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Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

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Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#171
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's gotten so bad that there's now an ad blocker filter list that removes the StackOverflow clones from search results.

I'm not OP, but for those of you who saw this comment and were hoping for a link, the one that I use is https://github.com/quenhus/uBlock-Origin-dev-filter

Any other external filter lists that are useful?

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#172
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing about adding reddit to one's search queries, but what sort of things are y'all searching for where reddit's opinion is relevant? Reddit is kind of like that effect that people say about popular journalism; for the things that you're an expert on, they always get it wrong, but for things you know nothing about, they have a way of sounding right. Reddit is very much like that for me; if I know nothing ab…

I agree in the broad that much (most) of reddit is awful, wrong, and not worth viewing. (I wonder how you feel about HN over the years. To me HN got as bad as parts of reddit were at some point, however reddit has gotten worse too so there's still a quality gap.) Still, it can be occasionally useful to filter it as a site for queries, like with HN. (It's fun to see if a company I've thought about working for has been…

I actually like Reddit and HN in general. On Reddit, I like the comment threads where they trash politicians with escalating levels of absurdity, and the creative writing exercises disguised as AITA and TIFU.

As for HN, I think it's fine. It really hasn't gotten worse over the years (people were saying that in 2010 too). Moderation here is excellent, and people mostly behave themselves. But, you do have to stay away from certain subject areas. If you see "it's a lab leak for sure!!!" with 2000 comments, I recommend bypassing that. Lot of people very mad at each other. Anything technical, though, lots of good discussions, even on popular topics, and I often learn something. The intersection of technical and social is mixed, but generally you don't feel terrible after reading them.

HN does feel like it skews younger than it used to. Probably because I am now older than when I first started using the site. I read a lot of things where I think "you'll figure it out in a few years" more and more, but know that you can only explain so much. Lessons have to be learned firsthand, HN's average reader has many good life lessons to learn. So do I, of course!

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#174
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me laugh - I've found myself appending "reddit" to my search queries more and more frequently when looking for product or service reviews. The regular google results are filled with affiliate-link-driven ads disguised as product reviews. If you want to really know what people think about products, you have to go digging these days.

The silliest part to me is that the affiliate marketing reads like affiliate marketing. Reddit comments somehow seem more genuine, even though the former is trying to mimic the latter.

Affiliate marketing has been around long enough that it has become easily recognizable.

For those attempting to game reddit, the trick may be in properly categorizing the accounts.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#175
post #114
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me laugh - I've found myself appending "reddit" to my search queries more and more frequently when looking for product or service reviews. The regular google results are filled with affiliate-link-driven ads disguised as product reviews. If you want to really know what people think about products, you have to go digging these days.

>I've found myself appending "reddit" to my search queries So what you're saying is I should create dedicated subreddits about my products that only allow my multitude of bot accounts to post to it, but look like real conversations?

Generally the good reddit threads are those on more generalized subreddits rather than product-specific ones, and though I read threads in the latter I take them with a big grain of salt. The generalized subreddits are much more likely to have enthusiasts pointing out pros and cons of competing products and calling out anything too effusively glowing, though of course it's not perfect.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#176
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately reddit is spammed with promoters

Still much easier to parse through reddit's comments and try to identify astroturfing than going through Google's results figuring out what's not SEO-spam or sponsored reviews... It takes me much less effort to do the former than the latter.

For products, I'll find suggestions from reddit, signal it with the conversational quality, then corroborate it against other places that reviews may exists like forums, youtube, facebook, instagram, etc.

Usually, a great product will have enough activity surrounding it that it's difficult to fake with bots. Especially, Instagram profiles with is organic rather than manufactured.

I think the strongest signal for legitimate IG accounts is the ephemeral nature of the 24-hour IG stories. I suppose someone enterprising could auto-build hundreds of personas that post stories daily, but a random profile with stories posting activism, their morning latte art, a selfie with some friends seems doesn't fit in the ROI of a scalable marketing strategy across a ton of accounts. Maybe I could be wrong?

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#177
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing about adding reddit to one's search queries, but what sort of things are y'all searching for where reddit's opinion is relevant? Reddit is kind of like that effect that people say about popular journalism; for the things that you're an expert on, they always get it wrong, but for things you know nothing about, they have a way of sounding right. Reddit is very much like that for me; if I know nothing ab…

> but what sort of things are y'all searching for where reddit's opinion is relevant If you want real, unvarnished reviews and opinions of products, you need to get it from real people that have owned the product for more than 1 day before leaving the review. I recently needed to purchase a new winter coat. Surfing many reddit threads across a dozen or so subs actually convinced me to not purchase the coat I had in m…

Yeah, reddit is a lot better for gauging what owning a product is like long-term. Don't blindly trust naturally, but it can be a decent data source in what would otherwise be a total vacuum.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing about adding reddit to one's search queries, but what sort of things are y'all searching for where reddit's opinion is relevant? Reddit is kind of like that effect that people say about popular journalism; for the things that you're an expert on, they always get it wrong, but for things you know nothing about, they have a way of sounding right. Reddit is very much like that for me; if I know nothing ab…

There’s a lot of useful stuff on Reddit but you do have to be careful as “upvoted” stuff is sometimes wrong and “downvoted” stuff is sometimes right. My bigger issue with it is that volunteer-mods are often power-hungry and ban people who they disagree with or who hurt their feelings. Reddit is a social experiment, and the result is humans are still trash to each other when they’re anonymous.

> There’s a lot of useful stuff on Reddit but you do have to be careful as “upvoted” stuff is sometimes wrong and “downvoted” stuff is sometimes right.

Default subs and big subs are by far the worst about this. Comments in threads on r/technology for example frequently perpetuates easily verifiable falsehoods that would quickly get shot down in smaller communities.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#179

I feel lost reading articles like this. Then I realize people still use Google search. I switched six years ago to Duck.com and I’m never looking back.

You forgot that people use the search engine with >90% market share?

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#180
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not OP, but for those of you who saw this comment and were hoping for a link, the one that I use is https://github.com/quenhus/uBlock-Origin-dev-filter

Any other external filter lists that are useful?

Not software dev specific, but I also use Peter Lowe's ads and trackers blocklist (https://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php). Note that this one can be a bit aggressive (blocks url shorteners and clickthroughs on google ads even if they are the correct place you want to visit because, well, tracking), but it is well maintained and generally a fantastic addition to the default ublock origin lists imo
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