Investigating an Online Community: The Threads of the r/mma Subreddit

In the modern day, online communities are becoming increasingly more common and impactful in how people interact online and human interaction as a whole. r/MMA is an example of this, a passionate community where people of various backgrounds and creeds gather to share and engage. We analyzed this for our research, delving into the numerous dynamics and factors at play and observing how the community operates and evolves on various time scales. This research provides valuable insight into the essence of online communities, their components, and how they interact with each other on a large-scale platform such as Reddit with a massive number of users. Through qualitative methods, such as document analysis and participant observation, we can effectively distill the community's mechanics and nature.