Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Growth of Reddit

blog.quillbot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 209 posts

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#81

Post by naravara »

rolleiflex wrote: post #50
rigged-system wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it's gone, the "old internet" will be gone

There are still some of us that are trying to keep the old internet alive. (Shameless plug: https://beta.getaether.net )

One of the cool thing, basically THE cool thing about the old internet was the exposure to a giant wide world with all different kinds of people and interests from all walks of life. It skewed technical, because you had to be technical to figure out how to work it. But once people got over an initial barrier it was cool, and it's not like there was anywhere else they could go if they wanted to reach whatever community they were into.

One of the problems with attempts to keep the "old internet" alive is that they still skew technical (because most of the people who are nostalgic for it are comfortable enough with those technical things), but now regular Joes have other options. They're not going to bother learning the technical stuff if everything else is set up to make it brainless and easy.

Moreover, since you HAVE to be technically inclined to build such a thing, the initial word of mouth and distribution winds up being constrained to the technical crowds. This makes the communities one-note and boring, so people just don't feel very compelled to stay.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#82

Post by Apocryphon »

chrisco255 wrote: post #21

In many ways, Reddit reminds me more of the "old internet" than Facebook or Twitter. There seems to be better discussions, more variety, and even quite a bit of experimentation going on within certain subreddits. It feels like a freer place and that much I like. I still don't like that people get into their own bubbles and do little to bridge the gaps between political and ideological differences, but it certainly fe…

Reddit is basically one giant forum. Old fashioned discussion boards and message fora will still be around.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#83

Post by cwkoss »

Reddit has a number of systemic issues (poor tools for moderators, hard to get rid of bad moderators, huge amounts of astroturfing)

It's a shame that they are 'good enough' to prevent much growth in the competitors, leading the cool tech made by competitors to often become exclusively filled with content that would be banned on reddit.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#84

Post by naravara »

dunmalg wrote: post #55
rolleiflex wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disabling the new design still requires you to be signed in, though. I don’t sign in most of the time I’m using Reddit. (Which makes for poor monetisation, and even being able to disable the new redesign only when signed in is a win for them over the current situation.)

Not signing in to reddit is the surest way to experience the online equivalent of a table next to the bathroom.

Signing in puts you at risk of getting sucked into pointless internet comment arguments though.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#85

Post by sys_64738 »

epa wrote: post #80

One of the major reasons reddit became popular initially is because of Digg. Digg had content that was 2-3 days older than reddit (many posts from Reddit got reposted to Digg). Once people started figuring that out, combined with the Digg censorshop scandal(1), reddit took off. (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controvers...

This. Was thinking that all the Reddit regulars of yester-decade were originally from Digg myself.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#86

Post by Nition »

rigged-system wrote: post #39
chrisco255 wrote: post #21

In many ways, Reddit reminds me more of the "old internet" than Facebook or Twitter. There seems to be better discussions, more variety, and even quite a bit of experimentation going on within certain subreddits. It feels like a freer place and that much I like. I still don't like that people get into their own bubbles and do little to bridge the gaps between political and ideological differences, but it certainly fe…

When it's gone, the "old internet" will be gone

I feel like that happened to some extent when the SomethingAwful forums lost their dominance.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#87

Post by gsich »

rigged-system wrote: post #39
chrisco255 wrote: post #21

In many ways, Reddit reminds me more of the "old internet" than Facebook or Twitter. There seems to be better discussions, more variety, and even quite a bit of experimentation going on within certain subreddits. It feels like a freer place and that much I like. I still don't like that people get into their own bubbles and do little to bridge the gaps between political and ideological differences, but it certainly fe…

When it's gone, the "old internet" will be gone

Every platform has its Eternal September.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#88

Post by nerdponx »

beatgammit wrote: post #78
nerdponx wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

/r/politics leans left, so it kinda makes sense.

It more than just leans left. Most comments and posts from a conservative position get downvoted, and many libertarian ones do as well, while almost anything positive for liberals gets upvotes, even if it's not newsworthy. I'd really like something like HN, but for political discussion. There are a couple okay subreddits, but it's just not worth it anymore IMO. I just want quality discussion about issues, complete wi…

/r/media_criticism has been pretty balanced, and nowadays has mostly political content.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#89

Post by gsich »

rolleiflex wrote: post #51
mhink wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not much to do about v.reddit, but you can disable the redesign in your user preferences, and as for comments- unsubscribe from the default subreddits and then go subscribe to specific, smaller subs that catch your interest. /r/SubredditOfTheDay, /r/TinySubredditOfTheDay, and /r/Serendipity are great ways to find out about about new subs. (Unfortunately, there's not much to do about the mobile app, which is pretty bo…

Disabling the new design still requires you to be signed in, though. I don’t sign in most of the time I’m using Reddit. (Which makes for poor monetisation, and even being able to disable the new redesign only when signed in is a win for them over the current situation.)

Or with old.reddit.com in the URL. There is probably a browser addon or JS for that.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#90

Post by wild_preference »

mbesto wrote: post #41
crovalin17 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bold prediction: FB will try to acquire Reddit soon This would be bad on so many levels.

Not for their investors who put in $200m and want a return. I use Reddit daily, but it's days are numbered. Having Facebook acquire them I think is it's only saving grace. I use the word "it" deliberately, because Reddit is now in the hands of its VCs.

> and want a return

Then it would be bad for them, too.

Post reply on HN