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When BTS\u2019 new album Arirang came out, a group of strangers on the internet gathered in high anticipation.<\/p>\n
They noted the smallest details: the styling, the choreography, the producers, the extras, the members\u2019 body language, even the way the group was presented after their return from military service.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not, however, talking about fans.<\/p>\n
This group \u2013 the one that spent so much time and energy examining every frame of the Swim music video \u2013 were anti-fans, and the space they occupied was the snark subreddit r\/BTSnark.<\/p>\n
Snark subreddits are online communities where users gather to criticise, gossip about, mock or dissect a particular public figure, celebrity, influencer, fandom or cultural group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are snark spaces for pop stars, influencers, family vloggers, reality television personalities, public figures and even entire fandoms.<\/p>\n
One of the earliest known snark subreddits, r\/Blogsnark, was created in 2015. It started with only a few hundred members and has since grown to over 200,000 active members. And there are now thousands of similar ones on the platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other less obvious snark subreddits can be identified with the word \u201cfolk\u201d \u2013 such as r\/Piratefolk or r\/Titanfolk, which are snark subreddits dedicated to criticising the pirate-centric Japanese manga One Piece and the anime Attack On Titan, respectively.<\/p>\n
On the surface, these communities can look like ordinary discussion forums. People post screenshots, analyse public statements, question contradictions, debate whether a celebrity\u2019s apology was sincere or if an influencer\u2019s lifestyle is authentic, and all sorts of discourse on the latest business sponsorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After spending months trawling through these spaces and speaking with a few of their regular users, I’ve realised the point is not always a discussion. Most of the time, the whole point is to dislike.<\/span><\/p>\n Honestly, I get the appeal.<\/p>\n There is something satisfying about finding a group of people who are irritated by the same things you are. There can be comfort in realising you are not the only person who finds an influencer annoying, a celebrity overhyped or a fandom unbearable.<\/p>\n In a digital culture where stan communities can sometimes feel aggressively positive and intolerant of criticism, snark spaces can seem refreshing or even necessary.<\/p>\n One Singaporean Reddit user \u2013 or Redditor \u2013 who goes by QuietComfort0225 and has used Reddit for about eight years, described snark culture as \u201ca sort of equal and opposite reaction to stan culture\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSome \u2018stan\u2019 spaces are equally insufferable and non-critical,\u201d the 31-year-old professional, who did not want to be identified, told CNA Lifestyle, adding that these spaces often \u201cdefend the object of their affection and fandom at all costs and reject all criticism\u201d.<\/p>\n For some users, snark subreddits also feel like a refuge.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shem Yao, Head of Touch Cyber Wellness \u2013 an initiative of Touch Community Services that promotes healthy digital habits, media literacy, and online safety for children, parents and educators \u2013 said that whether on Reddit, Discord or the local HardwareZone, these online spaces can offer genuine belonging, a place to exchange perspectives and, at times, hold public figures to account.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some users, including young people, these forums feel more open and welcoming than their offline environments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n “People do not join these spaces only because they are mean. They join because they are bored, lonely, frustrated, curious, disillusioned or tired of being told they cannot criticise someone popular,” he added.<\/p>\n They offer a place to say the thing that might get downvoted, deleted or attacked elsewhere. They allow people to question popular influencers, celebrities and fandoms without being accused of jealousy or bad faith. They also offer the pleasure of collective eye-rolling \u2013 a very human form of bonding.<\/p>\n Another local user, CantonaStorms92, a 29-year-old Reddit user working in the public service, said he has been on Reddit for 10 years and has often lurked in local online snark communities such as r\/SingaporeRaw.<\/p>\n He described such spaces as \u201calternative or subculture\u201d communities, where posts that may not be accepted on mainstream subreddits find a home.<\/p>\n \u201cSome might say r\/Singapore is too liberal or \u2018snowflake\u2019 \u2013 too sensitive and politically correct \u2013 hence why the name Singapore Raw for this other subreddit, it\u2019s more unfiltered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That promise of being \u201cunfiltered\u201d is a big part of the appeal. In snark spaces, people can be direct, funny, sceptical and brutally honest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When BTS\u2019 new album Arirang came out, a group of strangers on the internet gathered in high anticipation. They noted the smallest details: the styling,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--F4FOftxp--\/c_crop,h_900,w_1600,x_0,y_84\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/05\/22\/reddit_platforms_snark_subreddit.jpg?itok=s0TWvsGw","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[121,24306,992,658,24307,654],"class_list":["post-58713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-people","tag-snark","tag-spend","tag-stand","tag-subreddits","tag-time","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A SPACE TO CRITICISE TOGETHER<\/h2>\n
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