I can’t tell if Reddit was actually better when I started using it ~10 years ago, or if I was just more entertained by the novelty of it.
It still does have the important distinction from true “social media” sites that are based around who you add/follow, but they have made some incredibly poor decisions with the platform trying to be less of what made it great and instead trying to blend in with the trendy influencer platforms du jour
It feels like it was better, but I think the redesign and to push towards the mobile apps have changed the content. 10 years ago you came for the comments and discussions. The doom scrolling they're currently focused on seems to detract from that interaction. It hard to even be allowed to view all comments, most seems to be hidden away.
Facebook went in much the same direction. Rather than focusing on interactions between people the focus shifted to just keep people scrolling and reducing interactions to easier "Like", "Hate", "Love", share, anything that could be conveyed using a screen tab, rather than a full keyboard.
My theory: Interaction and the quality of the content on a site goes down, way down, when the primary users switch from desktops to phones.
I agree with your theory. I watched it happen on a number of forums for my car and motorcycle that I had followed for 10 years. The forums got rolled up by VerticalScope and soon after they "upgraded" the software for a better mobile experience and the content/quality is now garbage. It really destroyed the forums as a community and VS is just harvesting eyeballs now. Posts are repetitive questions or drive-by posts that go nowhere and do not ellicit any discussions. Nobody is posting intelligent or interesting content while on the can or waiting in line at the DMV, etc.
Working your way around Reddits problems and dark patterns while still feeding the content machine and contributing to its network effect isn't really a superior solution, either.
Also, this is just a personal anecdote, but ditching Reddit was one of the best ideas I've ever had. There's good stuff in there, but also a lot of obvious and hidden advertisement and it's very easy to get lost and spend hours just scrolling.
Not really. I use either Apollo or Relay (depending on what device I have in my hand) and only subscribe to the subs I want to view. I do not have to work my way through anything.
Here are a few because I know someone will ask:
/r/personalfinance
/r/TropicalWeather
/r/homelab
/r/homeserver
/r/datahoarder
/r/Bogleheads
/r/pizza
Edit: Now, will someone post some BS on one of those subs? yes, sometimes. But the mods tamp it down pretty quick.
The sad thing is that there are genuinely decent subreddits, even, and I hate to admit it, Facebook groups for that matter.
Careful self-moderation on Reddit, Facebook, and Youtube can provide a lot of positive influence and information in your life, but it takes some work, and a lot of awareness.
The defaults are bloody awful. Yet for myself, I read awesome spooky fiction on r/nosleep, I get great and almost instant advice on my truck on Facebook, and YouTube is teaching me how to make shelters with tarps and how to tie bowline and trucker hitches.
I think, well I know, there is high quality content on social media out there. That it is being used to manipulate people and misinform people is a problem that will have to be solved. Or maybe it collapses and decentralizes like how it was before 2004. I'm sure we'll manage.
It still does have the important distinction from true “social media” sites that are based around who you add/follow, but they have made some incredibly poor decisions with the platform trying to be less of what made it great and instead trying to blend in with the trendy influencer platforms du jour