It can be satisfying to see a niche thing you love – a book, a band, an artist – become popular in the mainstream. Yet it can also be upsetting. You root for their success for so long, but once everybody knows about them, it doesn’t feel as special. That’s gatekeeping, the grown-up cousin of “You can’t sit with us.”
But there is a community that doesn’t gatekeep: the Gates Open, Come In subreddit. It’s where people invite each other to like and enjoy stuff others might tell them is inappropriate or uncool, and generally have each other’s backs. Like the kids say these days, “In the clurb, we all fam.”
Bored Panda got in touch with one of the community’s moderators, u/Merari01, and they kindly agreed to tell us more about the subreddit. Read our short chat with them below!
#1 If Anybody Has A Problem With That I’m Going To Let It Go
Image credits: Hotchi_Motchi
u/Merari01 told us that the theme of the subreddit drew them to become one of the moderators for the community. “The internet can be a negative place, full of angry people and content, which in some form makes people feel excluded,” they told us via a message. “This subreddit is positive, inclusive, and shows a welcoming atmosphere.”
The Redditor believes that people want their feeds to have more positivity. “Having a space that is explicitly inclusionary resonates with a lot of them,” the netizen added. While moderating the subreddit’s comment section can sometimes be challenging when members get into petty arguments, u/Merari01 is pretty happy with the job overall. “It’s a fun space to be in, so, it’s not a real challenge.”
#2 Inclusion
Image credits: 4reddityo
#3 Dogs And Cats My Favorite Animals
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We can gatekeep many things: the recipe for our favorite pasta, where we bought our fabulous shoes, our favorite sports teams, and many other things. In 2022, Vogue actually chose “gatekeep” as the word of the year. What, according to them, used to mean institutions or people withholding power now means not sharing information or access to something.
On TikTok, not gatekeeping means sharing where you got that sweater from and how much your tickets to see Taylor Swift cost. But Vogue writes that this is slightly ironic: if anything, the app made information and the world itself more accessible than ever. “Want to find out where a media-only fashion party or sample sale preview is taking place? You can probably hunt down the invite on TikTok.”
#4 Finally Someone Who Gets It!
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#5 This One Was Nice
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#6 Happy Lunar Year Everyone
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Licensed psychologist and lecturer on the psychology of metal and punk rock Steve Byrne explains that social psychologists have observed our tendency to divide into groups. We make friends with people who have similar interests and outlooks on life, and we align ourselves against those who are different.
Byrne points to the Robbers Cave experiment, carried out in the 1950s. In it, social psychologist Muzafer Sherif studied 22 boys who, during the experiment, divided themselves into in and out-groups. It reflected the most basic truth that we divide ourselves according to many things: political beliefs, likes and dislikes, and even for the benefit of our own social standing.
#7 Everything Turned Out Just Fine, Then
Image credits: MoralRelativity
#8 It’s Never Too Late
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#9 Literally The Gate Was Open
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Byrne writes that it’s natural for us to see those who are different from us as a threat. Then we want to appear stronger, more sophisticated, and cooler in front of them. And that’s where gatekeeping comes in. In essence, we gatekeep because we’re insecure. Putting others down is one of the ways we cope with insecurities. “At least we’re not as bad as them,” we comfort ourselves.
#10 Brooklyn Librarians Subverting Censorship & Allowing Any Teenager In America To Have A Library Card
Image credits: Goodable
#11 Struggle Has No Inherent Value
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#12 Mentally Empathetic Dad
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Perhaps now more than ever, division into insiders and outsiders is hurting us all around the world. Byrne suggests that some political leaders thrive on sowing division with the “us against them” mentality. In reality, there must be very little that’s actually different about us.
#13 What An Adorable Man Doing Such A Lovely Thing ❤️??
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#14 Friendly Incentive
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#15 It Got A Little Aggressive, But I Like The Message
Image credits: ThatDapperAdventurer
“Those who are seemingly kept out by these gatekeepers might be seeing the gate as some hulking castle drawbridge, sealed up tight and ready to defend a kingdom against marauders when it’s really just a broken garden fence, easily stepped over,” Byrne writes.
#16 Emotional Rollercoaster! (Pls Remove If Posted Before)
Image credits: r_I_reddit
#17 Just Let Them Be They
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#18 For The Waiters
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Interestingly, some people see gatekeeping as a good thing. In an article for The Cut, Ann Friedman suggests that some communities gatekeep to preserve their culture. She writes about Anthony Bourdain worrying about sending tourist masses to mom-and-pop restaurants, as well as Black creators feeling conflicted when white creators use their aesthetics, language, and memes and calling it appropriation.
#19 Stress Relief
Image credits: Photojournalist_Fine
#20 Luke Skywalker Makes Young Star Wars Fan Feel Loved
Image credits: MarkHamill
#21 You’re Not A Machine. You’re Garden
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Kelly Elizabeth Wright, a lexicographer with the American Dialect Society, explained that gatekeeping in this context gives minorities back that little bit of power they lose in this age of vast media consumption. “You could be making a piece of content that is for other Black people or for your community, but then it’s public or it gets algorithmically exposed. There is less control in the way social media is surfaced and served to people.”
#22 Every Job Is Valid!
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#23 Shout Out To The Solo Eaters
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#24 Pls Info Dump On Me I Love It
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Sirena Bergman writes for Business Insider that the boom in tourism in Hawaii during the pandemic caused native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to “gatekeep” the state. The natives talked about the rise of COVID-19 cases and the environmental impacts of tourism and asked people not to travel there, but still faced backlash.
#25 Depression Gateopening
Image credits: FootballCivilmp
#26 Slow Down
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#27 Drink What You Like!!!
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That’s how “gatebreaking” came to TikTok, the opposite of gatekeeping. The idea is that there should be no barriers to information, expertise, places, or knowledge. But Bergman observes that there’s more nuance to this problem. While being against gatekeeping is, in essence, standing against inequality, it’s alright for some people to sometimes stay on the fringes of certain spaces.
#28 Moms,,,/-
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#29 That’s His Whole Thing
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#30 Words To Live By
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However, in most cases, the old cliche “sharing is caring” might just be true. Sharing information, access, knowledge, and just genuinely having each other’s backs. If this wholesome list is right up your alley, Pandas, check out the previous ones that we’ve done about the “Gates Open, Come On In” community here and here!
#31 Based College Rule
Image credits: reddit.com
#32 Good Parentin
Image credits: GlennonDoyle
#33 Sh*tter’s Open!
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#34 You Don’t Have To Be Good At Something To Enjoy Doing It
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#35 Definitely Mercedes! Wait…what?
Image credits: TheRudePenguin
#36 Found My Weekend Plans
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#37 Really Behind You
Image credits: r_I_reddit
#38 As Someone Who’s Gone For 6 Years, It Really Does Make A Difference
Image credits: CarolGeorgese
#39 All Fans Welcome
Image credits: Hotchi_Motchi
#40 I’m Sure Many Of Us Needed To Hear This
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#41 Another Good One From Tumblr
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#42 Count Me In
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#43 Japan/America Cultural Exchange
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#44 Something Wholesome From Facebook
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#45 Sometimes You Win Sometimes You Learn
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#46 Self Digansis
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#47 Do You, No Matter What!
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#48 A Wheelchair Accessible Swing At A Public Park
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#49 Gay Body Shaming Is Real
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#50 Women Wearing What They Like In Peace
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