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Why couldn't this be accomplished through tags? For example instead of going to the /r/digitalnomad subreddit, you can view the digital nomad tag (https://zsync

Why couldn't this be accomplished through tags? For example instead of going to the /r/digitalnomad subreddit, you can view the digital nomad tag (https://zsync.xyz/t/digitalnomad https://zsync.xyz/t/digitalnomad) I agree that there's still value in private subreddit style communities, but I believe that that could co-exist with tags. Ultimately it's a tradeoff. Without tagging you have to figure out which subreddits to post in, potentially cross-posting in tons of different subreddits, fragmenting discussion. With tagging you only need to post once, but a single tag feels less like a "community". I guess personally I never really felt any real sense of community from any subreddits (unlike the old phpBB forums), so the sacrifice made sense to me to keep discussion in one place. But this would only work well if the site can actually foster balanced, intelligent discussion and debate across the spectrum (otherwise just becomes the PC hivemind dump that is the mainstream subreddits like /r/politics), which Reddit has proven incapable of over the last decade - ending up fostering extreme communities like /r/TheDonald as a backlash to the PC hivemind + censorship in the rest of the site.

andruby 3y ago
I think you are looking at it from a technical point of view, and not a "product" point of view. Adding a tag to something doesn't communicate that you are posting it in a community, nor does it communicate that community's rules, etiquette, morals and values. When a user "tags" something it just means adding a label to it. "Posting" in a community communicates something very different.
afavour 3y ago
> I guess personally I never really felt any real sense of community from any subreddits Honestly that staggers me. Maybe you’re spending too much time on giant subreddits rather than in smaller communities? Your experience with Reddit appears to have omitted the parts that make Reddit great.
- danudey 3y ago
  > Maybe you’re spending too much time on giant subreddits I think this is definitely the case for a lot of people who use reddit. My advice to everyone I've recommended Reddit to is: 1. Sign up for an account 2. Unsubscribe from every subreddit you're subscribed to by default 3. Join smaller communities like <list of subreddits that I think they might be interested in> Take gaming as a topic for example; /r/gaming has over thirty million subscribers, which is insane. There's no way that space can be welcoming or foster a sense of community. Instead, look for something more specific, like /r/NintendoSwitch, /r/PS5, /r/BaseBuildingGames, and so on. You can also look for more cross-topical subreddits, like /r/GirlGamers, /r/AccessibleGaming, /r/Gaymers or /r/LGBTgaming, and so on. This is the distinction that so many of these Reddit clones miss; I'm not just looking to get a feed of links, I want to get to know and recognize people, learn others' perspectives, and get a real sense of what these people are like. I want to be able to bring up things like the trans and antisemitism concerns around Hogwarts Legacy without being drowned out by (or targeted for harassment by) transphobes and nazis.
wasyl 3y ago
As a datapoint, Wykop [1], a polish "equivalent" of Reddit (or perhaps Digg, as `Wykop` is also a play on words for _digging things out_) uses tags in its "mikroblog" section [2]. It's nowhere like Reddit and the experience is completely different — for worse. I agree with other posters that product-wise, a service with tags is nothing like Reddit, and it builds a completely different community and steers discussions in a different way. I think the biggest difference is that tags feel _small_, and services like Instagram encourage using lots of tags for _reach_. But this behavior does not build smaller communities IMO, which is IMO Reddit's biggest appeal [1] https://wykop.pl/ https://wykop.pl/ [2] https://wykop.pl/mikroblog https://wykop.pl/mikroblog
dirkc 3y ago
> potentially cross-posting in tons of different subreddits, fragmenting discussion Isn't this kind of the point - different communities will have different discussions if the same content gets posted.
- danudey 3y ago
  Sure, but hashtags aren't communities. If I'm talking about a base-building game that's on Humble Bundle, should I discuss it in #BaseBuildingGames, #Gaming, #PCGaming, #HumbleBundle? Where are people going to see and contribute to the discussion the most? If I'm posting about Hogwarts Legacy's antisemitism, do I post it in #Gaming and #AntiSemitism? Aren't the antisemites and trolls who enjoy gaming going to see my post and go brigade #AntiSemitism?

andruby 3y ago

I think you are looking at it from a technical point of view, and not a "product" point of view. Adding a tag to something doesn't communicate that you are posting it in a community, nor does it communicate that community's rules, etiquette, morals and values. When a user "tags" something it just means adding a label to it. "Posting" in a community communicates something very different.

afavour 3y ago

> I guess personally I never really felt any real sense of community from any subreddits Honestly that staggers me. Maybe you’re spending too much time on giant subreddits rather than in smaller communities? Your experience with Reddit appears to have omitted the parts that make Reddit great.

danudey 3y ago
> Maybe you’re spending too much time on giant subreddits I think this is definitely the case for a lot of people who use reddit. My advice to everyone I've recommended Reddit to is: 1. Sign up for an account 2. Unsubscribe from every subreddit you're subscribed to by default 3. Join smaller communities like <list of subreddits that I think they might be interested in> Take gaming as a topic for example; /r/gaming has over thirty million subscribers, which is insane. There's no way that space can be welcoming or foster a sense of community. Instead, look for something more specific, like /r/NintendoSwitch, /r/PS5, /r/BaseBuildingGames, and so on. You can also look for more cross-topical subreddits, like /r/GirlGamers, /r/AccessibleGaming, /r/Gaymers or /r/LGBTgaming, and so on. This is the distinction that so many of these Reddit clones miss; I'm not just looking to get a feed of links, I want to get to know and recognize people, learn others' perspectives, and get a real sense of what these people are like. I want to be able to bring up things like the trans and antisemitism concerns around Hogwarts Legacy without being drowned out by (or targeted for harassment by) transphobes and nazis.

wasyl 3y ago

As a datapoint, Wykop [1], a polish "equivalent" of Reddit (or perhaps Digg, as `Wykop` is also a play on words for _digging things out_) uses tags in its "mikroblog" section [2]. It's nowhere like Reddit and the experience is completely different — for worse. I agree with other posters that product-wise, a service with tags is nothing like Reddit, and it builds a completely different community and steers discussions in a different way. I think the biggest difference is that tags feel _small_, and services like Instagram encourage using lots of tags for _reach_. But this behavior does not build smaller communities IMO, which is IMO Reddit's biggest appeal [1] https://wykop.pl/ https://wykop.pl/ [2] https://wykop.pl/mikroblog https://wykop.pl/mikroblog

dirkc 3y ago

> potentially cross-posting in tons of different subreddits, fragmenting discussion Isn't this kind of the point - different communities will have different discussions if the same content gets posted.

danudey 3y ago
Sure, but hashtags aren't communities. If I'm talking about a base-building game that's on Humble Bundle, should I discuss it in #BaseBuildingGames, #Gaming, #PCGaming, #HumbleBundle? Where are people going to see and contribute to the discussion the most? If I'm posting about Hogwarts Legacy's antisemitism, do I post it in #Gaming and #AntiSemitism? Aren't the antisemites and trolls who enjoy gaming going to see my post and go brigade #AntiSemitism?