All really good forums, in my experience, have attentive and firm moderators. (HN for example.) A few years ago, I moderated a developer forum (not on Reddit) and by posting clear rules and enforcing them consistently without being a jerk about it, the forum was indeed evolved into a useful place for conversations. But it took constant attention; and I think most Reddit moderators don't have the inclination to do that work day in and day out for the sake of the community--and so the quality progressively deteriorates.
Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
71–80 of 208 posts
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#72You call it degradation, Reddit calls it "explosive growth". The UX redesign was hugely successful in attracting new users, users who could then be monetized. The "useless answers" are wildly popular responses because people generally prefer to meme, not solve problems. Your complaint essentially boils down to, "Why do people not behave how I want them to?" and that, my friend, is a question as old as time itself. Fr…
The UX redesign is also clearly part of a mobile-first strategy. The mobile site funnels users into the mobile app, and the desktop site clearly echos the mobile design principles. Mobile users fundamentally engage with the platform in different ways. For one, they form a different demographic segment than older users, and secondly the mobile app frames and filters content in uniquely mobile ways. High-signal content…
IOW, Reddit redesigned the UI towards mobile, devalued high-signal and high-quality, and so recreated the Eternal September [0] on their own platform.
You'd think they'd know better, but maybe to them, replacing high-information-demanding users with a casual audience is a feature and not a bug.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#73In terms of the UI/UX use old.reddit.com - I honestly don't understand how anyone uses the new default version. Comments are hidden, there are ads and other threads content on the page. It's literally impossible to use. It's such a disaster I can't understand how it ever passed testing. The community itself when you get away from the big main subreddits isn't too bad. The best experience is had when you unsub from al…
To offer an opposite argument, I hated reddit before the redesign and always take "old." out of links. Every reddit looked like a geocities offering to me, they were inconsistent in coloring and contrast and all the bullshit I don't care about. Non-old reddit gave me a more consistent and less distracting way for me to quickly browse subreddits and posts I'm interested in and getting out.
with old.reddit.com when logged in you can opt out for subreddits been able to override the CSS then you get the vanilla and clean defaults everywhere.
I use it as my "whoops, forgot to login" reminder.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#74You call it degradation, Reddit calls it "explosive growth". The UX redesign was hugely successful in attracting new users, users who could then be monetized. The "useless answers" are wildly popular responses because people generally prefer to meme, not solve problems. Your complaint essentially boils down to, "Why do people not behave how I want them to?" and that, my friend, is a question as old as time itself. Fr…
It also depends on what sub-reddit you're in. Some are really good, some are BS echo-chambers. It can't all be BS considering how many people are using Google Site search to get "better" answers from sub-reddits as opposed to generic google search results.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#75 What I find truly troubling is the loss of message boards elsewhere online. The bigger ones I was apart of years ago are gone, or with a much reduced and aging user base. Often the time sink that these homes were have been replaced by social media. Instagram, tiktok, and obviously reddit. It causes me to feel a sense of loss.
On the plus side Reddit search has improved the last five years or so.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Mobile users fundamentally engage with the platform in different ways. For one, they form a different demographic segment than older users, and secondly the mobile app frames and filters content in uniquely mobile ways. High-signal content is much more difficult to craft on a mobile device so more mobile use represents a greater proportion of content noise. I'd argue the only thing that really matters about mobile…
Maybe? I guess I'm speaking from personal experience here when I say writing in-depth sourced and edited comments[higher quality] is more difficult for me on a mobile device. But perhaps, my experience not the norm. Is it different for others?
Quantity of engagement > quality of engagement
Or "more ads better"
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#77The key word is “monetization”.
Entertainment (aka funny) makes money. Useful information can make money but not nearly as much as entertainment.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#78You call it degradation, Reddit calls it "explosive growth". The UX redesign was hugely successful in attracting new users, users who could then be monetized. The "useless answers" are wildly popular responses because people generally prefer to meme, not solve problems. Your complaint essentially boils down to, "Why do people not behave how I want them to?" and that, my friend, is a question as old as time itself. Fr…
The UX redesign is also clearly part of a mobile-first strategy. The mobile site funnels users into the mobile app, and the desktop site clearly echos the mobile design principles. Mobile users fundamentally engage with the platform in different ways. For one, they form a different demographic segment than older users, and secondly the mobile app frames and filters content in uniquely mobile ways. High-signal content…
> The mobile site funnels users into the mobile app, and the desktop site clearly echos the mobile design principles.
More like hoards them into the app with a cattle prod. You can't use the mobile site without constantly confirming that no, I really really really don't want to use the app like I said 20 seconds ago.
This is beyond dark patterns. It's pure user hostility.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#79No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Reddit?
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Mobile users fundamentally engage with the platform in different ways. For one, they form a different demographic segment than older users, and secondly the mobile app frames and filters content in uniquely mobile ways. High-signal content is much more difficult to craft on a mobile device so more mobile use represents a greater proportion of content noise. I'd argue the only thing that really matters about mobile…
Maybe? I guess I'm speaking from personal experience here when I say writing in-depth sourced and edited comments[higher quality] is more difficult for me on a mobile device. But perhaps, my experience not the norm. Is it different for others?
Engagement isn't about how much time you spend in the editor writing insightful comments. It's how much you scroll through the feed laced with ads. Sadly.