8 ms·

My gut feeling is that most of the comments on Reddit are written by teenagers. In the real world there are plenty of context clues that I use to determine if s

My gut feeling is that most of the comments on Reddit are written by teenagers. In the real world there are plenty of context clues that I use to determine if someone is worth listening to or not. On the internet, you have to assume in good faith that a given comment was written by someone who has enough life experience to be taken seriously.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lake_vincent 4y ago
I mean, it depends on the sub, but if you expand your definition of "teenager" to include "36 years old, but still emotionally a teenager", then I think you are right. In my experience, any subreddits with general appeal suffer from the same problem. Just find your niche/hobby subs and stick to them. Stay away from r/pics, news, etc... You can still have tiny kings in small subs - mods with <10k members who let that "power" go to their heads - but it is more rare.
- ornornor 4y ago
  > Just find your niche/hobby subs and stick to them. Stay away from r/pics, news, etc... That’s pretty much what I figured as well, and the only way to get value from Reddit. Unsub all the defaults and only stay in your bubble. Sad but it’s a dumpster fire otherwise.
  - makeset 4y ago
    Unfortunately that doesn’t work anymore either, unless you only go browse those subreddits. It’s fully gone the Facebook way, where 90% of your home feed is then “Suggested” or “Promoted” posts from elsewhere.
    - 29083011397778 4y ago
      Sounds like an issue with your client. old.reddit.com and i.reddit.com never did that to me, and I don't recall any client from F-Droid doing that either.
    - msmenardi 4y ago
      That's why Reddit Enhancement Suite exists. You can remove all "Suggested" and "Promoted" content and only leave the stuff you care about. https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ https://redditenhancementsuite.com/
    - ornornor 4y ago
      I use RES and uBO and it’s serviceable.
- robotnikman 4y ago
  >36 years old, but still emotionally a teenager Its actually scary how many people online seem to fit that description.
  - lake_vincent 4y ago
    It's weird to hang out with old friends who have not changed at all since high school. It's kind of amazing how they managed to not change after so much time!
Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
> My gut feeling is that most of the comments on Reddit are written by teenagers. Unless you're on /r/teenagers, then a startlingly large percentage of commenters are much much older and are probably grooming.
JohnBooty 4y ago
There are two Reddits, or rather a million. There are the default front-page subreddits, that attract "the masses." Then there's everything else, and each of those subreddits has its own moderation team and culture. They range from trash to gold. Generalizing about these is almost always off-base.
sbf501 4y ago
I think this "reddit is full of teenagers" statement is a trope for two reaspons. First, my partner is a highschool math teacher and in his casual surveys and discussions, most students don't use reddit: tiktok still dominates. The ones that do, mostly boys, just watch fight and war videos. Girls apparently are into makeup videos. News to me. Second, I'm in my 50's and there's no way teenagers are interested in political discussions. Maybe they are, but the people I get in flame wars with speak and act like angry adults: their rages and complaints would require too much effort for a teenager to fabricate. I think the truth is Reddit is mostly adults but for some reason lots of adults want to believe it is just teenagers, possibly because we act like children online sometimes?
- cowtools 4y ago
  >there's no way teenagers are interested in political discussions. Maybe they are, but the people I get in flame wars with speak and act like angry adults pretty much describes how I used reddit as a teenager.
  - sbf501 4y ago
    Trust me, after you graduate HS your perspective will change.
- ornornor 4y ago
  Genuinely curious: political discussions on Reddit are notably sterile and quickly devolve into shouting matches. Why even spend your energy or time arguing with shills/trolls/bots/someone whose opinion won’t change as a result of the discussion/argument?
  - sbf501 4y ago
    Because they aren't always sterile, thats yet ANOTHER trope about reddit: I've learned quite a bit when a historian enters the chat. And, TBH, sometimes I like a good ol' internet fight when someone spouts some dumb shit (esp. MAGA nonsense). It's in my blood. Being a good troll is NOT easy, it is a skill that requires practice.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

lake_vincent 4y ago

I mean, it depends on the sub, but if you expand your definition of "teenager" to include "36 years old, but still emotionally a teenager", then I think you are right. In my experience, any subreddits with general appeal suffer from the same problem. Just find your niche/hobby subs and stick to them. Stay away from r/pics, news, etc... You can still have tiny kings in small subs - mods with <10k members who let that "power" go to their heads - but it is more rare.

ornornor 4y ago
> Just find your niche/hobby subs and stick to them. Stay away from r/pics, news, etc... That’s pretty much what I figured as well, and the only way to get value from Reddit. Unsub all the defaults and only stay in your bubble. Sad but it’s a dumpster fire otherwise.
- makeset 4y ago
  Unfortunately that doesn’t work anymore either, unless you only go browse those subreddits. It’s fully gone the Facebook way, where 90% of your home feed is then “Suggested” or “Promoted” posts from elsewhere.
  - 29083011397778 4y ago
    Sounds like an issue with your client. old.reddit.com and i.reddit.com never did that to me, and I don't recall any client from F-Droid doing that either.
  - msmenardi 4y ago
    That's why Reddit Enhancement Suite exists. You can remove all "Suggested" and "Promoted" content and only leave the stuff you care about. https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ https://redditenhancementsuite.com/
  - ornornor 4y ago
    I use RES and uBO and it’s serviceable.
robotnikman 4y ago
>36 years old, but still emotionally a teenager Its actually scary how many people online seem to fit that description.
- lake_vincent 4y ago
  It's weird to hang out with old friends who have not changed at all since high school. It's kind of amazing how they managed to not change after so much time!

Sohcahtoa82 4y ago

> My gut feeling is that most of the comments on Reddit are written by teenagers. Unless you're on /r/teenagers, then a startlingly large percentage of commenters are much much older and are probably grooming.

JohnBooty 4y ago

There are two Reddits, or rather a million. There are the default front-page subreddits, that attract "the masses." Then there's everything else, and each of those subreddits has its own moderation team and culture. They range from trash to gold. Generalizing about these is almost always off-base.

sbf501 4y ago

I think this "reddit is full of teenagers" statement is a trope for two reaspons. First, my partner is a highschool math teacher and in his casual surveys and discussions, most students don't use reddit: tiktok still dominates. The ones that do, mostly boys, just watch fight and war videos. Girls apparently are into makeup videos. News to me. Second, I'm in my 50's and there's no way teenagers are interested in political discussions. Maybe they are, but the people I get in flame wars with speak and act like angry adults: their rages and complaints would require too much effort for a teenager to fabricate. I think the truth is Reddit is mostly adults but for some reason lots of adults want to believe it is just teenagers, possibly because we act like children online sometimes?

cowtools 4y ago
>there's no way teenagers are interested in political discussions. Maybe they are, but the people I get in flame wars with speak and act like angry adults pretty much describes how I used reddit as a teenager.
- sbf501 4y ago
  Trust me, after you graduate HS your perspective will change.
ornornor 4y ago
Genuinely curious: political discussions on Reddit are notably sterile and quickly devolve into shouting matches. Why even spend your energy or time arguing with shills/trolls/bots/someone whose opinion won’t change as a result of the discussion/argument?
- sbf501 4y ago
  Because they aren't always sterile, thats yet ANOTHER trope about reddit: I've learned quite a bit when a historian enters the chat. And, TBH, sometimes I like a good ol' internet fight when someone spouts some dumb shit (esp. MAGA nonsense). It's in my blood. Being a good troll is NOT easy, it is a skill that requires practice.