Reddit has become a guide to personal finance • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#301

Post by code_duck » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:21 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #285

xelhark wrote: post #23

I think a much bigger point can be summarized with this sentence from the article: > Seven of the top ten results are trying to sell you something, which really makes you question the objectivity of the advice. This is true when searching for pretty much everything in Google nowadays, that's why if you're looking for any info, searching on reddit usually yields much more objective and generally better results.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

>Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question

People don’t follow that, anyway. First, the rules for subs, on the sidebar on the desktop, are fairly hidden away now in the ‘about’ link. It’s doesn’t matter, though. Even when it’s at the top in a sticky post people don’t read it - take /r/scams, for instance, and the ‘I installed a RAT and filmed you watching poern so give me bitcoin’ scam. People post about that every day for months despite a highlighted bold post at the top of the sub for 6 months. Or /r/celiac. Plenty of links about diagnosis in the sidebar, but people ask ‘I have this and this symptom, do I have celiac?’ about 4 times a week.

Overall people come to reddit or a forum to have a discussion. Searching and reading is what they don’t want to do.

I’m on the fence as forbidding previously covered topics makes a forum dry and cobwebby. On the other hand, repeating the same basic advice 5 times a week for different people feels very repetitive, like you say. It takes a community of dedicated posters, basically obsessed volunteers, to make a sub consistently give good advice to everyone who comes by. I essentially do this as a hobby, myself.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#302

Post by code_duck » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:23 PM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #296

bityard wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

I have found that subreddits almost become an anti-expertise forum over time - when actual experts show up to give advice, they are often downvoted if their advice goes against whatever that subreddit is cargo culting (which, as you mentioned, is often not great advice in the first place). Then the expert is discouraged from participating ever again. I've witnessed this pattern in an array of subreddits spanning from…

I’ve seen this on medical subs. Doctors get downvoted and their posts disputed. This is often because members have had poor experiences with doctors and the doctors underestimate the level of sophistication of the patient members, and their own level of knowledge is not always what one would expect.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#303

Post by mdns33 » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:24 PM UTC

skepticmoron1 wrote: post #70

xelhark wrote: post #23

I think a much bigger point can be summarized with this sentence from the article: > Seven of the top ten results are trying to sell you something, which really makes you question the objectivity of the advice. This is true when searching for pretty much everything in Google nowadays, that's why if you're looking for any info, searching on reddit usually yields much more objective and generally better results.

I find blind app to be a lot more objective. Your company information is required to sign up. This primary property of the app makes it is easier to differentiate an ad vs real advice.

if you can filter out the noise (takes effort). It is a decent guide.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#304

Post by code_duck » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:26 PM UTC

speeder wrote: post #98

lawlorino wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that's why if you're looking for any info, searching on reddit usually yields much more objective and generally better results. Agreed, I often default to Reddit or HN for a lot of stuff although there are an increasing number of obvious adverts disguised as genuine posts (see r/hailcorporate for some examples). More difficult to spot are marketing firms who curate a bunch of fake accounts, make them seem like "rea…

I dated a woman that had this job, but using Facebook (this was some years ago too). It was not just marketing, but PR too, for example she bragged about when Whirlpool had a serious problem with one of their washing machines in my country, and it was going viral, so Whirlpool paid the marketing agency to make all fake profiles (even ones not belonging to their campaigns) make other viral posts to drown out the washi…

The way Facebook works, you never see 90% of the people or pages you are following in your feed, and maybe 10% of the content from those. If I “liked” a page that turned into a washing machine page, I wouldn’t even know for months and when I saw it, I’d be confused about how I “liked” it in the first place, rather than connecting the old page to the new version.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#305

Post by GFischer » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:29 PM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #296

bityard wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

I have found that subreddits almost become an anti-expertise forum over time - when actual experts show up to give advice, they are often downvoted if their advice goes against whatever that subreddit is cargo culting (which, as you mentioned, is often not great advice in the first place). Then the expert is discouraged from participating ever again. I've witnessed this pattern in an array of subreddits spanning from…

Maybe some subreddits, but on other subreddits you get actual top people - I´m in a couple of card game ones and I sometimes get answers from a top 50 player. You also get advice from not so good players too of course.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#306

Post by cookiengineer » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:29 PM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #296

bityard wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

I have found that subreddits almost become an anti-expertise forum over time - when actual experts show up to give advice, they are often downvoted if their advice goes against whatever that subreddit is cargo culting (which, as you mentioned, is often not great advice in the first place). Then the expert is discouraged from participating ever again. I've witnessed this pattern in an array of subreddits spanning from…

> I have found that subreddits almost become an anti-expertise forum over time - when actual experts show up to give advice, they are often downvoted if their advice goes against whatever that subreddit is cargo culting (which, as you mentioned, is often not great advice in the first place). Then the expert is discouraged from participating ever again.

/r/programming in a nutshell.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#307

Post by beatgammit » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:32 PM UTC

cowsandmilk wrote: post #51

I can’t help but question what he’s actually learned when his links don’t actually explain a topic. He says he learned about mega backdoor IRAs, but then links to a thread about regular backdoor IRAs. I’m not sure he does know what differentiates a “mega” from a regular backdoor.

People get terminology wrong in niches like this all the time, especially when the terminology is so similar.

The fact that the OP even knows that a backdoor Roth IRA exists (much less a "mega" backdoor IRA) puts this person leagues above the average person, who probably doesn't even know the difference between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA, much less what an IRA even is.

Honestly, I trust sources like OP mentioned more than most financial advisors because advisors tend to pitch a product instead of conveying information. Schools aren't doing it, so that basically leaves communities like this.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#308

Post by bobloblaw45 » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:33 PM UTC

Domenic_S wrote: post #295

bityard wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

> As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. I answer questions in r/personalfinance's "new" area, and the split is something like: "I am upside down on my car loan/loan is too expensive/want to get out of my current car" - 40% "How do I do I make [some crazy ROI]? I have [$small amount] to invest" - 20% "I have no money and need to pay my bills" - 20% "Can I afford to…

I noticed a good amount of of young people humble-bragging too. Like "I just got out of college and I make 6 figures, should I eat lentils or splurge and get Sizzler?"

To be fair I haven't seen much recently they seemed to be more common in the past.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#309

Post by pfranz » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:34 PM UTC

sykick wrote: post #190

waylandsmithers wrote: post #161

I would personally advise against taking advice from Reddit beyond simply basic answers about various financial products and maths. My problem with larger communities on Reddit is that prevailing opinions seem to emerge, and anything that questions or disagrees with them gets downvoted to hell. On the personal finance subreddits these include ideas like "You should always have 18 months of expenses saved" and "Any mo…

I disagree with your last paragraph but wholeheartedly agree with he first 2. One of the things that bothers me about the advice given there is a seemingly irrational aversion to bankruptcy or walking away from a debt. Sometimes that’s the financially wise option.

I really think "You should always have 18 months of expenses saved" (assuming this is in savings) isn't universal. If you're fairly young, single and have a new source of disposable income then a few months savings seems prudent and paying down debt seems like the best course of action. I remember diligently building a large emergency fund knowing I could scale down drastically if I lost my job and seeing interest accrue in accounts I could have paid off. If you have kids, a mortgage, and a single household income you really have to be more risk averse.

I do think bankruptcy should be thought of more as a business decision than a personal decision.

Re: Reddit has become a guide to personal finance

#310

Post by teach » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 6:35 PM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #296

bityard wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you don't get as much "blogspam" on Reddit, it has a very different problem today: The amount of misinformation and echo chambering of said misinformation on Reddit is simply staggering. Very few subs have FAQs or rules asking newbies to search the sub for their question. As a result, most of the subs I follow are littered with the same questions over and over. The other problem is that when someone does ask fo…

I have found that subreddits almost become an anti-expertise forum over time - when actual experts show up to give advice, they are often downvoted if their advice goes against whatever that subreddit is cargo culting (which, as you mentioned, is often not great advice in the first place). Then the expert is discouraged from participating ever again. I've witnessed this pattern in an array of subreddits spanning from…

My wife gets this a lot with nutrition. She has a freaking PhD in Nutrition Science and also is a registered dietitian but god forbid she suggest that maybe bacon isn't the mostly healthy of foods in most subreddits.