I dunno what it was about reddit. I’ve always hated the level of discourse there. The stupid novelty accounts and the same regurgitated joke replies on every. single. thread. and yet I would still sift through the trash to find the good stuff. Now there’s just no good stuff.
The new thing is where they make it look like a user has commented about the new baconator or having better sex or whatever garbage. It’s enshittification all the way down.
I know posting this on Lemmy is SO BRAVE, but I’m not sure if the low quality of reddit is a result of popularity or something else. I think there is probably a tipping point where the level of discussion reaches the lowest common denominator due to the chasing of upvotes and trying to cater to popular opinion.
It’s the fault of the YOOTHS. Reddit is descended from old style internet forums which typically required a certain level of effort and grammar, but as time went on younger people joined who never had the experience at getting yelled at by grammar Nazis and now just get enticed by actual Nazis.
People aren’t monolithic, you get different versions of people depending on how you invite people into a community (and reinvite in every interaction).
Corporations are only interested in inviting in versions of you that will make them a profit, which warps the whole experience and inveitably emphasizes shallow interaction. Profit also requires chokepoints and the algorithm will always tend towards making the popular more popular and the obscure more obscure to create influencers who can be used as vehicles of advertisement and influence.
It isn’t the amount of people that is the issue with reddit!
It is the choices made about the structure of interactions in a community and the fundamental motivations behind them that defines the span of possible communities that can exist within.
Is a social network a physical asset of a community or a business that exists solely to create profit for investors? The answer to that question pretty much tells you everything you need to know.