Difference between revisions of "/r/wallstreetbets"
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{{Nav-Bar|Topics#R}}<br> | {{Nav-Bar|Topics#R}}<br> | ||
| − | '''/r/wallstreetbets''' is a subreddit used for discussing day trading, stocks, and sharing individual trades, losses, or gains. Users will post images of their portfolio, text posts, and memes. It's known most famously for incidents where its users have exploited options contracts in RobinHood to leverage millions of dollars, and for posts on the board of users losing up to millions of dollars | + | '''/r/wallstreetbets''' is a subreddit used for discussing day trading, stocks, and sharing individual trades, losses, or gains. Users will post images of their portfolio, text posts, and memes. It's known most famously for incidents where its users have exploited options contracts in RobinHood to leverage millions of dollars, and for posts on the board of users losing up to millions of dollars. |
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
| + | ===History=== | ||
| + | Initially created in 2012 by [[Reddit]] user /u/jartek after being run out of /r/investing, a sub with a similar focus on stocks, for advocating risky bets. <ref>https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nedzqm/you-probably-shouldnt-bet-your-savings-on-reddits-wallstreetbets</ref> The subreddit grew in size from less than 10,000 at the end of 2014 to 930,000 by February 2020. <ref>https://subredditstats.com/r/wallstreetbets</ref> | ||
| + | On February 21, 2020, /r/wallstreetbets removed itself from /r/all and default subreddits.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/f720hg/wsb_removed_from_rall_and_default_subreddits/</ref> This limited the amount of non-members from viewing the subreddit without a direct link, and was done to reduce the number of users joining the community. | ||
===Community=== | ===Community=== | ||
| − | The | + | The community of /r/wallstreetbets is unified in a bravado that they uphold through coarse language and frequent slurs. Members will call each other "autists", and other derogatory terms, but not in an attempt to provoke or attack. Rather, there is a sense of community among its members, and one where aspects of other young male communities like masculinity are twisted. <ref>https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nedzqm/you-probably-shouldnt-bet-your-savings-on-reddits-wallstreetbets</ref> Instead of making fun of people who lose a lot of money, users feel a sense of solidarity, and have a one-of-us mentality. |
==Ethical Issues== | ==Ethical Issues== | ||
| − | /r/wallstreetbets is a platform used for discussing stocks, but it has been criticized for | + | /r/wallstreetbets is a platform used for discussing stocks, but it has been criticized for the atmosphere it fosters and the users attitudes towards. Members of the community will encourage each other to post their "loss porn", which means a screenshot or other documentation of users losing much of their portfolio.<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-26/reddit-s-profane-greedy-traders-are-shaking-up-the-stock-market</ref> |
| − | === | + | ===Groupthink=== |
| − | + | /r/wallstreetbets users tend to be very active, with the subreddit having the 5th most comments per day of any subreddit. <ref>https://subredditstats.com/r/wallstreetbets</ref> However, as there are only a few powerful voices, as the number of posts per subscriber ranks 758th, the same opinion can be spread to many members of the community, allowing an echo chamber to be formed. An example of this is the /r/wallstreetbets community's praise of Martin Shkreli. There have been numerous posts detailing /r/wallstreetbets users fondness for Martin Shkreli, and it has been encouraged by meme posts detailing Martin as a "pharma-bro" with a mentality not unlike that of the /r/wallstreetbets users themselves. | |
| + | Another aspect of groupthink is that users can swing the stock market with their posts. Approaching a million subscribers, /r/wallstreetbets has genuine weight over penny stocks, and so it is necessary to avoid pump and dump posts in the subreddit. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{resource| | {{resource| | ||
Revision as of 19:31, 13 March 2020
/r/wallstreetbets is a subreddit used for discussing day trading, stocks, and sharing individual trades, losses, or gains. Users will post images of their portfolio, text posts, and memes. It's known most famously for incidents where its users have exploited options contracts in RobinHood to leverage millions of dollars, and for posts on the board of users losing up to millions of dollars.
Contents
Background
History
Initially created in 2012 by Reddit user /u/jartek after being run out of /r/investing, a sub with a similar focus on stocks, for advocating risky bets. [1] The subreddit grew in size from less than 10,000 at the end of 2014 to 930,000 by February 2020. [2] On February 21, 2020, /r/wallstreetbets removed itself from /r/all and default subreddits.[3] This limited the amount of non-members from viewing the subreddit without a direct link, and was done to reduce the number of users joining the community.
Community
The community of /r/wallstreetbets is unified in a bravado that they uphold through coarse language and frequent slurs. Members will call each other "autists", and other derogatory terms, but not in an attempt to provoke or attack. Rather, there is a sense of community among its members, and one where aspects of other young male communities like masculinity are twisted. [4] Instead of making fun of people who lose a lot of money, users feel a sense of solidarity, and have a one-of-us mentality.
Ethical Issues
/r/wallstreetbets is a platform used for discussing stocks, but it has been criticized for the atmosphere it fosters and the users attitudes towards. Members of the community will encourage each other to post their "loss porn", which means a screenshot or other documentation of users losing much of their portfolio.[5]
Groupthink
/r/wallstreetbets users tend to be very active, with the subreddit having the 5th most comments per day of any subreddit. [6] However, as there are only a few powerful voices, as the number of posts per subscriber ranks 758th, the same opinion can be spread to many members of the community, allowing an echo chamber to be formed. An example of this is the /r/wallstreetbets community's praise of Martin Shkreli. There have been numerous posts detailing /r/wallstreetbets users fondness for Martin Shkreli, and it has been encouraged by meme posts detailing Martin as a "pharma-bro" with a mentality not unlike that of the /r/wallstreetbets users themselves. Another aspect of groupthink is that users can swing the stock market with their posts. Approaching a million subscribers, /r/wallstreetbets has genuine weight over penny stocks, and so it is necessary to avoid pump and dump posts in the subreddit.
See also
References
- ↑ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nedzqm/you-probably-shouldnt-bet-your-savings-on-reddits-wallstreetbets
- ↑ https://subredditstats.com/r/wallstreetbets
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/f720hg/wsb_removed_from_rall_and_default_subreddits/
- ↑ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nedzqm/you-probably-shouldnt-bet-your-savings-on-reddits-wallstreetbets
- ↑ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-26/reddit-s-profane-greedy-traders-are-shaking-up-the-stock-market
- ↑ https://subredditstats.com/r/wallstreetbets
