Discussion I feel like Reddit might be the worst social media network

[Painless_end]

Edit : After reading some online survey results, all of them found people consistently voting Twitter as the most toxic, followed by Facebook, followed by Reddit.

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I use Facebook and YouTube actively. The lack of anonymity to a great extent on Facebook makes people somewhat more responsible when making comments or posts.

On YouTube, the comment section is usually bad but the fact that any public video is available for everyone to watch, makes it possible to have balanced discussion at times.

Twitter I used for a while, but then shut my account down because I couldn't believe how toxic and political it was.

Now it might be Reddit's turn. I can't believe how toxic the comments are.

Good and informative comments that go against the majority opinion on any sub-reddit will get downvoted into oblivion.

People will use extremely stupid analogies or make logical fallacies while commenting.

Overall, it seems like a cesspool populated by idiotic 13 - 22 year olds with no idea of how anything works and mostly edge opinions about serious issues.

I only started using it since like the last month and I might already close my account in a few more days.

 

[narval]

I've never been on redit. I find it's inteface/thread system... Clunky, confusing. This kind of comments makes worse my opinion of it

 

[FinalBossu]

Reddit enables and encourages circlejerky hivemind behavior.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

I don't use soc media at all. It's all toxic

 

[Painless_end]

Reddit enables and encourages circlejerky hivemind behavior.

Absolutely true. That's exactly what I experienced.

It's either loony teenage edgelords or psychotic hive mind adults who are so toxic it makes you feel like you are losing sanity just replying to their brain dead analogies and viewpoints.

 

[freedompass]

I use Facebook and YouTube actively. The lack of anonymity to a great extent on Facebook makes people somewhat more responsible when making comments or posts.

On YouTube, the comment section is usually bad but the fact that any public video is available for everyone to watch, makes it possible to have balanced discussion at times.

Twitter I used for a while, but then shut my account down because I couldn't believe how toxic and political it was.

Now it might be Reddit's turn. I can't believe how toxic the comments are.

Good and informative comments that go against the majority opinion on any sub-reddit will get downvoted into oblivion.

People will use extremely stupid analogies or make logical fallacies while commenting.

Overall, it seems like a cesspool populated by idiotic 13 - 22 year olds with no idea of how anything works and mostly edge opinions about serious issues.

I only started using it since like the last month and I might already close my account in a few more days.

There are so many subreddits I don't think it's possible to generalise. Not sure I'd even call it social media as such. If you've only used it for one month it's possible you didn't yet find the right niche for you.

That said you are correct there is a great deal of toxicity. There are also administrative policies that prevent free speech. Subreddits get banned for almost nothing. r/sanctionedsuicide, this site's progenitor was a casualty of this. While others get away with some of the most egregious misogyny and other obnoxious behaviour with seeming impunity.

Then there are the NSFW subs, another can of worms. But overall reddit is just humanity writ large on the internet. There are good decent folk and utter assholes, trolls and outright predators. I used to use reddit quite a lot, now less so but I don't think it's worse than Twitter or Facebook by any means.

 

[WhiteRabbit]

If you just frequent the main subs it can be pretty trash, but I mostly stick to a few hobby subs and it's fine. There are hundreds of subreddits.

 

[Painless_end]

There are so many subreddits I don't think it's possible to generalise.

True. I was just talking about a feeling. So I searched online and found in many surveys Twitter was voted the most toxic social media network followed by Facebook and Reddit at 3rd.

Not sure I'd even call it social media as such.

I mean it is clearly under what is currently known as social media so not sure what part are you disagreed with.

If you've only used it for one month it's possible you didn't yet find the right niche for you.

Ok possible. I was just commenting on a general overall vibe that I got from it.

That said you are correct there is a great deal of toxicity. There are also administrative policies that prevent free speech. Subreddits get banned for almost nothing. r/sanctionedsuicide, this site's progenitor was a casualty of this. While others get away with some of the most egregious misogyny and other obnoxious behaviour with seeming impunity.

Yes my experience does confirm this as well.

I am vaguely aware of the whole sub-reddits getting banned thing and it does seem like a political cesspool between various people with opposing political leanings.

Then there are the NSFW subs, another can of worms. But overall reddit is just humanity writ large on the internet. There are good decent folk and utter assholes, trolls and outright predators. I used to use reddit quite a lot, now less so but I don't think it's worse than Twitter or Facebook by any means.

NSFW is like porn. Atleast people just post horny comments and then meet up. It's still not a bad thing I would say.

Yes overall I am aware there are trolls and good people on all websites. So that statement is a normal accepted truth by people

I guess my feelings about Reddit might be due to not having used it much and being introduced to its various aspects now and realizing how bad things are.

 

[freedompass]

I mean it is clearly under what is currently known as social media so not sure what part are you disagreed with.

Well yes I know it is classed as social media but it's anonymous for a start. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc are very different. There's a 'look at me', 'like me' popularity contest vibe plus potentially exposing your privacy. I can't abide any of them.

While reddit can be genuinely informative, especially regarding niche communities that are hard to find elsewhere. It's less about the individual user and more about the particular interest of the sub.

I was just stating how I view it, not how it is viewed.

 

[looseye]

I appreciate Reddit for how easy it is to get an answer to most questions you could ever think of. But as far as the social aspect goes, so many subreddits are rotting echochambers full of biased, toxic degenerates who take their hobby/interest/opinion way too seriously and get really butthurt when someone does that one thing differently than them or asks questions that might imply a slightly critical view on the subject. It's impossible to communicate in a civilized manner if you're not 110% approving of whatever is being talked about.

Pretty much all social media platforms have that problem though, even SS. I mean, how many of us would be able to listen to pro-life arguments reasonably and without interruptions? Most of us are like "You wanna ban suicide? Well, fuck you, I'm not even gonna talk to you."
I have yet to encounter a person - myself included - that doesn't have such a stupid strong bias towards at least one thing.

Seems like human nature tbh... But I agree, it's a complete shitshow when many people with the same biases come together and isolate themselves from anyone who isn't exactly like them.

 

[Painless_end]

Well yes I know it is classed as social media but it's anonymous for a start. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc are very different. There's a 'look at me', 'like me' popularity contest vibe plus potentially exposing your privacy. I can't abide any of them.

Yes it's still social because we chat with people about stuff and it's all online.

While reddit can be genuinely informative, especially regarding niche communities that are hard to find elsewhere. It's less about the individual user and more about the particular interest of the sub.

This is true though. I just need to avoid engaging trolls. By their very definition, they only like to troll. They are very disrespectful towards living things whether humans or animals.

 

[freedompass]

Yes it's still social because we chat with people about stuff and it's all online.

So are forums and a community like this social media too?

 

[Painless_end]

So are forums and a community like this social media too?

Yes obviously.

 

[freedompass]

Yes obviously.

There's nothing obvious about it. I've never heard anyone describe SaSu as social media before. I think most people asked what is social media think Facebook, Twitter etc. But ok, it's whatever

 

[Painless_end]

There's nothing obvious about it. I've never heard anyone describe SaSu as social media before. I think most people asked what is social media think Facebook, Twitter etc. But ok, it's whatever

Just because this is a serious forum or Reddit is mostly anonymous doesn't mean they are excluded from the currently accepted definition of "social media".

From Google :

social media

noun

1. websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

 

[freedompass]

Just because this is a serious forum or Reddit is mostly anonymous doesn't mean they are excluded from the currently accepted definition of "social media".

From Google :

social media

noun

1. websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Forums predated the concept/descriptor 'social media'. Maybe that accounts for the mixed opinions and confusion on this topic. We only started hearing the term 'social media' after the invention of Facebook etc which are also known as social networking sites apparently.

 

[Painless_end]

Forums predated the concept/descriptor 'social media'. Maybe that accounts for the mixed opinions and confusion on this topic. We only started hearing the term 'social media' after the invention of Facebook etc which are also known as social networking sites apparently.

Any website or application where a user can share any content with others either using their real or anonymous details can be considered social media.

Social media is now a blanket term for any website where communicating and sharing content is the driving force for the website.

That being said, I can understand why you would first think of Facebook and Twitter or even the now defunct MySpace or Orkut when you hear "social media". It's because these were the first successful and widely adopted ones all over the world.

Unlike SaSu, which is kind of a dark or niche website, even illegal some might say which is unlike the other "positive" ones I mentioned above. But technically speaking and as per current English language usage, this is still social media.

 

[Ringo]

Due to their structure, subreddits tend to become echo rooms, especially in homogeneous communities, since you can't issue opinions that are even slightly outside of the subreddit's established canons without them going to your profile and downvoting all of your posts. Through this system, users often fall into passive-aggressiveness, fallacies and other inappropriate behaviors in a debate, no matter how serious or trivial the subject is, they tend to the same practices. These flaws are what determine which kind of users stay and which ones leave.

The best experience I've had on subreddits has been with those that work as "directories", such as r/summonsign, it just serves to get players for specific instances, you leave reddit and go to a platform where you can filter better harmful users and their shit is easier to nip at the root. Nice, but how well do you speak of a site when the best thing you can highlight from it is a directory?

 

[Painless_end]

Due to their structure, subreddits tend to become echo rooms, especially in homogeneous communities, since you can't issue opinions that are even slightly outside of the subreddit's established canons without them going to your profile and downvoting all of your posts. Through this system, users often fall into passive-aggressiveness, fallacies and other inappropriate behaviors in a debate, no matter how serious or trivial the subject is, they tend to the same practices. These flaws are what determine which kind of users stay and which ones leave.

Well said.

 

[Sleepdrifter]

It's OK for brief entertainment and novelty, or you need a quick answer on something basic. For anything beyond that (utility; building connections) it's pretty useless. The site isn't "toxic", the userbase is just very young and inexperienced, it isn't appropriate if you want more than a simple answer to a simple question.

 

[Painless_end]

It's OK for brief entertainment and novelty, or you need a quick answer on something basic. For anything beyond that (utility; building connections) it's pretty useless. The site isn't "toxic", the userbase is just very young and inexperienced, it isn't appropriate if you want more than a simple answer to a simple question.

Thanks that actually seems to be very accurate.

For eg, if I want to find a good place to eat a certain kind of food or need recommendations about which product to buy, it seems to be great.

But once you start debating nuanced topics like social issues, the level of discourse sinks faster than the Titanic.

 

[lofticries]

 

[Sleepdrifter]

Thanks that actually seems to be very accurate.

For eg, if I want to find a good place to eat a certain kind of food or need recommendations about which product to buy, it seems to be great.

Tbh you can do better if you google that kind of thing yourself. If you get lucky you can run across someone knowledgeable, but I've rarely, if ever found it to be a good source of data.
The best thing about it is a quick chuckle or an interesting image once in a while. Beyond that, you are setting your expectations too high.

 

[almaranthine]

SanctionedSuicide (rip) and TimeToGo were the only subreddits I ever used on Reddit. I recently got a kick out of one called PizzaCrimes though, and still enjoy reading posts by disgruntled and abused retail/service workers across various subreddits (because I relate).

 

[Painless_end]

SanctionedSuicide (rip) and TimeToGo were the only subreddits I ever used on Reddit. I recently got a kick out of one called PizzaCrimes though, and still enjoy reading posts by disgruntled and abused retail/service workers across various subreddits (because I relate).

Oh that's nice

 

[almaranthine]

Oh that's nice

Reddit has made me laugh my ass off late at night plenty of times. I will never forget a post on TalesFromTheFrontDesk (subreddit for workers in hotels) about an older man who came in with two briefcases and repeatedly came down to the desk over and over in the middle of the night asking when breakfast would be served. Finally, the front desk worker lost it and investigated only to find that the man's luggage was only filled with canned air keyboard cleaner, and he was slaughtering his brain cells over and over getting high off it and thus could not remember that he had already gone downstairs to inquire about breakfast. The kicker was he was trying to kill himself this way. 97% sure that's not possible but idk. Reddit isn't the place for serious or sensitive content though and there's plenty of disturbing content there but I think it's cool that you can find very specific threads there.

 

[lionetta12]

Edit : After reading some online survey results, all of them found people consistently voting Twitter as the most toxic, followed by Facebook, followed by Reddit.

========

I use Facebook and YouTube actively. The lack of anonymity to a great extent on Facebook makes people somewhat more responsible when making comments or posts.

On YouTube, the comment section is usually bad but the fact that any public video is available for everyone to watch, makes it possible to have balanced discussion at times.

Twitter I used for a while, but then shut my account down because I couldn't believe how toxic and political it was.

Now it might be Reddit's turn. I can't believe how toxic the comments are.

Good and informative comments that go against the majority opinion on any sub-reddit will get downvoted into oblivion.

People will use extremely stupid analogies or make logical fallacies while commenting.

Overall, it seems like a cesspool populated by idiotic 13 - 22 year olds with no idea of how anything works and mostly edge opinions about serious issues.

I only started using it since like the last month and I might already close my account in a few more days.

Reddit is so degenerate and weird.

 

[actual_fox]

Reddit enables and encourages circlejerky hivemind behavior.

I consulted my reddit friends and they all say you are wrong.

 

[akirat9]

it is worst

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

The larger, general subreddits are like workbooks for normies.

"What's the most attractive piece of clothing a woman can wear?" - Sundress.

"What should men not be judged for?" - Looking after children. We're not all pedos!

"Flat earthers, why are you so silly?" - Tee hee idk, I'm just wacky!

I seriously feel like gouging my eyes out after just a few minutes of this inane bullshit.

To be fair, I haven't spent much time in the really niche subs which may be somewhat more tolerable, but I also simply hate the layout and ultra anonymity of everything on the site in general. It's like there's no point to replying to anything because you can't get familiar with anybody or develop any frame of reference of who you're talking to or why their opinion matters. It feels like an exercise in futility.