What Reddit vs X says about internet groupthink

Multiple subreddits are banning X links in protest of Elon Musk’s salute at the presidential inauguration. The implosion of ideological groupthink online highlights the fascinating potential of digital community.

Elon Musk was one of a number of tech-giants who took center stage at Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. The X owner and Tesla founder has become an unlikely political sidekick (or partner in crime, if you prefer) since the latter end of Trump’s campaign run.

But as fintech billionaires continue to infiltrate The White House, public sentiment toward Musk’s companies — namely X — have snowballed into widespread digital protests against what many view as a mounting oligarchical threat to American democracy.

Following Trump’s return to office on Monday, Musk sparked fresh controversy with an innocuous arm gesture. A slight tilt of the hand, and a brazen wave. It was — to many onlookers — a clear invocation of the Nazi salute.

A wave of subreddit moderators have since orchestrated bans on X links, the platform that Musk has increasingly molded into his personal echo chamber. The site formerly known as Twitter has since become an…