It's clued me in to a lot of the issues surrounding the discussion on gender that happen outside of my immediate academic circle. It's useful, and it's made me think a lot.
On a much more personal level, this specific sub actually helped me make some personal changes that were extremely important and helped me change my perspective for the better.
About 7 or 8 months ago I guess, I came here to ask a question regarding a situation with someone that I really loved. I deleted the post, but long story short - Met a guy 8 years ago, we were super close but never dated, finally opened up about our feelings, started seeing each other, it was absolutely wonderful and perfect, and then shit hit the fan in his life and he bounced. I didn't just care about this guy to the extent that I wanted him to date me, like - I really do love the motherfucker in general. So even though he wasn't talking to me, I couldn't convince myself that it was because he didn't care or was just an asshole.
So I talk to a couple friends about it, and they all tell me the same shit - He's an asshole. He played you. He's shady. You need to back off. Date someone different. (As if I were just dating for the sake of it.)
But I couldn't do it, so I stumbled upon AskMen, and I got up the nerve to ask everyone here, and the pretty much unanimous response was that sometimes men isolate themselves when they're going through some shit, and that I should be patient and not give up on him. A lot of people shared their personal experiences of having done the same thing, retreating from their friends and loved ones.
So I actually felt better. I felt like I got the validation that my gut instinct was correct, and that sometimes you just can't take shit personally because it might be more complicated. /u/_balance_ actually had top comment, and basically said I just need to be patient and calmly communicate with him and let him know I didn't have any specific expectations, that I was just concerned.
Fast forward to now, turns out his world had just turned into shit. He knew I was grieving the loss of my dad and didn't want to drag me through all the bullshit he was dealing with, but he also knew I wouldn't be receptive to parting ways, he knew I would try to argue and say that I could deal with everything with him. Granted he didn't word it this way, but basically he took away my ability to be involved in the decision by just making it for both of us.
It took a while of talking regularly for us to get past the romantic aspect of our relationship, but now we are just back to being friends and it feels excellent. I actually really needed to go through the past few months outside of a relationship. I had grieving to do and a lot of life decisions to make, and now that I'm on this side of the whole ordeal, it's absolutely clear that he made the right decision. It was the right decision for my life and I didn't even know it, nor would I have had the wherewithal to make the decision at that point in time.
Sometimes you really can just be friends. There are people in the world that don't fit the trope of "you can't be friends with an ex". Actually I don't even consider him an ex. He is one of my best friends, and sometimes the person that you're convinced is perfect for you actually isn't perfect for you in a romantic sense, but absolutely perfect for a different role. This is a person that enriches my life just by being in it, and is one of the people in my life I treasure most.
He's been absolutely critical in helping me make some life decisions, and a huge support during some of the roughest times.
If I had listened to my friends telling me that I was being naive and should just cut him off because he's an asshole, I'd be missing a damn fine person. But yeah, instead I chose to listen to a bunch of people on a random subreddit that I had never met, because the anonymity kinda freed me from the associated stigmas and opinions I'd have to deal with from people I knew in my personal life. Everyone here, whether they knew it or not, really encouraged me to go with my gut and empathize rather than focusing on how someone wasn't giving me what I wanted from them.
If reddit helped me make a decision that involved setting my own pride aside and being patient with an extremely wonderful person that was dealing with some serious shit, then reddit has definitely changed me for the better.