Based on analysis of personal attacks and other machine-learned elements of language, a research company figured out which subreddits are the most toxic, then charted that toxicity against supportiveness. The results reveal much about the cultish and casual nature of various subreddits–and, often, myths about what places are really so bad.
For example, while certain "usual suspects" proved to be highly toxic and (Edit: NOT) supportive–r/atheism and r/theredpill, for example–others failed to live up to their cultlike reputation. r/headphones, for example, turns out to be a fairly laid-back lounge rather than the formidable bastion of deranged audiophilia redditors seem to regard it as. Other extremes: r/libertarian is notably supportive without toxicity, while r/relationships is notably toxic without the supportiveness its name promises.
Update: I misread the supportive axis on the chart! It's inverted. So, r/libertarian is nontoxic but unsupportive, etc.
And r/DIY is neither supportive and [edit:NON] toxic–you can either follow the instructions or not. receive an abundance of helpful assistance from patient experts.
At the center of the chart, the PC Master Race. (Notably absent from the charts: toxic venues that are also supportive.)
Motherboard's Kaleigh Rogers explains the details and the algorithm used, and offers an interactive chart of bigotry to play with. Can you guess which is the most bigoted subreddit?
