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Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

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Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#541

Post by exelius »

narrator wrote: post #45
exelius wrote: post #15

Reddit works because it’s anonymous, information-dense and relatively ad-free. Change any one of those three and the user base will abandon you. It’s been Reddit’s dilemma since the beginning: you can’t monetize a toxic user base that has total freedom. Sure you can try to drive away the toxic users, but it turns out that those toxic users are also pretty influential in non-toxic aspects. I’m still skeptical of Reddi…

I think the focus on the toxic user base is an artifact of the idea of one-dimensionally categorizing people based on their political ideology. That is such a hot button right now that it completely overshadows all other contributions to society in most forums. Reddit, by allowing some bad behavior and anonymity diffuses that ever present political aspect of modern life.

It ain’t politics; it’s a particularly aggressive form of argumentation that holds no boundaries. Even the most hateful subreddit enforces standards (no doxxing, no brigading, etc) because if they don’t, they know the Reddit admins will shut them down or force them private (invite-only).

The subject matter of the sub doesn’t matter, the toxicity is in the methods.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#542

Post by jasonkostempski »

Caprinicus wrote: post #520
babuskov wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> didn't want to scare me into giving up my email address using "account recovery" FUD It's not FUD. I run a small website (about 10k daily visits) where you can log in and play some games and don't have the "reset password via e-mail" mechanism. You won't believe the amount of "I forgot my password, please reset it" requests I get from people. Majority of people give more value to being allowed to be lazy and forget…

I linked an email with my Reddit account long before it became recommended. Years later, I deleted that gmail account. Even more years after that, Reddit decided (automated) to lock my account until I reset my password for no discernible reason, the only option being via email. It took two weeks with support, across 3 different mediums of communication, to get it reset to a new email account. I guess what I’m saying…

I never considered what they'd do in the event of a forced password reset after a breach. Not a problem for my use case given I consider them throwaway accounts anyway. Maybe sites should have accounts specifically designed as throw aways. No visible karma, no email, clear indication that you can't recover if you forget password, if there is a breach, your account is deleted immediatley.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#544

Post by gsich »

Reddit on mobile browser is the worst experience one can have. A very big chunk of the screen is hidden with "get the app". You click on the mini text and the you need to scroll down to dismiss the bar.

It has become similar with their new design, even on desktop platforms. "click here for old reddit or dismiss" and sometimes the old.reddit.com link has no underline with it, suggesting that a click there won't work.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#545

Post by baud147258 »

baud147258 wrote: post #517
Big_crimpin wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a major issue with this too. I posted an idea for the admins to counter this type of thing by allowing users if they wish to, to blacklist mods so that a user can still view content that those mods have removed without having any effect on users who don't blacklist those mods. It went as we'll as I expected it probably would have. https://www.reddit.com/r/ideasfortheadmins/comments/8mrqyh/a... I don't know if…

Your idea seemed interesting, but I think "blacklist" is too strong a term. Perhaps "hide mod action" would have gone better.

Or "ignore mod action"

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#546

Post by mastrsushi »

steveklabnik wrote: post #515
mastrsushi wrote: post #487

The initial idea of Facebook is great. I can't exactly knock it when this site is heavily influenced. But the problem with having specific boards that satisfy every little interest is that an echo chamber effect often occurs. My karma on that site is so low, not because of trolling, but speaking my own opposing views. I'll never be able to post on a FreeBSD subreddit, claiming a specific case where I find Linux bette…

Side note, my understanding is not that OpenBSD rejects Rust due to "no core utilities have been implemented", but because it cannot bootstrap from a C compiler alone.

Do you have a link to that? So much for self-hosting.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#547

Post by dbasedweeb »

wolco wrote: post #207
slg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The kind of toxic people we are talking about on Reddit are not toxic for their politics. Racism, bigotry, and misogyny are not political topics. It isn't like tax policy or any other topic that can be debated. There is one clear side that is wrong.

Every topic has many side and those topics are very current issues in politics today. The meaning of those terms are constantly changing. Issue don't have a right or wrong side unless you have adopted a position.

So you’re agnostic on murder, slavery, torture of children and animals, and rape? Come on, we have tons of clear rights and wrongs, and the kind of absolute moral relativism you’re peddling is a smokescreen.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#548

Post by arbitrage »

jlpom wrote: post #324
Viper007Bond wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An absolute ton of Reddit users browse the site via apps too. Something to keep in mind. I still agree that Facebook is larger though.

I don't know the usage stats, but I think the app/website ratio is nowhere near the one of facebook. Some probable reasons for this (unbacked) claim: 1) Long sessions are more suitable on a laptop/desktop than on a smartphone (the average session time is ~15mn). 2) There is still a nerdy userbase (mostly early users) who prefer to use the website with all the features. 3) The app is relatively recent (April 2016 vs 2…

You're just pulling these points out of thin air.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#549

Post by reitanqild »

swyab55 wrote: post #432
braindongle wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, groupthink is worse here than on Reddit, or at least the subs I visit. Divergent thinking is often celebrated. Here it's more about convergence to the most defensibly informed perspective. I may be wrong, and these differences are subtle in any event. Regardless, any discussion of groupthink on HN should include some critical self-reflection. Please downvote me!

It’s much worse. If you say something against the groupthink, especially about a hot button topic, dang will come and ban your account for “being inflammatory”. It’s impossible to discuss certain topics here thanks to the flagging system.

To his defense mods are more consistent than that:

AFAIK you can be punished even if you are part of the groupthink.

Which is good IMO.

Re: Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in US

#550

Post by aeorgnoieang »

joe_the_user wrote: post #426
asclepi wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also appreciate the open nature of Reddit. No account is required if you just want to read, and you don't need to be first "approved" to most subreddits to be able to contribute. No "real-name" policies that often do more harm than good either. While Facebook by default erects walls around content, Reddit by default promotes the free sharing and equal access to information, which resonates much more with the origin…

I go to Reddit and HN for technical topics I have an interest in. Mostly Machine Learning on Reddit. For more political and personal topics, Facebook is far better. Mostly because there are far more Facebook groups than there are subreddits, so in a controversial topic you tend to get vicious, abusive individuals taking control of a given category on Reddit. Because there are a lot of these folks out there and there'…

How would a Facebook group really work any differently than a subreddit? They're both just names. There are no 'categories' on Reddit; just good (better) names.
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