Reddit is a collection of communities. I like several of them, and think they are generally good and uplifting, /r/pixelart for instance. Some communities have some pretty bad people in them, but it is impossible to create a social media site at scale without like-minded bad users creating and/or flocking to bad communities.

People are in different stages of life and seek solace in other people having similar experiences. Thus, the sexually frustrated congregate, the depressed congregate, drug enthusiasts (and abusers) congregate, disgruntled ex-<insert organization> congregate, you name it, and angry/sad/anxious people with a shared condition will congregate in search of validation/confidence.

But the opposite is also true - people with a shared hobby/passion/vision congregate as well and create some really fun and uplifting communities.

Yep reddit is increasing its conformity and intolerance to dissent at a very quick pace, maybe because it's election year? But in the past such forays have been one way only.

As the subs where you can speak with some degree of openness are ever smaller, it's not worth the time anymore.

Unfortunately this style of moderation has already has spilled out. Even on HN people are insulted for not agreeing with the groupthink, usually as an attempt to bully their point of view off of the internet. Now these people are becoming mods and have real power to suppress counter narratives. This is a systematic problem of people trying to oppress views outside of theirs.