# Does anyone here hang out at Reddit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853 "2018-01-04T15:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/21 "2018-01-05T17:22:02Z")
I love Reddit, there is so much information there. And I like upvoting good comments and downvoting particularly bad ones, as well as seeing the upvotes/downvotes for my posts/comments. You can never tell when something will be a hit though, you can post something one day and it gets no upvotes, post it another day or in another subreddit and it gets tons of upvotes. SDMB is cleaner and more moderated, it just can’t compete with the sheer amount of subreddits and posts on Reddit. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/22 "2018-01-05T17:59:04Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Nobody likes to hear this, but I’ll say it anyway: > > Generalizing about Reddit is like generalizing about New York City. Or Chicago. It’s just that big, and that _segmented_, in that subreddits form cliques and, well, a subreddit devoted to praising Donald Trump is going to have a lot more natural overlap with one devoted to believing in conspiracy theories than it is with a subreddit about trans issues. Generally, when substantial numbers of users of a subreddit go visit another subreddit outside their subreddit’s usual clique, it’s an act of war, called a downvote brigade, or a straight-up trolling run, although those are rarer due to low-level subreddit moderators being able to hand out unlimited numbers of bans. > > (Reminds me of Usenet, it does… so, by all means, say it’s a Kids These Days kind of thing and harrumph about how trolling is completely novel and unheard-of.) > > Point being, Reddit _is_ one of the big sites on the Internet. Saying it is any one thing politically or culturally is both popular and, frankly, rather stupid. That variability across subreddits does make it impossible to characterize on a content-specific basis. But you can characterize it pretty well on a meta-content basis: it’s a self-organizing and self-policing echo chamber. No matter what you believe and espouse, you’ll find a subreddit of like minds to reinforce you, and subreddits of opposed minds upon which you can vent your 2 Minutes Hate at your own convenience. BTW, I regard Usenet as a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Stupid eternal September. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/23 "2018-01-05T18:09:25Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > BTW, I regard Usenet as a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Stupid eternal September. Hear, hear. Excuse me while I grab my walker. It’s almost opening time for for buffet at Country Kitchen Cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/24 "2018-01-05T18:23:56Z")
I read the [Unresolved Mysteries](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/) Reddit avidly and post occasionally. You will find the most fascinating, bizarre, horrifying and intriguing stories there. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/25 "2018-01-05T20:31:13Z")
I have a Reddit account. I don’t look at the front page or r/all and just do directly the subreddits I like and I prefer to see new threads on top if I’m interested in seeing everything posted - [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/new/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/new/) but will leave it sorted the regular way instead of by new if I’m on a big subreddit where I don’t care to see every topic (like news or world news subreddits which will have a number of local stories posted that aren’t really of interest to me as I live in another state/country). My favorite sub is askHistorians, which is quite heavily modded. They try to keep the quality of responses high, even if it means some questions get no answers. I’d say the biggest advantage to Reddit is that it’s big. Lots of members means lots of discussion/content (at least it the big subs). Good for when bored or when you wants lots of opinions. Not good for actual in-depth back and forth discussions, as the nature of threads makes it somewhat more difficult to follow along. I really don’t enjoy it for discussing tv show episodes for that reason, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/26 "2018-01-05T20:45:07Z")
Reddit is phenomenal for niche topics. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/27 "2018-01-05T23:06:33Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > … > SDMB is cleaner and more moderated, it just can’t compete with the sheer amount of subreddits and posts on Reddit. It’s like comparing an organized department store with a massive, open, flea market. Different experiences. (From my extensive experience with the Dope and very short experience with Reddit.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/28 "2018-01-06T03:54:22Z")
I probably spend more time there than here. I actually like the threaded conversations. Yes, it’s different, but Reddit isn’t some cozy community. So the threaded style helps me keep track of actual conversations. It’s like how you can have a group conversation if the group is small enough, but, if it gets big enough, you kinda naturally split off. And I’ve always done better in small groups. The topics are quite varied, and even if I don’t care about most of it, I can find stuff I do care about and discuss it. I hate going to an article, reading it, and then having no way to say anything about it. Sure, you might think that there would be no depth, but it can evolve. Plus I just get informed of neat things on the Internet I’d otherwise not see. As for the layout, I actually love that, too. The visual design is exactly what I want. It’s packed information, like webpages used to be before the mobile craze. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/29 "2018-01-07T04:45:34Z")
I think you really do have to pick your interests and subscribe to those sub-reddits. Otherwise, I feel I’m just overwhelmed by memes and high-school/university-aged interests, and the “front page” isn’t that interesting to me. But for specific things I am interested in, or would like to know more about, it’s great. I got an Instant Pot. There’s a Reddit for that. I want to watercolour paint. One for that. Eat keto-style. Listen to folk music. Learn to knit. My home town and province has Reddits. Watch QI and other panel shows. Ask Historians is super, and when they had a good person doing the AMA’s, there were some high-profile people participating. Just stay out of /r/The\_Donald, and the ilk. Shudder. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/30 "2018-01-08T16:57:22Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > … as well as seeing the upvotes/downvotes for my posts/comments. You can never tell when something will be a hit though, you can post something one day and it gets no upvotes, post it another day or in another subreddit and it gets tons of upvotes… Where/how do you find the upvotes/downvotes for your comments? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/31 "2018-01-08T17:03:47Z")
I believe Reddit somehow hides or obfuscates that data to prevent bots from determining if they’ve been shadowbanned. I know extensions like Reddit Enhancement Suite show a count of upvotes and downvotes but I believe that is also just RES extrapolating numbers, not actually displaying true counts. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/32 "2018-01-08T19:56:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I believe Reddit somehow hides or obfuscates that data to prevent bots from determining if they’ve been shadowbanned. I know extensions like Reddit Enhancement Suite show a count of upvotes and downvotes but I believe that is also just RES extrapolating numbers, not actually displaying true counts. They just show the net total. They used to show the number of both upvotes and downvotes. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/33 "2018-01-09T04:50:55Z")
Worth noting that one of the subreddits is [/SDMB,](https://www.reddit.com/r/sdmb/) for Straight Dope Message Board. However, it appears to have only ever had one user, and he’s been gone for three years. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/34 "2018-01-09T06:05:34Z")
I have used Reddit heavily for years, but since the primary season and election I’ve fallen away from it because it started to become painfully obvious that the content of Reddit is being manipulated by special interests. This article talks about how easy it is to game Reddit: [Reddit For Sale: How We Made Viral Fake News For $200](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2016/12/14/how-we-bought-reddit-for-200/) I am absolutely convinced that many different groups are doing this on the site, just from how the tone of the site abruptly changed during the election (the news and politics subreddits went from being mostly pro-Bernie early on to very abruptly becoming nothing but anti-Trump stuff and down voting anything critical of Clinton down to hell). It seems to have calmed down now, but for a while after the election, it was amazing how completely relentless the spamming of anti-Trump rhetoric there was. You could be browsing a subreddit that has absolutely nothing to do with politics and the most upvoted post at the top of the subreddit would be about Trump. It seemed like every day, there was another new anti-Trump subreddit rocketing to the “front page” of the site. These brand new anti-Trump subreddits often had very few subscribers yet somehow had tons of up votes (which were most likely paid for) It was so impossible to escape it to the point that it became incredibly annoying. Reddit used to be a great site to find interesting conversation and uniquely qualified individuals, but sadly it seems like now it is heading down the road of being exploited for propaganda purposes by corporations and the government. I definitely do not look at it the same way now. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/35 "2018-01-09T13:29:03Z")
I regularly browse reddit, particular for entertainment franchises of which I’m a fan: there are great subreddits for Star Wars, Game of Thrones (and the book series), Marvel movies, etc. I’ll also check it for sports, politics, and general news sometimes, since it aggregates the biggest stories, and the upvotes generally track what’s most important, making it easy to find. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/36 "2018-01-09T13:35:59Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I have used Reddit heavily for years, but since the primary season and election I’ve fallen away from it because it started to become painfully obvious that the content of Reddit is being manipulated by special interests. > …\… > Reddit used to be a great site to find interesting conversation and uniquely qualified individuals, but sadly it seems like now it is heading down the road of being exploited for propaganda purposes by corporations and the government. I definitely do not look at it the same way now. Just the few days I’ve been hanging around there makes me really appreciate a well-moderated board. Seems to depend a lot on the topic. The political ones go off the rails pretty quickly, but some topics attract fewer heated crazies. However, this morning I was looking at one on Type II Diabetes, and every other post was one of those click-bait-ish stories, “Two Leaves Will Kill Your Diabetes Forever!” :rolleyes: You can ignore those and go right to the serious ones from people describing their own diet/exercise regimen, but it’s annoying even to see that crap lying around there. Still and all, there are some GREAT pet gifs and videos! Those will lift your spirits any time of the day that you need a boost. Like [this one](https://i.imgur.com/jjqKt7t.gifv) (wait…for…it…). It cracks me up every time! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/37 "2018-01-09T18:05:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Where/how do you find the upvotes/downvotes for your comments? Good question, I don’t think you can any more. I was speaking about the overall number shown to the far left, usually my posts are positive (more upvotes than downvotes) but sometimes are negative (more downvotes than upvotes.) There is a [permalink](https://www.reddit.com/r/ATBGE/comments/7p6wgo/pillows_of_power/dsf3i0a/) link on every post that will show something like “3,118 points (95% upvoted)”, but that is for the root post, not the comment. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/38 "2018-01-10T01:31:58Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Worth noting that one of the subreddits is [/SDMB,](https://www.reddit.com/r/sdmb/) for Straight Dope Message Board. However, it appears to have only ever had one user, and he’s been gone for three years. I’m the moderator for the subreddit. It’s basically empty, but I think it could be a good “meet up” place if this place ever gets shut down. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/39 "2018-01-10T05:26:15Z")
Reddit is populated mostly by American white guys aged 20-30, so it’s fairly reactionary, even on so-called liberal subs, and has been a major center for white nationalism, the red pill, gamergate, and other far-right movements of recent years. However, you can find interesting discussions if you’re willing to sift through the dirt, and some science and philosophy subs have professors or other people who actually know what they’re talking about, so that’s nice. Reddit is also good if you want to keep up on ever evolving political rhetoric and propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853/40 "2018-01-10T05:43:15Z")
Wait what? It’s white and young, but definitely have far more self identified liberals than conservatives: > **[1. Reddit news users more likely to be male, young and digital in their news...](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2016/02/25/reddit-news-users-more-likely-to-be-male-young-and-digital-in-their-news-preferences/)** > > While just 4% of U.S. adults report using Reddit, about seven-in-ten of these users (78%) get news on the site. Overall, 2% of U.S. adults get news on > [@](#): > > Both Reddit users in general and users who get news on the site tend to be young, male, and to self-identify as liberal at higher rates than the overall public. > > About seven-in-ten (71%) of Reddit news users are men, 59% are between the ages of 18 and 29, and 47% identify as liberal, while only 13% are conservative (39% say they are moderate). In comparison, among all U.S. adults, about half (49%) are men, just 22% are 18- to 29-year-olds and about a quarter (24%) say they are liberal. You may have some loud conservative subreddits, but I’ve noticed it being overwhelmingly liberal (esp /r/politics). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hang-out-at-reddit/805853.md?page=3)