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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’

#511

Post by spike021 »

coatmatter wrote: post #305
optimuspaul wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might argue that you are in a minority there. I don't doubt that finding good content is possible on Facebook and Twitter, but to be fair it was outside those conclaves that the quality content was actually residing. Back in the day I definitely discovered new things on those platforms, but it has been some time. Most things I see there now are short attention span low quality memes and crap. Might have more to say…

I used to think that I knew how to use Facebook properly and that it was everyone else who was using it wrong and getting the wrong rubbish things in their feed. Then I realised what was more likely the case was that only a small proportion out of my friends going back over a decade is interesting in any way. And out of that segment, only a small number are on my level reciprocally communicative terms - the rest are…

>At least Twitter has a larger pool of "talent" to start with, but it still doesn't make "curation" any easier and most users* would probably concede it's a massive waste of time.

I know it's not optimal because Twitter neglects it, but I find the lists feature to be useful enough for curation.

I follow quite a few accounts on separate lists that I wouldn't want to follow all the time in my main feed.

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

#512

Post by [deleted] »

partiallypro wrote: post #404
gottam wrote: post #256

The comments here have this mentality of "there are people with different opinions from me, why don't these websites deal with these opinions". It's dangerous thinking that can be applied to your opinions. The internet always worked this way. There are the cesspools, maybe things you don't like, but if you don't feel like engaging with these communities you simply keep going. Problem with these social media forum sit…

Reddit once was a good place to engage in things like politics, but now it is a cesspool of left leaning people. /r/politics turning into a largely left platform has helped to give rise to the more extreme groups that feel ostracized. It is my opinion that effectively banning views that can at times be extreme (though non-violent and not inherently bigoted) only draws more people to them. I don't blame Reddit for bei…

[deleted]

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

#513

Post by crazygringo »

md224 wrote: post #265
crazygringo wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what you mean... The official reddit app on iOS show comments as deep as you want, as far as I can tell. They default to collapsed the further you go deep/down in subcomments, but have buttons that say things like "6 more replies". Beyond a certain level they stop indenting , so the actual hierarchy is no longer clear, but that's necessary because there wouldn't be enough horizontal space otherwise…

If you have the mobile app, you can see for yourself. Here's an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOuija/comments/89rukm/hey_vsauce... If you're not by a desktop, you can verify the missing comments by viewing the link in mobile Safari (in an ironic twist, Reddit's mobile web view is actually more functional than their native app). I wonder how many people are out there, like you, who have no idea this is going on.…

I don't know what to tell you, but I see the full thread on my iOS reddit app:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tqoooN7gJ7zNKZLB3

Maybe it's an Android thing?

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

#514

Post by pdonis »

loup-vaillant wrote: post #491
pdonis wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’ll reply to the troll. By trolling yourself? > How are weapon manufacturers not responsible for the deaths caused by their toys? Guns are not toys. They are potentially lethal devices that should be used responsibly. So are many other things, like cars. We don't ban everyone from using cars because some people can't use them responsibly. Nor do we blame the car manufacturer every time someone has an accident. (If…

> What baffles me is how intelligent people want to live in a society where the only people who have a choice about having a gun are lawbreakers and law enforcement, thereby putting themselves at the mercy of criminals and the response time of the police. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but it seems to me that more guns simply mean more opportunities for shooting people. Let's go to the other extreme, and have everyone…

> Maybe it's a cultural thing, but it seems to me that more guns simply mean more opportunities for shooting people.

I think it depends on the people. So perhaps it is a cultural thing.

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

#515

Post by Karrot_Kream »

skybrian wrote: post #470
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Federated social networks give you the ability to change allegiance or fork. Don't like a particular moderator on an instance? Leave to another instance, or start your own. Things can get problematic if other instances refuse to federate your own, but if you maintain even a bit of social capital, most instances will not block an instance with a single user. There's a growing culture (and a set of actions in the ecosy…

But the problem with Reddit doesn't seem to be that subreddits don't have enough independence and ability to make their own choices?

Federation makes a lot of moderation decisions easier. If an instance chooses to stop federating with another instance, it's not like the entire other instance disappears and those users now do not have a place to discuss their ideas, all that happens is that their ideas cannot spread into the Federated network they were cut off from. Likewise if an individual is banned from one Fediverse, then they can join one more hospitable to their beliefs. Probably the worst case scenario would be if an instance were to go down (or get hacked), in which case the users would have to find another instance to go to, but they could probably sign up at another instance that they were previously federated with.

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

#516

Post by [deleted] »

crazygringo wrote: post #513
md224 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have the mobile app, you can see for yourself. Here's an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOuija/comments/89rukm/hey_vsauce... If you're not by a desktop, you can verify the missing comments by viewing the link in mobile Safari (in an ironic twist, Reddit's mobile web view is actually more functional than their native app). I wonder how many people are out there, like you, who have no idea this is going on.…

I don't know what to tell you, but I see the full thread on my iOS reddit app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tqoooN7gJ7zNKZLB3 Maybe it's an Android thing?

[deleted]

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

#517

Post by remir »

posterboy wrote: post #439
remir wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with the upvote/downvote system is that it's too simplistic. If you have an opinion that goes against the status quo, a lot of people will downvote your comment simply because they disagree with what you said on some emotional level. Of course, past a certain number of downvotes, you post will be buried, so you have basically an echo chamber.

That might have it's use, too. Echochamber sounds bad, resonant frequency response sounds neutral, and it's needed for harmony. The real problem then is kakophonie, noise, and choosing the instrument to play on with a nice timbre, noise floor, etc. The internet is large and finding the right venue and audience is difficult. There is value in being told to have hit the wrong tone. This is why shorter messages and twit…

People can sense when there's harmony in music, but what about an opinion? To me, the real problem is lack of emotional distance.

I was in a thread where a woman declared that all men are inherently abusive/violent toward women. I pointed out to her that this is not only a ridiculous statement, but also quite insulting. How can we make such sweeping generalization?

I was down-voted and told that my feeling didn't matter. Soon, other angry people joined in and my reply was buried. My comment went against a certain narrative.

But did I "hit the wrong tone"? I don't think so.

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

#518

Post by chillwaves »

pathseeker wrote: post #473
chillwaves wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over a dozen indictments say otherwise.

How so? None of those seem to imply anything about a Trump/Russia connection so far. If you start a fishing expedition for the Loch Ness monster, you're bound to find some fish but that doesn't prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

Why does Trump keep hiring people who are implicated with Russia? Why did his son meet with a Russian agent @ Trump Tower? What is the deal with Trump "special" relationship with Putin and why did he secretly meet with Putin for hours without a translator? Why do we often learn of US policy from Russian media before the White House? Canceled sanctions on Monday is the latest example.

These questions are not nothing.

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

#519

Post by chillwaves »

pathseeker wrote: post #476
allemagne wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it toxic to share stories about an investigation of the US President?

It's the commentary that's toxic. Nobody is allowed to criticize anything about the investigations or tenuous connections to Russia without being labeled a russian propagandist and downvoted out of visibility. Look at this commentary from just today: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/8da2uu/trump_wel... Do you think this is constructive? https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/8da2uu/trump_wel... What a…

Don't see any problems with what you posted. It's commentary on a commentary site within the community guidelines of that site. There are good posts there, I am sure, just as I am sure there will always be noise.

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

#520

Post by i386 »

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.

Not sure how markdown improves rational discourse but I'd like to be enlightened here.
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