this post was submitted on 31 May 2023
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[–] shlocko@mastodon.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I want to agree, but Reddit is an absolute trove of information and support on all kinds of technical issues. It’s a repository of information and solutions not rivaled by many others. Losing Reddit would legitimately make the internet a less usable, less helpful place. It’s a damn shame, but it’s true.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A trove of information plus noise and misinformation. If you ask any actual question - be it tech help or something else - expect most replies to be from:

  • users who didn't understand your question on first place, no matter how simple and concisely you phrased it.
  • users assuming context out of nowhere or disregarding the context that you've provided.
  • users avoiding to reply to your question because they really, really want to boss you around on unrelated matters.
  • users who are not informed on the question, do not know the answer for the question, but assume it and voice it as certainty.
  • users circlejerking or voicing stale jokes based on some trivial detail in your question.

You might get an actual answer in this sea of misinfo and noise, but if you're looking for help there's a good chance that you don't know enough to sort it out. And the exact same deal applies to anyone looking at the others' questions looking for help.

Losing Reddit would legitimately make the internet a less usable, less helpful place. It’s a damn shame, but it’s true.

The truth is that, no matter what you do, you're going to lose it. Reddit is already going this way, no matter if you delete or don't delete your content, and no matter what happens in the alternatives (as this one). Because even misinfo and noise drive engagement up.

[–] shlocko@mastodon.social 2 points 1 year ago

When I run into issues and look to Reddit, despite not knowing how to solve my problems, it’s at least 50/50 odds I find my solution and have no issues. To pretend the misinformation discredits the entire platform is folly. May as well toss out stackoverflow and others, their track record isn’t any better in my experience. I have similar odds there at a solution

All forums have problems, and while I don’t agree with reddits business strategy, it’s backlog is unmatched by most resources.