Lily B Chapman is an influencer who has garnered 839k followers on TikTok. Her videos predominantly focus on fashion, travel, and her experience as a mother-to-be. Recently, her content has shifted to highlighting a darker side of the Internet: Reddit snark pages. She is on a mission to expose the cyberbullying and online harassment that has become normalised on the platform.
Reddit snark pages are spaces where users will come together to gossip about the lives of influencers and public figures. The NYCinluencersnark page has amassed over 110K members, and topics are usually centred around criticising and discussing the lives of other women who share their lives online. Many users feel like they are justified in their actions to gossip on snark subreddits because, for them, it’s a way to hold influencers accountable for their actions and problematic behaviour.
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However, some users have proven to take things a step too far. Influencer Halley Kate was doxed by users after telling her audience on TikTok that she purchased a house in the Hamptoms. Users flocked to the NYCinfluencersnark page to expose her address and criticise the location of her house. This subreddit claims to be moderated, but the post revealing her address was up for hours before being deleted. The moderators urge users to be respectful, but that doesn’t seem to deter users from doxing and posting vitriol.
On the gossip forum Tattle Life, users are equally open about their criticism of influencers and media personalities. When discussing the appearance of influencer Molly Mae, one user commented, ‘She looks worse than before, she would’ve done better getting Ozempic or something.’ The thread is littered with similar comments, dissecting everything from the way she looks to her relationship with her partner, Tommy Fury. Tattle Life acts as another murky corner of the Internet where users relish the opportunity to post hurtful comments.
Chapman is shining a spotlight on the harassment and bullying that is not only allowed but celebrated on snark pages and gossip forums. In a TikTok video, she says, “Over the last year, I’ve had to get a lawyer… send out multiple cease and desists, all thanks to members of my snark reddit.” She goes on to claim in a series of multiple videos that users active in snark subreddits have stalked her family members, created viral content full of misinformation, and gone out of their way to defame her reputation.
The TikToker has created a ‘Cancel Me’ line of clothing where 10% of proceeds will be given to The Cybersmile Foundation, a non-profit organisation that tackles abuse and bullying that takes place online. Chapman has also launched a campaign where she speaks openly about the harassment she has experienced as a result of her popularity on TikTok and her openness to sharing her life. She says, “I chose to do this ‘Cancel Me’ campaign to bring awareness to the world of snark and the very real harm it does.”
Unsurprisingly, a number of Reddit snarkers were less than pleased with Chapman’s campaign to expose the concerning behaviour on the platform. In a post titled Lily B pls take a rest a user says “At the heart of this, I think your motivation is to paint all 5,000+ snarkers as crazy haters who took things too far when the reality is that most of these people are (relatively) well adjusted members of society who bonded over finding you to be annoying and unkind.” They deem Chapman’s response to be an overreaction. Reddit users feel that they have a right to discuss the lives of influencers in detail, even if the discussions are mean-spirited or just outright cyberbullying.
Chapman has reported her snark subreddits and has managed to get some of them taken down. Despite Reddit’s efforts to take down the snark pages, the issue of cyberbullying and harassment still prevails on the platform. When one snark page is taken down, another one can easily be created by the same moderators, and as a result, the cycle continues. According to Reddit, they do not take responsibility for the actions of the moderators, but they have the ability to revoke or limit a moderator’s control of a subreddit for any reason.
The situation with Chapman and the harassment she’s experienced from snark subreddits raises a question: why do people feel so compelled to post in these spaces? When speaking to Hunger, psychologist Eloise Skinner says, “There might be a sense of community found in these types of forums — as humans, we can be united by hatred or dislike just as we can for benevolent causes.” Users can bond over their shared disdain for an influencer or public figure.
Snark subreddits may provide a sense of community, but it’s clear that things have become toxic. It’s not just a space where people hold influencers accountable for their actions; it’s now a space where users gather to mock the appearance of others, reveal addresses, and push misinformation in order to ruin someone’s reputation. Reddit needs to do more to ensure that snark subreddits do not descend into spaces that encourage harassment and cyberbullying.
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