Social networks and exploring Reddit

It’s been a while since I’ve done a social media post, something I did more often back in the days of Twitter’s convulsions and as people fled to various other platforms.

For a long time, I held out hope that the Fediverse would be the new paradigm, but while there remain many enthusiasts, and my main blog is on the Fediverse, it’s been a frustration that the federation architecture hasn’t enjoyed mass uptake. It could have led to a return to the more open web, but people just don’t seem to care. In some sense I can’t blame them. Commercial platforms make things a lot more convenient.

As the number of platforms proliferated, I’ve tried to maintain a presence on them, but I have to admit I mostly only scroll on Bluesky and Substack, and even that has become perfunctory and spotty. Substack for a while was scratching the itch for conversation, but, at least among the people I follow, much of it is consumed with debates about consciousness, which I’m currently somewhat burnt out on.

A few months ago someone responded to one of my science fiction book reviews and clued me in to a subreddit about Robert Reed’s Greatship series. Historically, when searching for various answers, Reddit threads often come up in the results. But it had been a long time since I tried to be active on that platform. My previous attempts had floundered due to the juvenile culture and user interface. And my old account was hacked and ruined long ago.

But I wanted to track what was happening in that sub, so I created a new account with stronger security. After joining the sub, I started looking around. The UI has improved from the old days. (Although “Old Reddit” remains an option many refuse to give up.) There are subs in Reddit for just about everything. My interests tend to be off the beaten path, but I quickly found there are several subs on science fiction, space, writing, self publishing, and many other varied topics.

There are also philosophy subs, including one on consciousness. The mods (moderators) of that sub seem to try to steer it toward scientific theories, but all the standard metaphysical camps are there: physicalists, dualists, panpsychists, idealists, etc, all making more or less the standard arguments. I engaged a little bit, but will have to go back when my interest flares up again.

But the other subs scratched an itch I didn’t realize I had, a desire for old time online discussions, where the subject matter was front and center and who was speaking secondary. And I found engaging in the writing sub helped with my own motivation. I don’t have much practical experience, but I have read a ton of books on the subject and have a lot of theoretical knowledge. Giving out advice based on that reminded me that I need to follow it myself.

One of the drawbacks with most social networks is that you’re really yelling into the void until you build up a following. That’s not true with Reddit. As long as you don’t run afoul of the local mods, you will have an audience when you weigh in on a topic. There’s no guarantee it will be a friendly, but that’s always the case.

Which isn’t to say that Reddit doesn’t have a learning curve. It most definitely does. I was lucky to come across an unofficial guide, which helped tremendously. The biggest tips were to understand how karma works, always look at the sub rules before posting or commenting, and lurk a bit and read the room before jumping in. And, of course, don’t be a jerk.

Part of Reddit’s solution to trolls and spammers is its karma system. You get karma points when your posts or comments are upvoted, and lose karma when they’re downvoted. Apparently a lot of subs won’t let you participate unless you have some minimal balance, although I never ran into that in the niche subs I follow. From what I can see, the karma system mostly works, although a big flaw is there’s no limit to the amount you can attain. (There are karma millionaires.) The most obnoxious posts and comments I’ve seen so far were from people with tens of thousands of karma or higher.

The population on Reddit skews pretty young. To some extent, Reddit encourages this by allowing anyone thirteen years and older to have an account. And while its UI is much improved, it still uses small font sizes, which for anyone older can be a barrier. That’s not a big deal on the web with modern browsers, which can zoom in, but it’s harder to get around in the mobile app.

That said, the environment seems markedly less juvenile than it was when I tried it years ago. Some of that may be that the longtime Redditors are getting older. Some of it may be people like me taking another look. But maybe the biggest reason is I’m just looking at different subs this time. Which isn’t to say all the conversation is ideal. Good mods help, but a lot of noise remains in the system.

Of course, the owners of Reddit aren’t exactly saints, but then none of the owners of the big social networks are. I know there are alternatives out there, but part of what made me want to look at Reddit was how often its threads come up in internet searches. For better or worse, if you’re looking for an obscure book or movie, or help with some arcane problem, you’re more likely to get the answer on a platform with hundreds of millions of users. Not that I’m averse to trying the alternatives, particularly if they have what I need.

Have you used Reddit? If so, what’s been your experience? Any other social networks or platforms out there worth checking out?