Not to mention, some of the arguments can be made about HN without changing a word.

Reddit is different because people tend to chose subreddits that they care about, so the discussions are generally more positive.

For example, there are small subreddits about FirefoxOS or Jolla, that contain discussions about both topics, and are quite enthusiastic. On the other hand, any HN discussion about those topics is full of people who are doing nothing but complaining, putting (the thing) down and nay-saying.

I was waiting for the conclusion "just like HN", but I guess they carry the same delusions about HN not being a trite hivemind that they once did for reddit.

But that's the thing. There is no actual real reason to go on Reddit. If I want to read something about the French Revolution, I'm going to pick up a book about it by a qualified author that I'll research before hand.

By simple virtue of being on Reddit, regardless of subreddit, you are wasting your own time. It doesn't matter HOW good the top comment is, ultimately it's a gamble. How do you know if what you're reading is real?

Trust, I've been on the site for like 7 years now and I've been to nearly every sub deemed "worthy". Almost in every situation, I'd prefer an entirely new forum specifically dedicated to that topic.

By design, it's just a comment system without any features really, and that design promotes a certain behaviour, which plagues the intention of the poster in the first place, because it's not longer about sharing information, it's about sharing information in the context of it earning more upvotes, so the content becomes corrupt.

I use reddit to discuss stories that only people in my town would discuss (r/stlouis) or to discuss things about the local sports team that only the people in my town would discuss (r/stlouisblues). Neither of those places are particularly toxic and there isn't really a better place on the web to discuss those things.

But that's the thing. There is no actual real reason to go on Reddit.

There's no actual real reason to do just about anything. But reddit is the best place for certain types of conversation.

Edit: The default front page really is a piece of crap.

I use it for small subreddits too once in awhile. I'm posting about the main subreddits because that's the context of OP's post since her picture was posted in r/WTF.

> Trust, I've been on the site for like 7 years now and I've been to nearly every sub deemed "worthy". Almost in every situation, I'd prefer an entirely new forum specifically dedicated to that topic.

> I'm posting about the main subreddits because that's the context of OP's post since her picture was posted in r/WTF.

Excuse me?

Excuse you.

"You can argue that some smaller subreddits have really good content, but do they REALLY?"

Yes, without a doubt.

"But that's the thing. There is no actual real reason to go on Reddit."

Something like r/AskHistorians is fantastic and I could never take in such a diverse array of knowledgable points by "picking up books by qualified authors" - I simply don't have the time, nor the niche interest to read every topic to that depth. AskHistorians is full of very knowledgable contributors, has effective and tight moderation, and it's generally fascinating.

I don't have a Reddit account, so I just visit that subreddit (and a few others - AskScience, NBA, an anthropology one, etc) directly. Sure, there's trash elsewhere but the same is true of almost everywhere, anonymous or not.

I go to reddit for the curated links, it's obvious you used it to read comments.