r/IAmA is a

subreddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

for question-and-answer interactive interviews termed "AMA" (short for "Ask Me Anything"). AMA interviewees have ranged from various celebrities to everyday people in several lines of work. Founded in May 2009, the subreddit has gone on to become one of

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

's most popular communities.

Concept

IAmA is based on posting "AMAs" (for "Ask Me Anything"), or similarly "AMAAs" (Ask Me Almost/Absolutely Anything) – prompts for others to ask questions about any topic. AMAs are open to all Reddit users, but interviewees require proof that they are who/what they claim to be. They use the site's comment system for both questions and answers; this process has been equated to an online press conference. Like the rest of

, users can also upvote and downvote potential candidates, with the most favoured being more likely to receive an answer.

History

According to ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', this concept is new to the digital age. They deemed the closest equivalents to be

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

s, and radio

call-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

shows, which placed a heavy focus on the interviewees. Contrastingly, r/IAmA places more emphasis on users answering the questions. The concept's genesis on the internet began in the 1990s;

Slashdot ''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally advertised itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories concerning science, technology, and politics that are submitted and evalu ...

launched similar interviews in 1999, but only 10 questions per person were allowed. Participants included free software advocate

Bruce Perens Bruce Perens (born around 1958) is an American computer programmer and advocate in the free software movement. He created The Open Source Definition and published the first formal announcement and manifesto of open source. He co-founded the Open ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

developer Alan Cox. This was followed by

Something Awful ''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, Internet forum, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard Kyanka, Richard "Lowtax" K ...

's Ask/Tell forums, which was more focused on interviews with everyday people. Reddit built on this idea with video interviews with site staff

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Ste ...

and

Erik Martin Erik Martin (12 January 1936 in Neuss – 25 April 2017) was a German writer, songwriter and composer of songs. He was the founder and editor of the literature and art magazine ''Muschelhaufen''. Life and work Erik Martin was the first-born son ...

. The following demand for AMAs led to the creation of the current r/IAmA subreddit in May 2009. Unlike its precursors, it requires proof of identity. Since its founding, similar features have appeared in other

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

sites, like

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

and

Ask.fm ASKfm (Ask.fm until 14 January 2016) is a question and answer network launched in June 2010 as a competitor to Formspring. After registration, the user fills out his profile and can ask questions (anonymously or openly), reply on their profile, ...

Participants

Initially, AMAs focused more on ordinary citizens; these interviews still make up some of the subreddit's content today. As Reddit expanded, its staff attempted to bring in celebrity guests—early examples include businesswoman

Caterina Fake Caterina Fake is an American entrepreneur and businesswoman. She co-founded the websites Flickr in 2004 and Hunch in 2007. Fake has been a trustee for nonprofit organizations and was the chairwoman of Etsy. For her role in creating Flickr, Fak ...

. Since then, a number of individuals have been interviewed in the IAmA subreddit, some of whom have appeared multiple times. Notable participants include then-United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

(while campaigning for the 2012 election),

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

(multiple times),

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

(amidst the 2018 midterm elections), and Holocaust survivor

Alex Hershaft Alex Hershaft is an American Animal rights movement, animal rights activist, Holocaust survivors, Holocaust survivor, and co-founder and president of the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), the nation's oldest (1976) organization devoted exclusi ...

. Other people, including

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, have conducted AMAs in a similar fashion on other parts of Reddit. The increased traffic for Obama's AMA brought down many parts of the website when it occurred on August 29, 2012. Celebrities participating in AMAs have seen both positive and negative responses. In 2012,

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

's AMA was criticized after Harrelson declined to answer questions that were unrelated to the movie he was then promoting, apparently unaware of the AMA's purpose. By contrast, rapper

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

's 2012 AMA attracted 1.6 million page views after he provided several candid responses to the community's questions.

Controversies

From 2013 to 2015, Victoria Taylor assisted Reddit's volunteer community in presenting interviews. She primarily transcribed spoken celebrity responses, but also helped organize timing, affirmed best practices, and assisted in preparation. On July 2, 2015, hundreds of subreddits, including several with over a million subscribers, were set to private by their respective volunteer moderators after Taylor was dismissed. These moderators stated that a primary factor for the shutdown was a lack of warning for Reddit's decision; Reddit provided no immediate replacement for Taylor's services. Sources closer to Reddit users cited an increased focus on commercializing AMAs as the most likely reason.

References

External links