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‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

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Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#321

Post by commandlinefan »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #49
douglaswlance wrote: post #23

Reddit is the only popular website where rational discourse can actually happen, thanks to the infinitely threaded conversations and complete markdown. While there is objective rude comments on there, this is why some people call it, "toxic," because their ideas are challenged, and they'd rather preserve their ideological bubble than seek to understand reality.

>Reddit is the only popular website where rational discourse can actually happen, thanks to the infinitely threaded conversations and complete markdown. Except comments people don't like can be downvoted to oblivion, causing no one to see them (unless they purposely sort by controversial).

Downvoted is ok (and usually, when it happens, completely warranted). My problem is when they're deleted entirely by unaccountable moderators with their own agendas.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#322

Post by eanzenberg »

staplers wrote: post #259
dmix wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you assuming they would have sought out longer form or higher tier content otherwise? My dad was extremely happy using Stumbleupon for years. It was about as high-pace low-quality you could get on the internet. I showed him sites like Reddit and elsewhere but he was very content with just Stumbling. People like to blame FB/Twitter for low quality content without considering the huge market for that stuff. People…

People like to blame FB/Twitter I am not blaming anyone. Simply stating that those places are expressly made for sharing low-quality content. Just because there is a demand for something, doesn't mean we shouldn't fight the urge.

This line of logic is so so so dangerous. I hope you understand what you're suggesting. "People deciding what people should watch / read / consume."

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#323

Post by streb-lo »

notMick wrote: post #307
streb-lo wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure it's being brigaded by both sides for political points/fire control. But you'd have to be willfully blind to describe the events up to now as a "nothing burger."

There is nothing, except a large paid hoax propaganda campaign. With the same team we could make mother Teresa seem like an imperialist religious nut. But anyway, let's agree to disagree. Because the world is nicer that way.

I think you need to consult some neutral coverage and apply Occam's razor.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#324

Post by hasbroslasher »

jamiegreen wrote: post #64
abnry wrote: post #17

I think there is a very important distinction that needs to be made. The popular reddit experience is vastly worse than the customized reddit. It took me a while to realize that my reddit experience was vastly improved once I was very picky about which subreddits I follow.

Favourite subs you would recommend?

r/iamverysmart - funny screenshots of the Dunning-Kruger effect and people generally thinking they're God's gift to intellectual life.

r/holdmyredbull - extreme sports cousin of "hold my beer". Other fun ones in this circle include "hold my juice box" and "hold my fries". I tend to think of watching someone go skydiving without their own parachute as universally interesting, ymmv.

r/AskReddit - Good survey of the current human experience, usually leave here with a feeling that your questions about the world and lives of other people aren't as unique as you though. Sometimes it's banal/off topic, though.

r/ELI5 - "Explain like I'm 5" usually contains layman's questions about science, maths, history, and other sometimes unapproachable with great responses from people who know their stuff. Almost always leave here with something new to think/talk about.

r/ProgrammerHumor - I'm a programmer, but even some of my non-programmer friends can enjoy the jokes over here.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#325

Post by stale2002 »

aldoushuxley001 wrote: post #158
wvenable wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What ever happened to neutrality? Moderators shouldn't be promoting an ideology left or right. I understand that Reddit admins themselves don't want to promote an ideology either -- they want to remain neutral -- but they are sacrificing their platform to people who don't hold he same ideals. The biggest change I've noticed is just how political the city/country subreddits have become. A few years ago, they used to b…

It's literally impossible for moderators to be neutral, for anyone to be neutral. Even judges are well known for leaning to one side or the other.

Sure it is possible. You can be neutral by banning nothing.

Or at the very least only ban something when the authorities literally force you to do so.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#326

Post by trophycase »

pessimizer wrote: post #266
rightos wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They literally delete anything that questions straight up communist views. Read their sidebar. I don't think that's exactly "in the eye of the beholder".

They're a straight up communist sub. Why wouldn't they? You seem to be complaining that a board game site bans you when you repeatedly post "board games are stupid, you should play video games."

Board games aren't an abstract concept greatly up for debate and they don't influence the minds of thousands of young kids and adults who will and do vote.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#327

Post by ryandrake »

jessaustin wrote: post #258
abritinthebay wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vote counts on HN are hidden - doesn't stop a lot of toxic behavior on here. The problem is down votes are not a good comment tool . Especially combined with hiding and such. Upvote only systems are much more resilient to the kind of gaming mechanics you see here and on reddit.

What is meant by "gaming mechanics you see here"? Could you be more specific? Of course, voting does affect what gets posted, but that's the point. If your authentic voice doesn't appeal to HN voters, then develop another voice that does appeal to us!

Isn’t that how you get a popularity-driven echo chamber? If only certain points of view will get upvoted or avoid downvotes, only those points of view will be posted or get discussed.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#328

Post by stale2002 »

komali2 wrote: post #229
UncleEntity wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a dangerous trend for both society and reddit itself. Wouldn't squashing the voices of the "right-wing contingent" just lead to an (already implied) echo chamber of leftist thought? Your one single comment sums up the problem I have with user-moderation systems like reddit (and HN).

There is "right wing" and there is "far right nationalism." Reddit has an issue with the latter. I have talked with many conservatives lamenting the loss of their given subreddits to trolls and /r/t_d devotees. Furthermore, it is the internet - I've never been convinced by any argument that HN or reddit or even facebook has any obligation to give "fair time" to far-right nationalism. For as long as Fox News exists an…

"Why doesn't the far-right just "pull itself up by its boostraps""

Umm, why would they do that when they can instead use reddit?

Reddit sells itself as being a strong supporter of free speech. THEY SELF-identify as being a neutral platform.

If the censorship supporters want to interact in a censored forum, then they can make their own subreddit and moderate it how ever they feel like, or make their own website.

The right doesn't need to do anything, because reddit wants to be neutral.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#329

Post by soundwave106 »

Spooky23 wrote: post #279
belorn wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing porn to white supremacy is just that kind of political view that feels completely alien to me. It was not many years ago that Monty Python poked fun at a whole nations conservative view about nudity and porn, and it seems like globally we have taken a few new step backwards toward the 19th century views about those topics. The biggest porn section in reddit is currently ranked 61 of all subreddits. Cat pict…

You’re missing the point, it’s not about being pro/con either topic or prudishness. Porn and white supremacy constituencies are similar in the context of a VC backed company whose trajectory is tied to an equity event. That is that they drive lots of engagement and probably more time on site. Reading the article, the author’s point was that pursuit of growth at all costs creates bad situations like echo chambers for…

I think they both tie together... the thing is, extremism and toxic behavior is not what a lot of people are looking for when it comes to social media (as seen by the top group lists). However, toxic personalities often are very loud ones, and they often get out-sized attention by the press. This can negatively affect an entire site if one isn't careful.

Porn offends some people as well (and is not meant to be viewed in certain social scenarios, of course). Reddit has a "safe for work" and "not safe for work" category, and as far as I'm concerned this dividing line is probably better than the no-nudity-period type policies of Facebook (which leads to dramas over non-pornographic nudity, eg breastfeeding photos, a famous Vietnam photo, etc.). It seems like cute pictures and jokes drive more growth to me at first glance then porn, anyways.

Managing "toxic behavior" is a lot trickier, from what I see -- over-heavy moderation also can lead to issues. But "growth at all costs" social media, without checks, leads to factors such as bullying, abuse, and harassment listed as negatives in articles on your growth prospects.

Re: ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

#330

Post by commandlinefan »

streb-lo wrote: post #302
tripplethrendo wrote: post #103

He's basically saying that freedom of speech is too risky on the internet for any platform. That is scary to me.

Freedom of speech has nothing to do with Reddit.

No, the first amendment of the constitution of the United States (which describes the US government's responsibilities in regards to freedom of speech) has nothing to do with Reddit. Freedom of speech as a concept can be applied to anything: reddit, the government, hacker news, you or I.
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