Yesterday, we wrote about a new subreddit, /r/casualiama.
The community riffs off of /r/iama, where redditors can ask and answer questions that begin with the acronym IAMA (short for “I am a”) about significant achievements or “a truly interesting or unique event.” Read our week in Reddit Q&As feature for some of the highlights.
The difference between the former and the latter, however, is that /r/casualiama is just that, a relaxed-rules version of its stricter sister subreddit.
On /r/casualiama, anybody can host a Q&A, no verification required. However, if the host is an unrecognized, run-of-the-mill personality, is anybody going to want to participate?
To test our theory, this Daily Dot reporter hosted her own Q&A: “IAMA reporter who covers Reddit for a living.” Luckily, people showed up with plenty of questions about what it’s like to work for the Daily Dot.
I answered questions about how I got my job here and how you could get a job here. I talked about how phenomena transform from Reddit threads into stories. And of course I had to answer this one: if I spend all day at work on social networks, where do I browse online for fun?
And since it’s a casual IAMA, andyzweb kept it laid back with a question about ice cream. My answer earned me a mock marriage proposal. Although that’s par for the course when you’re a woman on the Internet, it still was the only time I felt nervous during the session. I’d revealed my gender in this Q&A, and I wasn’t sure if questioners would abuse that.
In the past, I’ve vocally expressed my reservations about being a woman on Reddit, and covered the hostility that women have sometimes received on the site. However, aside from a few more downvotes than I thought I deserved, none of that was noticeable here.
In fact, since /r/casualiama only has about 1,000 subscribers, I was more concerned that I wouldn’t receive any questions at all. I should’t have worried. Once people started posting,the questions kept coming and when they stopped coming in that evening, I was sad to see them go.
Overall, I’d recommend this subreddit to anybody with something to say. Live in Canada? Like peeling potatoes? Go out there and make submit your own Q&A.