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Reddit is still a vast archive of valuable advice on many topics. I developed a habit of adding "reddit" to my search requests whenever I want to get unbiased u

Reddit is still a vast archive of valuable advice on many topics. I developed a habit of adding "reddit" to my search requests whenever I want to get unbiased user opinions or product recommendations. For me, today is not only the day when the most of reddit is down but also web search experience is significantly degraded.

unshavedyak 3y ago
I do the same. With that said something will come along. As is the case with these things once the "new standard" becomes the "standard" it becomes astroturfed with fake reviews and manipulation. Reddit is a bit less trustworthy on this front than it used to be.. i suspect at least. I wouldn't mind some fresh blood even for this purpose.
- lawkwok 3y ago
  I hope it humbles whoever builds the next platform. Nothing lasts forever no matter how entrenched it is in the zeitgeist. Once something gets big enough, it becomes impossible to moderate and eventually it will fall out of fashion and lose its original intent. Look at Etsy and Amazon. I'm finding people are rearely loyal customers to a brand long-term. Rather, they want whatever platform gets them what they want. People jump from sites like Aliexpress to Wish to Shein to whichever webiste has the most latest and marketing team.
gremlinsinc 3y ago
maybe try using phind.com, not exactly the same but LLM infused search can have similar results, since it was trained on a lot of Reddit data.
- Croftengea 3y ago
  Thanks, I didn't know about it, will give it a shot.
somuchjob 3y ago
I do the opposite. Finding reddit links in a search result page just lets me know I'm in for a world of disappointment in modal pop-ups (on mobile), modal blockers to see the full comment thread, and then unhelpful/missing/flippant and generally unhelpful comments at the end of all that anyway. Especially when I search for vehicle/mechanic advice the old school forums just can't be beat for their value, even though many are ghost ships with no active users anymore.
- Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
  On mobile, yeah, it's awful. They have absolutely destroyed the mobile experience, especially if you're not logged in. And why would I be logged into reddit on my phone's browser, when I use BaconReader to read reddit? On desktop though, it's an entirely different experience. I'm always redirected to the old layout, so I don't have the stupid anti-user shenanigans.
- greenie_beans 3y ago
  i do the opposite. legitimately, "site:reddit.com <search query>" is like step 2 or 3 for me when looking for leads on information or product suggestions, product reviews, travel ideas, hidden gems, places to fish, etc. if you know how to cut through all the noise then it's a gold mine — you can find information just about anything. even just finding basic terminology about a thing then you can research the word. as for the modals, just visit the reddit thread by prepending `old.` to the url. like `old.reddit.com` and then you can see everything without all that annoying stuff. also sign up for a reddit account but based on your comment doesn't sound like you'd be open to that.
- dtjb 3y ago
  social search vs. reference search
greenie_beans 3y ago
same, tried to search about a specific topic and couldn't access the subreddit
rvba 3y ago
The problem is that now 'everyone' knows the reddit trick and marketers sit there all day writing sponsored posts + upvoting them with bots / bought accounts.

unshavedyak 3y ago

I do the same. With that said something will come along. As is the case with these things once the "new standard" becomes the "standard" it becomes astroturfed with fake reviews and manipulation. Reddit is a bit less trustworthy on this front than it used to be.. i suspect at least. I wouldn't mind some fresh blood even for this purpose.

lawkwok 3y ago
I hope it humbles whoever builds the next platform. Nothing lasts forever no matter how entrenched it is in the zeitgeist. Once something gets big enough, it becomes impossible to moderate and eventually it will fall out of fashion and lose its original intent. Look at Etsy and Amazon. I'm finding people are rearely loyal customers to a brand long-term. Rather, they want whatever platform gets them what they want. People jump from sites like Aliexpress to Wish to Shein to whichever webiste has the most latest and marketing team.

gremlinsinc 3y ago

maybe try using phind.com, not exactly the same but LLM infused search can have similar results, since it was trained on a lot of Reddit data.

Croftengea 3y ago
Thanks, I didn't know about it, will give it a shot.

somuchjob 3y ago

I do the opposite. Finding reddit links in a search result page just lets me know I'm in for a world of disappointment in modal pop-ups (on mobile), modal blockers to see the full comment thread, and then unhelpful/missing/flippant and generally unhelpful comments at the end of all that anyway. Especially when I search for vehicle/mechanic advice the old school forums just can't be beat for their value, even though many are ghost ships with no active users anymore.

Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
On mobile, yeah, it's awful. They have absolutely destroyed the mobile experience, especially if you're not logged in. And why would I be logged into reddit on my phone's browser, when I use BaconReader to read reddit? On desktop though, it's an entirely different experience. I'm always redirected to the old layout, so I don't have the stupid anti-user shenanigans.
greenie_beans 3y ago
i do the opposite. legitimately, "site:reddit.com <search query>" is like step 2 or 3 for me when looking for leads on information or product suggestions, product reviews, travel ideas, hidden gems, places to fish, etc. if you know how to cut through all the noise then it's a gold mine — you can find information just about anything. even just finding basic terminology about a thing then you can research the word. as for the modals, just visit the reddit thread by prepending `old.` to the url. like `old.reddit.com` and then you can see everything without all that annoying stuff. also sign up for a reddit account but based on your comment doesn't sound like you'd be open to that.
dtjb 3y ago
social search vs. reference search

greenie_beans 3y ago

same, tried to search about a specific topic and couldn't access the subreddit

rvba 3y ago

The problem is that now 'everyone' knows the reddit trick and marketers sit there all day writing sponsored posts + upvoting them with bots / bought accounts.