Is Reddit evil?

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by ericbarbour » Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:53 am

Abd wrote:I got a much closer look at how such companies operate with Quora, which has the best writing on the internet, my opinion. If you know how to use the site, otherwise you will see piles of junk.

Jimbo was one of their "founding lights", and I fully expect that he baked another dysfunctional community operation into Quora. Yes there is good material in there. Quora also has thousands of sockpuppet accounts from Indian IT sweatshops, grinding upvotes for certain items. That just screams "JIMBO".

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by CMAwatch » Tue Dec 03, 2019 8:39 am

Abd wrote:Reddit administration does not want users taking up their time (staff time is expensive!) with, yes, whining. What whining really means is "complaining." .


Another way to suppress legitimate criticism.

"No time for whining."

But everyone who applied for that job should expect it.
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ericbarbour wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:22 am
[Wikipedia is] a stupid video game, and the "encyclopedia" is an accidental byproduct.

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by CMAwatch » Tue Dec 03, 2019 8:41 am

Abd wrote:Now, on Reddit, you can start your own subreddit. It's trivial. But if you want to use someone else's sub, you are subject to their rules and decisions, arbitrary or not, fair or not.


Are you referring to Ani625?

Actually, Handroid7(77) did not violate the rules of the subreddit.

Ani625 deleted them and banned him for no reason.

Also, Ani625 is not the original subreddit founder.
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ericbarbour wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:22 am
[Wikipedia is] a stupid video game, and the "encyclopedia" is an accidental byproduct.

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by Abd » Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:01 am

CMAwatch wrote:
Abd wrote:Now, on Reddit, you can start your own subreddit. It's trivial. But if you want to use someone else's sub, you are subject to their rules and decisions, arbitrary or not, fair or not.

Are you referring to Ani625?

This is a general comment, which applies to all subreddits.
Actually, Handroid7(77) did not violate the rules of the subreddit.
The owner of a subreddit may ban a user from it for any and no reason. It is no particular shame to be banned from a subreddit, in general.
Ani625 deleted them and banned him for no reason.

That is your belief. How could you possibly know that? What, do you think that the owner rolled some dice to decide whom to ban? There is actually a subreddit that does that, for the lulz. If you contribute to a subreddit, you run the risk that your contributions will be deleted.

I was banned from a subreddit, contributions were deleted, yet my contributions are still in my profile display. So the subreddit moderator is declining to allow the subreddit to be used for publication. So?

You may start your own subreddit, and if you provide more interesting content, and attract more interesting readers, you might do much better. Or not.
Also, Ani625 is not the original subreddit founder.
This is totally irrelevant. Reddit gives mods priority according to time sequence. So moderators may add moderators, and the earlier moderator may remove them. If the earlier moderator names Jack Shit and then disappears, the sub is stuck with Jack Shit. Be careful whom you trust.

Mostly communities pay no attention to who is moderating, and only complain when they don't like an action. Mods own the subreddit, effectively. Participants are there by moderator allowance.

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by CMAwatch » Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:19 am

@Abd Ah, so this corruption happens commonly, and is not a rarity. I see.

But when Handroid7 crossposted his complaint of Ani625 to /r/PowerAbuse, he was site-banned for alleged harassment.
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ericbarbour wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:22 am
[Wikipedia is] a stupid video game, and the "encyclopedia" is an accidental byproduct.

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by The End » Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:02 pm

ericbarbour wrote:
Abd wrote:I got a much closer look at how such companies operate with Quora, which has the best writing on the internet, my opinion. If you know how to use the site, otherwise you will see piles of junk.

Jimbo was one of their "founding lights", and I fully expect that he baked another dysfunctional community operation into Quora. Yes there is good material in there. Quora also has thousands of sockpuppet accounts from Indian IT sweatshops, grinding upvotes for certain items. That just screams "JIMBO".


I'm generally skeptical of all these open communities offering premium knowledge from the "wisdom of crowds." I was recently researching a college my employer uses for continuing education. The Quora topic for it looked controlled by commentators from India that showed no direct connection to the college at all. Googling the college just gives you mostly positive PR pieces for it and you have to dig deep in the results to find anything substantially negative. Reddit discussions about the college have more negativity, but I can imagine the college's PR machine can just as easily manipulate those discussions as well. It's getting harder and harder to find good, accurate information anymore even though we have so much information and access to it now.
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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by Abd » Thu Dec 05, 2019 1:15 am

The End wrote:
ericbarbour wrote:
Abd wrote:I got a much closer look at how such companies operate with Quora, which has the best writing on the internet, my opinion. If you know how to use the site, otherwise you will see piles of junk.

Jimbo was one of their "founding lights", and I fully expect that he baked another dysfunctional community operation into Quora. Yes there is good material in there. Quora also has thousands of sockpuppet accounts from Indian IT sweatshops, grinding upvotes for certain items. That just screams "JIMBO".

Quora was started by Facebook people. Jimbo has an account. According to his Quora user page, "I am an advisor to and (very small) investor in Quora." Quora operates in ways that are radically different from Wikipedia. Yes, there are sockpuppet upvoters, and they make no difference for those who know how to use Quora. It is not a compendium of "knowledge." It is an opportunity for writers to write about questions they decide to answer. There is some level of defacto censorship, but quite little, if one bears in mind the single Quora rule: "BNBR: Be Nice, Be Respectful." And what that actually means is that the real rule is "Avoid the appearance of being not-nice and not-respectful." I found out, the best way, by personal experience being warned and even blocked for a week. Be aware that it's necessary to avoid not only the reality of civility and disrespect, but also what may appear to be so, by an administrator who has no time to look at context. I described a troll using language he had used himself on his user page. Bang! Warning, I forget, I might even have been blocked. So one learns DNFTT.

I started a mailing list for Quora users who were concerned about improper management. I got a few Top Writers, but mostly few are complaining any more. It's much more productive to focus on good writing, building audience, and leveraging this into other writing opportunities. Yes, there are veritable mountains of drek. Basically, I don't see it unless I go looking for it. And I don't think this has anything to do with Jimbo. Quora is selling advertising now. Targeted advertising! (That is probably how to support a professionally-staffed encyclopedia; crowdsourcing can be used for certain functions and opportunities could exist for being paid to curate. In other words, the future is hybrid, synthesis. To be reliable, responsible management is needed, and it will never be adequately supervised if the public pays no attention, always, the Iron Law of Oligarchy. Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty. Now, pass the potato chips.

I'm generally skeptical of all these open communities offering premium knowledge from the "wisdom of crowds." I was recently researching a college my employer uses for continuing education. The Quora topic for it looked controlled by commentators from India that showed no direct connection to the college at all. Googling the college just gives you mostly positive PR pieces for it and you have to dig deep in the results to find anything substantially negative. Reddit discussions about the college have more negativity, but I can imagine the college's PR machine can just as easily manipulate those discussions as well. It's getting harder and harder to find good, accurate information anymore even though we have so much information and access to it now.

Obviously, you cannot trust crowd-sourced information, in itself. You can generally trust someone you know to be responsible. Quora is a social media site, not a reliable source of information, it's obvious. But individual writers are reliable. Going to Quora with a question of importance and just trusting whatever Answers have been moved to prominence is setting yourself up to be misled. However, if a question has some broad participation, you may find some Top Writers, others with qualifications, and certainly appealing stories.

Quora is a tool that can be used. Quora is a place where good writing is appreciated, and there are ways to build resources there that fill one's feed with material of interest. There are some very smart, very bright people writing regularly on Quora. To dismiss this as some Jimbo fart is silly.

There are many facets of Quora that could make decent features on Wikipedia. But the mission of Wikipedia is very, very different.

Quora itself was naive, ontologically. "The best answer to every question." Yeah, right. As if there is a best answer.

Nevertheless, it works.

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Re: Is Reddit evil?

Post by ericbarbour » Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:55 am

Quora itself was naive, ontologically. "The best answer to every question." Yeah, right. As if there is a best answer.

Nevertheless, it works.

Mostly because the average Joe seems to want quick, pat answers to every question. So many websites cater to that. At least you get your choice of "might-be-ok-might-be-lies".

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