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Websites people say have changed their lives

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Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#61

Post by hashhar »

eksemplar wrote: post #48
cJ0th wrote: post #4

I am surprised no one mentioned Reddit. Reddit really helped me gain perspective. For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. No matter how specific a post is, chances are really high that someone else will chime in and echo the feeling/experience that has been expressed. In short, the positive message is: You're not alone! For another thing, it is (despite the horrible search functio…

Other than my country's subreddit I can't think of anything reddit has contributed to my life, for the past two years. I go there daily, but I almost never find anything interesting I haven't first seen elsewhere. It's a neat place to waste time, but even on small obscure subreddit, the content just isn't there anymore. I guess you could say it changed a lot of lives, by becoming "the front page of the internet", but…

Only if you don't login and follow the niches that interest you and things that you don't know about. A very good example for me was /r/WritingPrompts because after I wrote a long comment somebody directed me to it and I managed to start writing again.

/r/StopDrinking also helped me help my friend regain control of his life. /r/fitness helped me regain my health.

Then there's /r/randomkindness, /r/bestof, /r/askreddit and /r/cscareerquestions.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#63

Post by SL61 »

cJ0th wrote: post #4

I am surprised no one mentioned Reddit. Reddit really helped me gain perspective. For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. No matter how specific a post is, chances are really high that someone else will chime in and echo the feeling/experience that has been expressed. In short, the positive message is: You're not alone! For another thing, it is (despite the horrible search functio…

Reddit was indispensable for me during my teenage years. I was a lonely, isolated homeschooled kid and my parents didn't let me do much. With Reddit, I was exposed to different viewpoints, all sorts of things I would never hear about from my parents (I vividly remember discovering what BDSM is from an AskReddit thread), frank discussions on depression and anxiety, and in general a nice community to take the edge off my isolation. I also found friends there, a couple of whom I'm still really close to.

Given how Reddit has changed over the years, I wonder if I'd have that same experience if I were several years younger, just discovering the site today.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#64

Post by fragmede »

mrweasel wrote: post #45
erikb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there are also some subreddits on frugal life, early retirement, management of your finances. While there is a lot of advertisment and untested theory in there as well, I have to agree that it helps a lot to gain some money skills. The one I can recommend the most is learning to write down and track your finances manually (i.e., without Mint). I'm a lazy bum, so I stop doing it after a few months every time I start,…

While there are much good advise in those subreddit, much of the content is also extremely US-centric. That's fine of cause, that's where many of the users are, but some of the advise aren't really applicable in some other countries, and some is just plain bad advice in you're not in the US. The whole renting vs. buying of instance, Reddit users almost always recommend renting your home, but that just throwing money…

Rent vs. buy is a great example of how useless broad unqualified advice is. Whether to buy or rent varies from district to district within the same city, as well as from city to city, and also state to state inside the US, never mind different countries.

It also varies from individual to individual; their savings, their finances, where they are in their career.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#65

Post by eksemplar »

hashhar wrote: post #61
eksemplar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than my country's subreddit I can't think of anything reddit has contributed to my life, for the past two years. I go there daily, but I almost never find anything interesting I haven't first seen elsewhere. It's a neat place to waste time, but even on small obscure subreddit, the content just isn't there anymore. I guess you could say it changed a lot of lives, by becoming "the front page of the internet", but…

Only if you don't login and follow the niches that interest you and things that you don't know about. A very good example for me was /r/WritingPrompts because after I wrote a long comment somebody directed me to it and I managed to start writing again. /r/StopDrinking also helped me help my friend regain control of his life. /r/fitness helped me regain my health. Then there's /r/randomkindness, /r/bestof, /r/askreddi…

I do log in, follow my interests and I think the country subreddit thing is the only auto/standard one I still follow. The content and the people just aren't there for me.

But I'm happy that it's working for you.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#66

Post by et-al »

cJ0th wrote: post #4

I am surprised no one mentioned Reddit. Reddit really helped me gain perspective. For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. No matter how specific a post is, chances are really high that someone else will chime in and echo the feeling/experience that has been expressed. In short, the positive message is: You're not alone! For another thing, it is (despite the horrible search functio…

I think most Kottke readers are 30+ years old, and formative web sites are those you've frequented when you were younger. So Reddit for most Kottke users came way after MetaFilter or Dreamless.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#68

Post by perilunar »

H4CK3RM4N wrote: post #16
dualogy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. For me, it made me realize how similar redditors all over the world are.. =)

4chan(/pol/ and /int/ in particular) is what did it for me. An Indian complaining about Pakistanis looks an awful lot like a German complaining about the French, or an Aussie complaining about Kiwis.

I don't know about that. There's a long history of bloodshed between India and Pakistan, and between Germany and France.

Australia and New Zealand have always been close allies. We only complain about each other in jest.

Re: Websites people say have changed their lives

#70

Post by erikb »

fragmede wrote: post #64
mrweasel wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While there are much good advise in those subreddit, much of the content is also extremely US-centric. That's fine of cause, that's where many of the users are, but some of the advise aren't really applicable in some other countries, and some is just plain bad advice in you're not in the US. The whole renting vs. buying of instance, Reddit users almost always recommend renting your home, but that just throwing money…

Rent vs. buy is a great example of how useless broad unqualified advice is. Whether to buy or rent varies from district to district within the same city, as well as from city to city, and also state to state inside the US, never mind different countries. It also varies from individual to individual; their savings, their finances, where they are in their career.

Therefore don't learn the conclusions, learn the decision making steps and information gathering tips. Then apply them yourself and see what it yields for your context.
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