Braincels: Difference between revisions

'''Braincels''', or '''/r/braincels''', was a [[blackpilled]] [[involuntary celibate]] community hosted on [[Reddit]]. The community was particularly known for its playful devotion to [[Blackops2cel|Saint Blackops2cel]].  Before it got banned by Reddit in September 30th 2019, it was the largest incel "forum". 

The fall of Braincels represented an important step in the [[Mentalcel Revolution]].

The subreddit had around 2 to 3 posts per minute and a huge amount of [[lurker|lurkers]]. Braincels produced more lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek content compared to other incel communities. It largely consisted of memes in support of the [[blackpill]] and [https://www.reddit.com/r/IncelTears/comments/917t15/do_not_fall_for_bait/ baits] for [[/r/inceltears|/r/IncelTears]]. Even though often stereotyped as being occupied by "angry White alt-right males", Braincels was highly racially diverse with especially Asians and Indians being overrepresented (see [[Demographics#Race|Demographics § Race]]) and also politically diverse.

Following the ban, some users moved to [[incels.co]], [[incelistan.net]], [[incelswithouthate]], saidit.net/s/incels.

Braincels was created by [[AnathematicAnarchist]] before the /r/incels ban. He was later forgotten by the 'community' until he wrote a suicide letter, after which the community embraced him. He has not posted since his suicide letter. Given that a large number of suicides from r/Braincels that have been tied to real Facebook accounts, it is more likely than not that the creator of the sub did commit suicide.

The subreddit was occupied for the first half of it's life by the female head-moderator [[Board_Gaming]] who repeatedly said she did not believe in the [[Blackpill]], posted in [[Inceltears]], and seemingly disliked Incels. She has been believed to be autistic due to the nature of the vast majority of comments she made being of the form "I am not X" or "I do not X," which have gave rise to several mock accounts on the subreddit that imitated her. In October 2018, she stepped down as head-moderator and was replaced by u/IQ9K who appointed five new moderators to help him out. The forum then became more ban-heavy, [[masculinist]], and content-restrictive.

The community was active throughout most of 2019 despite being [[quarantined]] by Reddit admins on September 27 2018 because of misogyny. The day Braincels was quarantined Reddit gave a link to a feminist male studies organization telling incels to learn "positive masculinity," sparking many memes making fun of the term, "positive masculinity", for it's comically vague thought-police vibe. It was later learned that the founder of the male organization that Reddit linked to, Michael Kimmel, [https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/15/us-womens-rights-campaigner-accused-of-sexual-harassment was an alleged sexual assaulter,] leading to much questioning as to whether or not Reddit meant "positive masculinity" to mean [[rape]].

r/Braincels was banned from Reddit on September 30th 2019 for "posting of content that harasses or bullies." [[Master]], who was hired as a mod on the subreddit a month before the ban, received a message notifying him of the closing. The message said that the creation of new subreddits to evade the ban was not allowed and that the content on Braincels was "materially incompatible" with new rules Reddit admins created for the purpose of shutting down subreddits that didn't align with their ideology.

 

Various external forums such as [[incels.co]] and [[incelistan.net]] welcomed [[Braincels]] refugees, but a second mass exodus to external forums is unlikely as r/Braincels users already knew the existence of these external forums, and r/Braincels was never really much of a solid community at any point in time. In the last few months of its existence, the subreddit was increasingly populated by [[alt-right]] types, people who bully feminine looking men, and culture warriors.

Contrary to popular claims, Braincels was not alt-right. Alt-righters were often banned on sight.