> You could utter this exact statement every day since 1995. No you couldn't. Because back then, even 10-15 years after 1995, not everyone went to the same 3 w

> You could utter this exact statement every day since 1995. No you couldn't. Because back then, even 10-15 years after 1995, not everyone went to the same 3 websites, and there were more than 3 companies on the web that owned everything. Furthermore, there was no concept of upvotes and downvotes to literally encourage crafting your comments to appeal to the widest audience / lowest common denominator. (This concept is no longer specific to Reddit by the way; nearly every comment section on every website utilizes the same type of deal.) Back then if you wanted to speak your mind or say something, you could just type it out and everyone would see it. Today, if you want to say something, you need to craft your comment in such a way to make it worth it: sure, you could say exactly what you want. But that might only get one upvote. Or, God forbid, it might get downvoted! Then nobody sees it; furthermore, the rating your receive could potentially work against you and make the hivemind turn further against your argument. Because lots of people downvoted it. Or not many people upvoted it. Which means it's bad / not good. It's a perverse incentive. The result is... usually, milquetoast homogeneous repetition.