21
votes
Reddit will introduce the option for new users to add their gender identity to their accounts when signing up
https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/mawomr/new_option_to_add_gender_identity_during_account/
Worth noting that the original screenshot they included explicitly said the data would be used for ad targeting. They say it was a mistake and that they're not using it for ads "at this time", but obviously they were so close to doing it that they originally wrote the draft for the post with that included, then just forgot to fix the screenshot.
They're absolutely intending to use it for ad targeting eventually. While that's technically not "selling your personal data", it's effectively the same in spirit.
Given all the shit that people get on Reddit even without painting a target on themselves, why would anyone identify themselves any more thoroughly than required? This feels like a way for Reddit to get more information about their userbase as opposed to something helpful to the users themselves.
That's basically what it is. The excuse is "we want to help you discover communities you'll like", but they've said they "could" use the information for other forms of "personalisation" in the future. So... ads.
I'm quite surpised they would even consider trying to fall back on this lame excuse: Even if this were true, it would effectively mean that Reddit is saying that interests are gender-specific: "Boys like blue/tanks/science. Girls like pink/ponies/art"! That's clearly not a sound argument; it holds no water, and has the potential to backfire hugely...
Obviously, I have no idea what they're actually thinking or how they'd decide whether someone will be of interest to any particular user, but since they're prominently displaying "non-binary" and a free-form field as options, I would assume they're more interested in promoting subreddits that deal with gender issues. I'm only speculating, but increasing discoverability of and traffic to such communities might make reddit more desirable to certain advertisers, too.
If it actually boils down to "boys like cars and girls like dolls" type stuff, then they're even dumber than I thought.
Reddit in particular has a conflicted history when it comes to gender politics. In the decade+ I was there, there were times, around when TheRedPill was at its peak, when fairly overt misogyny was not uncommon on the front page. It's still not unusual to see threads at the top of AskReddit detailing all of the myriad ways in which our society discriminates against men. I don't think I've ever seen a similar thread that's as sympathetic to the issues women face.
From the announcement
Unless this changes, I can't see harassment being an issue. Just seems like a way to collect advertising data.
There's also a self-entry option, so you can feel free to put in whatever wacky stuff you want to make your gender meaningless to advertisers.
It would be interesting to see a coordinated move where a bunch of people do the same entry so as not to accidentally create a new unique tracking fingerprint.
Reddit has been trying to push for a more facebook like experience for years now but it doesn't seem like anyone cares for it. Maybe I just don't see it but does anyone actually look at reddit profiles? When I use reddit I hardly notice peoples usernames let alone their profile and bio.
The thing that was great about reddit is how users and profiles don't matter. You could be a semi famous person or an absolute no one and your posts would be similarly likely to succeed since your profile holds no weight.