is popular. Many individuals who text also engage in sexting, commonly defined as sending a sexually suggestive or explicit message that can include a nude image. In September of 2019, Texas passed a law prohibiting the sending of an unsolicited nude image without consent from the receiver. The goal of the study was to capture the reactions of individuals to this state law. There were 400 different responses by 400 different individuals posted on Reddit by users expressing their reactions to the passing of the state law. Initial reactions were captured, chosen from specific Reddit threads containing the link to the law within 1 month of the law being passed. These comments were collected and the research team used thematic analysis to highlight the themes to users’ responses to the sexting law. Of note was the sizeable number of individuals who disapproved of the law, highlighting a lack of knowledge about consent to engage in sexual behaviors in general, the need to gain consent to engage in sexting, and a misunderstanding of what defines sexual harassment. Implications for sex education programs and policy makers are discussed.

From Tabletop to Screen: Playing Dungeons and Dragons during COVID-19

Media reports suggest that the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons saw its biggest year to date in 2020, with many such reports touting the interactive and social benefits for people facing COVID-19 lockdowns. This paper explores the reported challenges and benefits of playing D&D through teleconferencing hardware and software, and the experience of using virtual tabletops. A thematic analysis of a sample of Reddit threads discussing player experiences of transitioning D&D to remote play during COVID-19 social distancing was undertaken. The findings highlight a variety of player attitudes and preferences towards playing D&D remotely. The data suggest a mostly negative sentiment towards playing D&D online for groups that had transitioned from in-person to remote play. Loss of in-person socialisation was identified as an important contributor to a poor play experience, but groups would persevere with remote play to maintain social relationships, suggesting that, for many players, D&D serves an important social function beyond mere play. Some avenues for future research are identified.

Discrimination in the gig economy: the experiences of Black online English teachers

This article examines the rapidly expanding market for online English learning and tutoring. It focuses on the experiences of Black American online English teachers employed on a variety of popular online teaching platforms (e.g. Cambly, italki, PalFish, VIPKid etc.). Specifically, the article considers how specific affordances of online English teaching platforms (e.g. customer ratings and algorithms) function to disadvantage non-White teachers. In order to address these issues, the article brings together two relevant but distinct literatures: scholarship on language ideologies and scholarship on algorithms and the gig economy. The data analyzed include: Semi-structured interviews with Black online English teachers; the websites of popular teaching platforms; and posts in public Reddit threads focused on online English teaching. The findings demonstrate how Black teachers experience the intersection of customer-based ratings and algorithms within the burgeoning online English teaching industry. The article concludes by advocating for scholars to more systematically engage with and study online tutoring platforms’ use of rating and algorithms.

Information Needs About Cancer Treatment, Fertility, and Pregnancy: Qualitative Descriptive Study of Reddit Threads.

BackgroundA reproductive health implication of the increasing incidence of cancer among women is the impact of cancer treatment on fertility.ObjectiveAs patients are increasingly using the internet, particularly online forums, to seek and share experiences, our objective was to understand information needs about cancer treatment, fertility, and pregnancy of women with cancer as well as their caregivers.MethodsWe searched threads (original posts and responses) on four subreddit sites of Reddit (“r/Cancer,” “r/TryingForABaby,” “r/BabyBumps,” and “r/Infertility”) over a 5‐year period between February 4th, 2014 and February 4th, 2019. Threads with original posts involving a lived experience or question regarding cancer treatment and female fertility and/or pregnancy or parenting/having children from the perspective of either patient or caregiver were included in our analysis. We analyzed threads using thematic analysis.ResultsFrom 963 Reddit threads identified, 69 were analyzed, including 56 with original posts by women with cancer and 13 with original posts by caregivers. From threads made by patients, we identified themes on becoming a part of an online community, impacts of cancer treatment and fertility concerns on self and social relationships, making family planning decisions, and experiences with medical team. We also identified a theme on the impact of cancer treatment and fertility concerns on caregivers.ConclusionsReddit provided a rich pool of data for analyzing the information needs of women facing cancer. Our findings demonstrate the far-reaching impacts of cancer treatment and fertility on physical, mental, and psychosocial health for both patients and their caregivers.

"Dude I've Never Felt This Way Towards a Celebrity Death": Parasocial Grieving and the Collective Mourning of Kobe Bryant on Reddit.

Although research acknowledges the existence of parasocial relationships, if these relationships are possible then, inevitably, these relationships will dissolve. The emotions associated with parasocial breakups, especially that of grieving, are vital to understanding the totality of relationships between spectators and sports figures. After the devastating death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, a content analysis was used to explore the emotional and mental responses of grief posted on Reddit. The results suggest that sadness and shock were the most common responses of grief across Reddit threads, while the use of reminiscing and memorializing was also prevalent across both. Additionally, this study provides evidence to support the notion that like real relationships, emotional responses of grief like sadness dissipate over time, while other emotional responses like love increase. Thus, any study examining parasocial grieving must do so longitudinally as parasocial grief, like real grief, is a process not momentary.

STUDYING YOUTH ONLINE POLITICAL EXPRESSION: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

We are living through a highly politicized time, with deep divisions foregrounding the significance and importance of political expression and dialogue. Youth have been at the forefront of these important conversations, in both academic research and in the popular press. On the one hand, we are seeing a resurgence of activism and engagement among youth (Bond, Chenoweth & Pressman 2018; Deal 2019), who are using online platforms to express themselves politically in rich and creative ways (Graef 2016; Jenkins et al., 2016). On the other hand, deep concerns have emerged about “some of the darker sides of networked media engagement” (boyd, 2017, n.p.), including the spread of misinformation, increased polarization and politically motivated bullying among youth (Rogers, 2017). If we see youth as active agents in their own political socialization (Youniss, McLellan & Yates, 1997), the ways they actively express and negotiate their civic identities online (Jenkins et al., 2016) offer rich possibilities for understanding how we can best support them as civic actors. The research presented in this panel aims to move beyond a simplified depiction of youth as either idealized political role models (e.g. Greta Thunberg or the Parkland Youth) or, conversely, as apathetic and politically disengaged. In light of the conference theme exploring what it means to have a Life mediated by the internet, we place emergent and senior scholars studying youth and online political expression in dialogue with one another to discuss both findings and particular considerations brought up by internet research (franzke et al., 2020), and especially internet research involving youth (Livingstone & Third, 2017). By encouraging researchers and audience members to reflect on the epistemological, ethical, and practical aspects of their own research, we aim to identify new questions for further study as we seek to understand the evolution of youth and online political expression. The first presentation reviews findings from a cross-platform study utilizing a mixed methods approach to explore youth online political expression and cross-cutting political talk on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. These presenters discuss their findings in relation to the challenges and opportunities they encountered when identifying and analyzing youth-generated cross-platform data. The second presentation highlights findings from a social discourse analysis of Twitter and Reddit threads on youth-centric issues of immigration (DACA) and environmental issues (plastic pollution) to identify how the intersection of issue, platform and aims of discourse shape the characteristics of online civic discourse. This presenter discusses the challenges she encountered when creating both a codebook and coding scheme for data analysis. The third presentation considers the role of gender and intersectional identity in online humorous political expression through a case study of a U.S. Black Muslim teen’s TikTok posts. This presenter discusses the challenges of placing critical technocultural discourse analysis into dialogue with digital media literacy and youth participatory action research endeavors. The fourth presentation highlights findings emerging from a series of ethnographic interviews with young people in a comparative study exploring online youth political expression in democratic and non-democratic contexts. This presenter discusses challenges of qualitative research when working with young people, especially marginalized youth, who utilize hidden forms of expression to engage in politics. Finally, our respondent will invite audience members into the discussion by offering a reflection on the four presentations and asking session attendees to comment on their own research experiences and larger implications they see for the study of youth political expression online.

Underage JUUL Use Patterns: Content Analysis of Reddit Messages.

BackgroundThe popularity of JUUL (an e-cigarette brand) among youth has recently been reported in news media and academic papers, which has raised great public health concerns. Little research has been conducted on the age distribution, geographic distribution, approaches to buying JUUL, and flavor preferences pertaining to underage JUUL users.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to analyze social media data related to demographics, methods of access, product characteristics, and use patterns of underage JUUL use.MethodsWe collected publicly available JUUL-related data from Reddit. We extracted and summarized the age, location, and flavor preference of subreddit UnderageJuul users. We also compared common and unique users between subreddit UnderageJuul and subreddit JUUL. The methods of purchasing JUULs were analyzed by manually examining the content of the Reddit threads.ResultsA total of 716 threads and 2935 comments were collected from the subreddit UnderageJuul before it was shut down. Most threads did not mention a specific age, but ages ranged from 13 years to greater than 21 years in those that did. Mango, mint, and cucumber were the most popular among the 7 flavors listed on JUUL’s official website, and 336 subreddit UnderageJuul threads mentioned 7 discreet approaches to circumvent relevant legal regulations to get JUUL products, the most common of which was purchasing JUUL from other Reddit users (n=181). Almost half of the UnderageJuul users (389/844, 46.1%) also participated in discussions on the main JUUL subreddit and sought information across multiple Reddit forums. Most (64/74, 86%) posters were from large metropolitan areas.ConclusionsThe subreddit UnderageJuul functioned as a forum to explore methods of obtaining JUUL and to discuss and recommend specific flavors before it was shut down. About half of those using UnderageJuul also used the more general JUUL subreddit, so a forum still exists where youths can attempt to share information on how to obtain JUUL and other products. Exploration of such social media data in real time for rapid public health surveillance could provide early warning for significant health risks before they become major public health threats.

Understanding Self-Narration of Personally Experienced Racism on Reddit

We identify and classify users’ self-narration of racial discrimination and corresponding community support in social media. We developed natural language models first to distinguish self-narration of racial discrimination in Reddit threads, and then to identify which types of support are provided and valued in subsequent replies. Our classifiers can detect the self-narration of personally experienced racism in online textual accounts with 83% accuracy and can recognize four types of supportive actions in replies with up to 88% accuracy. Descriptively, our models identify types of racism experienced and the racist concepts (e.g., sexism, appearance or accent related) most experienced by people of different races. Finally, we show that commiseration is the most valued form of social support.