r/changemyview, also known as Change My View (CMV), is a subreddit where participants discuss various topics for the purpose of understanding opposing viewpoints. Topics discussed include politics, media, and popular culture.[2]
 Subreddit's logo | |
Type of site | Subreddit |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder(s) | Kal Turnbull[1] (u/Snorrrlax) |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 1.4 million users |
| Launched | January 16, 2013[1] |
Format
editUsers submit posts containing an opinion of theirs, and respondents to each post attempt to change the poster's views on that matter.[2] Submitters must reply to these challenges in three hours or less, resulting in debate over the topic. If their view is changed, they can award a delta symbol (∆) to a commenter.
Rules for the community include that people should explain their reason, focus on the argument, and be civil.[3]
History
editThe forum was established by Kal Turnbull, a Scottish musician,[2] in 2013; he was 17 years old at the time.[1] He came up with the idea after noticing that everyone in his friend group all shared similar views, leading him to wonder how one could easily come across opposing viewpoints. Less than a year after its founding, the subreddit gained 100,000 members.[3]
In 2019, Turnbull started his own site based on the concept, called ChangeAView.[3]
Reception
editTesla CEO Elon Musk commented on the "change my view" format that the people who ought to have the greatest need for it are also the least likely to be open to other views.[3]
Conversations from the subreddit have been the subject of research on interaction dynamics.[4][5][6][7][8]
References
edit- ^ a b c Malone, Kenny (29 June 2017). "Change My View On Reddit Helps People Challenge Their Own Opinions". All Things Considered. NPR.
- ^ a b c Heffernan, Virginia (16 January 2018). "Change My View: Why Our Best Hope for Civil Discourse Is on Reddit". Wired.
- ^ a b c d Wendling, Mike (13 June 2019). "The 23-year-old fixing the broken world of online argument". BBC.
- ^ Tan, Chenhao; Niculae, Vlad; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Cristian; Lee, Lillian (2016). "Winning Arguments". Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on World Wide Web. pp. 613–624. arXiv:1602.01103. doi:10.1145/2872427.2883081. ISBN 9781450341431. S2CID 8577096.
- ^ McRaney, David (9 October 2016). "YANSS 086 – Change My View". You Are Not So Smart.
- ^ Brogan, Jacob (18 February 2016). "You Can't Win". Slate.
- ^ Dewey, Caitlin (11 February 2016). "How to win a Facebook argument, according to science". The Washington Post.
- ^ Basu, Tanya (11 February 2016). "A Subreddit Sparked a Scientific Inquiry Into How to Change Someone's Mind". Science of Us.
External links
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