{"id":251,"date":"2021-07-26T22:14:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T22:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/?post_type=chapter&p=251"},"modified":"2021-08-09T17:27:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T17:27:17","slug":"6-13-2-how-a-reddit-community-can-have-an-impact-research-essay","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/chapter\/6-13-2-how-a-reddit-community-can-have-an-impact-research-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"6.13.2 How a Reddit community can have an impact: A close look at r\/WallStreetBets (research essay)"},"content":{"raw":"

English 102, April 2021<\/h3>\r\nDuring the week of January 25th,\u202falmost every\u202fpost on\u202fsocial\u202fmedia that I saw was related to the GameStop stock. Seeing different tweets, Instagram posts, memes, and skits all centered around the GameStop stock instantly sparked my curiosity. I began wondering\u202fhow this began, who started it, and how large the impact of this event is? Everything I looked up led me to the reddit community\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. I was\u202fpretty familiar\u202fwith reddit, using it in the past to look at the communities centered around my favorite television shows and musical artists. Also, in the past my friend\u202fhas brought\u202fup\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fon a couple of occasions talking about\u202fhow it\u202fwas\u202fa reddit community\u202fwhere\u202fsome people gamble a lot of their own money on the stock market. Now hearing that this reddit community was the\u202foriginator\u202fbehind the GameStop stock event,\u202fI was not as surprised.\u202fThis idea that an online discussion forum can have such a massive influence\u202fon our world and different people\u2019s lives is\u202fvery interesting.\u202fIn this case, the reading, writing, and communication done on the reddit community\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fa significant impact\u202fon the economy, its members lives\u00a0and\u00a0the outside world.\r\n

What platform does r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0use and what are the key aspects of\u00a0the platform?<\/h1>\r\nTo begin with understanding the impact\u202fr\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fis to first understand the platform in which most of the community does its\u202fwriting, reading, and communication. This platform is known as Reddit and\u202fthe academic article\u202f\"Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?\"\u202fby Katie Elson Anderson goes\u202fthrough\u202fthe basics of it.\u202fAnderson mentions that Reddit is known for and describes themselves as the \u201cthe front page of the internet\u201d and that if something is trending on Reddit then it\u202fdefinitely will\u202fbe on other social media platforms soon (2).\u202fBeing known as the front page of the internet\u202fand behind popular trends played a huge role in the impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fon the outside world.\u00a0Another\u00a0important aspect that Anderson brings to\u202fattention\u202fis that\u00a0Reddit is free to public on any device with the\u00a0possibility\u202fto create\u202fas many accounts as you like (2). This being beneficial to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fbecause there is not a pay wall behind someone trying to join the community. If\u202fthere,\u202fwas it\u202fwould severely limit the subreddits impact and ability to\u202fdiscuss between its members?\r\n\r\nMoving forward with this information,\u202fit is\u202falso important to know how Reddit began. In the same academic article\u202f\"Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?\"\u202fby Kate Elson Anderson, it touches upon the history of Reddit as well.\u202fAnderson specifies that website was a creation from the minds of Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman in 2005 (5). Anderson reports that it was bought by Advance Publications in 2006\u00a0and\u00a0the\u202fsites'\u202fpopularity only grew from there with the with the creation of subreddits in 2008 (5). The creation of subreddits was the first domino to fail, setting the groundwork for future subreddits to follow. Specifically,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fwhich is a product of\u202fReddit,\u202fgiving\u202fits\u00a0users\u00a0an option to create subreddits. Without Reddit creating this feature, their\u202fprobably would\u202fbe no version of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fand no platform for its users to write, read,\u202fcommunicate, and\u202fimpact\u202fthe world.\r\n\r\nNotably with\u202fReddit and its platform comes terms and specific features that\u202fseparate\u202fit from others. These terms and features are interlinked with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fbecause this community runs\u202fon Reddit. Katie Elson Anderson\u2019s academic article\u202f\"Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?\"\u202fsheds\u202flight\u202fon these aspects of the platform. Anderson explains how users of Reddit are called \u201cRedditors\u201d and posts can be anything from written text, links, videos, and photos (2). These\u202fdifferent types\u202fof media could be seen all throughout\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, with either meme videos,\u202fimages,\u202fand text posts\u202fall related to stocks\u202fand whatever is trending on the subreddit. Anderson mentions how posts on subreddit can be organized\u202fby new, hot rising, and controversial (3). Anderson adds that the key factor to the post organization is how many \u201cupvotes\u201d a post has, and \u201cupvotes\u201d are a part of the post rating system. Users \u201cupvote\u201d when they like the post and they \u201cdownvote\u201d for the opposite (3). Posts during the height of the GameStop stocks popularity were receiving the highest amount of \u201cupvotes\u201d the subreddit has ever seen.\r\n\r\nNext,\u202fAnderson explains another term associated with Reddit known as a \u201csubreddit\u201d,\u202fthis term is used to describe a community\u00a0on\u00a0Reddit (4).\u202fThe term \u201csubreddit\u201d has been mentioned before\u202fin this research essay\u202fwhen describing what\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fis. Anderson adds that this is where the \u201cr\/\u201d comes from,\u202fwith that being in front of each of\u202fevery one of\u202fthe different subreddits (4).\u202fAnderson also presents data that\u202fa majority of Redditors are males that fit in the 18-29 age gap\u202f(5). This stat is\u202fespecially important\u202ffor\u00a0knowing about\u00a0who\u202fmost of\u202fthe members of in\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fare. This also gives an idea of what the\u202fusers'\u202ffinancial situation may be considering they are younger. Knowing\u202fthe\u202fbackstory, commonly used terms and features of Reddit will be\u202fvery beneficial\u202fwhen\u202fthey are brought up along\u00a0with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\r\n

What are some aspects that affect the communication done on r\/WallStreetBets?<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nTherefore, it is time to\u00a0move forward and\u00a0take a look\u00a0at\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and the\u00a0various aspects\u00a0that make the subreddit what it is.\u00a0The academic article titled \u201cWallStreetBets:\u00a0Positions or Ban\u201d written by Christian J. Boylston,\u00a0Beatriz E. Palacios, and Plamen T.\u00a0Tassev\u00a0from the Georgia Institute of Technology covers a wide basis of all the aspects connected to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. From interviews with a wide variety of members of the subreddit, to the harsh language used\u00a0by\u00a0its\u00a0members, and even how\u00a0the subreddit is organized,\u00a0this article does a deep dive into what exactly is\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. First, posts and user activity in the subreddit must follow a certain set of rules.\u00a0Most subreddits with a\u00a0somewhat decent\u00a0following have rules that\u00a0its\u00a0users must follow.\u00a0Boylston\u00a0et al.,\u00a0make note of these rules and as of April 2020 they were \u201c1. No Market Manipulation, 2. No Pump & Dump, Crypto Discussions, Schemes or Scams, 3. No Bullshitting, 4. Don\u2019t Glorify Losses, 5. No Self-Promotion, Social Begging, 6. Bad Positions Screenshot, 7. Submission Guideline, 8. No Generic Memes, No Preschool Memes, 9. Political Bullshit\u201d (39).\u00a0After reading the rules it is\u00a0very noticeable\u00a0that\u00a0the subreddit\u00a0does not\u00a0hold back on using\u00a0expletive language.\u00a0Members of the community\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to hold back\u00a0on\u00a0their communication for better or worse depending on the post.\u00a0These rules\u00a0listed\u00a0before\u00a0shape the basis\u00a0behind what type of writing and communication is allowed on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\r\n\r\nAlong\u00a0with these rules\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0up to the moderators of the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0to make sure the posts\u00a0created\u00a0and members of the subreddit follow them\u00a0and act accordingly. The moderators have the direct ability to control the communication and\u00a0what is\u00a0read on the subreddit with them being allowed to\u00a0remove\u00a0others\u2019 posts. They play a huge role\u00a0into the\u00a0total\u00a0impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0can have on the economy because they are the ones who\u00a0facilitate\u00a0the discussion. In \u201cWallStreetBets: Positions or Ban\u201d written by Christian J. Boylston, Beatriz E. Palacios, and\u00a0Plamen\u00a0T.\u00a0Tassev, they interview the founder of the subreddit Jaime\u00a0Rogozinki.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0note that Jamie goes on record to say that the moderators were the real ones one who made the community and that he really\u00a0cannot\u00a0take\u00a0any of the\u00a0praise (12). These moderators have such\u00a0a significant impact\u00a0that even the creator of the subreddit feels as those\u00a0he owes them credit.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0add that Jamie has said that most of the time when he speaks out and gives advice\u00a0it's\u00a0usually what moderators want him to say (12). I can see why Jamie does this, because as the founder of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, he\u00a0probably wants\u00a0to stay involved even though he might not\u00a0be as\u00a0active\u00a0as he once was.\u00a0Also,\u00a0in my opinion I\u00a0think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0pretty smart\u00a0on Jamie\u2019s part on not getting too involved. This\u00a0is because\u00a0it could be the cause\u00a0of\u00a0tension\u00a0between its members and him,\u00a0if he were to say\u00a0or do\u00a0something\u00a0that went against the subreddits\u00a06.3 million members.\r\n

Who are the members of r\/WallStreetBets?<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nIn addition to talking to the founder of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, Boylston, Palacios, and\u00a0Tassev\u00a0also\u00a0included\u00a0interviews with some of the subreddits members in \u201cWallStreetBets: Positions or Ban\u201d.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0were able to talk with members such as\u00a0Mason who is a 24-year-old grocery store employee whose brother introduced him to the subreddit (11). The authors note that when Mason\u2019s brother introduced him to the subreddit he characterized it as a \u201cplace where people go and lose all their money\u201d (11). This description, all though harsh is a somewhat\u00a0accurate\u00a0characterization of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. There have been many stories on the subreddit of users\u00a0sharing their losses of incredibly\u00a0large amounts\u00a0of money.\u00a0This to me is\u00a0very similar\u00a0to how my friend described subreddit with him mentioning the fact that a lot of its member suffer huge losses with their money from these \u201cbets\u201d.\u00a0In my opinion this\u00a0is where\u00a0the term \u201cbets\u201d comes into play with the naming of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. Another interview of a member done by\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0is their interview with Henry, a French Canadian\u00a0who is in his\u00a030\u2019s,\u00a0works in the public service sector and is\u00a0an avid\u00a0member of the subreddit (11).\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0include that Henry became interested in the subreddit after seeing the memes that were posted on it (11). Memes are\u00a0definitely a\u00a0big form and staple of the communication that\u00a0takes\u00a0place on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. Also,\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0mention Henry\u2019s thoughts on the members of the subreddit and how they are all about\u00a0high risk\u00a0and high reward (11). This here is another member talking about how their can be\u00a0some\u00a0big financial risks with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and it looks as though it is a part of the community\u2019s culture.\r\n\r\nIn short, these interviews from Boylston,\u00a0Palacios, and\u00a0Tassev\u00a0are important for understanding who the members are, who are behind\u00a0the communication\u00a0in the subreddit, and how one is introduced to it.\u00a0Most people find out about\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0through reading, writing, and communication, whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0word of mouth or an article they have read. For me personally, it was a friend communicating with me about this subreddit where people lose a lot of their own money. Also, these interviews made it easier to picture its members and put a face to those who might suffer a big\u00a0monetary loss.\u00a0With knowing who some of the members are it shows that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0can and is used globally, not just in the United States.\r\n

What type of posts are made on r\/WallStreetBets?\\<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nFurthermore, with learning about\u00a0the members of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0it helps with the understanding of the posts and impact of the subreddit.\u00a0Specifically, I want to get into some direct examples of recent posts on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. The top post of this week as of April 21st,\u00a02021,\u00a0is a post featuring an image of a chart with the overall totals\u00a0related to the users gains with\u00a0GameStop stock. Totals such as\u00a0total gain $, total gain%, change%, among the other totals.\u00a0This post was very well received by the subreddit with over 140,000 upvotes and over 13,200 comments. This specific member of the subreddit\u00a0who posted their financial gains goes by\u00a0u\/DeepFuckingValue\u00a0and posts their gains from the GameStop stock monthly to much praise from the subreddit. This post will be their final update and the\u00a0earlier\u00a0updates have reached upvote counts higher than 250,000 upvotes. This post has higher upvotes due to the overall hype that the subreddit and GameStop\u00a0was\u00a0getting back in January 2021.\u00a0I know for me that when\u00a0I would\u00a0see these types of posts of users showing their large financial gains from the subreddit, I would be\u00a0pretty\u00a0amazed\u00a0at how large the money they made was and\u00a0jealous. Jealous that I\u00a0had not\u00a0taken the risk or knew about the risk before so that I could\u00a0take action\u00a0and invest. From the user, u\/DeepFuckingValue\u00a0it\u00a0provides\u00a0an example of how the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has\u00a0a significant impact\u00a0on its users and the economy.\r\n\r\nComparatively, I want to put some focus on the meme aspect of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. To me I associate\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0with more memes than I do with real financial and investing advice. The second most upvoted post as of the\u00a0week of\u00a0comes from a user\u00a0by the name u\/GenKaYY. This post is a\u00a0is meme focused on the aspect of getting advice from the other members. The left side of the image features the title\u00a0along the lines of\u00a0who they think is giving them advice with a picture of men in professional suits below it. The right side of the meme says\u00a0something\u00a0along the lines of\u00a0who the advice is\u00a0actually from. Underneath this text features an image from\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>of the Alliance of Magicians. This photo is\u00a0pretty funny\u00a0in my opinion because it features\u00a0Gob Bluth,\u00a0a main character of\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>who is a magician\u00a0<\/em>holding a sign that says \u201cWe Demand\u00a0To\u00a0be Taken Seriously\u201d with a bunch of interestingly dressed magicians behind him, such as an old man dressed as a wizard.\u00a0I am a fan of\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>which helps add another level of enjoyment to the meme.\u00a0This meme posted by u\/GenKaYY\u00a0was received with much praise from the subreddit, gaining over 78,600 upvotes and over 1,200 comments.\u00a0This post pokes fun at the fact that most of the\u00a0communities\u2019\u00a0members\u2019\u00a0advice\u00a0is not\u00a0always the most professional and\u00a0should not\u00a0be taken too seriously.\u00a0Both posts shown have been communication through images and text, I would say that most posts that I have seen on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0have been images. This type of\u00a0communication,\u00a0although simple, offers a wide variety of ways to easily spread a message\u00a0and get their message across.\r\n

How does the communication on r\/WallStreetBets differ from other stock-related subreddits?<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nIn addition,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is not the only subreddit that is focused on the stock market. The subreddit r\/stocks offers a good comparison to the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. On r\/stocks the posts are more informational based with the stock market compared to the\u00a0high risk, high\u00a0reward,\u00a0and meme-based nature of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. The focus of r\/stocks is informing new and recurring members about investing, trading, cryptocurrencies, among other aspects related to stocks as found in the wiki page of the subreddit. The top posts of r\/stocks as April 21st,\u00a02021,\u00a0are all news based on recent\u00a0events that has happened and is related to the stock market. The top of the week comes from u\/CorneredSponge\u00a0and is a post sharing the news that\u00a0the shares of Coinbase open at $381 dollars, and the cryptocurrency exchange is now\u00a0valued\u00a0at\u00a0$99.8 billion. Also, in the post it adds a link to a CNBC article that goes over the information previously mentioned. This post received over 5,800 upvotes and over 2,100 comments. This post helps give an idea of what the communication is like on another stock market related subreddit. Among the other top posts featured, there\u00a0are\u00a0no images or memes along with informational posts. Also, most of\u00a0the posts feature sources with their posts to show their information is\u00a0accurate. There is a large contrast in the r\/stocks and\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0communication, such as most posts in\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0do not\u00a0include\u00a0sources. Not to mention that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0deals with a much larger community than r\/stocks.\u00a0For r\/stocks it is more about spreading information, sharing knowledge but for\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0it is all about the memes and risks related to the stock market.\r\n

How does\u00a0the communication\u00a0on r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0affect the world?<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nAs a result, the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has an\u00a0impact\u00a0on the outside world and its members. This was incredibly\u00a0evident\u00a0during January 2021 when every major media company was covering the rising GameStop stock that was\u00a0organized\u00a0on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0An academic article that focuses on the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has on the stock market is Tim Di\u00a0Muzio\u2019s\u00a0\u201cGameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I).\u201d.\u00a0The focus of this article is to show the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0had on the GameStop stock and research done on members. Di Muzio mentions the GameStop share price had grown to over 1737 percent (8). This level of growth is huge and the\u00a0fact that most of the growth could be traced back to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0shows that the communication does\u00a0influence\u00a0the economy.\u00a0Di Muzio also features a heartfelt post from\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0by u\/space-peanut (10). In the post that Di Muzio\u00a0features,\u00a0it is a letter written to the user\u2019s father\u00a0who was\u00a0severely affected\u00a0by the financial crash in 2008 (11). Di Muzio includes part of the post that now the user has invested most of their money in AMC and GameStop to get back at hedge funds (11). The hedge funds were the main target and the face of who\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0was going against when they\u00a0were investing in GameStop stock.\r\n\r\nAs Di Muzio mentions\u00a0in \u201c\u201cGameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I).\u201d\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0wanted to cause some problems to the hedge funds that bet against GameStop and other falling companies (10). The communication on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is able to\u00a0affect hedge funds and able to help its users who have struggled financially in the past like u\/space-peanut. Di Muzio also features a statement from billionaire, Mark Cuban and he says that he is amazed at the efforts of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0with them taking on wall street and that their future endeavors will be even better (13). Even billionaires are aware of the community and the impact they have on the stock market, most likely affect them in the process as well. In my opinion it was\u00a0pretty big\u00a0that Mark Cuban took notice of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and supported the community.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, another academic article that focuses on how the communication done\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has an effect is \u201cReddit's Self-Organised\u202fBull Runs.\u201d by Valentina Semenova and Julian Winkler.\u00a0Semenova and Winkler bring up how most users get interested in specific investments through the posts of others showing their financial gains from a specific stock (8). Seeing other people\u2019s successful financial posts creates a domino effect of other\u00a0members\u00a0wanting to see the same result. Leading them to invest in specific stocks just from the communication on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0Semenova and Winkler call this a type of\u00a0contagion\u00a0and that a chain reaction of positive posts will only lead to more investments\u00a0in\u00a0a stock (12).\u00a0Semenova and Winkler in this academic article do studies on the outreach of posts and\u00a0the spread of information on the subreddit (13). Specifically, Semenova\u00a0and Winkler show that after the price of the S&P 500 stock dropped by 24.1%, posts about the S&P 500 increased drastically and was\u00a0talked\u00a0about more than any other stock (18).\u00a0With these frequent posts on the subreddit related to a certain stock it will lead to them\u00a0convincing\u00a0others to either sell or buy more of it. For me I know that if I saw\u00a0a large number of\u00a0posts related to something good or bad happening to a stock, I had interest in I\u00a0probably would\u00a0take action\u00a0immediately.\r\n\r\nTo emphasize\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0effect on hedge funds during the GameStop stock investments is Zachary Feinstein\u2019s academic article titled \u201cClearing prices under margin calls and the short squeeze.\u201d.\u00a0The focus of this academic article is all about\u00a0how\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0investments in GameStop and AMC affected hedge funds. Feinstein mentions that with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0investments in GameStop stock it raised the price of stock which would negatively affect big hedge funds (1). Hedge funds were going to take big losses because they were originally betting that the GameStop stock would fall as\u00a0noted\u00a0by Feinstein (2).\u00a0Posts on the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0subreddit\u00a0hyping\u00a0up the GameStop stock directly\u00a0led\u00a0to hedge funds suffering large financial losses.\u00a0Feinstein adds that the price of shares in GameStop went from $17 a share to $340 a share after\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0involvement (8). Also, Feinstein adds how the price of shares of AMC stock went from $2.33 to $18.90 from the hype surrounding it (8). These huge jumps in share price will massively affect those hedge funds that bet against these dying companies. Showing how the communication and posts on the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0subreddit can affect the hedge funds and the stock market. For me, I am glad that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0was able to positively affect these dying companies from the pandemic\u00a0that the high ups in wall street were going to bet against.\r\n

How did the media cover r\/WallStreetBets rise in popularity?<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nNotably with the\u00a0significant impact\u00a0that came from GameStop stock rising and hype that was surrounded with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets,\u00a0it is\u00a0important to look at how this\u00a0affected\u00a0the media.\u00a0Online news\u00a0outlets,\u00a0for\u00a0example,\u00a0were really interested in this story.\u00a0Providing\u00a0many articles detailing the newest updates\u00a0about\u00a0the GameStop stock and\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. One of these articles comes from\u00a0The Verge\u00a0<\/em>titled\u00a0\"How\u00a0R\/WallStreetBets\u00a0Gamed the Stock of GameStop.\"\u00a0and written by Elizabeth\u00a0Lopatto, published on Jan 27, 2021. This article gives\u00a0the background\u00a0behind why the GameStop stock was rising and its connection to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0features data that says that those who were trying to bet against GameStop have lost somewhere around\u00a0$5 billion\u00a0dollars. Among many other details\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0includes surrounding the GameStop stock,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, information on how much money is involved,\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0also includes a tweet from Elon Musk,\u00a0CEO\u00a0of\u00a0Tesla,\u00a0and SpaceX. This tweet from\u00a0Musk reads \u201cGamestonk!!\u201d with a link to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0attached below it. This shows that\u00a0the communication\u00a0from\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has positively affected another billionaire.\u00a0Another example of an article that was written because of the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has had is from\u00a0Yahoo! News<\/em>. This article is titled\u00a0\u201cReddit's\u00a0WallStreetBets\u00a0Is Facing a Culture Divide as New Users Flood the Forum.\u201d and\u00a0is\u00a0written by Steven\u00a0Asarch, published\u00a0on February 8, 2021.\u00a0Asarch\u00a0goes over in the articles how since\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0popularity there\u00a0is\u00a0now\u00a0new issues\u00a0they\u00a0have to\u00a0deal with.\u00a0Asarch\u00a0adds that even some of the subreddits most popular members are being investigated. This article is the result of\u00a0the communication\u00a0on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0having an\u00a0impact\u00a0on the media and outside world.\r\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nIn conclusion, the writing, reading, and communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has a\u00a0significant impact\u202fon the economy, its\u00a0members\u00a0lives and the outside world.\u00a0The members of this subreddit were able to go against high ups on Wall Street and make\u00a0money\u00a0doing it all through the communication done amongst themselves. I think that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0shows that a message board or communication online can have real world effects. This does bring up the question that should these types of communication be regulated based on the overall effect and impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has. Overall, through the research it shows that the members of this subreddit are real people who\u00a0have been\u00a0impacted\u00a0by their community. From stories to huge losses to\u00a0incredibly\u00a0large financial gains,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is\u00a0the center of all things irresponsible investing on the internet.\r\n

Works Cited<\/p>\r\n

Anderson, Katie Elson. \"Ask me anything: what is Reddit?\"\u202f\u202fLibrary Hi Tech News,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>vol 35, no.\u202f5,\u202f2015,\u202fhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.7282\/T3D220BR<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Asarch, Steven. \u201cReddit's\u202fWallStreetBets\u202fIs Facing a Culture Divide as New Users Flood the Forum.\u201d Insider, Insider,\u202f8\u202fFeb\u202f2021,\u202fwww.insider.com\/wallstreetbets-reddit-forum-divided-as-new-users-flood-subreddit-2021-2<\/a>.\u202fAccessed 29 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Boylston, Christian, et al. \"WallStreetBets: Positions\u00a0or\u00a0Ban.\"\u202farXiv<\/em>\u202f<\/em>preprint arXiv:2101.12110,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>28\u202fJan\u202f<\/em>2<\/em>021,\u202fhttps:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2101.12110<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

CorneredSponge. \u201cCoinbase shares open at $381 on Nasdaq,\u00a0valuing\u00a0cryptocurrency exchange at\u00a0$99.6 billion.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>,\u00a0 14 April 2021,\u00a0 https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/stocks\/comments\/mqvlms\/coinbase_sh <\/a>ares_open_at_381_on_nasdaq_valuing\/\u00a0Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\r\n

DeepFuckingValue. \u201cGME YOLO update \u2014 Apr 16\u00a02021\u00a0\u2014 final\u00a0update.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>, April\u00a016, 2021, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/wallstreetbets\/comments\/msblc3\/gme_yolo_update_apr_16_2021_final_update\/<\/a>\u00a0Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Di\u202fMuzio, Tim. \"GameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The\u00a0Reddit Rally\u00a0(Part I).\"\u202fThe\u00a0Bichler\u00a0and\u00a0Nitzan\u00a0Archives<\/em>,\u202f11\u00a0Feb 2021,\u00a0http:\/\/bnarchives.yorku.ca\/673\/<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

GenKaYY. \u201cTbh\u00a0I only trust retards.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>, April 17, 2021, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/wallstreetbets\/comments\/msv8n1\/tbh_i_only_trust_retards\/<\/a>Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Feinstein, Zachary. \"Clearing prices under margin calls\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0short\u00a0squeeze.\"\u202farXiv<\/em>\u202f<\/em>preprint arXiv:2102.02176,\u00a0<\/em>3\u00a0Feb\u00a02021,\u202fhttps:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2102.02176.\u202f\u202fAccessed\u202f28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Lopatto, Elizabeth. \u201cHow r\/WallStreetBets\u202fGamed the Stock\u00a0of\u00a0GameStop.\u201d\u202fThe Verge<\/em>,\u00a027\u202fJan\u202f2021,\u00a0www.theverge.com\/22251427\/reddit-gamestop-stock-short-w\u00a0wallstreetbets-robinhood-wall-street.\u202fAccessed\u202f29 Mar 2021.<\/p>\r\n

Semenova, Valentina, and Julian Winkler. \"Reddit's\u00a0Self-\u00a0Organized\u202fBull Runs.\"\u202fMunich\u00a0Personal<\/em>\u202f<\/em>RePEc<\/em>\u202f<\/em>Archive,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>105630,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>20 January 2021,\u202f<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de\/105630\/<\/a>.\u202f<\/span>Accessed\u202f28 Mar 2021.\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/p>","rendered":"

English 102, April 2021<\/h3>\n

During the week of January 25th,\u202falmost every\u202fpost on\u202fsocial\u202fmedia that I saw was related to the GameStop stock. Seeing different tweets, Instagram posts, memes, and skits all centered around the GameStop stock instantly sparked my curiosity. I began wondering\u202fhow this began, who started it, and how large the impact of this event is? Everything I looked up led me to the reddit community\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. I was\u202fpretty familiar\u202fwith reddit, using it in the past to look at the communities centered around my favorite television shows and musical artists. Also, in the past my friend\u202fhas brought\u202fup\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fon a couple of occasions talking about\u202fhow it\u202fwas\u202fa reddit community\u202fwhere\u202fsome people gamble a lot of their own money on the stock market. Now hearing that this reddit community was the\u202foriginator\u202fbehind the GameStop stock event,\u202fI was not as surprised.\u202fThis idea that an online discussion forum can have such a massive influence\u202fon our world and different people\u2019s lives is\u202fvery interesting.\u202fIn this case, the reading, writing, and communication done on the reddit community\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fa significant impact\u202fon the economy, its members lives\u00a0and\u00a0the outside world.<\/p>\n

What platform does r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0use and what are the key aspects of\u00a0the platform?<\/h1>\n

To begin with understanding the impact\u202fr\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fis to first understand the platform in which most of the community does its\u202fwriting, reading, and communication. This platform is known as Reddit and\u202fthe academic article\u202f”Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?”\u202fby Katie Elson Anderson goes\u202fthrough\u202fthe basics of it.\u202fAnderson mentions that Reddit is known for and describes themselves as the \u201cthe front page of the internet\u201d and that if something is trending on Reddit then it\u202fdefinitely will\u202fbe on other social media platforms soon (2).\u202fBeing known as the front page of the internet\u202fand behind popular trends played a huge role in the impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fhas\u202fon the outside world.\u00a0Another\u00a0important aspect that Anderson brings to\u202fattention\u202fis that\u00a0Reddit is free to public on any device with the\u00a0possibility\u202fto create\u202fas many accounts as you like (2). This being beneficial to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fbecause there is not a pay wall behind someone trying to join the community. If\u202fthere,\u202fwas it\u202fwould severely limit the subreddits impact and ability to\u202fdiscuss between its members?<\/p>\n

Moving forward with this information,\u202fit is\u202falso important to know how Reddit began. In the same academic article\u202f”Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?”\u202fby Kate Elson Anderson, it touches upon the history of Reddit as well.\u202fAnderson specifies that website was a creation from the minds of Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman in 2005 (5). Anderson reports that it was bought by Advance Publications in 2006\u00a0and\u00a0the\u202fsites’\u202fpopularity only grew from there with the with the creation of subreddits in 2008 (5). The creation of subreddits was the first domino to fail, setting the groundwork for future subreddits to follow. Specifically,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fwhich is a product of\u202fReddit,\u202fgiving\u202fits\u00a0users\u00a0an option to create subreddits. Without Reddit creating this feature, their\u202fprobably would\u202fbe no version of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fand no platform for its users to write, read,\u202fcommunicate, and\u202fimpact\u202fthe world.<\/p>\n

Notably with\u202fReddit and its platform comes terms and specific features that\u202fseparate\u202fit from others. These terms and features are interlinked with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fbecause this community runs\u202fon Reddit. Katie Elson Anderson\u2019s academic article\u202f”Ask\u202fMe\u202fAnything:\u202fWhat is Reddit?”\u202fsheds\u202flight\u202fon these aspects of the platform. Anderson explains how users of Reddit are called \u201cRedditors\u201d and posts can be anything from written text, links, videos, and photos (2). These\u202fdifferent types\u202fof media could be seen all throughout\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, with either meme videos,\u202fimages,\u202fand text posts\u202fall related to stocks\u202fand whatever is trending on the subreddit. Anderson mentions how posts on subreddit can be organized\u202fby new, hot rising, and controversial (3). Anderson adds that the key factor to the post organization is how many \u201cupvotes\u201d a post has, and \u201cupvotes\u201d are a part of the post rating system. Users \u201cupvote\u201d when they like the post and they \u201cdownvote\u201d for the opposite (3). Posts during the height of the GameStop stocks popularity were receiving the highest amount of \u201cupvotes\u201d the subreddit has ever seen.<\/p>\n

Next,\u202fAnderson explains another term associated with Reddit known as a \u201csubreddit\u201d,\u202fthis term is used to describe a community\u00a0on\u00a0Reddit (4).\u202fThe term \u201csubreddit\u201d has been mentioned before\u202fin this research essay\u202fwhen describing what\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fis. Anderson adds that this is where the \u201cr\/\u201d comes from,\u202fwith that being in front of each of\u202fevery one of\u202fthe different subreddits (4).\u202fAnderson also presents data that\u202fa majority of Redditors are males that fit in the 18-29 age gap\u202f(5). This stat is\u202fespecially important\u202ffor\u00a0knowing about\u00a0who\u202fmost of\u202fthe members of in\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u202fare. This also gives an idea of what the\u202fusers’\u202ffinancial situation may be considering they are younger. Knowing\u202fthe\u202fbackstory, commonly used terms and features of Reddit will be\u202fvery beneficial\u202fwhen\u202fthey are brought up along\u00a0with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.<\/p>\n

What are some aspects that affect the communication done on r\/WallStreetBets?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Therefore, it is time to\u00a0move forward and\u00a0take a look\u00a0at\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and the\u00a0various aspects\u00a0that make the subreddit what it is.\u00a0The academic article titled \u201cWallStreetBets:\u00a0Positions or Ban\u201d written by Christian J. Boylston,\u00a0Beatriz E. Palacios, and Plamen T.\u00a0Tassev\u00a0from the Georgia Institute of Technology covers a wide basis of all the aspects connected to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. From interviews with a wide variety of members of the subreddit, to the harsh language used\u00a0by\u00a0its\u00a0members, and even how\u00a0the subreddit is organized,\u00a0this article does a deep dive into what exactly is\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. First, posts and user activity in the subreddit must follow a certain set of rules.\u00a0Most subreddits with a\u00a0somewhat decent\u00a0following have rules that\u00a0its\u00a0users must follow.\u00a0Boylston\u00a0et al.,\u00a0make note of these rules and as of April 2020 they were \u201c1. No Market Manipulation, 2. No Pump & Dump, Crypto Discussions, Schemes or Scams, 3. No Bullshitting, 4. Don\u2019t Glorify Losses, 5. No Self-Promotion, Social Begging, 6. Bad Positions Screenshot, 7. Submission Guideline, 8. No Generic Memes, No Preschool Memes, 9. Political Bullshit\u201d (39).\u00a0After reading the rules it is\u00a0very noticeable\u00a0that\u00a0the subreddit\u00a0does not\u00a0hold back on using\u00a0expletive language.\u00a0Members of the community\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to hold back\u00a0on\u00a0their communication for better or worse depending on the post.\u00a0These rules\u00a0listed\u00a0before\u00a0shape the basis\u00a0behind what type of writing and communication is allowed on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.<\/p>\n

Along\u00a0with these rules\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0up to the moderators of the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0to make sure the posts\u00a0created\u00a0and members of the subreddit follow them\u00a0and act accordingly. The moderators have the direct ability to control the communication and\u00a0what is\u00a0read on the subreddit with them being allowed to\u00a0remove\u00a0others\u2019 posts. They play a huge role\u00a0into the\u00a0total\u00a0impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0can have on the economy because they are the ones who\u00a0facilitate\u00a0the discussion. In \u201cWallStreetBets: Positions or Ban\u201d written by Christian J. Boylston, Beatriz E. Palacios, and\u00a0Plamen\u00a0T.\u00a0Tassev, they interview the founder of the subreddit Jaime\u00a0Rogozinki.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0note that Jamie goes on record to say that the moderators were the real ones one who made the community and that he really\u00a0cannot\u00a0take\u00a0any of the\u00a0praise (12). These moderators have such\u00a0a significant impact\u00a0that even the creator of the subreddit feels as those\u00a0he owes them credit.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0add that Jamie has said that most of the time when he speaks out and gives advice\u00a0it’s\u00a0usually what moderators want him to say (12). I can see why Jamie does this, because as the founder of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, he\u00a0probably wants\u00a0to stay involved even though he might not\u00a0be as\u00a0active\u00a0as he once was.\u00a0Also,\u00a0in my opinion I\u00a0think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0pretty smart\u00a0on Jamie\u2019s part on not getting too involved. This\u00a0is because\u00a0it could be the cause\u00a0of\u00a0tension\u00a0between its members and him,\u00a0if he were to say\u00a0or do\u00a0something\u00a0that went against the subreddits\u00a06.3 million members.<\/p>\n

Who are the members of r\/WallStreetBets?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In addition to talking to the founder of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, Boylston, Palacios, and\u00a0Tassev\u00a0also\u00a0included\u00a0interviews with some of the subreddits members in \u201cWallStreetBets: Positions or Ban\u201d.\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0were able to talk with members such as\u00a0Mason who is a 24-year-old grocery store employee whose brother introduced him to the subreddit (11). The authors note that when Mason\u2019s brother introduced him to the subreddit he characterized it as a \u201cplace where people go and lose all their money\u201d (11). This description, all though harsh is a somewhat\u00a0accurate\u00a0characterization of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. There have been many stories on the subreddit of users\u00a0sharing their losses of incredibly\u00a0large amounts\u00a0of money.\u00a0This to me is\u00a0very similar\u00a0to how my friend described subreddit with him mentioning the fact that a lot of its member suffer huge losses with their money from these \u201cbets\u201d.\u00a0In my opinion this\u00a0is where\u00a0the term \u201cbets\u201d comes into play with the naming of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. Another interview of a member done by\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0is their interview with Henry, a French Canadian\u00a0who is in his\u00a030\u2019s,\u00a0works in the public service sector and is\u00a0an avid\u00a0member of the subreddit (11).\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0include that Henry became interested in the subreddit after seeing the memes that were posted on it (11). Memes are\u00a0definitely a\u00a0big form and staple of the communication that\u00a0takes\u00a0place on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. Also,\u00a0Boylston et al.,\u00a0mention Henry\u2019s thoughts on the members of the subreddit and how they are all about\u00a0high risk\u00a0and high reward (11). This here is another member talking about how their can be\u00a0some\u00a0big financial risks with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and it looks as though it is a part of the community\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

In short, these interviews from Boylston,\u00a0Palacios, and\u00a0Tassev\u00a0are important for understanding who the members are, who are behind\u00a0the communication\u00a0in the subreddit, and how one is introduced to it.\u00a0Most people find out about\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0through reading, writing, and communication, whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0word of mouth or an article they have read. For me personally, it was a friend communicating with me about this subreddit where people lose a lot of their own money. Also, these interviews made it easier to picture its members and put a face to those who might suffer a big\u00a0monetary loss.\u00a0With knowing who some of the members are it shows that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0can and is used globally, not just in the United States.<\/p>\n

What type of posts are made on r\/WallStreetBets?\\<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Furthermore, with learning about\u00a0the members of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0it helps with the understanding of the posts and impact of the subreddit.\u00a0Specifically, I want to get into some direct examples of recent posts on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. The top post of this week as of April 21st,\u00a02021,\u00a0is a post featuring an image of a chart with the overall totals\u00a0related to the users gains with\u00a0GameStop stock. Totals such as\u00a0total gain $, total gain%, change%, among the other totals.\u00a0This post was very well received by the subreddit with over 140,000 upvotes and over 13,200 comments. This specific member of the subreddit\u00a0who posted their financial gains goes by\u00a0u\/DeepFuckingValue\u00a0and posts their gains from the GameStop stock monthly to much praise from the subreddit. This post will be their final update and the\u00a0earlier\u00a0updates have reached upvote counts higher than 250,000 upvotes. This post has higher upvotes due to the overall hype that the subreddit and GameStop\u00a0was\u00a0getting back in January 2021.\u00a0I know for me that when\u00a0I would\u00a0see these types of posts of users showing their large financial gains from the subreddit, I would be\u00a0pretty\u00a0amazed\u00a0at how large the money they made was and\u00a0jealous. Jealous that I\u00a0had not\u00a0taken the risk or knew about the risk before so that I could\u00a0take action\u00a0and invest. From the user, u\/DeepFuckingValue\u00a0it\u00a0provides\u00a0an example of how the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has\u00a0a significant impact\u00a0on its users and the economy.<\/p>\n

Comparatively, I want to put some focus on the meme aspect of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. To me I associate\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0with more memes than I do with real financial and investing advice. The second most upvoted post as of the\u00a0week of\u00a0comes from a user\u00a0by the name u\/GenKaYY. This post is a\u00a0is meme focused on the aspect of getting advice from the other members. The left side of the image features the title\u00a0along the lines of\u00a0who they think is giving them advice with a picture of men in professional suits below it. The right side of the meme says\u00a0something\u00a0along the lines of\u00a0who the advice is\u00a0actually from. Underneath this text features an image from\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>of the Alliance of Magicians. This photo is\u00a0pretty funny\u00a0in my opinion because it features\u00a0Gob Bluth,\u00a0a main character of\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>who is a magician\u00a0<\/em>holding a sign that says \u201cWe Demand\u00a0To\u00a0be Taken Seriously\u201d with a bunch of interestingly dressed magicians behind him, such as an old man dressed as a wizard.\u00a0I am a fan of\u00a0Arrested Development\u00a0<\/em>which helps add another level of enjoyment to the meme.\u00a0This meme posted by u\/GenKaYY\u00a0was received with much praise from the subreddit, gaining over 78,600 upvotes and over 1,200 comments.\u00a0This post pokes fun at the fact that most of the\u00a0communities\u2019\u00a0members\u2019\u00a0advice\u00a0is not\u00a0always the most professional and\u00a0should not\u00a0be taken too seriously.\u00a0Both posts shown have been communication through images and text, I would say that most posts that I have seen on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0have been images. This type of\u00a0communication,\u00a0although simple, offers a wide variety of ways to easily spread a message\u00a0and get their message across.<\/p>\n

How does the communication on r\/WallStreetBets differ from other stock-related subreddits?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In addition,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is not the only subreddit that is focused on the stock market. The subreddit r\/stocks offers a good comparison to the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. On r\/stocks the posts are more informational based with the stock market compared to the\u00a0high risk, high\u00a0reward,\u00a0and meme-based nature of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. The focus of r\/stocks is informing new and recurring members about investing, trading, cryptocurrencies, among other aspects related to stocks as found in the wiki page of the subreddit. The top posts of r\/stocks as April 21st,\u00a02021,\u00a0are all news based on recent\u00a0events that has happened and is related to the stock market. The top of the week comes from u\/CorneredSponge\u00a0and is a post sharing the news that\u00a0the shares of Coinbase open at $381 dollars, and the cryptocurrency exchange is now\u00a0valued\u00a0at\u00a0$99.8 billion. Also, in the post it adds a link to a CNBC article that goes over the information previously mentioned. This post received over 5,800 upvotes and over 2,100 comments. This post helps give an idea of what the communication is like on another stock market related subreddit. Among the other top posts featured, there\u00a0are\u00a0no images or memes along with informational posts. Also, most of\u00a0the posts feature sources with their posts to show their information is\u00a0accurate. There is a large contrast in the r\/stocks and\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0communication, such as most posts in\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0do not\u00a0include\u00a0sources. Not to mention that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0deals with a much larger community than r\/stocks.\u00a0For r\/stocks it is more about spreading information, sharing knowledge but for\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0it is all about the memes and risks related to the stock market.<\/p>\n

How does\u00a0the communication\u00a0on r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0affect the world?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

As a result, the communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has an\u00a0impact\u00a0on the outside world and its members. This was incredibly\u00a0evident\u00a0during January 2021 when every major media company was covering the rising GameStop stock that was\u00a0organized\u00a0on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0An academic article that focuses on the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has on the stock market is Tim Di\u00a0Muzio\u2019s\u00a0\u201cGameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I).\u201d.\u00a0The focus of this article is to show the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0had on the GameStop stock and research done on members. Di Muzio mentions the GameStop share price had grown to over 1737 percent (8). This level of growth is huge and the\u00a0fact that most of the growth could be traced back to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0shows that the communication does\u00a0influence\u00a0the economy.\u00a0Di Muzio also features a heartfelt post from\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0by u\/space-peanut (10). In the post that Di Muzio\u00a0features,\u00a0it is a letter written to the user\u2019s father\u00a0who was\u00a0severely affected\u00a0by the financial crash in 2008 (11). Di Muzio includes part of the post that now the user has invested most of their money in AMC and GameStop to get back at hedge funds (11). The hedge funds were the main target and the face of who\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0was going against when they\u00a0were investing in GameStop stock.<\/p>\n

As Di Muzio mentions\u00a0in \u201c\u201cGameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I).\u201d\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0wanted to cause some problems to the hedge funds that bet against GameStop and other falling companies (10). The communication on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is able to\u00a0affect hedge funds and able to help its users who have struggled financially in the past like u\/space-peanut. Di Muzio also features a statement from billionaire, Mark Cuban and he says that he is amazed at the efforts of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0with them taking on wall street and that their future endeavors will be even better (13). Even billionaires are aware of the community and the impact they have on the stock market, most likely affect them in the process as well. In my opinion it was\u00a0pretty big\u00a0that Mark Cuban took notice of\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0and supported the community.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, another academic article that focuses on how the communication done\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has an effect is \u201cReddit’s Self-Organised\u202fBull Runs.\u201d by Valentina Semenova and Julian Winkler.\u00a0Semenova and Winkler bring up how most users get interested in specific investments through the posts of others showing their financial gains from a specific stock (8). Seeing other people\u2019s successful financial posts creates a domino effect of other\u00a0members\u00a0wanting to see the same result. Leading them to invest in specific stocks just from the communication on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0Semenova and Winkler call this a type of\u00a0contagion\u00a0and that a chain reaction of positive posts will only lead to more investments\u00a0in\u00a0a stock (12).\u00a0Semenova and Winkler in this academic article do studies on the outreach of posts and\u00a0the spread of information on the subreddit (13). Specifically, Semenova\u00a0and Winkler show that after the price of the S&P 500 stock dropped by 24.1%, posts about the S&P 500 increased drastically and was\u00a0talked\u00a0about more than any other stock (18).\u00a0With these frequent posts on the subreddit related to a certain stock it will lead to them\u00a0convincing\u00a0others to either sell or buy more of it. For me I know that if I saw\u00a0a large number of\u00a0posts related to something good or bad happening to a stock, I had interest in I\u00a0probably would\u00a0take action\u00a0immediately.<\/p>\n

To emphasize\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0effect on hedge funds during the GameStop stock investments is Zachary Feinstein\u2019s academic article titled \u201cClearing prices under margin calls and the short squeeze.\u201d.\u00a0The focus of this academic article is all about\u00a0how\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0investments in GameStop and AMC affected hedge funds. Feinstein mentions that with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0investments in GameStop stock it raised the price of stock which would negatively affect big hedge funds (1). Hedge funds were going to take big losses because they were originally betting that the GameStop stock would fall as\u00a0noted\u00a0by Feinstein (2).\u00a0Posts on the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0subreddit\u00a0hyping\u00a0up the GameStop stock directly\u00a0led\u00a0to hedge funds suffering large financial losses.\u00a0Feinstein adds that the price of shares in GameStop went from $17 a share to $340 a share after\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0involvement (8). Also, Feinstein adds how the price of shares of AMC stock went from $2.33 to $18.90 from the hype surrounding it (8). These huge jumps in share price will massively affect those hedge funds that bet against these dying companies. Showing how the communication and posts on the\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0subreddit can affect the hedge funds and the stock market. For me, I am glad that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0was able to positively affect these dying companies from the pandemic\u00a0that the high ups in wall street were going to bet against.<\/p>\n

How did the media cover r\/WallStreetBets rise in popularity?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Notably with the\u00a0significant impact\u00a0that came from GameStop stock rising and hype that was surrounded with\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets,\u00a0it is\u00a0important to look at how this\u00a0affected\u00a0the media.\u00a0Online news\u00a0outlets,\u00a0for\u00a0example,\u00a0were really interested in this story.\u00a0Providing\u00a0many articles detailing the newest updates\u00a0about\u00a0the GameStop stock and\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets. One of these articles comes from\u00a0The Verge\u00a0<\/em>titled\u00a0“How\u00a0R\/WallStreetBets\u00a0Gamed the Stock of GameStop.”\u00a0and written by Elizabeth\u00a0Lopatto, published on Jan 27, 2021. This article gives\u00a0the background\u00a0behind why the GameStop stock was rising and its connection to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets.\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0features data that says that those who were trying to bet against GameStop have lost somewhere around\u00a0$5 billion\u00a0dollars. Among many other details\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0includes surrounding the GameStop stock,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets, information on how much money is involved,\u00a0Lopatto\u00a0also includes a tweet from Elon Musk,\u00a0CEO\u00a0of\u00a0Tesla,\u00a0and SpaceX. This tweet from\u00a0Musk reads \u201cGamestonk!!\u201d with a link to\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0attached below it. This shows that\u00a0the communication\u00a0from\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has positively affected another billionaire.\u00a0Another example of an article that was written because of the effect\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has had is from\u00a0Yahoo! News<\/em>. This article is titled\u00a0\u201cReddit’s\u00a0WallStreetBets\u00a0Is Facing a Culture Divide as New Users Flood the Forum.\u201d and\u00a0is\u00a0written by Steven\u00a0Asarch, published\u00a0on February 8, 2021.\u00a0Asarch\u00a0goes over in the articles how since\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0popularity there\u00a0is\u00a0now\u00a0new issues\u00a0they\u00a0have to\u00a0deal with.\u00a0Asarch\u00a0adds that even some of the subreddits most popular members are being investigated. This article is the result of\u00a0the communication\u00a0on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0having an\u00a0impact\u00a0on the media and outside world.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In conclusion, the writing, reading, and communication done on\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has a\u00a0significant impact\u202fon the economy, its\u00a0members\u00a0lives and the outside world.\u00a0The members of this subreddit were able to go against high ups on Wall Street and make\u00a0money\u00a0doing it all through the communication done amongst themselves. I think that\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0shows that a message board or communication online can have real world effects. This does bring up the question that should these types of communication be regulated based on the overall effect and impact\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0has. Overall, through the research it shows that the members of this subreddit are real people who\u00a0have been\u00a0impacted\u00a0by their community. From stories to huge losses to\u00a0incredibly\u00a0large financial gains,\u00a0r\/WallStreetBets\u00a0is\u00a0the center of all things irresponsible investing on the internet.<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n

Anderson, Katie Elson. “Ask me anything: what is Reddit?”\u202f\u202fLibrary Hi Tech News,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>vol 35, no.\u202f5,\u202f2015,\u202fhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.7282\/T3D220BR<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

Asarch, Steven. \u201cReddit’s\u202fWallStreetBets\u202fIs Facing a Culture Divide as New Users Flood the Forum.\u201d Insider, Insider,\u202f8\u202fFeb\u202f2021,\u202fwww.insider.com\/wallstreetbets-reddit-forum-divided-as-new-users-flood-subreddit-2021-2<\/a>.\u202fAccessed 29 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

Boylston, Christian, et al. “WallStreetBets: Positions\u00a0or\u00a0Ban.”\u202farXiv<\/em>\u202f<\/em>preprint arXiv:2101.12110,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>28\u202fJan\u202f<\/em>2<\/em>021,\u202fhttps:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2101.12110<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

CorneredSponge. \u201cCoinbase shares open at $381 on Nasdaq,\u00a0valuing\u00a0cryptocurrency exchange at\u00a0$99.6 billion.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>,\u00a0 14 April 2021,\u00a0 https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/stocks\/comments\/mqvlms\/coinbase_sh <\/a>ares_open_at_381_on_nasdaq_valuing\/\u00a0Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\n

DeepFuckingValue. \u201cGME YOLO update \u2014 Apr 16\u00a02021\u00a0\u2014 final\u00a0update.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>, April\u00a016, 2021, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/wallstreetbets\/comments\/msblc3\/gme_yolo_update_apr_16_2021_final_update\/<\/a>\u00a0Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\n

Di\u202fMuzio, Tim. “GameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The\u00a0Reddit Rally\u00a0(Part I).”\u202fThe\u00a0Bichler\u00a0and\u00a0Nitzan\u00a0Archives<\/em>,\u202f11\u00a0Feb 2021,\u00a0http:\/\/bnarchives.yorku.ca\/673\/<\/a>.\u202f\u202fAccessed 28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

GenKaYY. \u201cTbh\u00a0I only trust retards.\u201d\u00a0Reddit<\/em>, April 17, 2021, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/wallstreetbets\/comments\/msv8n1\/tbh_i_only_trust_retards\/<\/a>Accessed 21 April 2021.<\/p>\n

Feinstein, Zachary. “Clearing prices under margin calls\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0short\u00a0squeeze.”\u202farXiv<\/em>\u202f<\/em>preprint arXiv:2102.02176,\u00a0<\/em>3\u00a0Feb\u00a02021,\u202fhttps:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2102.02176.\u202f\u202fAccessed\u202f28 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

Lopatto, Elizabeth. \u201cHow r\/WallStreetBets\u202fGamed the Stock\u00a0of\u00a0GameStop.\u201d\u202fThe Verge<\/em>,\u00a027\u202fJan\u202f2021,\u00a0www.theverge.com\/22251427\/reddit-gamestop-stock-short-w\u00a0wallstreetbets-robinhood-wall-street.\u202fAccessed\u202f29 Mar 2021.<\/p>\n

Semenova, Valentina, and Julian Winkler. “Reddit’s\u00a0Self-\u00a0Organized\u202fBull Runs.”\u202fMunich\u00a0Personal<\/em>\u202f<\/em>RePEc<\/em>\u202f<\/em>Archive,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>105630,<\/em>\u202f<\/em>20 January 2021,\u202f<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de\/105630\/<\/a>.\u202f<\/span>Accessed\u202f28 Mar 2021.\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"menu_order":33,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["rgrady"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[72],"license":[],"class_list":["post-251","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-rgrady"],"part":158,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/253"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":593,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/251\/revisions\/593"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/158"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/251\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}