Thread

1. zergrush · 1790647231 · focus · HN ↗

   This is why Reddit is a low value high effort distribution channel. When your userbase is hostile and suspicious constantly to any commercial introductions, advertising there becomes just an exercise in futility. The demographic also is problematic on Bluesky. Same on hackernews. Astroturfing is certainly a response to this friction and in turn it only creates more of it.

   Also specifically with Reddit they have allowed hiding comment history which makes it even harder, I imagine they did this for boosting ad business

   There are much better platforms to spend your effort on like X. X requires many users to purchase a subscription account and thus acts as sort of a litmus test (people who can afford low amount of money per month).

   1. khazhoux · 1790648880 · focus · HN ↗

      > Also specifically with Reddit they have allowed hiding comment history which makes it even harder

      Such a terrible change, and it's apparently the default for new users. I have no way to check if the person I'm about to spend 3 minutes typing a reply to is just bleep-bloop.

      1. illusive4080 · 1790649669 · focus · HN ↗

         On the other hand, as a Christian Conservative, I used to have people sniping my profile and replying nastily to me when I commented on completely unrelated topics, just because my ideals didn’t align with theirs. Or, auto banning me from subs based on which subs I commented to. In that way, hiding my profile has helped me, because Reddit as a whole is extremely left wing.

         Unfortunately, what you state is also true and it is now harder to avoid replying to bots, obvious shills, or trolls.

         1. mangodrunk · 1790720495 · focus · HN ↗

            I have stopped using Reddit for several months now and haven’t looked back. For a time I tried to engage but it was in a sea of far left ideology that was very resistant to any discourse. It happens on HN when the topic is political though some level of descent still flourishes here as opposed to getting downvoted, flagged, or banned like on Reddit.

            1. zergrush · 1790731967 · focus · HN ↗

               Those redditors are here on HN and it has inherited a lot of the same far left ideology. You can see it common place now, stalking comment history, flagging so that they will get banned. It's not even necessarily political but having different opinions or not agreeing with narratives they subscribe to, exactly the same flaws that Reddit has.

               I've stopped engaging on HN a lot because of the characteristic change I notice especially since 2020.

               1. mangodrunk · 1791215558 · focus · HN ↗

                  I’ve noticed the same. This site is heavily biased towards Democratic politics and to a broader degree general leftist sentiment. X is pretty good in having various views and opinions but given its structure and history of using few words and being hyper focused on politics it is not conducive to thoughtful and intelligent discussion. I am starting to, for I think the better, use social media far less.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.