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Balancing Openness and Safety: Central and Peripheral Governance Practices in the Lesbian Subreddit Ecosystem

Yan Xia, Sushmita Khan, Naiyah Lewis, Jinkyung Katie Park

Abstract

Online LGBTQ+ communities face a persistent tension: remaining visible to welcome newcomers while protecting members from harassment. This challenge is particularly acute for lesbian communities on Reddit, which operate not as isolated groups but as an interconnected ecosystem. We examine how this tension is negotiated across the lesbian subreddit ecosystem (N=29) by combining network analysis of cross-subreddit links with a qualitative thematic analysis of 167 subreddit rules. Our findings show a functional division of governance labor between central (34%) and peripheral subreddits (66%). While all communities share a baseline of safety regulations, central subreddits prioritize content curation and feed quality to support a large, public-facing audience, whereas peripheral subreddits emphasize boundary maintenance and participation control to protect smaller, identity-specific niches. These findings challenge monolithic moderation approaches and highlight the need for ecosystem-aware design. We argue that effective moderation requires role- and context-sensitive tools supporting visibility and safety across interconnected spaces.

Balancing Openness and Safety: Central and Peripheral Governance Practices in the Lesbian Subreddit Ecosystem

Abstract

Online LGBTQ+ communities face a persistent tension: remaining visible to welcome newcomers while protecting members from harassment. This challenge is particularly acute for lesbian communities on Reddit, which operate not as isolated groups but as an interconnected ecosystem. We examine how this tension is negotiated across the lesbian subreddit ecosystem (N=29) by combining network analysis of cross-subreddit links with a qualitative thematic analysis of 167 subreddit rules. Our findings show a functional division of governance labor between central (34%) and peripheral subreddits (66%). While all communities share a baseline of safety regulations, central subreddits prioritize content curation and feed quality to support a large, public-facing audience, whereas peripheral subreddits emphasize boundary maintenance and participation control to protect smaller, identity-specific niches. These findings challenge monolithic moderation approaches and highlight the need for ecosystem-aware design. We argue that effective moderation requires role- and context-sensitive tools supporting visibility and safety across interconnected spaces.
Paper Structure (17 sections, 4 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 17 sections, 4 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Methods
  3. 2.1 Data Collection
  4. 2.2 Data Analysis
  5. 2.2.1 Network Analysis.
  6. 2.2.2 Qualitative Thematic Analysis.
  7. Findings
  8. 3.1 Centrals vs. Peripherals
  9. 3.2 Rules across the Subreddit Ecosystem
  10. 3.3 The Difference of Subreddit Rules between Center and Periphery
  11. Discussions
  12. 4.1 The Ecosystemic Level Resolution
  13. 4.2 Identity as Infrastructure
  14. 4.3 Safety and Risk Mitigation in Depth
  15. 4.4 Implications for Design
  16. ...and 2 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: The pipeline of our methods for data collection and data analysis. We combined network analysis with qualitative thematic analysis of subreddit rules to map distinct governance practices to specific ecosystem roles.
  • Figure 2: Left: Subreddit Ecosystem Network generated by cross-links. The subreddits within the green circle are central, outliers are peripheral. Right: Topics detailed rules show how central and peripheral subreddits focus. Blue, yellow, purple, pink, green sectors correspond to rule themes Safety and Risk Mitigation, Identity and Boundary Management, Content Creation and Quality Control, General Instruction, Participation Control and Reinforcement, respectively.
  • Figure 3: The lesbian subreddits cross-link to other subreddits in specific rules.
  • Figure 4: The subreddits cross-link to other subreddits in "partner sub" or "related subreddits" widgets on sidebars as well.