Reddit,sex an ?? like the rest of us, has been inspired by the Rio Olympics.
Specifically, we'd like to bring the r/Olympics subreddit to your attention. In a world of continuous NBC commercials and strict International Olympic Committee regulations on content, this one subreddit is killing it.
There are many different reasons for this: the sheer amount of information provided, the level of spirited conversation and the collection of incredible moments that are so easy to miss given the large number of events in a given day.
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It's like a library of Olympics information, a sports bar to chat in and a fantastic highlights news source all in one.
The sidebar alone is better than the official Olympics or NBC's site. It's a clear place where you can see the schedule of events, the current medal tally and the list of open threads for current events.
For all of the dizzying number of places to get information as you obsess over the Rio games, r/Olympics should be your first stop.
It's like a library of Olympics information, a sports bar to chat in and a fantastic highlights news source all in one.
But why is it so good? I talked to a number of the moderators behind the subreddit to hear how they put together such a great thing and keep it from drowning under the weight of bad internet people.
Many of them did not moderate during the last summer Olympics, but commented heavily. In the run up to this year's games, they built out a platform where a growing number of global citizens could come together.
"[The most surprising thing is] how many countries are being represented...outside of the US," moderator mcparker73 said. "/r/Olympics has always been an international subreddit, but it seems to be growing, which is awesome."
And those international people have somehow not been terrible to each other.
"[It's been] overwhelmingly civil conversation," moderator IvyGold said. "Our subscribers are, after all, Olympics geeks, just like me. The main moderating duties for me have been weeding out people hawking suspicious sites on which to watch the Games and also keeping slurs and personal invective out of the conversation."
Of course, the moderators did say some slurs were hard to edit because different cultures use them differently. Specifically one that, "begins with the letter 'C' and rhymes with the word 'bunt,'" according to IvyGold.
"Conversation is great, except colloquial usages are hard to determine between a troll and someone just talking normal," mcparker73 said. "Looking at you, Australia."
One of the big advantages that Reddit has over other sources is it doesn't have to worry about copyright issues. The International Olympic Committee ruthlessly banned GIFing the games and, here in the U.S., NBC has been cut throat about protecting its footage. But the mods at r/Olympics confirmed those worries are largely not a concern, as the content is user generated and hosted on other places.
Overall, the moderators stuck with the idea that it was the community that makes r/Olympics so great.
"So I guess it's best to say that we did our best to be prepared and got out of the way when things evolved," IvyGold said. "Reddit has a way of doing that."
Above all else, it seemed like moderators thought they were just hosting a forum where they could join the rest of the world in the spirit of competitive games (and funny GIFs).
"As a former Olympic training athlete (wasn't good enough to make it), I love watching my friends compete and represent the U.S.," mcparker73 said. "It makes me so happy to see them succeed. Whether they medal or not, they have accomplished something that less than .01 percent of the world has accomplished by simply showing up to the Games."