This might be an unpopular opinion, but I left reddit due to the shitstorm that's currently going on that needs no introduction from me. But I left not because the CEO went mad with Paoer, whilst I strongly agree with the importance of freedom of speech and reddit being a sacred avenue for it. I personally believe that reddit's hive reaction has exposed the worst side of reddit. I'd been tiring of it for some time now but this was the last straw. The pure childishness was unbearable. Sure the censorship doesn't help, but what pushed to leave the site was the community, not the people in charge.
tl;dr: cbf using reddit anymore, hivemind can be v childish
note: I try not to take myself too seriously, sorry if the title is click baity, I'm not trying to be dramatic, I'm only posting this to find out if other people feel the same way.
This is far from an unpopular opinion! Not only is the userbase there thoroughly juvenile, they've collectively been branded officially as the most hateful place on the Internet by the Southern Poverty Law Center. I think it has a lot to do with the way the site is designed itself; the highly segregated subreddits and confrontational voting system promote groupthink, breed radicalism, and enhance hatred of those one disagrees with. It was inevitable that the aggressive hate would eventually get so bad that the admins would have to intervene heavy-handedly. Specialized communities like the academic subs are pretty much the only reason why I go on there anymore.
I'm curious- why would you call the SPLC a hate group? My other question is why they aren't a legitimate authority.
I see the SPLC as a leftist organisation that uses the "hate group" label as a tool to discredit its political opponents and further its own agenda. Their activities betray their biases, and thus they have no business posing as a super partes (neutral) judge. In recent times, this has been recognised even by the FBI. The SPLC regularly covers men's rights issues in their blog, in the category "anti-woman", despite the fact that men's rights sites and activists are not trying to take away women's rights, but only to fight the discrimination against men and boys that's occurring in our society. It should be noted that the SPLC doesn't have an "anti-man" category, in other words it doesn't even acknowledge the existence of an anti-male sentiment (even though there are plenty of examples of it, both on the internet and in real life).The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled several Washington, D.C.-based family organizations as "hate groups" for favoring traditional marriage, has been dumped as a "resource" on the FBI's Hate Crime Web page, a significant rejection of the influential legal group.
OK. I think I remember reading about them and the ADL being removed from the FBI website when it happened. However, I feel like their "link" to a lone nut with a gun is tenuous. I'm not familiar with either of their blogs, but I can't find any "anti-women" section or anything, although I don't doubt one exists. I think what it boils down to is what you consider a "hate group." I don't know if i would call the Family Research Council a hate group, but they sure are close. They seem to have only one agenda, and that's defaming LGBT people and advocating for laws to actively limit the rights of these people. As for the SPLC not having an "anti-man" category, here's their mission statement or whatever: I don't think I would consider men to be vulnerable members of society. I would consider women to fall into this category, though.The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.
Here's the link to the anti-woman category of their "hatewatch blog" in case you want to check it out. I disagree about men not being a vulnerable group, because from a legal point of view, they have less rights than women, and from a social point of view they receive less sympathy than women when they become victims of violence or discrimination. I also think that by excluding men from the groups worthy of being protected, the SPLC is effectively condoning hate against them (and only against them), thus contributing to making them a vulnerable group.
Thanks. I'm wondering how to approach this, since I think we disagree here. What would you consider a vulnerable group? I'm also curious as to how men have less legal rights than women (at least in the USA). I will agree with you that men receive less sympathy than women in US society when it comes to victimhood. I wouldn't say that there is any specific group "unworthy" of protection from discrimination or hate, but it makes sense to me why the SPLC does not focus on them- pound for pound, men are less often victims of abject discrimination as women and other classes, there are (to my knowledge) less concerted efforts in this country to limit their rights or propagate material to create a culture of discrimination against them. I think the rubric that the SPLC is using for their list of "protected classes" or whatever has to do with historic discrimination/hate towards these groups in the USA, and current concerted efforts to limit the rights of these people and defame them as a group.
Well, when it comes to marriage, parenthood, reproductive rights, sexual crimes, domestic violence, selective service, jobs that involve working with children, affirmative action, men are legally discriminated against. But if that was the case, why would the SPLC have an "anti-white" category in their blog? Correct me if I'm wrong, but whites haven't historically been the victims of discrimination in the USA. This sentence makes me think. Knowing how to disagree is an underrated skill, I wonder if there's a book that teaches it.I think the rubric that the SPLC is using for their list of "protected classes" or whatever has to do with historic discrimination/hate towards these groups in the USA, and current concerted efforts to limit the rights of these people and defame them as a group.
I'm wondering how to approach this, since I think we disagree here.
I had no idea that there was an "anti-white" section of their blog. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but I had a hard time navigating their website. That is strange. I'd rather not get into a longer discussion about men's rights here, but I will concede that the SPLC's judgment is questionable. Thanks for changing my view.
I agree in that 4chan/8chan are in a different league of hatred than reddit and the description isn't completely apt, but I choose to interpret as the mainstream internet - with reddit's growing popularity I (as a biased user) would place it in the same league as Youtube, Facebook or Twitter. I think the truly most hateful place on the Internet would have to be 4/8chan and other deeply disturbing websites on the sensationally dubbed 'dark net'.
When did the SPLC decide to trade in its status for random clickbait crap? They were an organization that usefully tracked, you know, actual hate groups - Aryan Nations chapters and the like. Did the siren call of internet money get them to jump on the bandwagon of labeling random websites as "hate groups", or was there a change in leadership?
You're right, the academic subs do have the worth and they're refreshing to visit. When I say I'm not going to use reddit anymore, I'm talking about checking /all before any other social network. I'll definitely browse my city, uni or any other particularly useful subreddit - but I don't think it will become anything more than a reference tool and I won't browse it anymore than say my local newspaper (I'm not as informed about the outside world as I'd like to think).
Can I buy some of the dope you're smoking? Reddit is a business and they're fully entitled to kick anyone or anything off of their platform for any reason. It's not some internet ashram for the enlightened and it never has been. I don't care if they outlaw the letter 'S' at this point. It's so far from anything worthwhile besides a huge user base, this shitstorm is just a major indicator of thatreddit being a sacred avenue
For sure I was being hyperbolic but I don't think the freedom of speech should be underestimated, whilst I think it's limited by the hive mind, and yes due to it being a business. I don't think it should be overlooked for what it was, it provided on many occasions a medium to voice grassroot concerns over major issues that weren't adequately addressed in mainstream media. To clarify, I don't actually think it was the perfect platform for freedom of speech but nor do I think it should be so immediately classified as another worthless machine churning out the mainstream narrative in the fashion of just about every other popular news and social media platform. That's completely my opinion though and I'm far from qualified. I agree with where you're coming from and I'm down to continue the discussion if you are.
I agree with you. The mass majority of the reddit community is very childish, and I'm very tired of it. After seeing it like I did yesterday, I had to get out. Here I am, trying to find a better source of real discussion. Some of the subreddits I like, I will go back for, though. A select few can be worth visiting still.
Completely agree, I said practically the same thing in a comment earlier before reading this. One thing that really got to me recently was all the 'summer reddit' bs. I physically cringed reading the memes and comments, grown adults (or so they say) being unbearably childish about kids coming to the website. I'm generally keen for a laugh and a song parody or two but jesus christ, when I saw somebody made the summer lovin' parody about summer reddit along with the other comments in the thread it was unbearably cringeworthy that these people were being as immature as I'd ever seen them in their complaints about an oncoming wave of immaturity. It's happened before in the few years I've been on reddit without a doubt, so maybe it's me growing as a person (I'm only in uni) and becoming aware of how immature a large part of the community was, or with it's increased popularity (purely anecdotal, I don't actually have any hard numbers, I'm basing this off my own personal observations so could be entirely wrong) the quality of reddit has dipped and it's humor has become more juvenile and mainstream as it's catering to larger audiences with content akin to buzzfeed or 9gag who (their hatred of which is another equally cringeworthy and ironic issue that I'd be happy to rant about but I think this paragraph has gone far enough :s.
I almost now categorize reddit into the likes of 9gag, membase, iFunny, or something similar. Their mainstream content seems too similar, mostly content coming from default subreddits like r/AdviceAnimals and r/funny that is. It's very interesting that so many people on reddit will express their vehement hatred for places like that, but it's turning into exactly what they hate.
Yeah man that's almost beat for beat what I was going to say, couldn't agree more, they don't deserve to judge those sites in the slightest let alone think they are comparatively highbrow. Loving this reddit bitching session haha, I had a lot on my mind about the site and nobody to voice it to (if I ever said on reddit you know what would happen).
The really sad part for me is that it used to not be utterly vitriolic, childish, and obnoxious as it is now. I remember joining the site around 08-09 and being pleasantly surprised about the depth and breadth of conversation about a variety of topics. I'm reminded of the scene from The Newsroom where the anchor unabashedly says "America isn't the greatest country in the world." The cultural hegemony of Reddit, in a 20-something internet sense, feels the same to me.
Well, I subscribed to a lot of them, I like a lot of different things. I was mostly just a lurker. I subscribed to subreddits like, r/smashbros, r/SandersForPresident, r/hiphopheads, r/neutralpolitics, r/lgbt, r/cinemagraphs, r/deadmau5, and r/audiophile just to name a few. How about yourself?
I also just left reddit and am trying to get accustomed to how things work here. I agree with your statement about just visiting reddit for only a select number of subreddits that managed to stay away from the huge crowds. I also browse r/smashbros (mainly r/ssbm now) as well as r/hiphopheads! They can provide content and I definitely look forward to seeing how Hubski differs from the subreddit style.
You are not alone. A lot of the less pleasant communities on Reddit (FPH being one of them) needed to go. I've seen the reaction seems to cut entirely one way with people who seem rather interested in the status quo: LOL PAOTRIARCHY FUG REDDIT 8DDDD. And its not just confined to the default subs. The well is pretty much poisoned, the lands salted, and we're in for some serious Lord of the Flies shit until the site goes dark. Nothing of value was lost uninstalling sync, and adding it to my blocklist. Once you hit massive scale, there's not really a single design philosophy that maintains a consistently quality community. It always falls into the throes of control and despair. It will come to everything, including Hubski. But hell, i'm going to enjoy myself while I can. I think that's the last thing I need to say on the topic of Reddit for the foreseeable future. Also, one more thing: It doesn't matter what Reddit says it is or isn't. They are here to make money. There's always somewhere else.whilst I strongly agree with the importance of freedom of speech and reddit being a sacred avenue for it
>Once you hit massive scale, there's not really a single design philosophy that maintains a consistently quality community. It always falls into the throes of control and despair. It will come to everything, including Hubski. I wonder if it's related to the eternal september effect. I wonder if a similar site would stay good forever (or at least a lot longer) if account creation was strictly controlled (maybe allow 10% growth in accounts/month) in order to assimilate people into the general culture.
I'm not a fan of Chairman Pao, and for very good reason. Why did /r/FatPeopleHate deserve the chopping block when there are many other larger subreddits that not only breed hatred but also harass other users? Also, the fact a lot of them are radical feminist subs indicates a feminist agenda with the site.
I slowly started siphoning out anything related to default subs, and ended up with a curated front page that had no reference at all to FPH. I only knew what was happening when a friend linked me to the blog post... needless to say, I'll still be using reddit for my very niche interests, but I agree with your opinion wholeheartedly. Reddit is no longer the smallish community it was when I found it 5 years ago... For that reason, I'm scared for the future of amazing subreddits like /r/redditgetsdrawn and /r/listentothis and /r/casualconversation where people could just peaceably coexist. I don't think this website will be a replacement because that isn't its aim, but Im hoping I can foster same happy feelings here just the same.
I often find myself a little irritated by the immaturity of reddit, which is in large part what motivated me to check out hubski. However, and this may just be me being cynical, I think a lot of people's prophecies about the imminent demise of reddit reflect more on the collapse of their perceptions of reddit than anything else. Reddit, at the on the larger subs, has been an immature place that is large antithetical to reasonable discussion for a long time. The combination of a large user base and upvote/downvote system for comments basically guarantee that. It just sometimes takes a big outburst for that reality to hit home. Nonetheless, reddit still functions very well at its primary job of providing content for people to consume, especially on the smaller subreddits. r/dataisbeautiful will continue to provide interesting little graphs to look at, r/askreddit will continue to have interesting/amusing threads, r/dndbehind the screen continues to be an excellent resource for running my DnD game. It's just that reddit is not a one stop shop for everything one would want on the internet. Rumors of reddit's death are at this point a bit of an exaggeration.