Good online spaces for discussing outrageous or unpopular ideas?

November 8, 2013 4:38 AM

I'm looking for any online communities that provide a space for the discussion of ideas that would be unpopular or considered outrageous by most people.
posted by casebash to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

Reddit.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:45 AM on November 8, 2013 [5 favorites]

MetaFilter.
posted by Tanizaki at 4:48 AM on November 8, 2013

Best answer: 2nding Reddit. The subreddit Change My View might be of interest. There's a subreddit for basically everything, so whatever you think is unpopular/controversial can probably be found there.
posted by melissasaurus at 4:49 AM on November 8, 2013 [4 favorites]

Mothering.com forums provide discussion areas for anti-vaccination and unaccompanied childbirth.
posted by bq at 6:14 AM on November 8, 2013

Vigilant Citizen has discussion in the comments often and a community section where anyone can post articles. Googling keywords from that site (e.g. monarch programming forum) will find you all kinds of forums for similar discussion.
posted by shelleycat at 7:04 AM on November 8, 2013

Poker players are rabidly individualistic and their forums are often intellectual free-for-alls. The main discussion forum TwoPlusTwo has Politics, Philosophy and Religion sections that include all kinds of out-there stuff.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:06 AM on November 8, 2013

Best answer: Reddit's /r/CrazyIdeas sub is front-paged for me. I love getting a dose of unusual thinking in my morning read. Funny community too that supports or helpfully critiques the ideas.

One from two days ago: "Instead of sending criminals to prison, put them in tanning beds full of cigarette smoke until they are physically aged the equivalent of their sentence." Followed by a 100+ comment discussion.
posted by meadowlark lime at 7:43 AM on November 8, 2013

Askreddit recently introduced a [serious] flair which has helped filter out distracting Reddit-ness (jokey and off-topic comments) to a degree. Here is a search with only those results. Also, sorting threads in Reddit by 'controversial' will get you to more unpopular but interesting comments.
posted by 0 answers at 7:44 AM on November 8, 2013

FetLife for alternative (sexual) lifestyles.
posted by Dragonness at 8:03 AM on November 8, 2013

Reddit can be good for this, with the proviso that many unpopular ideas are unpopular for very good reasons. Seconding the recommendation for the AskReddit questions with the [Serious] flair.

On a related note, I would also check out the moderated Ask subreddits, like AskHistorians and such. If you have an unusual concern, you can have it analyzed by actual factual experts.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:25 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure if you are looking for places you'd like to interact with or you are looking for places just as a survey of what's out there. There are a number of racist, white supremacist and men's rights discussion groups (Stormfront, Chimpout, Antimisandry) out there that have very active discussion boards where a number of what I would consider outrageous opinions are taken as fact.
posted by jessamyn at 8:31 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

There are a number of "point and laugh" directories of bizarre websites. Depending on what your motive is for seeking out bizarre websites, you may or may not appreciate that framing, but nonetheless, it's out there. SomethingAwful's Awful Link of the Day and Weekend Web often take virtual trips to very odd places on the web.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:35 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Stormfront for far right politics, revleft for far left politics.

Both sites are truly disturbing to this centrist.
posted by aerotive at 6:47 PM on November 8, 2013