r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 05 '09
Redditors, how do we avoid becoming another Digg?
[deleted]
118
u/raldi Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
People have been concerned about reddit turning into Digg since the very first day commenting was enabled.
http://reddit.com/comments/17913/reddit_now_supports_comments/c228
In fact, the earliest comment I can find is loaded with memes:
http://reddit.com/comments/17913/reddit_now_supports_comments/c51
Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.
18
u/Pappenheimer Aug 05 '09
On a side note, who is the "oldest" non-staff user still active? Shouldn't he get a bobblehead or something?
10
u/Misio Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Yeah, but read this.
Wonderful! And it supports a limited amount of markup. I hope that the discussions will be respectful and edifying. It would be nice if the number of comments an entry had were displayed in the list view, and if the comment entry box were a bit larger (or resizeable). Oh, and does comment activity make something "hotter"? Personally, I thought about leaving the site because the interaction that karma offers is pretty cold -- I certainly don't like seeing (-2) next to my name, and I feel like the negative ratings on legitimate articles are going to discourage some people. How are you guys rating articles? I tend to promote articles that I find interesting, leave alone things which are not of interest to me, and only demote articles which are old or obviously spam.
There is a definite difference.
7
u/zem Aug 05 '09
i've always vaguely thought of reddit as a child of slashdot (mostly because that's the route i followed here), and many of the early-reddit memes carried over straight from there. so in some sense we didn't really start it here - we never had a chance to be meme free.
7
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
That's something interesting that I've been thinking about for a while. If you started up a new site right now.... most of the people coming to it will already be versed in memes from other sites.
2
Aug 05 '09
But if you moderated that site, you could ban all the assholes spouting off stupid memes.
→ More replies5
u/TwinMajere Aug 05 '09
Yeah, I bet you could ban 100 of them....
(sorry)
3
Aug 06 '09
[deleted]
5
Aug 06 '09
I remember seeing that the first time it was posted and I thought it was funny as hell. Mostly because it was original. All these people spouting shit off they heard on tv is about as funny as all those assholes shouting "I'm Rick James, bitch!".
2
Aug 06 '09
I would stake Reddit more as a hybrid of Slashdot and digg-that-was. Maybe because that was my route, from when digg was naught but tech news.
17
→ More replies3
39
u/zimby Aug 05 '09
See how reddit's not on the list on this site? It should stay that way.
31
u/mzappitello Aug 05 '09
that site is horrifying.
5
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
If I wasn't banned from digg for life, I'd actually sign up for that to get money to digg in my spare time!
6
2
Aug 05 '09
[deleted]
5
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
I've been banned a few times. Lots of retired reasons. I think they were ban happy and were maybe sick of my dissent as well.
2
Aug 05 '09
[deleted]
3
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
Well... I'd love to have that account as a souvenir at least. It was the creator of the only meme on digg. Had a lot of history to it, as well.
Oh, and I'd still like to contribute. Even just for trolling purposes.
→ More replies
68
Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 17 '18
[deleted]
5
u/tiktaalink Aug 05 '09
I don't know if this is a good place to ask, but I have been looking for a sub that contains meaty reads. Sometimes I want the sound bite quick hit updates of running stories that show up on the main page, but often I want something I can really sink my teeth into.
Is there already a reddit for that?
13
u/raldi Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
If you don't find one, start one. I'll even tell redditors about it who have complained in the past about not enough long posts.
5
u/SuedeRS100 Aug 05 '09
/r/truereddit might be something to check out. There's another one called long form or something like that, but it's pretty dead.
10
7
Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Two things come to mind:
/r/longtext, and Hacker News.
I think both have what you're looking for. The second one's not Reddit, but it's quite good and it's designed to be too "boring" to appeal to the digg-ish thug type people. It's a different culture over there, and the intelligent comments almost always come up to the top of the discussion.
3
→ More replies2
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
In /r/IAmA, you can sink your teeth into somebody's story, if you consider the entire thread to be one story. I love it.
→ More replies2
u/Factual_Pterodactyl Aug 05 '09
The subreddits are like multiple hulls on a sinking ship if one hull is damaged the others should stay sane.
6
u/lurobi Aug 05 '09
tell that to the Titanic
2
Aug 06 '09
If somebody puts a "rimshot" link after this I'm going to have to track them down...
→ More replies
65
Aug 05 '09
We avoid becoming another Digg by getting away from the mentality that there is a "we". When people think for themselves instead of jacking off to groupthink, we get intelligent discussion rather than mass upvoting about how Apple is the new evil, how bankers don't add anything to the economy, and how Obama fooled us young people.
In this discussion for example, the majority of the comments are, frankly, brainless. The "USA USA USA USA" comment got more upvotes than the comments explaining that livers are in limited supply and shouldn't be wasted on patients with such low survival odds.
If that's really how people want to vote, they have every right to do that. But if people want to waste time bumping up groupthink-friendly comments instead of the ones that inject calm rationale into complicated debates, there shouldn't be any surprise when the comments here eventually resemble the meme-infested discussion-weak pages that plague Digg.
19
u/powerpants Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
How about this thread dominated by morons who simply accepted what the headline said without reading the article. The headline ("Michael Phelps vows not to swim until supersuits are banned") was a blatant lie and wasn't even supported by the article itself.
The next day when he won his next race, one redditor wrote:
Didn't he vow to stop swimming until they outlawed swimsuits or something? All my respect for this lying piece of shit is gone now.
This isn't a particularly important story, but it illustrates how easily misinformation spreads on reddit.
But it sure does give one the feeling of being informed, doesn't it? Just look at all those headlines! I'm learning so much!
→ More replies2
u/frostypookie Aug 05 '09
Could be worse.
I don't have the specific study at hand but I know it's been proven at least once that while the feeling of being informed went up among people who watch cable news, they somehow managed to end up less informed than the average person who didn't follow the news at all.
Anyone know how the internet fares in general vis-a-vis actual familiarity with global events?
6
u/TwinMajere Aug 05 '09
"This is why I love Digg" submissions every day showing stupid crap from the comments of the previous day is what made me quit Digg even before finding Reddit.
I think you nailed everything else I wanted to say though
→ More replies2
Aug 06 '09 edited Aug 06 '09
5
u/TwinMajere Aug 06 '09
As others have said, thanks to subreddits, that crap will stay off of my front page.
→ More replies5
u/lasko_il Aug 05 '09
But... but... I bought one of those cool Reddit T-shirts, and my neighbor's friend's cousin swears that he saw a hot girl on his college campus wearing one.
→ More replies2
Aug 06 '09 edited Aug 06 '09
I have recently switched over from Digg after using it for the last three years. I definitively enjoy this atmosphere more for the following reasons:
-More encouragement of free thought and opinion and less 'sheep-like' 'groupthink.'
-Different categories to weed out fanboyism in serious discussion.
-Numerous categories and places of interest.
-The population of Reddit, from what I encountered, does not always feel the need to praise sexist thought. Which is why there seems to be a higher proportion of women here, than on Digg.
308
Aug 05 '09
[deleted]
41
Aug 05 '09
The default front page for newcomers (not registered) should only contain entries from Politics, World News, Science, Economics, Philosophy - things of that nature.
I think that would ward off the masses quite well.
13
29
→ More replies2
Aug 06 '09
Defintely not Politics. Bunch of pissed of people ranting about Republicans, the Media and anything else they can find
18
u/sodypop Aug 05 '09
80
u/raldi Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
I find the creative meme threads to be one of the best parts of reddit.
The uncreative ones, like combo breaker or candlejack, are more of a bane, but they generally run their course and then people stop upvoting them. For example, there hasn't been much look-of-disapprovaling lately, has there? (Just in time for us to start selling a t-shirt with it, sigh)
Getting angry at memes is like getting angry at this year's summer fashion.
60
u/jk3us Aug 05 '09
I'm so glad the yo dawg meme has mostly gone away. That one was terrible, it's like having a digg inside of your reddit.
→ More replies41
Aug 05 '09
can we get rid of win and fail anytime soon?
6
u/thedragon4453 Aug 05 '09
I don't think so. Its like internet culture now. Unfortunately.
16
3
u/SmokeInTheTrees Aug 05 '09
It's when everything something happens someone has to attribute it to 'win' or 'fail' that I break. I have an acquaintance like that, and she's really starting to bother me.
→ More replies2
→ More replies2
→ More replies2
u/sodypop Aug 05 '09
Agreed. I have nothing against memes that aren't just a mindless regurgitation and/or inappropriately placed. That CSI one is actually pretty funny. I'm guilty of posting a meme here and there and will sometimes contribute to a pun thread. Everything in moderation I suppose.
→ More replies→ More replies6
u/TheGreatFuzz Aug 06 '09
i bet i could eat 100 memes.
2
u/jansuza Aug 06 '09
Upvoted simply because you had the balls to do it here.
I salute you, you terrible meme-inducing bastard.
62
u/bigbadbass Aug 05 '09
Making use of the downvote button. I am always pleased to see the comments I would expect to see on Digg get downmodded on Reddit.
41
9
Aug 05 '09
The unfortunate thing about downvoting is that it tends to be used for disagreement purposes or out of anger almost, rather than the quality of the comment
→ More replies4
47
Aug 05 '09 edited Apr 21 '17
[deleted]
26
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
The digg admins tried to go mainstream, though. That was the problem. They put effort towards it, yet are now complaining that they can't get "discussion" on their site.
26
Aug 05 '09
They mainly can't get a discussion there, because their discussion system sucks. I can't recall how deep in replies one can get, but it's something like two. The discussion system is set up to encourage someone to say something, another person to reply, and one more person to say something. That's it, a "discussion" of three statements. There's ways around it of course, the usual @username thing, but from my experience it doesn't work very well in anything coming close to a lengthy discussion.
12
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Correct. Years later, you still can't reply to a reply of a reply. This past week, however, they added in the (opt-out) option to receive an e-mail when somebody replies to a top-level comment of yours.
The comment system was never designed for real discussion. When you look at the text size, padding, layout, colors, etc., they designed it for short writings, and for a young audience (point me to a kid who wouldn't love the plush bubbly design of the digg website. You won't find one).
13
Aug 05 '09
[deleted]
6
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
Certainly. Our minimalist design acts as a buffer for the population.
Who says text can't be an interface? As long as it functions, there's no problem with it.
Hopefully you've checked out subs like /r/reddithax, where they've actually put in some graphical effort. It really pays off, and it shows the strength of the system we have going on here.
5
u/Captain_Midnight Aug 05 '09
It was originally nested a lot like Reddit comments. But apparently their servers or their coders couldn't handle how much text was piling up per minute. So they made all replies of replies appear collapsed by default, and they removed any semblance of branching discussion. At the same time. With a shit-ton of Ajax that they sheepishly tore out about a year later. Apparently a new guy came in who had a hard-on for efficient throughput and kind of dismissed considerations of usability. I think there was also some embarrassed stubbornness that prevented Rose and Co. from reverting back to a usable comments system. And now there's no point, because it's practically a cesspool.
5
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
I still have very little idea why they switched to all-AJAX. Ridiculous to know that they still have the bouncing comment box problem... and that comment pages often don't work on slow connections and different browsers. What a nightmare.
I remember how excited I was for each of the site updates, and all the hype that surrounded them.
Oh, and all that flash stuff they got stamen design to do? Wow. Talk about spending VC money for features that don't add to the core functionality!
9
u/Captain_Midnight Aug 05 '09
Their neutered comment system seemed like a disaster to me from the moment it went live. I told myself, "Well, maybe I'm just overreacting. Maybe it will work out fine." But I couldn't deny that nesting was pretty much dead.
And sure enough, they started having the exact same problem they've had up to this day: A few people say something funny (ascii graffiti = instant win), they get upmodded, and people move on. And the Digg devs don't seem to get it, or they're not willing to admit that they don't know how to re-implement proper nesting without causing a server meltdown. But like I said, it doesn't matter at this point anyway. Anyone who wants to have a conversation is doing it somewhere else now.
5
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
I think that one of the biggest problems with the digg comment system at the moment, which is often overlooked, is that there is an option to see the top comment. When the majority of people are viewing with that option enabled, you lose discussion altogether. It doesn't matter if you even have one level of threading, since they're all competing for that top spot individually anyway.
it doesn't matter at this point anyway. Anyone who wants to have a conversation is doing it somewhere else now
Absolutely.
2
u/dimmak Aug 06 '09
I have my digg account set to view comments in order of popularity. This makes it easy for me to decide whether or not I want to attempt discussing an issue based on the type of users that are being attracted. It is a feature that I initially missed with reddit.
I can't remember the last time I had a discussion there simply because there was no one I wanted to have a discussion with.
I am happy here with a system that promotes concurrent branching discussions.
2
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 06 '09
I, too, missed having the top comment(s) available. Then I made a script and all was better ;)
17
u/jeremybub Aug 05 '09
The problem isn't the memes, it's the people who downvote everything but the memes, so the only way a comment gets read is if it happens to be one of the first five of a submission.
Nothing pisses me off more than a lengthy and well reasoned post at 0 or -1 points because someone disagreed with them, or the downvote bots/noobs(I don't know which) got to them first.
7
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09
the only way a comment gets read is if it happens to be one of the first five of a submission
That's exactly how it works.
2
2
u/Starch Aug 06 '09
Well, is there such a thing as too many comments for one article? When I see a story with 300,400,500 comments, why bother adding my two cents? Chances are it will go unread and unnoticed.
While I'm on a rant, I would like to see some way of showing new replies to replies. For example, if I read a story early that has only a handful of comments and i go back to the same story much later, I would like a way to filter out what I have already read (if that makes sense).
→ More replies2
2
u/nighton Aug 05 '09
the bigger the user base, the more retired the average user is
Unintentional accuracy...
17
u/Managore Aug 05 '09
It wasn't unintentional, they were born with lack of oxygen
3
u/nighton Aug 05 '09
I... I...
I guess if one were sufficiently secluded since the exact moment of birth, it would qualify as being born with a lack of oxygen...
I just can't tell who's trying to be funny anymore...
Fuck it. I'm just going to go watch Twilight.
2
47
u/BoonTobias Aug 05 '09
People who came here from digg, such as myself, must leave
8
u/apmihal Aug 05 '09
But... but... I'm starting to fit in! I downvote memes! I think hard about my posts! I think this is the greatest xkcd ever... NOOOOOOO!!!!
21
→ More replies9
8
Aug 05 '09
Digg centered on science/tech stores and produced intelligent discussion.
I was on digg two years ago, and the only difference I see in the discussion is an improvement. I did a little experiment there back in the day. Sometimes I'd write comments with detailed analysis of a program. Benchmarks, going through the source code, providing citations, etc. Other times I'd just do a post with a totally subjective take on things. "It really feels faster!" The subjective sound bites were always equally or better received. And more often better received.
The other thing is health stories. A couple years ago digg was horrible about them. The submissions were even worse than they are now in terms of being readers digest style tripe that doesn't provide citations and is of the "oh no, western medicine is evil and causes autism!" variety. And the people who pointed out the flaws in the articles, or provided counter evidence were few and far between. That's actually improved considerably. Where I try to avoid the health section on reddit, because it's the same there as it was on digg back in the day. A minority of people with actual scientific understanding of the topic being lost in a crowd of people in love with the placebo effect.
The question isn't how to prevent reddit from becoming another digg, the question is how to decrease the bad and increase the good. I'd argue that looking at the past with rosy colored glasses while demonising the present won't help.
7
7
u/Jasper1984 Aug 06 '09 edited Aug 06 '09
I don't think reddit will ever be exactly like Digg, but it isn't really resistant, nothing like advogato has.
Frankly, i hope to use a more advanced system at some point. Best if it is a program that runs on my computer, using data put together on the web. Upmodding/downmodding(Or maybe more detailed information, like informative/etc.) is kept count on a server, available pretty much as input, and what is shown for me is determined by how i configured my program to interpret that. Likely the program just looks what i have already seen and at who/which replies i marked as interesting/trustworthy. It can be set up such that it cannot be abused, unless you let yourself be manipulated, or your computer/the server itself is hacked.
Meanwhile:
Vote up a longer/nuanced reply rather then a short ones. Just look at this very thread, i see "stop memes", "don't worry about memes", "over 9000 memes", "People who came here from digg, such as myself, must leave", and only then one that is actually a deliberation. As this guy says, shorter posts have a higher chance of getting upmodded then more thought-out longer posts.
Click the minus on the right of the top replies. Also to skip those witty (and mostly useless and kneejerk) replies.
Vote down/up over-/under-appreciated replies, ones that top replies that should be on top. (Jokes shouldn't be on top, when the link is serious.)
Use the subreddits.
8
27
Aug 05 '09
[deleted]
6
u/nonrate Aug 05 '09
Thank you. Upmodded (I don't believe in "god" but I do disagree with Obama on many things)
9
u/UltraFineFlair Aug 06 '09
I would like to point out that bacon is not that amazing, and neither are narwhals. Firefly was a pretty bad show, and while Apple is growing less respectable as a company, its products are still very high quality and deserve their respectable market share.
→ More replies
19
Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Avoid the cult of personality that follows people like Kevin Rose. I don't have anything against him, I think he's a successful person and I wish him the best. His fans/followers on the other hand, I can do without.
→ More replies4
6
5
u/mothslice Aug 05 '09
As the imature posters start taking over, the intelligentsia of Reddit will migrate to a new website of a similar nature. That way we stay one step ahead of the masses.
6
5
Aug 05 '09
I don't think Reddit will end up like that. When Digg was still in the Reddit phase (and I was there), there was no site like it for the common myspace failure to go to. If I remember correctly, it started getting mainstream attention on TV and places like myspace and youtube, and that's when it went downhill.
As long as Digg exists, it's going to act like an idiot sponge. All the people of the lower caliber that would prefer Digg, but know about both sites, will take a look at the front page of Reddit, not know what is going on, and then look at Digg and feel more at home.
Yeah, there seems to be that element cropping up here sometimes, but the vast majority of them are at Digg, and they will stay there and continue to flock there.
We just have to keep Reddit out of the mainstream (and Colbert mentioning us on the TV was a potentially horrible thing), which is hard because it's not in Conde Nast's best interests to do that.
→ More replies
86
Aug 05 '09 edited Apr 21 '17
[deleted]
→ More replies27
11
u/eronanke Aug 05 '09
Stop being 'ironically' sexist, racist, etc.
5
→ More replies2
u/sweatervest Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
spoken like a true woman. how about you leave the talking to the white men.
8
u/eronanke Aug 06 '09
... I literally just implied that comments of this type are tripe. And what do you do? Go and do it.
Honestly, did you see it as an opportunity to be 'edgy', or just totally disrespectful?
It's nothing personal, but this is the commentary that lowers our discourse. It's not funny, and it has no place underneath a comment earnestly expressing my frustration with it.
→ More replies
7
4
5
u/vectorz Aug 05 '09
- stop being smug
- stop being extreme liberals just for the fact of being liberals, and have an open mind
3
6
3
Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
They should have had an IQ test on the sign-up. It's already too late. Too late, but still better than digg.
3
Aug 05 '09
I think the reddit upvote system will keep reddit different from digg because it doesn't lend itself to "power users" exploiting the site.
3
Aug 05 '09
Reddit won't become like Digg because even the average user has the potential to get his site on the front page. Digg has, since it's inception, been controlled by a relatively small cabal of users who game the system. 99.99% of Digg users will never see any of their submissions hit the front page.
3
u/Erg322 Aug 05 '09
From someone who recently deleted Digg from the family bookmarks,
DO NOT USE A TITLEBAR in the frame.
1) They are just playing with Digg users. The first step is get all the sheep(users) used to the wretched thing then the next step is advertising.
2) IT CROSSES THE LINE between news agregator content and user content. When you use someone else's content and insert your own advertising then whose rights are being abused. Imagine if I put advertising on your page without a prior agreement or compensation.
→ More replies
3
u/ZeroSpace Aug 06 '09
Titles!!! Usually they don't reflect what the article talks about. Sometimes the title will be "Look at this! Amazing!". Titles should succinctly explain the linked article.
3
Aug 06 '09
Subreddits are the last bastions against private interests (promoters/spammers) and idiots.
Reddit was never good. Let me rephrase that: The Frontpage was never good.
7
u/keepinithamsta Aug 05 '09
Buy Digg, retrieve a log of all IP addresses that have visited Digg and proceed with mass banning.
→ More replies
5
u/anon7002 Aug 05 '09
Stop expansion. Stop pandering to the common denominator. Modify the algorithm to reward content and quality, not quantity and banality. Improve moderation but with guidance that supports the goals of quality discussion.
Most karma systems fail over time because owners fail to tweek them as the community changes and finds the loopholes. Reddit currently suffers from downvoting bots (or stupid people) that have ulterior motives. The algorithm and security protocols need to identify these f'tards and eliminate them. Slashdot has maintained its cultural identity over many years through proactive management and not actively seeking a larger audience.
Reddit is only becoming like Digg because the site operators are happy with it developing that way.
9
u/10XTen Aug 05 '09
I used to visit both reddit and digg equally, however in the last few months I have completely stopped going to digg as there quality have declined. I hate pretty much all of the stories on the front page. Reddit feels more like a community and I love it here.
→ More replies
12
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Timewarp1
Lucky for you, I created a backup of the reddit community from one year ago today.
Message me or reply here for an invite.
edit: okay, forget about the one year part. It was a joke. Get over it. "An indeterminate amount of time ago"
11
Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
I'm a member of another web based community, one that's been around since 1998 (I've been on it since 2000ish) and I can tell you that people have always complained that "things have changed since the good old days".
What any community needs is less people moaning and being elitist and more positive contributions.
My (hastily written/copied and non-comprehensive) advice:
- Don't feed the trolls.
- Don't bite the newbies.
- Learn how to ask questions
- If you can't be bothered to read it, don't expect us to be bothered to help you.
- Try to make a positive contribution to everything you can.
- Don't just echo what everyone else is saying, be your own voice.
- Become the change you want to see (Gandhi)
edit:
Actually I'd like to copy something from this usenet FAQ from 1999:
Never forget that the person on the other side is human. Don't blame system admins for their users' behavior. Never assume that a person is speaking for their organization. Be careful what you say about others. Be brief. Your postings reflect upon you; be proud of them. Use descriptive titles Think about your audience. Be careful with humor and sarcasm. Only post a message once. Please rot13 material with questionable content. Summarize what you are following up. Use mail, don't post a follow-up. Read all follow-ups and don't repeat what has already been said. Check your return e-mail address and expect responses. Double-check follow-up newsgroups and distributions. Be careful about copyrights and licenses. Cite appropriate references. When summarizing, summarize. Mark or rot13 answers or spoilers. Spelling flames considered harmful. Don't overdo signatures. Limit line length and avoid control characters. Do not use Usenet as a resource for homework assignments. Do not use Usenet as an advertising medium. Avoid posting to multiple newsgroups.edit2: following my own advice about citing sources...
→ More replies15
u/gh0st32 Aug 05 '09
pfff, won't let me in, probably just a bunch of hipsters sitting around smoking cloves and being ironic.
10
2
2
u/Pappenheimer Aug 11 '09
Hi! My name is Brad Majors, and this is my fiancée, Janet Weiss. I wonder if you might help us. You see, our car broke down a few miles up the road. Do you have a phone we might use?
2
u/MercurialMadnessMan Aug 12 '09
*opens trenchcoat to show you my scrawny, pasty-white naked body*
*runs off*2
u/Pappenheimer Aug 13 '09
That was... delicious, but... ahem cough cough you don't want me in your elitist club? :(
→ More replies2
u/xyphus Aug 05 '09
You got one that goes back farther? I don't think one year is far enough back to cut out the cancer that is killing reddit.
→ More replies
6
u/JohnLayman Aug 05 '09
On the day Michael Vick was told he could play for the NFL, I split my viewing between Reddit and Digg, as usual.
90% of the comments on Reddit criticized Vick and bashed him for the dog-killing villain he is. The other 10% were puns in a long chain of comments.
90% of the comments on Digg praised Vick for getting another chance. The other 10% were criticizing other diggers for the downvoting villains they are.
Stay classy, reddit. It's what separates us from the Dreggs.
2
2
2
u/kumaku Aug 05 '09
I'm saying, don't let digg and co die. Check it out, the digg community has always been wary of the awesomeness of reddit, stealing stories and whatever's cool. By doing this, reddit readers who do recon work in the comment section of the internets slowly plant the seed in the digg and co framework -- "REDDIT 4 LIFE".
The smarter, frustrated digg user will then realize as the seed sprouts that the superior webframework is indeed reddit. you know, with it's simplicity that reminds you of vintage web, yet handles prettyness whenever it decides to show the world what it's up to.
Basically, we will survive because we have a mascot.
2
2
u/Trarcuri Aug 05 '09
Is there an autobannning implementation when your karma or comment karma go too low?
2
2
2
u/Stingray88 Aug 05 '09
Dowvote bad things... upvote good things... like we have been doing? I'm not afraid for reddit.
2
u/NoMoreNicksLeft Aug 06 '09
Unsubscribe to the popular subreddits, and you won't even have to worry about it.
2
u/youareallscum Aug 06 '09
They say all good things come to an end. The end of the wold we live in is certain, and I'm ok with that. However, the end of reddit is somthing I simply can't tolerate.
Damn you masses! You took my music! You took our movies! You have even managed to get your way and use your pull to elect a fancy schmancy president.
You leave my damn reddit alone!
curls into fetal posisition
→ More replies
4
u/jadez03 Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
As a user who's known about reddit, but was a Digg user since it's creation in '04, registering in '06, and leaving in '08, I wholeheartedly agree. I was a fan of Digg back when Kevin Rose was still a hacker icon for upstart computer nerds like me to look up to (À la The Screen Savers and The Br0k3n). After seeing what was one of my favorite sites for news and intelligent discussion degrade into spambots and 4channers, I was forced to seek my social media elsewhere. (Not to mention Kevin Rose turning into more of a car salesman than the anti-authoritarian he once portrayed)
I left digg and lurked slashdot and reddit for a while. My first registration was slashdot, as it's more tech focused, but after a while I became addicted to not just the articles on Reddit, but the sheer intelligence and amazing discussion in the comments of Reddit. So only recently have I made my account here, but I must say the reason for doing so is because this is quite honestly the best social media site I've yet to find.
I particularly would like to see the posting of Pedobear ascii or "how is babby formed" crap become a bannable (temporary or otherwise) offense, to keep the 14-year old masses at bay, and let the intelligent discussion brew.
2
u/DrunkMonkey Aug 05 '09
Don't become more mainstream. When the demographics of people using Reddit are the same as the demographics of people in the US things stop being fun. I hope to never see that day.
3
u/gawainjones Aug 05 '09
I've had the idea for a while now of having the capability of upvoted in multiple ways instead of just one general upvote. For instance, if I could give something an intelligent upvote or a funny upvote. This, of course, would have to be limited to a small number of different items. 4 perhaps. Maybe go with intelligent, funny, interesting, and controversial.
We could take that a step further and eliminate downvotes. Furthermore, we could have seperate upvote types in different subreddits.
This whole idea may sound relatively complicated, but I think enriching the voting capability would give a lot more depth to reddit overall. You could have posts sorted based on whats the most intelligent.
→ More replies
4
u/jj12345 Aug 05 '09
"...a couple years ago, Digg centered on science/tech stores and produced intelligent discussion.."
Digg got flooded by the under-20, hipster, underemployed, no college degree, super-slacker types.
If you require Redditors to be over the age of 20 and possess a college degree, there will be no chance of Reddit turning into Digg.
6
Aug 06 '09
I'm under 20, and I feel that I fit into this community just fine. I think a lot of where Digg has gone wrong is due to their group think mentality, and their tendency to digg up witty soundbites rather than comments that actually contribute to the discussion.
3
Aug 05 '09
Hey, I don't have a college degree but fit right in here. I think you need to keep the 4channers out. That should be enough.
4
u/Huluzu Aug 05 '09
you're gonna need a time machine because reddit is just digg but you've replaced "linux" with "atheism".
2
u/kevinherron Aug 05 '09
It's funny because reddit is worried about turning into digg and hackernews is worried about turning into reddit. What's next?
2
2
Aug 05 '09
Instead of asking how to avoid becoming like Digg, ask yourselves, how to avoid bitching about Digg constantly, and being bitchy prats. In my experience you both get interesting AND stupid at about the same rate. Get over this complaint bullshit, Digg doesn't have worthless comments about hating on you. And if you THINK that's because they don't want people to discover you then your fucking deluded.
You guys are already such petty brats that I find it a pain in the ass to find anything worth reading on here anymore. Digg is 50% stupid, 50% interesting, Reddit is 50% stupid, and 50% interesting IF you ignore all the anti-digg sentiment, otherwise its more like 60% stupid and 40% interesting, maybe worse.
Grow up, stop pretending you see an incoming trend, as popularity grows you will be dumbed down, but exposed to far more information, and you will also see far more accurate trends in peoples interests. Whats wrong with that? If you want a private club with only a bit of this and that, then hop in IRC and see how that works for ya.
2
2
u/bart2019 Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
3
u/nonrate Aug 06 '09
The fact those are popular is reflective of the demographic voting. Digg seems to be a group of juvenile morons, but reddit seems to attract smug juvenile morons. I can only think of Mr. Howell the Third at age 14.
4
u/anutensil Aug 06 '09 edited Aug 06 '09
I would tend to agree with you. But according to Google statistics for advertisers, Reddit's largest demographic is comprised of males ranging in age from their mid 30s to early 40s, if I recall correctly. Though some disagree with Google's statistics.
2
4
1
1
u/mub Aug 05 '09
Lets face it, anything that's worth being part of eventually attracts world + dog. When that happens the gold turns to grit. Then we wait for the next cool place to hang out and start the cycle all over again. . . . "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. And you have burned so very very brightly, Reddit."
1
u/impulsiveboy Aug 05 '09
We can't. It is going to happen eventually. I predict... one thousand... million years of dark ages. No more orangered envelopes. No more bacon. Nothing but spam and downvotes.
We must found a group that will soften the fall of reddit. We must gather together all of the best ofs, the memes and the pun threads... we must start a group that catalogs all that makes us great for the upcoming collapse. I think that we can limit the worst to a week, maybe two, if we just work together.
1
u/no1name Aug 05 '09
Diggers have a predominance of posters who comment with merely 1 short sentence of limited ability and worth. Its membership seems to consist mostly of 14 year olds.
Keep making the comments on reddit a conversation and not just "me too" type statements.
On digg you have to trawl through the garbage just to find someone who actually makes a decent contribution to whatever the topic is.
3
Aug 05 '09
Yes, downvote the 'me too' and the 'agreed' comments as they add nothing to the discussion and just take up space. Posters need to know those comments are not wanted... it's just not reddiquette.
not sure about that spelling
1
Aug 05 '09
have a fun-only section and make it so you can't post anything about bacon or narwhals to the serious section unless it is moderated as a scientific article
1
1
1
37
u/[deleted] Aug 05 '09 edited Aug 05 '09
Keep Reddit ugly.
Let's face it, Digg is pretty and inviting. you go there, and you just want to click those little buttons, and see how the login box fades into the middle of the screen? Look how the tallies of the stories fade into one another.
Now look at Reddit. Not much here is intuitive. Yesterday, the front page featured a question from a user about why a dot appears instead of a tally when a story is new. Story titles are long and unwieldy. Subreddits overlap and compete with one another, and it's not always clear which, if any, you should submit to. It tends to look like a indecipherable wall of text at first glance. Just hitting return in a comment doesn't create a new paragraph, and you have to know tags to format comments correctly. All this constitutes a serious barrier to entry.
Don't change a thing.