everybody on ilx complains about reddit

http://i.imgur.com/Utz6MXX.png

Those up and downvotes are at least analytics to say someone actually read your comment even if they don't have a response for you.

"analytics" hahaha ok

I think when the Something Awful forums are a safer and more inclusive space than your website you need to take a long hard look at your website.

oh snap

Those up and downvotes are at least analytics to say someone actually read your comment even if they don't have a response for you.

"analytics" hahaha ok

― fueled by satanism, violence, and sodomy (elmo argonaut), Wednesday, February 20, 2013 11:42 AM (20 minutes ago)

Yes, too strong a word but just meant to convey it gives you confirmation that your comment wasn't completely glazed over unless responded too.

I bet you send emails with request receipts attached too.

Hey I'm only arguing for the addictive factor of satisfaction that feature provides.

sorry, i'm experiencing some cognitive dissonance between "addictive" and "satisfying"

I think when the Something Awful forums are a safer and more inclusive space than your website you need to take a long hard look at your website.

i imagine a lot of the horrible people who used to be on something awful have migrated over to reddit

reddit sure is something awful, lol peace

Elmo- You can crave the satisfaction of being part of a conversation, or at least verifying your thought has been heard. The validation can be addictive.

it's free market discussion

the invisible hand jerks you off

SA forums are actually pretty good, I think a lot of ILX folks would fit in well there

not just puppy pictures

http://www.reddit.com/r/rabbits/

and food pictures

http://www.reddit.com/r/tacos
http://www.reddit.com/r/eatsandwiches

• My daughter turns four today. This is my first attempt at a cake as a single dad. I hope she likes it!

• Man sobbing at animal shelter. After being jailed briefly and his dog Buzz Lightyear impounded he couldn't afford the $400 to get his pet back.

• Living single, overworked and underpaid, but I love my girls.

• As a single momma who's never had the funds to give my kids anything but hand me down bedding from relatives, being able to do this today meant the world to me.

tbf, I don't see these as abominations deserving of scorn? The second one could lead that way, but reddit's also a place where a bunch of strangers try to donate money to get the dog out of doggie jail and shit. Reddit has an assload of flaws but these aren't representative of them.

Looking at a regular front page, whenever someone does the racist/sexist/etc. posts that get upvoted a bunch, there's usually also a top comment offering a counterpoint. Lurkers can vote - if ILX's demographics included lurkers it may not be the progressive place everyone enjoys.

It's passive-aggressive maudlin fucking heartstrings being pulled for UPVOTES.

For some posts, absolutely. But it's a huge site, if some overworked single parents find it and realize they can vent about their shit AND get some easy praise I'm not shocked.

Even if it's all just lies and maudlin bullshit for upvotes, that's firmly in the who cares category for me. There's a not insignificant chunk of ILX over the years (TITTWIS/etc.) that's been all about the HOLD ON, KITTY.

If I constantly posted things like "I don't know if I can pay my car insurance this month, but at least I still have my kids. Here's my vote in the Prince poll," you'd killfile me in a heartbeat.

So what about:

r/askhistorians
r/asksociology

and there's a science one and a literary studies one and some others.

Core of qualified users answer your questions. I read these pretty much every time I go online I guess. I ask questions occasionally, get interesting and worthwhile answers. I'm not aware of anywhere else you can get this specifically?

(Mainstream reddit culture is horrible, of course. A whole lot of paedophile apologists. A whole lot of rape apologists. Or if we're feeling more charitable, people who talk out of their arse about these topics and will not listen. I don't want to/can't talk to the average redditor, in any of the main subreddits, about these topics, certainly.)

quora?

Sure, but ILX is a tight knit community for a non-specialist forum (or perhaps because it's non-specialist) - even if you haven't corresponded with someone or met them outside of ILX, regulars often know each other's stories just from reading posts. jaymc.xls is the norm at ILX rather than the exception.

There are reddit celebs and dedicated posters who know each other, but for the most part redditors are completely anonymous to each other. If I only ever saw your one Prince vote, then it wouldn't bother me and I'd probably even feel bad for you. Especially with the right image macro.

was an xpost to pp

omg there are some shiny glass bottles in this heap of internet garbage!!

Why is that not a valid defense, if someone really digs askhistorians or w/e?

if you're looking on reddit for 'specialists' i for real feel sorry for u xps

If I constantly posted things like "I don't know if I can pay my car insurance this month, but at least I still have my kids. Here's my vote in the Prince poll," you'd killfile me in a heartbeat.

:D

hey ilx, look at this terrific indie playlist my girl friend (who's also a gamer) made for me.

if you're looking on reddit for 'specialists' i for real feel sorry for u

― administrator galina (Matt P), Wednesday, February 20, 2013 11:27 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Didn't really go to reddit to look for them. But they vet the users and users have to provide proof of a relevant qualification. Most of them are postgrad students/academics with some spare time. In terms of the answers you get there's not a lot of agenda pushing or claims to know everything, just 'this is what this theorist said', 'have a look at X book', 'x scenario seems most likely because'

FWIW I'd also say r/circlebroke and r/srs are pretty good if you're in the very niche group of people who go on reddit but don't like it and want to work out exactly why you don't like it.

I guess it's about whether you can call a website 'bad' because most of it's bad, or, whether you can call a website worthwhile because certain bits of it are just quite good fun to spend time on

circlejerk and srs are both hilarious

Is there some app I can use just to check the dog & cat photo subreddits?

r/circlejerk only allows links from gawker!! or did for a lil while.

Sure there's a lot of pedo and rape apologists, but the earthporn sub has some really nifty cactus pictures.

otm

kingfish, you can remove all your subscriptions and only see r/aww and dogs and cats on your front page - this would also work with the two iOS apps

^^

What i really meant was, the rest of the comments were people patting each other on the back. Some kind of pop-culture trivia circle jerk.

mm

I guess it's about whether you can call a website 'bad' because most of it's bad, or, whether you can call a website worthwhile because certain bits of it are just quite good fun to spend time on

― cardamon, Wednesday, February 20, 2013 7:25 PM (Yesterday)

And to expand on that- The bad parts of the website aren't necessary to visit since you can just go directly to r/askphilosophy without visiting the front page first or spacedicks or something. And there isn't much user crossover in those subs.

omg there are some shiny glass bottles in this heap of internet garbage!!

― administrator galina (Matt P)

speaking only for myself, but there is nothing redeeming about reddit's discussion format; threaded conversations are the WORST & the voting system rigorously discourages dissenting opinions. so the insistence that "some of the subreddits aren't so bad" doesn't really matter to me because the structure is deeply flawed.

like, there structural reasons for how ILX became what it is ~as a community~ just like reddit's structure lends itself to the tyranny of its (straight, white, male, technocratic, atheist, sexist, libertarian) majority

For what its worth on the structure point the smaller subreddits don't have a lot of up and downvoting and the threads are small enough that the dissenting opinions don't get as dramatically buried.

which subreddits do you like evan

I like a lot of the ones in the same vein as what cardamon cited- the ask_________ subs are fun/interesting.

How often do you see a man and think "I'd fuck him" or "I want to fuck him"? (self.AskWomen)

What are some corny/cliched romantic gestures that make you go "awww" every time? (self.AskWomen)

What's the worst thing a male stranger has said to you? (self.AskWomen)

Women, what do you feel when a guy orgasms inside you? (self.AskWomen)

How to make a shy girl feel comfortable? (self.AskWomen)

What subtle gestures do woman give off that the person they are chatting to is either creepy or they don't want to speak any more? (self.AskWomen)

Do vaginas really have teeth? (self.AskWomen)

Does female skin feel like silk? (self.AskWomen)

So reddit is the Internet distilled, basically? Pockets of good, overwhelmingly terrible, full of people who think women are the Other?

no reddit is worse