5 ms·

Reddit seems even better than Facebook at owning your mind.

by goalieca 6y ago

monsieurbanana 6y ago
Considering the enormity of what you're saying, more details would be nice.
- goalieca 6y ago
  Reddit is a tool for promoting groupthink and is quite easily controlled. Some of it is organic where the mob mentality is grown through upvoting and downvoting independent thoughts and unpopular opinions. Some of it is brigading and bots from private organizations and governments aimed to shape that public opinion. And some it is from mods in a form of super powering that upvote and downvote. I do not believe it is that controversial to suppose that most non-niche subreddits are being manipulated by one of more of the above.
  - monsieurbanana 6y ago
    Maybe, but... You're comparing it to facebook. There's whole countries for whom internet = facebook. Facebook could have very well been a major element in 2016 USA elections. It has a magnitude more users than reddit (although the number is gradually getting closer). It's much more opaque than reddit, who knows what really goes inside of it. I mean, it's Facebook. If you're arguing that something has bigger reach than Facebook, you need more than those arguments.
- radicalriddler 6y ago
  We've literally just seen it with GME. Mods of a certain subreddit were able to manipulate a 3 million person sub to manipulate the stock market, and to make massive profits for themselves. Due to the nature of reddit, it also suckered millions of people who'd never bought stocks before to hold bags. If that's something that moderators can do, by curating the content on their subreddit, then what can admins do?
- ngokevin 6y ago
  I know people whose opinions entirely stem heavily from Reddit. What stocks to buy, what products are best, how to dress, how to do your hair, where to travel, where to eat, what music is good, what movies are good, etc.
mberning 6y ago
I have friends that are addicted to reddit and their world view is basically the reddit front page. There are many great subreddits, but the front page is completely gamed and owned by a small number of people. Even innocuous subs like pics or mildlyinteresting are coopted at a moments notice to push whatever the prevailing agenda is. There is almost no critical thought or countervailing opinions in discussion. A few years ago you could sort by controversial and see some interesting discussions. Nowadays if you do that there is nothing but toilet humor and other lewd content. I rarely use the site anymore as it is about as subtle as being hit over the head with a lead pipe.
- SkyMarshal 6y ago
  You have to unsubscribe from all the default and front page reddits, they're mostly trash. But there are tons of niche subreddits that are actually interesting and have some expert commentary on their topics.
pid_0 6y ago
It is, which is why I quit for good. Reddit free for a month now when I used to check r/all multiple times a day. Reddit is cancer.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- nefitty 6y ago
  My current internet samsara cycle is Reddit, HN and Twitter. I truly feel like there are hooks in my brain that compel me to mindlessly browse these three sites over and over again. The better I get at them, and the more positive feedback my comments get, the deeper the hooks go in.
- sanxiyn 6y ago
  r/all is cancer, Reddit is not.
_ink_ 6y ago
So you think on Reddit it might be possible that different groups try to manipulate the public oppinion by utilizing bots to upvote content? Even if that would be the case how is it worse in comparison to Facebook, where a single entity is manipulating the public oppinion?
- betwixthewires 6y ago
  It is potentially worse because the experience gives a person the illusion or organic information spreading and popular opinion. This is very detrimental IMO. Sure, while your average grandma (to use a tired stereotype) has a hard time telling the difference between promoted content and organic content on Facebook, on Reddit most people believe that everyone they're interacting with is a unique human voice. I saw a study a few weeks ago that came to the conclusion that 50% of the accounts on big front page subs are bots, I don't have a link anymore unfortunately. Even if you know it is happening it is hard to remind that part of your brain that who you're talking to has a good chance of not being a unique individual with an opinion. Their UX is designed this way deliberately.

Reddit seems even better than Facebook at owning your mind.

monsieurbanana 6y ago

Considering the enormity of what you're saying, more details would be nice.

goalieca 6y ago
Reddit is a tool for promoting groupthink and is quite easily controlled. Some of it is organic where the mob mentality is grown through upvoting and downvoting independent thoughts and unpopular opinions. Some of it is brigading and bots from private organizations and governments aimed to shape that public opinion. And some it is from mods in a form of super powering that upvote and downvote. I do not believe it is that controversial to suppose that most non-niche subreddits are being manipulated by one of more of the above.
- monsieurbanana 6y ago
  Maybe, but... You're comparing it to facebook. There's whole countries for whom internet = facebook. Facebook could have very well been a major element in 2016 USA elections. It has a magnitude more users than reddit (although the number is gradually getting closer). It's much more opaque than reddit, who knows what really goes inside of it. I mean, it's Facebook. If you're arguing that something has bigger reach than Facebook, you need more than those arguments.
radicalriddler 6y ago
We've literally just seen it with GME. Mods of a certain subreddit were able to manipulate a 3 million person sub to manipulate the stock market, and to make massive profits for themselves. Due to the nature of reddit, it also suckered millions of people who'd never bought stocks before to hold bags. If that's something that moderators can do, by curating the content on their subreddit, then what can admins do?
ngokevin 6y ago
I know people whose opinions entirely stem heavily from Reddit. What stocks to buy, what products are best, how to dress, how to do your hair, where to travel, where to eat, what music is good, what movies are good, etc.

mberning 6y ago

I have friends that are addicted to reddit and their world view is basically the reddit front page. There are many great subreddits, but the front page is completely gamed and owned by a small number of people. Even innocuous subs like pics or mildlyinteresting are coopted at a moments notice to push whatever the prevailing agenda is. There is almost no critical thought or countervailing opinions in discussion. A few years ago you could sort by controversial and see some interesting discussions. Nowadays if you do that there is nothing but toilet humor and other lewd content. I rarely use the site anymore as it is about as subtle as being hit over the head with a lead pipe.

SkyMarshal 6y ago
You have to unsubscribe from all the default and front page reddits, they're mostly trash. But there are tons of niche subreddits that are actually interesting and have some expert commentary on their topics.

pid_0 6y ago

It is, which is why I quit for good. Reddit free for a month now when I used to check r/all multiple times a day. Reddit is cancer.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
nefitty 6y ago
My current internet samsara cycle is Reddit, HN and Twitter. I truly feel like there are hooks in my brain that compel me to mindlessly browse these three sites over and over again. The better I get at them, and the more positive feedback my comments get, the deeper the hooks go in.
sanxiyn 6y ago
r/all is cancer, Reddit is not.

_ink_ 6y ago

So you think on Reddit it might be possible that different groups try to manipulate the public oppinion by utilizing bots to upvote content? Even if that would be the case how is it worse in comparison to Facebook, where a single entity is manipulating the public oppinion?

betwixthewires 6y ago
It is potentially worse because the experience gives a person the illusion or organic information spreading and popular opinion. This is very detrimental IMO. Sure, while your average grandma (to use a tired stereotype) has a hard time telling the difference between promoted content and organic content on Facebook, on Reddit most people believe that everyone they're interacting with is a unique human voice. I saw a study a few weeks ago that came to the conclusion that 50% of the accounts on big front page subs are bots, I don't have a link anymore unfortunately. Even if you know it is happening it is hard to remind that part of your brain that who you're talking to has a good chance of not being a unique individual with an opinion. Their UX is designed this way deliberately.