Internet
hivemind
What does hivemind mean?
The collective groupthink of a subreddit or Reddit as a whole. Whatever the top comment says, the next thousand will echo. Disagree and you're invisible by morning. Used self-deprecatingly by Redditors who know they're stuck in it, and as an insult by people pointing at it from the outside.
"I love this game but the r/gaming hivemind has decided it's trash this week, so good luck saying that out loud."
Origin
Borrowed from science fiction (Star Trek's Borg, insect colonies); applied to Reddit's voting dynamics by users themselves in the late 2000s.
Frequently asked questions
What does "hivemind" mean on Reddit?
It refers to Reddit's habit of converging on a single dominant opinion and downvoting everything that disagrees into oblivion.
How do you use "hivemind" in a sentence?
"Say anything against that show and the hivemind buries you in downvotes."
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