4 ms·

Speaking on the topic of Reddit and mods and it's power structure: In the UK Reddit has pushed a new subreddit called "HeyUK". It has turned up in the subscrip

Speaking on the topic of Reddit and mods and it's power structure: In the UK Reddit has pushed a new subreddit called "HeyUK". It has turned up in the subscription feeds for some (all?) UK users automatically without the user asking for it or adding it. If you remove it from your list of subreddits the posts will still show up in your feed as "sponsored". As far as I can see this new subreddit is seeded with just cross posts from other UK subreddits and is created/pushed by Reddit itself. The big issue I have is that this is just another subreddit with 15-odd random people who are the mods. These people have the unilateral power to shape discourse and be the arbiter of what is "UK" and what isn't. Reddit is getting a bit too big, this feels very strange. On the swing-back we then have Reddit not banning the "jailbait" subreddit until it made major US news. I have no idea what's going on with social media anymore, I'm just left with the overwhelming feeling that the people with the voice and the power are not the best of us.

purpleblue 4y ago
The beauty of reddit is that you can create your own subreddit with your own mods and have the discourse that you want. You're not held to just sticking with the subreddits that are given to you.
- ok123456 4y ago
  It can be 'sponsored' as the parent noted. (By whom? Why?)
  - flumpcakes 4y ago
    Not only sponsored - but also automatically added to your list of subscribed sub-reddits! I only saw the "sponsored" posts when I went out of my way to unsub from this new subreddit I was unceremoniously subscribed too.
- blendergeek 4y ago
  What the parent is pointing out is that Reddit choosing subreddits for people to subscribe. Sure, I can "create the subreddit with [my] own mods and have the discourse that [I] want". But nobody will see it because everybody is automatically added to the subreddits that Reddit chooses.
  - thiht 4y ago
    > everybody is automatically added to the subreddits that Reddit chooses. No? That’s not how Reddit works, you join the subreddits you want to join
    - prettyStandard 4y ago
      It's called "the defaults".
      - kibwen 4y ago
        The concept of default subreddits stopped existing in 2017.
        prettyStandard 4y ago
        Oh wow. I've effectively been off reddit for years now, didn't realize they got rid of the defaults entirely, now I'm curious.
        kibwen 4y ago
        AFAIK, these days the content shown when visiting the home page at https://reddit.com https://reddit.com is exclusively comprised of subreddits that you're subscribed to. You can visit https://reddit.com/r/popular https://reddit.com/r/popular to see an algorithmic page from subreddits that have opted-in to it, which is mostly dominated by like 50 mega-subreddits but the algorithm is still capable of surfacing small subreddits once in a while (it's not just based on absolute number of votes, it's also has a votes-per-number-of-views component or something). And if you're not logged in, you just get /r/popular when visiting https://reddit.com https://reddit.com . (However, I rarely use either of those features, I only have the one subreddit I care about, so I could be inaccurate.)
- MrMember 4y ago
  Until you can't. /r/star_trek was created by people unhappy with /r/startrek and was recently banned.
  - someNameIG 4y ago
    Banned for what? I've seen communities splinter off in seperate subreddits and none were banned.
  - optimalsolver 4y ago
    Let me guess, they were brigading the main Star Trek sub in some "anti-woke" crusade, right?
  - unethical_ban 4y ago
    Sounds like there is more to it, Daystrom institute is fine and a great alternative.
  - tjpnz 4y ago
    Likely for not thinking Burnham was the bestest ever.
- BitwiseFool 4y ago
  >"The beauty of reddit is that you can create your own subreddit with your own mods and have the discourse that you want." The "just start your own" strategy rarely works, and at the end of the day you're still on a platform that can ban your little upstart for any reason it wants. That's assuming the people in the main subreddit even learn that your alternative exists, as the mods don't want people leaving their little fiefdom and can ban you for mentioning it. This mindset is also counterproductive because it advocates for completely and totally giving up any effort to address the problem in the main subreddit. It lets the troublesome moderators run unchallenged and can make things even worse.
vips7L 4y ago
Looking at one of the mods there, they've only had an account for 3 months. 0 comments, 1 post karma.
- Seattle3503 4y ago
  That isn't necessarily an indicator of something nefarious. I've been active in a community using an account that has identifying information about me. When I joined the mod team, I did it under an alt to avoid disgruntled users becoming a personal safety issue.
xeromal 4y ago
Reddit has definitely started a massive push in an authoritarian direction. I actually was permanently banned from reddit last night for saying "I didn't know shooting a guy in the nuts would kill him" for spreading hatred/violence in a video game subreddit. It kind of caught me off guard.
- kcplate 4y ago
  If it doesn’t kill him, he might wish he was dead.
- counttheforks 4y ago
  From all of reddit or just that subreddit?

purpleblue 4y ago

The beauty of reddit is that you can create your own subreddit with your own mods and have the discourse that you want. You're not held to just sticking with the subreddits that are given to you.

ok123456 4y ago
It can be 'sponsored' as the parent noted. (By whom? Why?)
- flumpcakes 4y ago
  Not only sponsored - but also automatically added to your list of subscribed sub-reddits! I only saw the "sponsored" posts when I went out of my way to unsub from this new subreddit I was unceremoniously subscribed too.
blendergeek 4y ago
What the parent is pointing out is that Reddit choosing subreddits for people to subscribe. Sure, I can "create the subreddit with [my] own mods and have the discourse that [I] want". But nobody will see it because everybody is automatically added to the subreddits that Reddit chooses.
- thiht 4y ago
  > everybody is automatically added to the subreddits that Reddit chooses. No? That’s not how Reddit works, you join the subreddits you want to join
  - prettyStandard 4y ago
    It's called "the defaults".
    - kibwen 4y ago
      The concept of default subreddits stopped existing in 2017.
      - prettyStandard 4y ago
        Oh wow. I've effectively been off reddit for years now, didn't realize they got rid of the defaults entirely, now I'm curious.
        kibwen 4y ago
        AFAIK, these days the content shown when visiting the home page at https://reddit.com https://reddit.com is exclusively comprised of subreddits that you're subscribed to. You can visit https://reddit.com/r/popular https://reddit.com/r/popular to see an algorithmic page from subreddits that have opted-in to it, which is mostly dominated by like 50 mega-subreddits but the algorithm is still capable of surfacing small subreddits once in a while (it's not just based on absolute number of votes, it's also has a votes-per-number-of-views component or something). And if you're not logged in, you just get /r/popular when visiting https://reddit.com https://reddit.com . (However, I rarely use either of those features, I only have the one subreddit I care about, so I could be inaccurate.)
MrMember 4y ago
Until you can't. /r/star_trek was created by people unhappy with /r/startrek and was recently banned.
- someNameIG 4y ago
  Banned for what? I've seen communities splinter off in seperate subreddits and none were banned.
- optimalsolver 4y ago
  Let me guess, they were brigading the main Star Trek sub in some "anti-woke" crusade, right?
- unethical_ban 4y ago
  Sounds like there is more to it, Daystrom institute is fine and a great alternative.
- tjpnz 4y ago
  Likely for not thinking Burnham was the bestest ever.
BitwiseFool 4y ago
>"The beauty of reddit is that you can create your own subreddit with your own mods and have the discourse that you want." The "just start your own" strategy rarely works, and at the end of the day you're still on a platform that can ban your little upstart for any reason it wants. That's assuming the people in the main subreddit even learn that your alternative exists, as the mods don't want people leaving their little fiefdom and can ban you for mentioning it. This mindset is also counterproductive because it advocates for completely and totally giving up any effort to address the problem in the main subreddit. It lets the troublesome moderators run unchallenged and can make things even worse.

vips7L 4y ago

Looking at one of the mods there, they've only had an account for 3 months. 0 comments, 1 post karma.

Seattle3503 4y ago
That isn't necessarily an indicator of something nefarious. I've been active in a community using an account that has identifying information about me. When I joined the mod team, I did it under an alt to avoid disgruntled users becoming a personal safety issue.

xeromal 4y ago

Reddit has definitely started a massive push in an authoritarian direction. I actually was permanently banned from reddit last night for saying "I didn't know shooting a guy in the nuts would kill him" for spreading hatred/violence in a video game subreddit. It kind of caught me off guard.

kcplate 4y ago
If it doesn’t kill him, he might wish he was dead.
counttheforks 4y ago
From all of reddit or just that subreddit?