7 ms·

Reddit as a whole is less useful since comment sections were demoted from first class citizens to something barely usable. I think they saw imgur as a threat an

Reddit as a whole is less useful since comment sections were demoted from first class citizens to something barely usable. I think they saw imgur as a threat and wanted to better replicate that experience.

cecilpl2 6y ago
Can you expand on this? I haven't noticed any change in comment section usability and I've been on reddit for 10+ years.
- Sebb767 6y ago
  The new design collapses all responses below the second level (and then every two levels) while adding extreme amounts of visual distractions to gilded/awarded/... comments (personal opinion). This annoys me to no end and I presume the grandparent is referencing that.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    > The new design collapses all responses below the second level (and then every two levels) this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that you often have to follow a link to expand the tree, that you then have to back out of to get back to the main thread. I have 16GB of RAM and a 27" screen. I can handle expanding a tree of text inline.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - ncallaway 6y ago
    They also require you to login to expand comments on the new site which seems insane to me.
  - notJim 6y ago
    > The new design collapses all responses below the second level I don't follow. I just opened a random comment thread, and counted comments being shown up to seven levels deep (which was the deepest comment.) Is the behavior you describe only if you're logged out or something?
    - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
      Do you have the old Reddit UI saved in your preferences? If so, you might be seeing the site as it used to be, and not as it now is for the vast majority of users.
      - notJim 6y ago
        I don't think so. What I see is this: https://imgur.com/a/BalUOOP https://imgur.com/a/BalUOOP. The screenshot only shows 5 levels deep, but it goes 9 if I scroll down more.
    - benhurmarcel 6y ago
      I also don't follow. Here's a screenshot of the current top comment in the current top thread. It's showing 10 levels deep. https://imgur.com/a/itZrtRK https://imgur.com/a/itZrtRK
      - SamBam 6y ago
        Your screenshot shows old reddit. Either you're using a link to old.reddit.com, or (like me) your user account has set the option to always use old reddit. Try opening your link in an incognito browser. If I go to the link posted above [1], I first see a much narrower window (careful, don't click on the black area to the sides, or you'll go back to the subreddit, the whole thing is basically a modal dialog now). Then I see one single comment, and it itself is half cut off. Below it I see a bunch of "related" content: https://imgur.com/a/tyaheDC https://imgur.com/a/tyaheDC If I click the button to expand, I see no comments deeper than two deep: https://imgur.com/a/HDlNYFK https://imgur.com/a/HDlNYFK To see deeper any any thread, I have to click a link which doesn't expand the comments but takes me to its own link thread. To get back I need to use the browser back button and my context is lost. They do not want users to engage with existing comments at all. The first comment is half cut off. The rest are hard to get to. They appear to want you to consume the posted content, and maybe post your own comment if you like. 1. https://www.reddit.com/r/modsupport/comments/mbqgx2 https://www.reddit.com/r/modsupport/comments/mbqgx2
  - tryonenow 6y ago
    It also wastes screen space, as the whole page is about 50% narrower. Far less information dense, optimized for ads and engagement (about half of screen space is dedicated to recommended posts when a thread loads). Feels like commercialization.
- ihalip 6y ago
  I'm guessing you don't use the new redesign.
- NoOneNew 6y ago
  Not op, pretty sure referring to the site redesign. If you force to stay on the old design, yes, you noticed nothing different. But the new design, holy shit, unless you want a Facebook's take on imgur experience, it's unusable.
arbitrage 6y ago
their page load times have gotten dramatically worse, now that you mention it
- tootie 6y ago
  i.reddit.com hasn't changed in 10 years.
pumaontheprowl 6y ago
The new UX on the site is unusable. I don't use anything except old.reddit.com and if they ever try to get rid of that, I'll surely stop visiting the site altogether. You have to wonder how long they'll continue to maintain two different web frontends for the site, though.
- tsujp 6y ago
  I'm exclusively on old.reddit.com too. The new interface was the start of the worst, and while we're not directly in the firing line in terms of viewing content and navigation on old.reddit.com we are at the mercy of the general winds of change over the site.
  - easton 6y ago
    The problem is that all of the mega content creators and moderators use old reddit due to RES and the other extensions (and the better UX). I think they’ll build a equivalent to TweetDeck that can be used for more powerful content creation (automatic xposting, timed posts, performance stats) and sunset old reddit, maybe with a throwback theme on new reddit. And then I’ll finally quit.
- tomjen3 6y ago
  They have maintained i.reddit.com (an actually useful mobile site) for years at this point.
- notJim 6y ago
  What's the issue with it? I see nothing but hate, but I honestly don't mind the new design. Edit: lol, I participate in a lot of contentious threads here, but this simple question where I am genuinely trying to understand something has generated the most downvotes.
  - notwhereyouare 6y ago
    for me personally, it's slower to load and seems to have more issues. There's a good chance if new reddit is struggling to load, old.reddit.com loads just fine
zouhair 6y ago
www.reddit.com --> old.reddit.com
- xqyf 6y ago
  This plugin redirects you to old.reddit automatically: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/old-reddit-redirect/dneaehbmnbhcippjikoajpoabadpodje?hl=en-US https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/old-reddit-redirec...
  - twinge 6y ago
    You don't need a plugin, just go to http://old.reddit.com/prefs http://old.reddit.com/prefs, scroll to the bottom, and uncheck "Use new Reddit as my default experience"
    - xqyf 6y ago
      on ALL of my alts?! Not to mention when I'm logged out. I'd rather click "install plugin" once.
  - crtasm 6y ago
    You can accomplish this with HTTPS Everywhere too.
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Reddit comments were doomed in the long run, anyway. The fact that most Reddit commenters are on mobile phones, and not proper keyboards, has led to ultra-short comments light on information or nuance, like Twitter. This is true even on special-interest subreddits for various hobbies, where rich discussion is wilting and image posts and memes have taken over. Sure, you yourself can still write a couple of solid paragraphs about a topic (the norm on Reddit until just a few years ago), but you will very look out of place among the one-line comments. With time, you feel pushed out of what used to be your own community.
- astrange 6y ago
  I've noticed some of the popular reddits like /r/interestingasfuck /r/nextfuckinglevel (there's a pattern here) have totally degraded in content. It's supposed to be amazing things like extreme sports but it's entirely Facebook-meme-tier pictures of a guy with some text on top about him recovering from cancer that seems made up. I can't tell if this is organic or not. If so it might be people leaving Facebook who aren't capable of irony enough to be interesting, but I think it's mobile-optimizing karma farmers.

cecilpl2 6y ago

Can you expand on this? I haven't noticed any change in comment section usability and I've been on reddit for 10+ years.

Sebb767 6y ago
The new design collapses all responses below the second level (and then every two levels) while adding extreme amounts of visual distractions to gilded/awarded/... comments (personal opinion). This annoys me to no end and I presume the grandparent is referencing that.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  > The new design collapses all responses below the second level (and then every two levels) this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that you often have to follow a link to expand the tree, that you then have to back out of to get back to the main thread. I have 16GB of RAM and a 27" screen. I can handle expanding a tree of text inline.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- ncallaway 6y ago
  They also require you to login to expand comments on the new site which seems insane to me.
- notJim 6y ago
  > The new design collapses all responses below the second level I don't follow. I just opened a random comment thread, and counted comments being shown up to seven levels deep (which was the deepest comment.) Is the behavior you describe only if you're logged out or something?
  - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
    Do you have the old Reddit UI saved in your preferences? If so, you might be seeing the site as it used to be, and not as it now is for the vast majority of users.
    - notJim 6y ago
      I don't think so. What I see is this: https://imgur.com/a/BalUOOP https://imgur.com/a/BalUOOP. The screenshot only shows 5 levels deep, but it goes 9 if I scroll down more.
  - benhurmarcel 6y ago
    I also don't follow. Here's a screenshot of the current top comment in the current top thread. It's showing 10 levels deep. https://imgur.com/a/itZrtRK https://imgur.com/a/itZrtRK
    - SamBam 6y ago
      Your screenshot shows old reddit. Either you're using a link to old.reddit.com, or (like me) your user account has set the option to always use old reddit. Try opening your link in an incognito browser. If I go to the link posted above [1], I first see a much narrower window (careful, don't click on the black area to the sides, or you'll go back to the subreddit, the whole thing is basically a modal dialog now). Then I see one single comment, and it itself is half cut off. Below it I see a bunch of "related" content: https://imgur.com/a/tyaheDC https://imgur.com/a/tyaheDC If I click the button to expand, I see no comments deeper than two deep: https://imgur.com/a/HDlNYFK https://imgur.com/a/HDlNYFK To see deeper any any thread, I have to click a link which doesn't expand the comments but takes me to its own link thread. To get back I need to use the browser back button and my context is lost. They do not want users to engage with existing comments at all. The first comment is half cut off. The rest are hard to get to. They appear to want you to consume the posted content, and maybe post your own comment if you like. 1. https://www.reddit.com/r/modsupport/comments/mbqgx2 https://www.reddit.com/r/modsupport/comments/mbqgx2
- tryonenow 6y ago
  It also wastes screen space, as the whole page is about 50% narrower. Far less information dense, optimized for ads and engagement (about half of screen space is dedicated to recommended posts when a thread loads). Feels like commercialization.
ihalip 6y ago
I'm guessing you don't use the new redesign.
NoOneNew 6y ago
Not op, pretty sure referring to the site redesign. If you force to stay on the old design, yes, you noticed nothing different. But the new design, holy shit, unless you want a Facebook's take on imgur experience, it's unusable.

arbitrage 6y ago

their page load times have gotten dramatically worse, now that you mention it

tootie 6y ago
i.reddit.com hasn't changed in 10 years.

pumaontheprowl 6y ago

The new UX on the site is unusable. I don't use anything except old.reddit.com and if they ever try to get rid of that, I'll surely stop visiting the site altogether. You have to wonder how long they'll continue to maintain two different web frontends for the site, though.

tsujp 6y ago
I'm exclusively on old.reddit.com too. The new interface was the start of the worst, and while we're not directly in the firing line in terms of viewing content and navigation on old.reddit.com we are at the mercy of the general winds of change over the site.
- easton 6y ago
  The problem is that all of the mega content creators and moderators use old reddit due to RES and the other extensions (and the better UX). I think they’ll build a equivalent to TweetDeck that can be used for more powerful content creation (automatic xposting, timed posts, performance stats) and sunset old reddit, maybe with a throwback theme on new reddit. And then I’ll finally quit.
tomjen3 6y ago
They have maintained i.reddit.com (an actually useful mobile site) for years at this point.
notJim 6y ago
What's the issue with it? I see nothing but hate, but I honestly don't mind the new design. Edit: lol, I participate in a lot of contentious threads here, but this simple question where I am genuinely trying to understand something has generated the most downvotes.
- notwhereyouare 6y ago
  for me personally, it's slower to load and seems to have more issues. There's a good chance if new reddit is struggling to load, old.reddit.com loads just fine

zouhair 6y ago

www.reddit.com --> old.reddit.com

xqyf 6y ago
This plugin redirects you to old.reddit automatically: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/old-reddit-redirect/dneaehbmnbhcippjikoajpoabadpodje?hl=en-US https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/old-reddit-redirec...
- twinge 6y ago
  You don't need a plugin, just go to http://old.reddit.com/prefs http://old.reddit.com/prefs, scroll to the bottom, and uncheck "Use new Reddit as my default experience"
  - xqyf 6y ago
    on ALL of my alts?! Not to mention when I'm logged out. I'd rather click "install plugin" once.
- crtasm 6y ago
  You can accomplish this with HTTPS Everywhere too.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

Reddit comments were doomed in the long run, anyway. The fact that most Reddit commenters are on mobile phones, and not proper keyboards, has led to ultra-short comments light on information or nuance, like Twitter. This is true even on special-interest subreddits for various hobbies, where rich discussion is wilting and image posts and memes have taken over. Sure, you yourself can still write a couple of solid paragraphs about a topic (the norm on Reddit until just a few years ago), but you will very look out of place among the one-line comments. With time, you feel pushed out of what used to be your own community.

astrange 6y ago
I've noticed some of the popular reddits like /r/interestingasfuck /r/nextfuckinglevel (there's a pattern here) have totally degraded in content. It's supposed to be amazing things like extreme sports but it's entirely Facebook-meme-tier pictures of a guy with some text on top about him recovering from cancer that seems made up. I can't tell if this is organic or not. If so it might be people leaving Facebook who aren't capable of irony enough to be interesting, but I think it's mobile-optimizing karma farmers.