NCS
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The web isn’t as good a place because it was.
On social media, misogyny, misinformation and algorithm-enhanced maleficence are more and more commonplace. Like many individuals who as soon as regarded to Twitter for group, my on-line circles have been depleted and my feeds hijacked by the self-indulgent thread-makers and self-appointed blue-tick influencers of Elon Musk-era X.
Yet, there are nonetheless pleasant, welcoming corners of the web. And I’ve discovered mine.
Reddit’s r/bald is a 143,000-strong group (comprised principally of, presumably, bald males) providing recommendation, help and encouragement to those that’ve taken, or are contemplating taking, “the plunge” by shaving off their thinning hair. With the strapline “lose your hair, not your head,” it’s the antithesis of poisonous masculinity — a place the place males share their vulnerabilities and are actively good to 1 one other. Founded in 2011, this refuge for the follicly challenged is now amongst Reddit’s 2% hottest boards (or “subreddits”) and attracts upwards of a dozen posts a day.
There are two methods during which these usually unfold.
The first sees males importing photographs of their determined hairlines and receiving a pleasant however obligatory actuality examine. “Is it over for me?” reads one latest entry. “Is it time, brothers?” “Should I bite the bullet?” “Time to let go?” others ask. The reply is, nearly invariably, sure. But the dangerous information is delivered with heat and empathy by these — me included — who additionally clung on longer than they need to have.
The second sort of submit sees individuals unveiling their freshly shaved bald heads, generally preceded by photographs of their erstwhile hairlines or conspicuous comb-overs. What follows is a flood of no matter the reverse of cyber-bullying is (cyber-camaraderie?), whereby customers say which good-looking superstar the authentic poster — or OP, in Reddit-speak — resembles and the way a lot better they give the impression of being. And guess what? They, nearly invariably, do. As late dressmaker Karl Lagerfeld famously noticed: “Nothing makes you look older than attempting to look young.”
The most-liked post in r/bald’s 13-year historical past is a working example. Titled “I gave in today,” it’s accompanied by a collection of correspondingly despondent “before” photographs. The last slide, nonetheless, reveals a person remodeled. “If there was a top 10 of bald glow ups, you’d be in there somewhere,” reads one among the 13,000 replies. “Bro you look utterly reborn,” wrote one other consumer.
While I can’t converse for the subreddit’s 1000’s of commenters, I’m positive many are motivated by their very own expertise of male sample baldness. I definitely want I’d identified about r/bald as I clung to the final remnants of my very own hair.
Balding could be a unusually isolating course of. It is a obvious reminder of our mortality coupled with extra prosaic considerations about changing into much less engaging, having a weird-shaped head and searching like each different hairless man. Friends and family members might inform us how nice we’d look bald however, sadly, we frequently care extra about what strangers (moderately than individuals whose opinions actually matter) consider us.
And what higher balm to your insecurities than having 1000’s of nameless web customers name you a hunk?
There is, after all, numerous different head-related chatter on r/bald. Do you put on a hat in mattress? Should you moisturize your scalp? Beard or no beard? Occasionally, somebody with a couple of years’ price of remaining hair posts a photograph, and customers advocate a shorter trim as a — albeit short-term — resolution.
More not often nonetheless, somebody whose nervousness has clearly obtained the higher of them posts a photograph exhibiting, to all intents and functions, a full head of hair. Yet, moderately than decry their delusion, r/bald’s envious customers will remind OP of his luck, inform him how superb his mane is and ship him on his approach. After all, as one among the discussion board’s guidelines reads: “Treat the hair-headed ones with kindness too.”
The discussion board’s different directives converse to a tradition of understanding. “No bald-bashing,” reads one. Also outlawed: advocating hair-restoration strategies (we depart that to the folks over at r/HairTransplants and r/HairlossProgressPics) and trash-talking, which incorporates, moderators write, referring to somebody with a full head of hair as having “superior genetics.”
And it’s not simply r/bald. Many of Reddit’s different private type boards serve up a wholesome mixture of optimistic validation and constructive criticism. On the 271,000-member r/MensFashion, customers reward or politely critique each other’s “fit checks”; the 6.5-million-strong r/MakeupAddiction charges customers’ magnificence regimes and hosts weekly make-up contests.
These communities, like all subreddits, are largely self-policed by user-moderators who’re invested in the subject at hand. The group’s opinion issues, too: “Upvoted” feedback rise to the prime of the dialogue, whereas responses which can be extensively “downvoted,” both for being mean-spirited or inaccurate, sink from view.
There are different methods during which the platform’s design encourages courteous habits amongst bald males and past. Users obtain good “karma” scores by being constantly upvoted, that means that standing is acquired by making priceless contributions, not by scary outrage. Tiny profile photos in the meantime deflate egos, as does the issue of going “viral” past a circle of individuals fascinated by a selected topic. There aren’t any Reddit celebrities right here.
The result’s, usually, extra knowledgeable and informative dialog than is discovered on different social media platforms. While X continues to hemorrhage customers (and advertisers) following the Musk takeover, Reddit — lengthy a minnow amongst social media behemoths — seems to be flourishing. The platform averaged 97.2 million every day energetic customers in the final quarter, a year-on-year increase of 47%.
In truth, switching X for Reddit in my on-line eating regimen was maybe the greatest determination I’ve made this yr — not only for the stream of body-positivity that now fills my feed every day, however for my renewed religion in human civility. And sure, you’ll in all probability look higher bald.