r/AmItheAsshole

r/AmItheAsshole, abbreviated as AITA or AITAH, is a subreddit where users post about their real-world interpersonal conflicts and receive judgement from fellow redditors. Some posts, such as the December 2021 thread about an orange tabby named Jorts, are shared on other social media platforms besides Reddit.[3][4] The subreddit allows users to determine the morality of absurd, specific scenarios.

"AITA" redirects here. For other uses, see Aita (disambiguation).
r/AmItheAsshole
Type of site
Subreddit
Available inEnglish
Created byMarc Beaulac[1]
URLwww.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole
Users8 million members (as of 29 May 2023)
LaunchedJune 8, 2013 (2013-06-08)[2]

History

The subreddit was created in 2013 by photographer and dog rescuer Marc Beaulac to determine if he had been inappropriately mansplaining in a debate with female coworkers about the temperature of their office.[5] The subreddit gained popularity in of 2018. By July 2019, it had 1 million members, which it dubs "potential assholes". A Twitter account used to repost a curated selection of the posts, until it stopped doing so on 5 January 2023.[6][5]

r/AmItheAsshole is based around the concept of posting situations from users' personal lives for judgement. Any user (typically from a single-use account referred to as a throwaway)[1] can make a post, beginning with "AITA", asking if they're an asshole for what they did in a situation they were involved in. Other users can judge them with the ratings of YTA (you're the asshole), NTA (not the asshole), NAH (no assholes here), or ESH (everyone sucks here).[3] An example of the conundrums posted is "AITA for switching to regular milk to prove my lactose intolerant roommate keeps stealing from me?"[5] As of October 2020, the subreddit receives about 800 scenarios per day.[7]

Princeton University ethicist Eleanor Gordon-Smith said to The Guardian, "There's something almost thrilling about peeking behind the curtain into other people’s lives, hearing their weird thoughts – what they think deep down of their partners, children, friends."[7]

References
  1. Matei, Adrienne (21 May 2020). "Can trolling ever be charming – or are 'good' trolls still a nuisance?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. Gordon, Ilana (9 August 2019). "How 'Am I the Asshole?' became the internet's most profound query". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  3. Walsh, Kathleen (27 July 2020). "Reading Reddit Drama Helps Some People Leave Bad Relationships". Vice. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. Yip, Waiyee. "How a fluffy orange cat named Jorts stole the internet's heart and became the pro-labor icon 2022 didn't know it needed". Insider. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  5. Danovich, Tove K. (7 October 2020). "Can "Am I the Asshole?" Actually Help Make People Better?". The Ringer. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  6. "Am I the Asshole? (AITA_online) / Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  7. Hunt, Elle (22 October 2020). "AITA? How a Reddit forum posed the defining question of our age". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
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