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What killed Reddit wasn't just its corporate chase for profit. It was also the fact that the general public's default internet device shifted to the smartphone
by TFNA 1mo ago
What killed Reddit wasn't just its corporate chase for profit. It was also the fact that the general public's default internet device shifted to the smartphone and its limited keyboard and screen, no longer the computer. That led to comments largely being reduced to 140-character quips, no longer substantial discussion.
I am skeptical any non-corporate replacement like Lemmy can bring the old internet feeling back, because even on those alternative platforms, you just won't get many people using computers again.
- shostack 1mo agoIt also was because it became a target to influence and manipulate people both by every day scammers and marketers as well as nation state level actors.
- TFNA 1mo agoSure, but that didn't hit a lot of small hobby subreddits until recently. But the discussion culture there had already declined starting a decade ago, and it was ordinary subreddit denizens and their phones to blame, not bots or geopolitical intrigues.
- vlyan 1mo agoall it takes for a sub to be good is a blanket ban on activism. if there is no "NO POLITICS" in the rules, or the rule isn't enforced, then every sub -- no matter how small -- will inevitably be subjected to public opinion campaigns.
- TFNA 1mo agoMany of the subs related to travel and unpopular arts and music historically had almost no political posts. Yet they started to decline years ago, already before Covid, due to increasing image posts and decreasing long-form text.
- Yhippa 1mo agoReddit ended up gamifying for engagement/rage-bait instead of natural, authentic discussion.
- snapetom 1mo agoJust a hunch, but I think Aaron Swartz would be disappointed. (Then you bring up Aaron Swartz and Obama's DOJ on reddit and it's massive downvotes calling you a MAGA nazi blah blah blah.)
- inigyou 1mo agoEvery platform with votes does that. Including HN. A community's feeling is largely determined by its sorting algorithm, and voting selects for engagement/ragebait. Chronological is more balanced, but you have to prevent spam because it also doesn't punish spam. You could make it difficult to get an account, but we're all used to moderators abusing the power now, so that leads to self censorship. You could retry the Something Awful way where you let people have unlimited accounts but they have to pay $10 each time, heh.
- inigyou 1mo agoThe other main way would be manual curation. That basically makes a non-interactive website.