Honestly, it’s mind-boggling how the top 1% have us believing their relentless greed is just the norm and that we’re helpless to do anything about it. This is particularly noticeable on platforms like Reddit, where we, the users, are the real value creators and even volunteer our time.
Just a few days ago, during the Reddit protests, the only thing required from us was to log off. However, it seemed that even this small act was too much for some. It’s a stark wake-up call, making you question how and why we don’t take a stand when our rights are truly in jeopardy.
In this day and age, it appears we’re all too engrossed in our personal lives. If it doesn’t directly affect us, it’s shrugged off. This “not my problem” mindset is damaging to us all eventually. It hinders our ability to empathize with each other’s struggles and to unite against common adversities. This isn’t the type of society any of us should want. It’s alarming to see our sense of community dwindling, and it’s genuinely heartbreaking. Maybe I’m just overthinking it, but the large number of people who seem indifferent is truly concerning. This should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. What do you guys think? (Pic not relevant)
undefined> It’s funny how people are posting on reddit how reddit sucks and how there are no good alternatives, saying the alternatives don’t have critical mass in terms of user numbers
Y’know, I’m starting to think this is a real positive.
I’ve been on reddit for about 12 or 13 years. Quite a heavy user - until I quit it two weeks ago in protest. Small thing but it actually meant a lot to me.
But now I’m realising something: Reddit was actually quite bad for my mental health. The amount of bots and shitposters, and some really toxic mods too (we weren’t all the Angels that we’re being painted like now).
And, on all but the quietest subs, if you don’t get your reply in within the first hour, or even minutes in the busier subs, anything you say gets lost in the churn. Get in first, you get the upvotes. This feeds the karma-cravings of browsing /new to get noticed and that can be very addictive if you’re that way inclined.
All of that badness is exactly because Reddit has achieved critical mass. None of it happens here. The quality is poster is better here. Sure, there’s less of us, but that means we can actually have a decent discussion like now. And also, we kinda care what happens to this system. Most people didn’t care about Reddit as a whole. Maybe their favourite subs, especially if they were mods. But over the past few years I’ve realised how the admins view the users, and it’s not nice.
I won’t be going back to Reddit.
(As for the rest of your point, kinda agree that the world is going to hell. But do please accept that ignoring the bad stuff and not keeping up with the global news cycle is a survival technique for many people.)
Well said. 13 years on my belt here as well. Deleted all posts and comments and never looked back.
I mentioned this in other threads as well, but only after quitting did I notice how the Reddit of today has actually not much in common with the site I joined many moons ago.
In the beginning it used to be a mostly text-based clunky forum type deal. And that’s how I kept thinking of it throughout the years. While in reality, more and more of the most upvoted content recently has been the same braindead short video stuff as on other social media sites. Short attention span moving images; little to no actual substance. The Dopamine Slot Machine Doom Scroller ™ patented and honed to perfection by our Silicon Valley Overlords.
It was only after quitting the Snoo cold turkey that I realized how much this kind of content was numbing my brain, how I waded through the stupid daily in search of in-depth forum-type threads, only to find less and less of it.
So yeah, all of this has been a net positive for me for sure.
Feels a bit like the proverbial frog being slowly boiled to death in shitty content without ever noticing, because the enshittification was so gradual.
So I guess, thanks /u/spez?
EDIT: fatfingers