6 ms·

Reddit r/engineering community has gone private

23 points by app4soft 5y ago

anm89 5y ago
Reddit is a cesspool. On every level. It's hard to figure out who is worse. The every comment has to be woke 15 year olds. The conspiracy morons. The 50% of the site devoted to displaying videos of people at their worst so others can feel better about themselves. The Machiavellian admins trying to lord over their little fiefdoms.
- millzlane 5y ago
  Sounds like society.
- twirlock 5y ago
  Sounds like a society under the western intelligentsia.
- dangus 5y ago
  Ironically, this comment would work well as material for /r/IAmVerySmart
  - anm89 5y ago
    I mean a perfect example. A subreddit devoted to taking stuff people said out of context so you can "dunk" on them for being dumb. I'm all for their right to exist but it brings value to no one
    - nate_meurer 5y ago
      Even if it's not out of context, it's still just a moment of someone's life. Maybe they're normally an asshole, but maybe their just having a bad day, or they're drunk, or whatever, and their moment of foolishness is now enshrined in the most unforgiving way possible. It's also crazy addictive. I can feel myself getting high on dopamine scrolling through, one hit of outrage after another. I agree, this material is great for "engagement", but there's not much real value.
    - dangus 5y ago
      To be clear, I thought your comment I responded to was an embodiment of the kind of binary outrage that is so conducive to social media. That’s why is why I (hopefully humorously) compared the comment with content on Reddit itself. In other words, it’s ironic how similar your comment was to the content that you are criticizing.
- vips7L 5y ago
  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hacker%20news https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hacker%20new...
- ahurmazda 5y ago
  Is "woke" a reference to r/redpill? Or something else in this context? In the past, I have heard of subreddits going dark for temporarily as a sign of protest. Would be interesting to know what the motivation is in this case.
  - esyir 5y ago
    Woke is quite the opposite of the redpill. Generally, it refers to those who constantly signal for progressive causes. Lgbt activism, pronoun policing, representation, etc.
- luxurytent 5y ago
  The amount of frustration across social platforms feels like it's due for a tipping point yet the value on these platforms for many is enormous. I am really curious to see what "social" looks like in a few years -- not like we'll lose interest in vanity
- ngokevin 5y ago
  The deteriorating UX.
- thdespou 5y ago
  Why blame Reddit? This is society 101 at its lowest.
joezydeco 5y ago
Somewhat complete list here: https://www.reddit.com/r/N8theGr8/comments/pelle1/subs_going_dark/ https://www.reddit.com/r/N8theGr8/comments/pelle1/subs_going...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
armenarmen 5y ago
Do the admins think that driving more people to .win Reddit clones (which seem to be bizzaro world version of mainstream echo chambers) a good idea?
hackflip 5y ago
Misinformation is a necessary evil for free speech to exist. Is there any organization/individual/government that you trust to be the arbiter of truth?
- gary_0 5y ago
  As long as the government isn't involved, sweeping statements about "free speech" are seldom appropriate. These reddit blackouts are free speech working as intended. Look at it this way: before the Internet, if a major newspaper published blatant falsehoods and didn't retract them, people would complain, staff might quit, and the newspaper's reputation would suffer. Nobody's rights are being threatened. Reddit is free to publish dangerous lies and its users are free to protest the spread of those lies.
  - rgoulter 5y ago
    By asking "is there anyone you trust to be the arbiter of truth", 'free speech' is being invoked in the spirit of "I benefit from being able to hear awful/wrong/contrarian opinions, because sometimes they'll contain valuable truths I otherwise wouldn't be able to hear". I think 'free speech' as "government can't suppress people" and "people get to say what they want, including saying that others are wrong" doesn't quite capture the fallibility.
    - gary_0 5y ago
      I'm still not sure how this take on free speech is relevant to this thread. Reddit is a private enterprise, and they can choose to publish misinformation, or not. Surely you're not suggesting they somehow be forced to publish any misinformation their users wish to post? That would be a form of the very suppression you seem to be arguing against.
      - rgoulter 5y ago
        Take the example "newspaper publishes what people claim is lies, people complain". If the newspaper is wrong, it's a good thing that people complain and get the lies stopped. If the newspaper is right, it's a bad thing that people complain and get the truth they dislike stopped. (An ideal in both cases would be that rational discussion is able to have lies disproved). The "I want to hear awful ideas" is a cynical belief that it's possible for society to be deluded, and suppress important truths that they don't like. I don't think this necessarily means "no moderation anywhere, ever"; although I think it does mean "don't want total moderation everywhere". I think it's more complex than that. It's just possible that by moderating away unpleasant things, truths are lost. - Reddit's apparently decided it no longer wants to host its most awful subreddits.
perryizgr8 5y ago
What Covid misinformation? Who even cares? Isn't it obvious now that every piece of info was misinformation at some time in the past? Take anything from masks to medicines to vaccines to the origin. Every one of these has seen a 180 degree swing at some point, regarding what is considered the mainstream view. What's the rationale of censoring opposing viewpoints then? Those will almost certainly come to be accepted as the truth within the next year.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

23 points by app4soft 5y ago

Reddit is a cesspool. On every level. It's hard to figure out who is worse. The every comment has to be woke 15 year olds. The conspiracy morons. The 50% of the site devoted to displaying videos of people at their worst so others can feel better about themselves. The Machiavellian admins trying to lord over their little fiefdoms.

millzlane 5y ago
Sounds like society.
twirlock 5y ago
Sounds like a society under the western intelligentsia.
dangus 5y ago
Ironically, this comment would work well as material for /r/IAmVerySmart
- anm89 5y ago
  I mean a perfect example. A subreddit devoted to taking stuff people said out of context so you can "dunk" on them for being dumb. I'm all for their right to exist but it brings value to no one
  - nate_meurer 5y ago
    Even if it's not out of context, it's still just a moment of someone's life. Maybe they're normally an asshole, but maybe their just having a bad day, or they're drunk, or whatever, and their moment of foolishness is now enshrined in the most unforgiving way possible. It's also crazy addictive. I can feel myself getting high on dopamine scrolling through, one hit of outrage after another. I agree, this material is great for "engagement", but there's not much real value.
  - dangus 5y ago
    To be clear, I thought your comment I responded to was an embodiment of the kind of binary outrage that is so conducive to social media. That’s why is why I (hopefully humorously) compared the comment with content on Reddit itself. In other words, it’s ironic how similar your comment was to the content that you are criticizing.
vips7L 5y ago
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hacker%20news https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hacker%20new...
ahurmazda 5y ago
Is "woke" a reference to r/redpill? Or something else in this context? In the past, I have heard of subreddits going dark for temporarily as a sign of protest. Would be interesting to know what the motivation is in this case.
- esyir 5y ago
  Woke is quite the opposite of the redpill. Generally, it refers to those who constantly signal for progressive causes. Lgbt activism, pronoun policing, representation, etc.
luxurytent 5y ago
The amount of frustration across social platforms feels like it's due for a tipping point yet the value on these platforms for many is enormous. I am really curious to see what "social" looks like in a few years -- not like we'll lose interest in vanity
ngokevin 5y ago
The deteriorating UX.
thdespou 5y ago
Why blame Reddit? This is society 101 at its lowest.

joezydeco 5y ago

Somewhat complete list here: https://www.reddit.com/r/N8theGr8/comments/pelle1/subs_going_dark/ https://www.reddit.com/r/N8theGr8/comments/pelle1/subs_going...

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

armenarmen 5y ago

Do the admins think that driving more people to .win Reddit clones (which seem to be bizzaro world version of mainstream echo chambers) a good idea?

hackflip 5y ago

Misinformation is a necessary evil for free speech to exist. Is there any organization/individual/government that you trust to be the arbiter of truth?

gary_0 5y ago
As long as the government isn't involved, sweeping statements about "free speech" are seldom appropriate. These reddit blackouts are free speech working as intended. Look at it this way: before the Internet, if a major newspaper published blatant falsehoods and didn't retract them, people would complain, staff might quit, and the newspaper's reputation would suffer. Nobody's rights are being threatened. Reddit is free to publish dangerous lies and its users are free to protest the spread of those lies.
- rgoulter 5y ago
  By asking "is there anyone you trust to be the arbiter of truth", 'free speech' is being invoked in the spirit of "I benefit from being able to hear awful/wrong/contrarian opinions, because sometimes they'll contain valuable truths I otherwise wouldn't be able to hear". I think 'free speech' as "government can't suppress people" and "people get to say what they want, including saying that others are wrong" doesn't quite capture the fallibility.
  - gary_0 5y ago
    I'm still not sure how this take on free speech is relevant to this thread. Reddit is a private enterprise, and they can choose to publish misinformation, or not. Surely you're not suggesting they somehow be forced to publish any misinformation their users wish to post? That would be a form of the very suppression you seem to be arguing against.
    - rgoulter 5y ago
      Take the example "newspaper publishes what people claim is lies, people complain". If the newspaper is wrong, it's a good thing that people complain and get the lies stopped. If the newspaper is right, it's a bad thing that people complain and get the truth they dislike stopped. (An ideal in both cases would be that rational discussion is able to have lies disproved). The "I want to hear awful ideas" is a cynical belief that it's possible for society to be deluded, and suppress important truths that they don't like. I don't think this necessarily means "no moderation anywhere, ever"; although I think it does mean "don't want total moderation everywhere". I think it's more complex than that. It's just possible that by moderating away unpleasant things, truths are lost. - Reddit's apparently decided it no longer wants to host its most awful subreddits.

perryizgr8 5y ago

What Covid misinformation? Who even cares? Isn't it obvious now that every piece of info was misinformation at some time in the past? Take anything from masks to medicines to vaccines to the origin. Every one of these has seen a 180 degree swing at some point, regarding what is considered the mainstream view. What's the rationale of censoring opposing viewpoints then? Those will almost certainly come to be accepted as the truth within the next year.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]