4 ms·

I don't know what content you're looking for on Reddit, but my experience is the opposite. Reddit makes it very easy for me to find focused, high-quality conver

by cle 6y ago

I don't know what content you're looking for on Reddit, but my experience is the opposite. Reddit makes it very easy for me to find focused, high-quality conversations about specific topics. As others have said, the trick is to stick to small subreddits. AskReddit, like most of the big subreddits, is a cesspool. Also, I find that searching Reddit with Google yields much more trustworthy information than just searching Google, which tends to return a bunch of sponsored results, ads, and SEO garbage. Folks on Reddit (especially focused subreddits) do a very good job of filtering all that stuff out already. It's not perfect, but it's often vastly better than Google alone.

jimbob45 6y ago
Hear hear I would offer up the subreddit on liminal spaces or the video game Marathon as places for discussion that could not otherwise exist without Reddit.
jug 6y ago
Agreed — don’t use the default subreddits. They’re cancer. But I’ve had a great time at the Formula1 subreddit and people are crazy at MechanicalKeyboards. I’m sure you’ll love a knitting group if you enjoy that. Go by your specific interests and really just say no to the generic or huge ones like funny, pics, askreddit etc.
- drstewart 6y ago
  The problem is that subreddit is very prone to heterogeneous opinions and groupthink, even among niche subreddits, mostly around what's appealing to mid-20 year old white US males. The discussion is often very shallow, mostly aimed at "advanced beginners" because that's what appeals to the widest audience and anything else doesn't get traction, unlike in a traditional forum. This is very obvious if you're into a technical hobby like climbing or mountaineering. Basically, if you don't fit the demographic / skill level mold, even niche subreddits (that aren't the dumpster fire that the large ones are) quickly lose their value.
  - SkyMarshal 6y ago
    >anything else doesn't get traction, unlike in a traditional forum. This is very obvious if you're into a technical hobby like climbing or mountaineering. That's interesting, can you think of other examples besides climbing or mountaineering?
    - defrost 6y ago
      Surveying, for one, there are others. Don't get me wrong, great group of people in surveying- lots of stories about field work, current instruments, current products, etc - near zero interest (for the most part) in the deep technical aspects other than a certain passing "that's interesting | cool". I'm not sure that's a strong criticism though, it's a social group, you can meet many people and occasionally bump into the few that actually write|develop instruments an software and then have all the off channel conversations you want. My interest has been implementing numerics in no particular field; cartography, remote sensing, medical imaging, engineering modelling, financials, weddings, parties, anything, etc. I wander through a range of application areas and usually go deep on very dull specifics. It's a common story - pick a domain area, there'll be a social group interested in that domain, with students, veterans, casual pass throughs, etc ; stories, yarns, classic photos etc are all popular but for the most part getting into the weeds on fine details will bore the pants off the bulk of that group. Lots of people like to flex at the local climbing wall, few will ever bolt their way to the summit of Cerro Torre or cable ascend the Sydney Tower- this limits the discussion pools on portable generators and|or designing custom ascenders for cables and window washing tracks.
  - robswc 6y ago
    I can agree with this. This is great if you have a soft interest in something. However, I like trading (stocks and stuff) and the subs focusing on that are very... questionable at times. A ton of people that mistake pure luck for skill perhaps... every other day. Its no use telling some of them that, yea you just made $1000 this week trading but if you don't test your strategies legitimately you could and will just as easily lose that $1000. People really underestimate the randomness.
barnesto 6y ago
Absolutely right. I stick to niche subreddits that cover my hobbies and lifestyle. Great people. Great content. All of the large subreddits are hot garbage. It's like Twitter intensified.
SkyMarshal 6y ago
>the trick is to stick to ~~small~~ niche subreddits. I think generality is more of a problem than size. The more general a subreddit's topic, usually the more of a cesspool it is. The more specific and niche, the more likely it is to be focused, informative, and useful. Also the better moderated it tends to be, as the moderators are intensely interested in the topic and doing it as a labor of love.
- cle 6y ago
  That's a great observation, clearly the size is not the only factor.
BeetleB 6y ago
> Also, I find that searching Reddit with Google yields much more trustworthy information than just searching Google Same here. For certain topics, I often get absolutely useless info on Google, but when I add site:reddit.com I suddenly get a lot of useful results.

by cle 6y ago

jimbob45 6y ago

Hear hear I would offer up the subreddit on liminal spaces or the video game Marathon as places for discussion that could not otherwise exist without Reddit.

jug 6y ago

Agreed — don’t use the default subreddits. They’re cancer. But I’ve had a great time at the Formula1 subreddit and people are crazy at MechanicalKeyboards. I’m sure you’ll love a knitting group if you enjoy that. Go by your specific interests and really just say no to the generic or huge ones like funny, pics, askreddit etc.

drstewart 6y ago
The problem is that subreddit is very prone to heterogeneous opinions and groupthink, even among niche subreddits, mostly around what's appealing to mid-20 year old white US males. The discussion is often very shallow, mostly aimed at "advanced beginners" because that's what appeals to the widest audience and anything else doesn't get traction, unlike in a traditional forum. This is very obvious if you're into a technical hobby like climbing or mountaineering. Basically, if you don't fit the demographic / skill level mold, even niche subreddits (that aren't the dumpster fire that the large ones are) quickly lose their value.
- SkyMarshal 6y ago
  >anything else doesn't get traction, unlike in a traditional forum. This is very obvious if you're into a technical hobby like climbing or mountaineering. That's interesting, can you think of other examples besides climbing or mountaineering?
  - defrost 6y ago
    Surveying, for one, there are others. Don't get me wrong, great group of people in surveying- lots of stories about field work, current instruments, current products, etc - near zero interest (for the most part) in the deep technical aspects other than a certain passing "that's interesting | cool". I'm not sure that's a strong criticism though, it's a social group, you can meet many people and occasionally bump into the few that actually write|develop instruments an software and then have all the off channel conversations you want. My interest has been implementing numerics in no particular field; cartography, remote sensing, medical imaging, engineering modelling, financials, weddings, parties, anything, etc. I wander through a range of application areas and usually go deep on very dull specifics. It's a common story - pick a domain area, there'll be a social group interested in that domain, with students, veterans, casual pass throughs, etc ; stories, yarns, classic photos etc are all popular but for the most part getting into the weeds on fine details will bore the pants off the bulk of that group. Lots of people like to flex at the local climbing wall, few will ever bolt their way to the summit of Cerro Torre or cable ascend the Sydney Tower- this limits the discussion pools on portable generators and|or designing custom ascenders for cables and window washing tracks.
- robswc 6y ago
  I can agree with this. This is great if you have a soft interest in something. However, I like trading (stocks and stuff) and the subs focusing on that are very... questionable at times. A ton of people that mistake pure luck for skill perhaps... every other day. Its no use telling some of them that, yea you just made $1000 this week trading but if you don't test your strategies legitimately you could and will just as easily lose that $1000. People really underestimate the randomness.

barnesto 6y ago

Absolutely right. I stick to niche subreddits that cover my hobbies and lifestyle. Great people. Great content. All of the large subreddits are hot garbage. It's like Twitter intensified.

SkyMarshal 6y ago

>the trick is to stick to ~~small~~ niche subreddits. I think generality is more of a problem than size. The more general a subreddit's topic, usually the more of a cesspool it is. The more specific and niche, the more likely it is to be focused, informative, and useful. Also the better moderated it tends to be, as the moderators are intensely interested in the topic and doing it as a labor of love.

cle 6y ago
That's a great observation, clearly the size is not the only factor.

BeetleB 6y ago

> Also, I find that searching Reddit with Google yields much more trustworthy information than just searching Google Same here. For certain topics, I often get absolutely useless info on Google, but when I add site:reddit.com I suddenly get a lot of useful results.