“Rule #1: Don’t be a d!ck”: Vibe checks in the platform governance assemblage

In digital culture, many users actively seek out environments that feel emotionally safe and supportive, distancing themselves from what they perceive to be the pervasive toxicity of contemporary platforms. “Vibes” and “vibe checks” are central vernaculars to these communities, functioning not just as labels for the felt atmosphere but as subtle mechanisms for defining what is considered healthy or toxic within online spaces. This paper examines how digital communities identify toxicity and manage boundaries through vibes and vibe checks, situating these practices within broader platform governance frameworks. Drawing on a digital ethnography of three Reddit communities (r/MadeMeSmile, r/WholesomeMemes, and r/UpliftingNews), we first show how these subreddits govern content not through strict rules, but by establishing shared affective boundaries that dictate what is appropriate. Because these boundaries rely on subjective cues, enforcement is uneven and opaque, revealing tensions in community regulation. Second, we discuss how members negotiate and recalibrate these affective boundaries through practices such as downvoting, amplifying, or calling out content, implementing a user-driven governance approach that is inconsistent and ideological, sometimes allowing harmful content if it resonates emotionally or politically. Overall, we argue that vibes and vibe checks are critical components of contemporary assemblages of platform governance, shaping acceptability, distributing authority, and circulating power.