3 ms·

Well, the small parts of reddit (usually associated with games, or books, or SF) where you can ask questions and get direct answers are greatly appreciated by m

Well, the small parts of reddit (usually associated with games, or books, or SF) where you can ask questions and get direct answers are greatly appreciated by me.

haswell 5y ago
Agreed. The niche subs are doing great. But if you browse /r/all or even most of the default subs, it’s pretty awful. I use Apollo, and have filtered dozens of defaults from /r/all, and added certain keyword filters. Once you do this, it’s an interesting place again. I do worry about those niche subs in the long term. It’s increasingly rare to see a truly interesting small sub show up on the front page. Finding the good stuff takes more and more effort.
- qzx_pierri 5y ago
  By doing mass filtering, aren't you just creating your own echo chamber? I would point out the cognitive dissonance, but I really don't want to seem condescending or snooty. But honestly, I think this is a bigger issue. I think the "filter button" or "block button" is the most harmful thing the internet has ever brought to the table. Filtering what you don't want is essentially coddling your own mind.
  - haswell 5y ago
    It’s a fair question to ask, but I don’t necessarily think so. I think my filtering actually does the opposite and I do it to avoid the echo chamber. I use Reddit to read about and interact with people who share my interests/hobbies. I don’t engage in the big political subs because honestly all of them are garbage at this point and get me riled up for no good reason. I have mostly liberal viewpoints, but have no interest in engaging in the echo chamber that is /r/politics. I also quickly got banned from conservative subs for raising points that don’t agree with their party line. Neither camp is interested in substantive debate over there. I focus on subs like /r/nfl, /r/homelab, /r/<my_city>, /r/sdr, /r/GNURadio, etc. My default view of content is limited to those core interests. The reason I filter is that I still like discovering new subs. But I have no interest in the latest memes from FormulaDank or WallstreetBets. I don’t need the content from Trashy, Greentext or HermanCainAward in my life. I also don’t care to read about the war in Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump, Putin, etc when my focus is recreational reading. I get news elsewhere. There is still a diversity of opinions in the content that remains, but I just choose not to participate in the subs that run on controversy. It’s just unhealthy. If my filters looked like “don’t show me anything about the republicans” and I still engaged with other political subs, maybe it’d be more of an echo chamber. Instead, if I see content that was clearly manufactured to make my blood boil, and that seems to be the general theme of the sub, I filter it. The alternative is to stop looking for new/interesting subs, and I’d rather not do that.
  - Forgeties79 5y ago
    I don’t get the whole “anti-echo chamber” thing. We select people to be friends we generally like and agree with. We often don’t associate with people we don’t like or disagree with. Why should social media be some totally egalitarian social exposure? That’s literally never been the case ever. We read what we want to read. We talk to who we want to talk to. I’m not going to be guilted into listening to some jerk who thinks gay people shouldn’t marry and belong in hell. I don’t want to share a beer with them, I would never invite them to dinner in my home, so why should I have to deal with them living rent free in my mind because I saw some ignorant post on social media? I have plenty of work colleagues and family I disagree with, I read sources I don’t always love. I get plenty of exposure to other ways of thinking and ideas. Do I think people can go too far and literally only surround themselves with “yes men” socially? Sure. But come on. How many of us actually spend equal time with people we both agree and disagree ideologically with?`

Well, the small parts of reddit (usually associated with games, or books, or SF) where you can ask questions and get direct answers are greatly appreciated by me.

haswell 5y ago

Agreed. The niche subs are doing great. But if you browse /r/all or even most of the default subs, it’s pretty awful. I use Apollo, and have filtered dozens of defaults from /r/all, and added certain keyword filters. Once you do this, it’s an interesting place again. I do worry about those niche subs in the long term. It’s increasingly rare to see a truly interesting small sub show up on the front page. Finding the good stuff takes more and more effort.

qzx_pierri 5y ago
By doing mass filtering, aren't you just creating your own echo chamber? I would point out the cognitive dissonance, but I really don't want to seem condescending or snooty. But honestly, I think this is a bigger issue. I think the "filter button" or "block button" is the most harmful thing the internet has ever brought to the table. Filtering what you don't want is essentially coddling your own mind.
- haswell 5y ago
  It’s a fair question to ask, but I don’t necessarily think so. I think my filtering actually does the opposite and I do it to avoid the echo chamber. I use Reddit to read about and interact with people who share my interests/hobbies. I don’t engage in the big political subs because honestly all of them are garbage at this point and get me riled up for no good reason. I have mostly liberal viewpoints, but have no interest in engaging in the echo chamber that is /r/politics. I also quickly got banned from conservative subs for raising points that don’t agree with their party line. Neither camp is interested in substantive debate over there. I focus on subs like /r/nfl, /r/homelab, /r/<my_city>, /r/sdr, /r/GNURadio, etc. My default view of content is limited to those core interests. The reason I filter is that I still like discovering new subs. But I have no interest in the latest memes from FormulaDank or WallstreetBets. I don’t need the content from Trashy, Greentext or HermanCainAward in my life. I also don’t care to read about the war in Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump, Putin, etc when my focus is recreational reading. I get news elsewhere. There is still a diversity of opinions in the content that remains, but I just choose not to participate in the subs that run on controversy. It’s just unhealthy. If my filters looked like “don’t show me anything about the republicans” and I still engaged with other political subs, maybe it’d be more of an echo chamber. Instead, if I see content that was clearly manufactured to make my blood boil, and that seems to be the general theme of the sub, I filter it. The alternative is to stop looking for new/interesting subs, and I’d rather not do that.
- Forgeties79 5y ago
  I don’t get the whole “anti-echo chamber” thing. We select people to be friends we generally like and agree with. We often don’t associate with people we don’t like or disagree with. Why should social media be some totally egalitarian social exposure? That’s literally never been the case ever. We read what we want to read. We talk to who we want to talk to. I’m not going to be guilted into listening to some jerk who thinks gay people shouldn’t marry and belong in hell. I don’t want to share a beer with them, I would never invite them to dinner in my home, so why should I have to deal with them living rent free in my mind because I saw some ignorant post on social media? I have plenty of work colleagues and family I disagree with, I read sources I don’t always love. I get plenty of exposure to other ways of thinking and ideas. Do I think people can go too far and literally only surround themselves with “yes men” socially? Sure. But come on. How many of us actually spend equal time with people we both agree and disagree ideologically with?`