Let me just point out the elephant in the room: Hacker News is exactly as bad as reddit. The crowd here thinks of itself as smarter, but that's just the shape of the echo chamber here. You think people commenting on reddit consider themselves stupid?
Dissenting voices get shadowbanned; if the majority opinion in a thread is utterly retarded, that's the only opinion that will stand.
I'd love to link to a really poignant example from a recent comment of mine, but alas: my comment and all replies got shadowbanned.
i think this is more of a problem with human nature than it is Reddit.
why go through all the trouble of being objective and introspective to form your own opinion, just so that someone else will challenge your assertions and hurt your feelings? just latch onto the group and move along. life is so much easier when everyone else does your thinking for you.
The problem seems to me to stem from voting mechanics. As soon as you allow Likes or Updoots or what have you, it enables a pernicious sort of groupthink that's not easily defeated.
Despite 4chan's reputation, I think anonymous message platforms have the highest quality of discourse because there's no way to develop cults of personality.
If I disagree with, I dunno, 'tptacek about something to do with security, I'm going to have a bunch of downvoters and pilers-on irrespective of whom is right and whom is wrong, because Thomas is a big name round these parts (not to pick on him or anything) and I'm not.
Remove the username and each comment has to stand on its own merits.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 20.5 ms ] threadyou have basically the same problem with any user driven site, IRC, Forums, Facebook, Reddit... hell even the 'zine culture, most usergroups, clubs.
Its not reddit's problem or fault, we all want to belong to a group where we get excited in the same ways about a thing.
Dissenting voices get shadowbanned; if the majority opinion in a thread is utterly retarded, that's the only opinion that will stand.
I'd love to link to a really poignant example from a recent comment of mine, but alas: my comment and all replies got shadowbanned.
why go through all the trouble of being objective and introspective to form your own opinion, just so that someone else will challenge your assertions and hurt your feelings? just latch onto the group and move along. life is so much easier when everyone else does your thinking for you.
Despite 4chan's reputation, I think anonymous message platforms have the highest quality of discourse because there's no way to develop cults of personality.
If I disagree with, I dunno, 'tptacek about something to do with security, I'm going to have a bunch of downvoters and pilers-on irrespective of whom is right and whom is wrong, because Thomas is a big name round these parts (not to pick on him or anything) and I'm not.
Remove the username and each comment has to stand on its own merits.