zlacker

This is really well stated. Sometimes out of morbid curiosity, I’ll read one of the /r/all posts on a topic where I know the discussion is going to be reductive and generally uninformed (the example that comes immediately to mind is anything involving the energy industry - there’s not much to find beyond “hurrr durr Exxon bad thorium good”), and every single time it’s the same type of self-satisfied navel-gazing commentary totally untethered from the real world.

I still read it most days (through Apollo) but when/if this kicks in, that’s the end of it for me.

>>nocoin+(OP)
Not only that, the posts themselves on /r/popular are mostly Facebook anger bait (/r/LeopardsAtMyFace, /r/IdiotsInCars, /r/whatcouldgowrong) or political anger bait: Reddit leans left so it's all "Look at what the right said." Reddit is one of the largest spreader of US political bullshit unto the rest of the world, turning kids into flag-weaving partisans and fostering a us vs them mentality.

It's a low brow dismissal, I know, but between the posts and the comments, Reddit has gone to total shit. Also to note that the average age has remained the same, so it's really hard to talk about anything serious when the majority are 18 yo US middle class white males.

And the only rebuttal I hear is "oh, I'm on /r/askhistorians and it's good here." The exception that proves the rule.

May it all come crashing down so we can build something anew. They're just rearranging the chairs on the Titanic at this point.

>>sph+i5
I disagree that the community is middle class (at least now). I often write about common middle class tropes that seemingly go down like a lead balloon as if they had never heard of them, and more importantly there is often a distain for middle class people in favour of working class people on Reddit in political discussions.

Outside the US the subreddits seem to be much older as well, not sure about the situation in the US itself.

>>sph+i5
>mostly Facebook anger bait

I chuckle sometimes to recall the popularity of the “forwardsfromgrandma” subreddit many years back, because the top of /r/all often looks almost exactly like it now.

>>sph+i5
> It's a low brow dismissal, I know, but between the posts and the comments, Reddit has gone to total shit. Also to note that the average age has remained the same, so it's really hard to talk about anything serious when the majority are 18 yo US middle class white males.

I'm probably just showing my age, but one reason I could never get into Reddit is it always felt to me like teenagers rehashing the same old debates I had as a teenager on usenet/IRC/whatever. It was never the platform, or anything wrong with the users themselves. It's just that I aged out of the "spend all day arguing with random people on the internet about things" demographic. (Instead, I spend all day arguing with old friends on the internet about things).

>>witche+A6
That's because the middle class itself has been disappearing post-2008. You need much more money these days to feel you're not rich, but money isn't a major concern either.

Perhaps that's a longer topic not really relevant here.

>>nocoin+(OP)
In that situation, I sort by controversial to see what the other side of whatever issue is being discussed is saying.

>>witche+A6
> often a distain for middle class

I've literally never seen this, but I regularly see upperclass people misrepresent themselves as middleclass.