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You will most likely find a shift in the hive mind, but presumably only because Reddit grew from a smaller community with relatively dominant progressive and at

by socket0 11y ago

You will most likely find a shift in the hive mind, but presumably only because Reddit grew from a smaller community with relatively dominant progressive and atheist/agnostic values into something much more mainstream. Reddit 2006 would not reflect mainstream US values and opinions, Reddit 2015 would be much closer. So I'm not sure we can draw any conclusions from the hive mind shift.

ebbv 11y ago
> Reddit 2006 would not reflect mainstream US values and opinions, Reddit 2015 would be much closer. While I agree Reddit 2015 does reflect more of the US mainstream, it is still far from being an actual reflection of popular US opinion. Reddit is far more atheist/libertarian than the US mainstream. And I would argue it is right now far more reactionary/right wing as well. It has become very popular among young white males who have unhealthy attitudes towards women due to the abundance of porn and generally retrograde attitudes towards women of Reddit in general (both the users and the site itself.) Same goes for its attitudes towards race.
- mason240 11y ago
  > young white males who have unhealthy attitudes towards women due to the abundance of porn You sound just like the fundamentalist Evangelicals I grew up with.
  - ebbv 11y ago
    It appears you didn't understand the sentence you are partially quoting. Reddit itself is full of porn. Much like attitudes towards women are likely to be generally more misogynistic among the patrons of a strip club than they are, say, inside of a planned parenthood, not just the presence but the omnipresence of porn on Reddit, and the role the porn plays in Reddit's popularity has an effect on the site and its users as a whole. If you're going to claim that it has no effect, then you're delusional. And my point is not that porn is bad or porn should be banned or whatever kind of crap you're trying to ascribe to me with your ridiculous comment. So, settle down there, Chester, and try actually reading what someone writes before responding to it. Try to actually comprehend the point and don't just react with the first knee-jerk thing that comes to mind.
    - intortus 11y ago
      Don't be too hard on him. As Ben Franklin said, the price of abundant, free porn is eternal vigilance.
    - elbear 11y ago
      I think your post would have gained more without the personal attack. I understand that his personal triggered your response, but the first part of your comment does a good job of supporting your argument.
      - ebbv 11y ago
        I honestly don't care how my response gets voted. I responded to him much nicer and with less personal attacks than he did (I accused him of not reading/understanding my comment, and of attacking me, both of which are patently true, he accused me of being a bigot.) Some people on HN just want you to lay there and take it when someone attacks you, and I won't. So, I get down voted when I respond to people who are nasty. It's worth it.
  - dang 11y ago
    > You sound just like the fundamentalist Evangelicals I grew up with. That reads as if you intended it as a personal attack. Such comments are not welcome on Hacker News. Please don't post them here.
- Karunamon 11y ago
  generally retrograde attitudes towards women of Reddit in general That's a pretty awful accusation to level at ~20 million people. I wonder if you can substantiate that?
  - archagon 11y ago
    I think anyone who reads the default subs can corroborate the rampant sexism and racism. When I'm on women-centric subs like /r/askwomen, I frequently see comments that would absolutely get torn apart in most other parts of the site. Not offensive or provocative ones, either. Just normal conversation that would get a slew of "shut up, SJW" anywhere else.
    - imgabe 11y ago
      Considering not all of the user base comments and that of those who do, not all of them are misogynistic, imputing the opinions of a vocal minority to the whole community isn't really fair.
      - archagon 11y ago
        Sure, but every community has a set of norms. You get a sense of what's not OK to say if you've been around for a while. On Reddit, I can immediately tell when going from a default sub to a nicer, more inclusive sub, because I see comments that would get absolutely eviscerated in the defaults used in regular conversation with no apparent controversy, pile-ons, or swearing. Sure, most people on Reddit probably aren't racist or misogynistic, but the community can still feel that way.
        doyoulikeworms 11y ago
        I think that the best way to describe Reddit with regard to misogyny, racism, and other forms of bigotry is that Reddit is not a safe place for everybody. If you don't curate your subreddits well, you'll probably end up trudging through a lot of awful comments and/or submissions. I view this to be more of a reflection of society as a whole rather than the Reddit community specifically. Subreddits show a marked decrease in quality once they become large. Becoming a default subreddit is, in some ways, a death knell for the community.

by socket0 11y ago

ebbv 11y ago

> Reddit 2006 would not reflect mainstream US values and opinions, Reddit 2015 would be much closer. While I agree Reddit 2015 does reflect more of the US mainstream, it is still far from being an actual reflection of popular US opinion. Reddit is far more atheist/libertarian than the US mainstream. And I would argue it is right now far more reactionary/right wing as well. It has become very popular among young white males who have unhealthy attitudes towards women due to the abundance of porn and generally retrograde attitudes towards women of Reddit in general (both the users and the site itself.) Same goes for its attitudes towards race.

mason240 11y ago
> young white males who have unhealthy attitudes towards women due to the abundance of porn You sound just like the fundamentalist Evangelicals I grew up with.
- ebbv 11y ago
  It appears you didn't understand the sentence you are partially quoting. Reddit itself is full of porn. Much like attitudes towards women are likely to be generally more misogynistic among the patrons of a strip club than they are, say, inside of a planned parenthood, not just the presence but the omnipresence of porn on Reddit, and the role the porn plays in Reddit's popularity has an effect on the site and its users as a whole. If you're going to claim that it has no effect, then you're delusional. And my point is not that porn is bad or porn should be banned or whatever kind of crap you're trying to ascribe to me with your ridiculous comment. So, settle down there, Chester, and try actually reading what someone writes before responding to it. Try to actually comprehend the point and don't just react with the first knee-jerk thing that comes to mind.
  - intortus 11y ago
    Don't be too hard on him. As Ben Franklin said, the price of abundant, free porn is eternal vigilance.
  - elbear 11y ago
    I think your post would have gained more without the personal attack. I understand that his personal triggered your response, but the first part of your comment does a good job of supporting your argument.
    - ebbv 11y ago
      I honestly don't care how my response gets voted. I responded to him much nicer and with less personal attacks than he did (I accused him of not reading/understanding my comment, and of attacking me, both of which are patently true, he accused me of being a bigot.) Some people on HN just want you to lay there and take it when someone attacks you, and I won't. So, I get down voted when I respond to people who are nasty. It's worth it.
- dang 11y ago
  > You sound just like the fundamentalist Evangelicals I grew up with. That reads as if you intended it as a personal attack. Such comments are not welcome on Hacker News. Please don't post them here.
Karunamon 11y ago
generally retrograde attitudes towards women of Reddit in general That's a pretty awful accusation to level at ~20 million people. I wonder if you can substantiate that?
- archagon 11y ago
  I think anyone who reads the default subs can corroborate the rampant sexism and racism. When I'm on women-centric subs like /r/askwomen, I frequently see comments that would absolutely get torn apart in most other parts of the site. Not offensive or provocative ones, either. Just normal conversation that would get a slew of "shut up, SJW" anywhere else.
  - imgabe 11y ago
    Considering not all of the user base comments and that of those who do, not all of them are misogynistic, imputing the opinions of a vocal minority to the whole community isn't really fair.
    - archagon 11y ago
      Sure, but every community has a set of norms. You get a sense of what's not OK to say if you've been around for a while. On Reddit, I can immediately tell when going from a default sub to a nicer, more inclusive sub, because I see comments that would get absolutely eviscerated in the defaults used in regular conversation with no apparent controversy, pile-ons, or swearing. Sure, most people on Reddit probably aren't racist or misogynistic, but the community can still feel that way.
      - doyoulikeworms 11y ago
        I think that the best way to describe Reddit with regard to misogyny, racism, and other forms of bigotry is that Reddit is not a safe place for everybody. If you don't curate your subreddits well, you'll probably end up trudging through a lot of awful comments and/or submissions. I view this to be more of a reflection of society as a whole rather than the Reddit community specifically. Subreddits show a marked decrease in quality once they become large. Becoming a default subreddit is, in some ways, a death knell for the community.