(by wierd, I mean strange for reddit) Namely science uncensored and couples memes. Couples memes fell of really quickly, probably because most folks are single I suppose and had no stomach to see happy couples.
Then there is science uncensored, which sounds like a muskian “free speech” attempt.
Also am I ugly, and true rate me got popular really quickly.
I noticed this about a month ago, before the protests? I’m no internet historian so I may be off (also a stoner, so there is that), and I’m not combing through reddit to fact check myself so correct me if I’ve caught the stupid. I’ve been using reddit for about 4 or so years and I’ve never seen so many new subs get so popular in such a short amount of time.
- puts on tin foil hat *
Part of me feels like reddit is about to become a propaganda machine. Maybe the couples meme sub was an attempt at encouraging people to procreate. “Wow look at those happy couples I want that!”, was probably the intended effect.
Science uncensored speaks for itself, sure reddit was left leaning, but every once and a while an article would hit the front page that challenged the status quo of the left (my reference is a post about weed not being so amazing, see above comment about me not being an internet historian), so I don’t think there was a dire need for a science sub without “political censorship”.
True rate me and am I ugly are PG thirst traps. Lonely nerds love to comment on women, white night, degrade, its easy bait (my apologies if you’re a lonely nerd). All of the posts from these subs that hit the front page had attractive women, I never read the comments, I don’t need to read the comments. Maybe the comments were wonderful, but hey I was raised by the internet so I think I’m right here.
Anyways, before I take of my foil cap. I really think there is some weird corporate propagandizing going on. Between twitter and reddit, I think there is a concerted attempt to control information online.
Or maybe this is all an attempt to kill net neutrality, from the inside.
- takes off tin foil hat *
I never posted often on reddit because folks are mean there, or stupid, or both. I’m hoping for a different experience on lemmy.
I know my ideas are silly, but silly things make life fun.
Won’t you be silly with me darling?
I’ll join the silliness. I also noticed a shift in the types of content reaching the front page during the lead-up to the blackout. Posts from subreddits that I haven’t seen before. The quality of posts and comments took a severe decline (even worse than usual). I kind of chalked it up to a decrease in active “power users” that post the large majority of highly upvoted content, and the regular users that would upvote said content. I think another possible explanation is that the admins were/are artificially boosting engagement numbers in preparation for their IPO.
I’d argue that Reddit has been a propaganda machine long before you joined the site. Reddit has been slowly circling the drain for years now. The post and comment quality used to be so much better when it was still a relatively niche website. Bots, troll farms, and straight up propaganda accounts have been influencing the site more and more. Shit seemed to really start going downhill in 2015 and has only gotten worse. I haven’t looked recently, but it used to be easy to find websites that would buy your reddit account, almost certainly to be used for advertising and propaganda purposes.
Reddit used to feel organic and genuine. Real discussions with interesting points of view and information. Scrolling the front page in recent years has been disappointing and frightening. Obvious fake posts from subs like AITA and TIFU. Bots endlessly reposting content. Rage bait that could be a direct copy and paste from yesterday’s rage bait. Low quality memes that are transparently pushing an agenda, radicalizing idiots, and re-enforcing the status quo.
I think Cambridge Analytica really opened up Pandora’s box. The people that own us figured out how to keep us from ever escaping. They can directly influence what you think by controlling the content you consume. And with advancements in AI language models I only see it getting worse. Automated mind control of the masses brought to us by the fruits of our own labor. Reddit was built by the community, and now it’s been turned into one of the greatest propaganda tools you could imagine to control those very people.
Also so many “meme” posts romanticizing depression and hopelessness, sometimes my r/all feed was full of these goddamned things, at least one or two per page. Like some bot farm pushing for a particular type of apathy and passive nihilism.