Post #923393

We should all remember in these turbulent times that: Online forums about a thing don't represent the real audience or community of the thing. Always ask yourself: "Who is the kind of person who actively participates in an online community like this? Is the opinion of such a person relevant to my question?" You will realise very soon that there is an overwhelming amount of hidden biases in the composition of online communities alone, leading you to believe that some things are way more/less widespread than they really are. Here's some practical examples: Do the Steam forums for Stardew Valley accurately represent the playerbase for the game? Who is the kind of person frequenting Steam forums, and who is the average Stardew Valley player?Does an online forum about personal hygiene accurately represent a popular and reasonable view on personal hygiene? What kind of person actively frequents an online forum about personal hygiene, and how could that influence the content you encounter there?What kind of person spends a lot of their time posting memes in a transgender subreddit? Who is the userbase of Reddit? Should that type of person inform your view of the trans community, or is there only a certain kind of trans person posting there?Understanding this is key to a lot of questions, including "why does Mojang ignore the community's wishes", "why are trans people always so hypersexual" and "why are Germans so smug and arrogant". Your worldview might be heavily influenced by the platform you formed it on.