Reddit and What I Found There

Woodys AeroImages. "PH-BHA KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner - C/N 36113 / LN 356" 9/1/15 via Flickr. CC Attribution - NonCommercial- NoDerics 2.0 Generic

Reddit is a source for all kinds of intrigue. For searching into arguments regarding Aerospace, no other place could be better than a online forum. Looking at the site, I found two forums quickly, r/aerospace and r/aerospaceengineering . Both looking interesting, I made my way through the posts trying to answer three main questions: What debates are there, what stands out, and how does this reflect on aerospace as whole. My answers are below. How did you react to these two forums? Let me know in the comments. 

What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exhanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in the Reddit forums.

 In both reddit forums, I found many inquiries on how to learn more and guides on how to get into the aerospace field, along with many curious questions and current events in the aerospace field of today. In the Aerospace Engineering forum, I found many more questions, such as college kids looking for software suggestions or guides to good reading, while in the aerospace forum, there were far more news events on their page, talking about the latest planes, rocket launches, or events.

In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums? Hyperlink us to the two different Reddit threads and explain why you found those debates interesting. Be specific and honest and be yourself. I don't want you to blah-blah-blah this. I want you to really engage.

 The two posts I found were Draper Labs is the subcontractor for the Dreamchaser space vehicle . . . and Aerodynamic Data for a 787-800. These two articles took me by surprise because they stand out from the usual Reddit and common internet approach of general topics and rarely helpful answers. The Draper labs forum is a company for a hugely important space vehicle looking to hire potential engineers on Reddit. That fact blows me away and shows me that companies are moving quickly into the digital age and are open to new ideas. The aerodynamic data forum sounds dry at first but when you look at the replies, you find out that you can find complex aerodynamic data in very simply ways, such as by measuring out lengths and doing the math using just a sketch of a plane, a far stretch from laboratory tests, but apparently very accurate. 

Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums? Were the people in those forums talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking aboput or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.

The Reddit forums seem much more like a place to find new opportunities, get advice, or collaborate with people over problems or current events in the aerospace field. I did not expect to get so many honest answers and legitimately helpful or simple steps to help the original poster. I did not expect them to be discussing specifics such as aerodynamic data of specific planes, or recruiting for jobs, such as for Draper Labs on the Dreamchaser craft. The impression I have received is surprised but in a good way.