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Reddit is fine if you subscribe to small [0] or heavily moderated [1]. Default and large subreddits have practically always been as you describe. >requirement

by tyrust 9y ago

Reddit is fine if you subscribe to small [0] or heavily moderated [1]. Default and large subreddits have practically always been as you describe. >requirement of quality comments Ha. You won't have shitposts or rehashed jokes, but you also won't always have quality. I'll refer to a past comment of mine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16154688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16154688 [0] - Usually niche interest or specific geographic [1] - e.g. /r/askhistorians, /r/askscience, /r/neutralpolitics

IgorPartola 9y ago
Reddit is insta-community. Here's how I use Reddit: I pick up a new hobby, say knitting. I go to reddit.com/r/knitting and suddenly I have a bunch of experts there who I can ask questions, exchange ideas with, or brag to about my accomplishments. There is an instant community already existing on Reddit for pretty much every activity I can think of. Where this gets dicey is politics. If you are suddenly a black libretarian baptist who believes in evolution, but not gravity, there's probably a /r/blbwbiebng already waiting for you. And if any of those gravity believing scum show up, the mods will ban them. My ex used to study these little fish from Alaska who evolved in basically tiny separated ponds as the water level dropped and they all got separated. This is what's happening with Reddit. Silos where evolution happens completely independently of anything in the outside world.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  I use Reddit the same way. Whenever I want to explore a new interest, I start with /r/[that interest] - almost always there's a high-quality community there, full of domain experts and often lots of useful resources collected in the sidebar. I stay away from general and political subreddits.
- opportune 9y ago
  I don't think reddit does a good job of dealing with academic subjects or discussions either. Any /r/{academic_topic} is usually filled with undergraduate-level discussion. I think that is a direct consequence of reddit being an insta-community though - it prevents the development of actual-expert communities. There are some good expert communities like /r/askhistorians, and their model certainly works for something like history, but I don't think the same format would really work for something like machine learning or mathematics.
  - detuur 9y ago
    Only communities with expert-level moderators, who are capable of recognising layman speculation, can become expert communities. Unfortunately, unless you're a historian, most experts have better things to do than moderate online communities for free.

by tyrust 9y ago

IgorPartola 9y ago

Reddit is insta-community. Here's how I use Reddit: I pick up a new hobby, say knitting. I go to reddit.com/r/knitting and suddenly I have a bunch of experts there who I can ask questions, exchange ideas with, or brag to about my accomplishments. There is an instant community already existing on Reddit for pretty much every activity I can think of. Where this gets dicey is politics. If you are suddenly a black libretarian baptist who believes in evolution, but not gravity, there's probably a /r/blbwbiebng already waiting for you. And if any of those gravity believing scum show up, the mods will ban them. My ex used to study these little fish from Alaska who evolved in basically tiny separated ponds as the water level dropped and they all got separated. This is what's happening with Reddit. Silos where evolution happens completely independently of anything in the outside world.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
I use Reddit the same way. Whenever I want to explore a new interest, I start with /r/[that interest] - almost always there's a high-quality community there, full of domain experts and often lots of useful resources collected in the sidebar. I stay away from general and political subreddits.
opportune 9y ago
I don't think reddit does a good job of dealing with academic subjects or discussions either. Any /r/{academic_topic} is usually filled with undergraduate-level discussion. I think that is a direct consequence of reddit being an insta-community though - it prevents the development of actual-expert communities. There are some good expert communities like /r/askhistorians, and their model certainly works for something like history, but I don't think the same format would really work for something like machine learning or mathematics.
- detuur 9y ago
  Only communities with expert-level moderators, who are capable of recognising layman speculation, can become expert communities. Unfortunately, unless you're a historian, most experts have better things to do than moderate online communities for free.