It feels to me like Reddit is only good for hobby or niche interests you might have. The main subreddits and politics are what make Reddit the shittiest. But if you stay away from these it’s ok.

I agree, your experience on Reddit will depend heavily on the subreddits you read.

I'm somewhat active on niche programming topics, and people are usually helpful and respectful.

I like that on Reddit I can stay in my bubble and not worry about the world's every single problem when I just want to relax.

On Twitter, that's impossible. No matter how strictly you curate your feed, at least 1 in every 10 tweets will be something that ruins your mood (politics, drama, bullying).

However, I noticed the tone changed everywhere somewhat. I think I witness the pandemic's toll on people's capacity for empathy by the impulsive rudeness creeping into every niche subreddit I frequent.

Reddit became a shit show with Trump vs Clinton, but now people attack their own for every little sign of life.

We really need a better social network. Twitter, Reddit, HN, Facebook, ... They add little, but break a lot.

Best social network is in person. Get off the keyboard.

FWIW, I've also been noticing this in IRL/person situations:

> I think I witness the pandemic's toll on people's capacity for empathy

There's so many widely varying ways that effects of the pandemic can hit someone pretty bad (financially, mentally, of course physically, etc), and I think that part of the problem is that it's hard to see how real those problems are if you happened to not have suffered those particular hardships.

Personally I found this with isolation through lockdown. People who live with family, a partner or even just housemates seem to not quite understand what happens when the isolation creeps up on you (it creeps). Between the waves, when I could see people again, I could easily tell ones that did know, you could see it in their eyes if they talked about the lockdown period.

It is still quite common on Reddit for users to inject politics into absolutely everything, regardless of the subject. It really is difficult to get away from sometimes.

It's more about the people than the media though. All media can be invaded by politics because of people.

Yes, non major subs are ok, also it's shifting toward annoying too. 2020 is not helping.

My new social network is called the woods.

All those trees certainly cut down on the echo!

The rocks will amplify the echo though!

Hah as an introvert I can totally agree with this

You are exactly right about the hobby and niche interests. On the other hand, the larger subreddits that represent groups of people (such as a city, sports team, university, etc.) will have that echo chamber effect.

Same here as well. Just a different echo. Like, try to challenge the boys club here and get the elders' disaproval...

The problem is the voting. It's not inherently linked to the content's value to the discourse or even welfare of the collective. Wrong reward metric meets a brain evolved for social regulation in small groups of humans dependant on each other's survival. Like with all problems of modern humanity, we struggle with a novel abundance we created...

Tried this Teddit out, and was suitably impressed. Good job.

It's a shame I no longer visit Reddit, as most popular subs just fall into the echo chambers. I find IRC still pretty good for the technical conversations, and there are the odd old skool forums that are active.

Perhaps reddits success will be it's downfall?

It depends a lot on the subreddit. Different subreddits can have different echo chambers.

That's my experience. The subreddits I tend to frequent are pretty well behaved, and I generally have a good time.

But I've had friends who insist it's a massive shit show deserving of being blocked at the router (for at least one guy).

Same can be said with Twitter, or any social network. It's all about the company you choose to keep.

Most communities are. HN included.

They also hate DIY "here's my design if anyone wants to use it" posts. Sharing that you did something seems to induce reddit wrath.

Much like HN, unfortunately. And pretty much any online forum.