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The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

toddwschneider.com

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Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#21

Post by ThomPete »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #16
ThomPete wrote: post #7

I left reddit years ago (and found HN) because although I agree with mostly liberal views it became too much of an echo-chamber for liberal views the frontpage is the extreme example of that. There are many great sub-reddits of course but it's not a place for politicial discussions (in fact I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions) Edit: Why does my personal experience get downvoted?

> I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions I sometimes wonder if such a place can exist. Outside of friendships, I kind of don't think it can.

Thats a g good question. I do have some good debates on Facebook but wish I could have it isolated from all those of my friends who aren't interested in politics.

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#22

Post by drpgq »

mrfusion wrote: post #13
ThomPete wrote: post #7

I left reddit years ago (and found HN) because although I agree with mostly liberal views it became too much of an echo-chamber for liberal views the frontpage is the extreme example of that. There are many great sub-reddits of course but it's not a place for politicial discussions (in fact I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions) Edit: Why does my personal experience get downvoted?

It's odd the Ron Paul was popular on Reddit for a while though. How do you explain that?

Reddit was a pretty libertarian place in the very beginning.

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#23

Post by [deleted] »

mrfusion wrote: post #13
ThomPete wrote: post #7

I left reddit years ago (and found HN) because although I agree with mostly liberal views it became too much of an echo-chamber for liberal views the frontpage is the extreme example of that. There are many great sub-reddits of course but it's not a place for politicial discussions (in fact I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions) Edit: Why does my personal experience get downvoted?

It's odd the Ron Paul was popular on Reddit for a while though. How do you explain that?

[deleted]

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#24

Post by ThomPete »

Guvante wrote: post #20
ThomPete wrote: post #7

I left reddit years ago (and found HN) because although I agree with mostly liberal views it became too much of an echo-chamber for liberal views the frontpage is the extreme example of that. There are many great sub-reddits of course but it's not a place for politicial discussions (in fact I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions) Edit: Why does my personal experience get downvoted?

They eventually bit the bullet and removed politics and a few similar subreddits from the default page.

Interesting. Thanks for that info. I will have a look again.

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#25

Post by runevault »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #16
ThomPete wrote: post #7

I left reddit years ago (and found HN) because although I agree with mostly liberal views it became too much of an echo-chamber for liberal views the frontpage is the extreme example of that. There are many great sub-reddits of course but it's not a place for politicial discussions (in fact I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions) Edit: Why does my personal experience get downvoted?

> I am still looking for a good place to have political discussions I sometimes wonder if such a place can exist. Outside of friendships, I kind of don't think it can.

Theoretically, I think it can exist. However it would take a fair bit of luck for the core group that grows up around it being diverse in their opinions but also open minded.

Unfortunately most people these days are more interested in their initial opinion being right than in having real discourse that everyone can learn and grow from.

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#26

Post by Guvante »

adrianlmm wrote: post #15

I feel the same, about reddit, I only go to r/linux and r/android, I don't go to r/news or r/technology anymore, let alone the front page, is all liberal biaz, and I like impartial news.

When you login you get to pick the subreddits that show up on the front page. Getting rid of /r/politics was why I created a login and now I have a front page with few "easy laughs" due to self selection (no /r/funny etc.)

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#28

Post by oftenwrong »

mrfusion wrote: post #3

Dumb question but what is the reddit front page? Isn't it customized for everyone depending on what you're subscribed to? Or are there a ton of users that never log in? It seems like you wouldn't get much value out of reddit if you just view the front page without logging in?

The author defines the term "default front page" with an annotation:

"In other words, assuming you’re not logged in. I don’t have any supporting info, but I’d imagine that a large chunk of reddit’s traffic comes from logged out users."

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#29

Post by Guvante »

mrfusion wrote: post #10
lbotos wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit has a default frontpage for people who don't have accounts. I lurked for years and was just fine without actually creating an account. :)

Isn't the default page mostly cat pictures and jokes? I tried viewing it logged out one time and I couldn't figure out who would like that?

That is what the OP is about, they have since altered their algorithms to avoid pure cat pictures and jokes by inflating the value of certain sub reddits.

Re: The Reddit Front Page Is Not a Meritocracy

#30

Post by ehmorris »

Guvante wrote: post #11
selmnoo wrote: post #4

One thing I'm interested in knowing is whether Reddit manipulates the votes on its own submissions. See, for example, r/blog: http://www.reddit.com/r/blog/new/ Every submission made there went to the frontpage. What are the chances? I mean, it's hard to believe that mainstream Redditors at this point are so interested in Reddit news that they keep sending every Reddit announcement to the top. What's more likely, to m…

1500 people hitting up arrow because the poster is an admin is believable to me given Reddit's size.

The score does not correlate directly w/ number of upvotes
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