everybody on ilx complains about reddit

I understand why people find those 'little free libraries' cute and nice, they seem pretty innocuous and well-meaning. But they're exemplars of the issue of moving social good into the private/charitable/voluntary sphere. Patchy, minimal, constantly in danger of being abandoned due to lack of free time or interest, untrained or no staff, not actually providing the service that they've named themselves after, not really accessible to the people who need the service most... and many other issues.

And probably I will get people going "oh, but they're not really supposed to replace public libraries" - look at the mass redundancies of librarians and their replacement by untrained, unskilled volunteers. If you think they couldn't possibly replace libraries, stop erroneously calling them libraries, for a start.

neither bookstores nor libraries generally have the book i'm looking for

― Mordy, Tuesday, October 17, 2017 3:10 AM (thirteen hours ago)

Okay, how did someone respond to this by saying that indie bookshops will order stuff for you and completely neglect the concept of the INTERLIBRARY LOAN, never mind the fact that librarians are trained professionals in information access? You can get almost literally any knowledge that has ever been recorded from any library.

sadly not true. i use interlibrary loans as much as possible but v often the book i want is not available anywhere in the network.

I've said the exact same thing about the little free libraries, emil.y, but was rebuked by actual librarians and book enthusiasts! The people most enthusiastic about them tend to be big readers and more likely to use actual libraries, but having a neighborhood book share is more of a local community thing and drums up interest in reading, which is lacking.

and yeah, I've bought books because interlibrary loan system doesn't account for the fact a small press book from another country hasn't made it into the local library system's radar

the library system is one of the great achievements of civilization, don't play yourself

― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Tuesday, October 17, 2017 11:14 AM (fifty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

also "little free libraries" are cute and all and good kind of fun way to share and discover books, they also add a little aesthetic charm to a neighborhood but that's about all

independent bookstores are fine! they're also by and large not serving esl readers, or like poor people in general (he says, for the record, not countering any particular post)

― call all destroyer, Monday, October 16, 2017 10:05 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

I've said the exact same thing about the little free libraries, emil.y, but was rebuked by actual librarians

You obv don't hang out with the same librarians as me, lol.

i like little free libraries but they're not really libraries, they're neighborhood book share systems. which is fine! but they're obviously not a replacement for the many offerings of public libraries. and i don't think most people see them as a replacement. more just a fun easy cute community thing to do. (i am technically a librarian but am not a public librarian, i run a small niche library and do a lot of other non-library-related knowledge work for a nonprofit association).

i can imagine real deal librarians would have an issue w the misuse/general expanding of the term. i have friends that went to school for archiving and library work, so i definitely respect that profession. we will always need librarians and imo the traditional library. technology will not replace books (on the contrary it has made it possible for more people than ever to print and distribute their own).

the problem may be the term "library" itself is too useful, what else are you supposed to call a freestanding book depository? its a book place or something. book recycling? but that makes it seem like the books themselves are destroyed and re-purposed. i dunno. its easy to say free library.

should one ILL a book that is also available at your local library but must be recalled? a roommate in graduate school passionately believed that you should, but I'm not so sure.

(I suspect he was hoarding all of the good references from his field)

the library might recall the book first before they submit an ILL request

to replace "lil library" i propose DEAD (TREE) DROP to add a flavor of espionage.

xp that is the library knowledge I needed so many years ago

I'm just a brief tourist in this thread, but Elon Musk (Tesla/Space-X/Gas-X) gets loads of free* PR and mileage out of Reddit, not sure how much of it is organic (tech-posi!), bot driven, lonely nerds or what.

*My naive assumption, it could very well be sponsored content masquerading as newsworthy front-page clicks.

I don't think reddit has unlabeled officially sponsored content

the LA public library system is great ime, and seems to be does a good job of supporting non-english speaking readers, but the nearest branch is not walking distance, and never will be. afaict this is not because of funding or a cultural resistance to permanent public institutions, but because LA is a really big place.

meanwhile the bookshelf outside my house is currently completely empty because the kids who walk past it on their way out of the high school next door took every single one of the ~100 books that were left there over the summer when school reopened.

i've never heard anyone call it a library (TM).

I'm just a brief tourist in this thread, but Elon Musk (Tesla/Space-X/Gas-X) gets loads of free* PR and mileage out of Reddit, not sure how much of it is organic (tech-posi!), bot driven, lonely nerds or what.

*My naive assumption, it could very well be sponsored content masquerading as newsworthy front-page clicks.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, October 17, 2017 10:18 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I too am struck by the egregious knob shining of Musk that goes on on Reddit.. its almost as if he has PR staff working it every single day.

just love these idiots so much

https://s1.postimg.org/8qfs69tyzz/smartdiscussion.jpg

[–]alrightknight 3 points 1 day ago
Mario is the most mainstream video game character there is though so wouldnt surprise me that much. My 89 year old grandmother asked me if I have played that new mario game yet the other day, which came out of nowhere, but even she knows who mario is.

[–]One-LeggedDinosaur 11 points 1 day ago
I'm not saying no one knows who Mario is. I'm just saying no one cares.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/reddit-is-banning-nazi-and-alt-right-groups-as-part-of-a?utm_term=.nn7p4ZAQ7#.dnaz75wdx

phew, good thing they cracked down before neo-nazis and white supremacists felt emboldened to hold public marches and demonstrations or, god forbid, were swept into the white house on a wave of racist populism

It's hard to hold a reductive opinion about reddit nowadays given its sheer size but if you're looking for a 'Worst of', this is as good a place to start as any:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TopMindsOfReddit/

It's hard to hold a reductive opinion about reddit nowadays

lol no it's not

Please explain.

I think reddit is 99% garbage

didn't take any effort at all to come up with that one, case closed

reddit sucks

The one thing I read on reddit that would keep me from deleting the entire site is the potato story.

anything you say on a whim, no matter how glib or momentary, is frozen forever in time as a definitive statement. as a result we are drowning in reductive opinions. the internet basically runs on reductive opinions.

the internet basically runs on reductive opinions.

ILX included?

that's a pretty reductive take imo xp

reddit is just a microcosm of the internet at large. most of it sucks, it's structured poorly and is generally unreadable, but there are some gems in there, especially if you've got a lot of niche interests

The one thing I read on reddit that would keep me from deleting the entire site is the potato story.

you're gonna make me ask about this aren't u

xp

frogbs otm

it's the "niche interests" that are the problem with reddit tho

I say we ban all niche interests on the internet just in case.

pomenitul keep in mind that challenging the ilx hivemind is futile.

The worst thing about the internet is that it allows people with niche interests to form communities.

By niche interests I think you mean reductive hate

Let's look at a specific example: /r/politics, which routinely hits the front page. Are the links objectionable? The most upvoted comments? I'm curious.

not just reductive hate, also creepshots, child porn, leaked celebrity nudes &c &c xp

reddit truly contains multitudes

by niche interests I was referring to stuff like r/ween lol

That doesn't count because only euphemisms are allowed.

potato story: https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/2tdbig/tifu_by_enraging_the_parents_of_my_girlfriend_by/

ILX included?

ILX especially

I decided to take a bite of the potato, and when I did I made a high pitched noise and said "Taste's very strange!"
That is when the father started yelling at me, and the mother kept saying "What are you doing?" and my girlfriend went to some other room.
Finally the father said I should "Get the fuck out of his house" and I said it was irrational to treat me like this just because I never heard of a potato before. Well let me tell you he didn't take that kindly.

I decided to take a bite of the potato, and when I did I made a high pitched noise and said "Taste's very strange!"

ok, now I'm convinced: reddit is worth saving

oops