The topics at Slashdot attract smart, well-spoken people.
Lately, I've been hanging out on /. for that very reason. The topics and discussions are higher quality than HN IMO and the site is more configurable for the user.
Slashdot is focused on a particular audience, unlike Reddit, thus suggesting that comments may be more targeted and useful than the typical "OP is a fag" idiocy.
On the other hand, checkout http://www.reddit.com/r/depthhub. That subreddit flags many of the deepest, most insightful comments on reddit and is a fascinating trove of information about all sorts of interesting subjects.
In a sense, Reddit can tend towards a Brave New World style of information by drowning us in so much information, much of which is false or inane, that we can lose sight of what's important, but as a source of entertainment, it's often terrific.
I'm suprised the comments so far accept the premise. I've not read Slashdot regularly for a while, but when I pop in occasionally it stills seems the same mix of informed, humane, sanity and crazy, ill-informed, poorly directed rage that it's always been, i.e. mostly tilted towards the latter, even after filtering.
It depends on the subject imo. The comments on political articles are rarely good. But the comments on technical subjects can often be good. Compared to HN, Slashdotters are curmudgeonly about startups and consumer/web technology. But there are (I think) a larger number of commenters who come from an engineering background, not necessarily computer/software engineering. So for example, when Slashdot posts articles on nuclear power, or aircraft, or chemical engineering, the comments section will often have at least a handful of very good comments from people in the field.
It is very simple: Reddit is a more general audience website, slashdot isn't. You should check out some of the better subreddits like /r/depthhub and /r/TrueReddit for better content and comments.
Imagine the average person. Got that image in your head? If so, good. Now, by definition just under 50% of people are dumber that person or worse in some other vector such as civility in conversations.
Reddit is more inclusive of society than slashdot and is more likely to represent everyone along the bell curve.
I have exactly the opposite impression. Reddit's commenting highs are the highest on the Internet (higher by far than HN) and their lows are comparable to Slashdot.
(I'm here because the volatility on Reddit is too much for me).
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 31.6 ms ] threadLately, I've been hanging out on /. for that very reason. The topics and discussions are higher quality than HN IMO and the site is more configurable for the user.
On the other hand, checkout http://www.reddit.com/r/depthhub. That subreddit flags many of the deepest, most insightful comments on reddit and is a fascinating trove of information about all sorts of interesting subjects.
For example, here's a brilliant comment that compares and contracts Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984" (both excellent books, I might add): http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1hhrpk/huxley_vs_orwe...
In a sense, Reddit can tend towards a Brave New World style of information by drowning us in so much information, much of which is false or inane, that we can lose sight of what's important, but as a source of entertainment, it's often terrific.
Reddit is more inclusive of society than slashdot and is more likely to represent everyone along the bell curve.
The 'comment management system' in Slashdot makes the best comments 'bubble up to the top' because they obtain higher 'scores'.
Why is Reddit's 'comment management system' so much more primitive than Slashdot's?
(I'm here because the volatility on Reddit is too much for me).