4 ms·

While there’s no easy solution, I think it’s inaccurate to say that everyone will simply return to Reddit after the controversy blows over. The people complain

While there’s no easy solution, I think it’s inaccurate to say that everyone will simply return to Reddit after the controversy blows over. The people complaining loudest are users and moderators who use third-party apps because they find Reddit website and first party app to be completely unusable. Reddit won’t disappear overnight, but it will enter a steep decline in quality as we saw with Facebook and Twitter, and the minority of users who leave permanently are likely the ones who contributed the most value to the site.

StrictDabbler 3y ago
One thing that isn't being discussed much is the bubble of shame that has been building up around Reddit. For years, Redditors have been accused of being homophobic, misogynistic, incels, pedantic, predatory, etc because the Reddit administration kept tolerating edgelord 4Chan-style communities until the stink hit the mainstream media. See TikTok's "Average Redditor" account/meme. So every good poster still on Reddit has either been pushing against that stereotype or ok with it. For 14 years I was willing to stand up for Reddit as a fountain of information but that shame bubble has been hovering over me for at least ten. There's a new reason to be ashamed of using Reddit. If post a single comment after the blackout I will be a corporate bootlicker who is willing to tolerate good contributors being libeled in pursuit of a slightly higher IPO. So I'm out. The shame bubble burst when they took indefensible actions against the community. A huge chunk of the best contributors will be similarly affected.
HybridCurve 3y ago
When I first started browsing reddit many years ago, I remember the comments and user contributed information to be of decent quality. Now there are many topics with page after page of irreverent half-assed humor. I am not really sure where the blame lies for this (mods, user culture, bots, etc...) but the quality of content on the site dropped dramatically over the years to where most of it is just garbage or noise. I really don't think that can ever be fixed.
- BizarroLand 3y ago
  I mean, we knew about the eternal September of Reddit. That was just part of the experience. The oldtimers would drift slightly more and more out of sync with all of the newbies, the newbies would gradually become the oldtimers, that's just the way it goes. Circle of internet life, you know? They're probably looking at this attack as ripping off the bandaid. No need to have generated so much ill will, but the owners of Reddit, (not the users) have decided they want to go forcefully in a certain direction and they do not care who they have to trample to go that way. To that I say, "Godspeed, and go die in a fire", but whatever. I'm enjoying the comedown from my Reddit addiction. I find myself reaching for my phone when I'm bored and realizing I deleted the app and have no instant dopamine buttons available. Change is good, and if you can't change with it then change in another way, right?
  - HybridCurve 3y ago
    Agreed. It's not going to get better. You can't force changes on users who generate and manage all the content on your site.

StrictDabbler 3y ago

One thing that isn't being discussed much is the bubble of shame that has been building up around Reddit. For years, Redditors have been accused of being homophobic, misogynistic, incels, pedantic, predatory, etc because the Reddit administration kept tolerating edgelord 4Chan-style communities until the stink hit the mainstream media. See TikTok's "Average Redditor" account/meme. So every good poster still on Reddit has either been pushing against that stereotype or ok with it. For 14 years I was willing to stand up for Reddit as a fountain of information but that shame bubble has been hovering over me for at least ten. There's a new reason to be ashamed of using Reddit. If post a single comment after the blackout I will be a corporate bootlicker who is willing to tolerate good contributors being libeled in pursuit of a slightly higher IPO. So I'm out. The shame bubble burst when they took indefensible actions against the community. A huge chunk of the best contributors will be similarly affected.

HybridCurve 3y ago

When I first started browsing reddit many years ago, I remember the comments and user contributed information to be of decent quality. Now there are many topics with page after page of irreverent half-assed humor. I am not really sure where the blame lies for this (mods, user culture, bots, etc...) but the quality of content on the site dropped dramatically over the years to where most of it is just garbage or noise. I really don't think that can ever be fixed.

BizarroLand 3y ago
I mean, we knew about the eternal September of Reddit. That was just part of the experience. The oldtimers would drift slightly more and more out of sync with all of the newbies, the newbies would gradually become the oldtimers, that's just the way it goes. Circle of internet life, you know? They're probably looking at this attack as ripping off the bandaid. No need to have generated so much ill will, but the owners of Reddit, (not the users) have decided they want to go forcefully in a certain direction and they do not care who they have to trample to go that way. To that I say, "Godspeed, and go die in a fire", but whatever. I'm enjoying the comedown from my Reddit addiction. I find myself reaching for my phone when I'm bored and realizing I deleted the app and have no instant dopamine buttons available. Change is good, and if you can't change with it then change in another way, right?
- HybridCurve 3y ago
  Agreed. It's not going to get better. You can't force changes on users who generate and manage all the content on your site.