Redditors are often very dumb people

[unjung]

I can't believe the stupidity, hypocrisy, lack of any ounce of understanding of history, of logic, etc. that I see every day on Reddit.com. Whether it's complaining one minute that the Western powers didn't involve themselves quickly enough in Libya, and the next complaining that Patriot missiles are expensive and a big waste of money, or sheer anti-semitism, or arguing that the US government has a secret policy of killing Pakistani civilians with drones, or arguing that Yemeni security forces are justified in killing protesters because they're being ordered to do so, it just goes on and on. Is this just because there are so many voices there, and you end up seeing a few statements that are voted on by the different camps, so it seems schizophrenic, or is there something more happening there? I'm always surprised that I feel like I can understand and respond to almost any post there, and yet even in the CE here, I am way, way out of my depth. SF is smart as hell. The rest of the internet is stupid.

Also, posting breaking news to Reddit is ridiculous. By the time it hits the front page it's old news.

 

[Don Carlos]

What'll really cause you to break down and weep for the state is humanity is the realization that all of the internet is like that. Ever read the comments section on a popular blog, or on a YouTube video? Ever browse Lamebook.com (a curation of the world's dumbest Facebook updates)? People are morons. I mean, serious, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing morons. It's kind of depressing. Also, there are a lot of racists out there. It's startling. Pretty much every YouTube comments section, regardless of the content or subject of the video, has its share of random "Kill all Jews!" or "******* go home!!!" comments.

 

[APK]

Originally Posted by Don Carlos

What'll really cause you to break down and weep for the state is humanity is the realization that all of the internet is like that.

Ever read the comments section on a popular blog, or on a YouTube video? Ever browse Lamebook.com (a curation of the world's dumbest Facebook updates)?

People are morons. I mean, serious, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing morons. It's kind of depressing.

Also, there are a lot of racists out there. It's startling. Pretty much every YouTube comments section, regardless of the content or subject of the video, has its share of random "Kill all Jews!" or "******* go home!!!" comments.

You can't plunge too deep into the comments section of an article on a mainstream site such as Yahoo without finding one of the following:

- Angry remarks about Obama/liberals
- Comments about god or religion
- Comments about how terrible blacks/gays/Jews/non-white demographic is

As someone who's got legitimate experience in the newspaper industry, the push to engage readers to sound off about online content is one of the most frustrating aspects of new media. Print newspapers still make the bulk of their money from its print subscribers and advertisers, but internally, there's increasing emphasis to appease online readers. And it's ******* terrible because far too many people use the anonymity the internet affords us to expose the world to the most baseless, hateful sectors of their minds.

The racism is the most frustrating aspect of it. The papers I've worked for are in high-crime, racially diverse areas. I'm not sure either publication has ever had an online crime story that involved a black person not get at least one comment decrying about how blacks are destroying our society.

I mean, ****, I read so many comments in various articles about Nate Dogg's death from people who must have seen the (incorrect) descriptor of "rapper" in the headline and decided to chime in with the usual stereotypes about rap/rap culture. Hell, some people were even finding a way to tie his death to Obama (i.e. well that's one less liberal vote Obama can count on). Ugh.

 

[cronicmole]

Actually, to be honest. Reddit is large and diverse...depending on what you are looking for it's a goldmine. Especially to past time...every forum has certain threads or members to avoid. SF is no exclusion.

 

[Vesuvius]

I am a Redditor and I'm offended.

 

[Bhowie]



I am a Redditor and I'm offended.

Good.

 

[SixOhNine]

So?

Are we supposed to apologize for comments in a thread that's over 2 years old? Give us an explanation for why Redditors aren't stupid, or anything substantive at all, for that matter, otherwise your "contribution" to the thread only reinforces the original point.

 

[Harold falcon]

Comments to online newspapers are usually the most interesting part. Most journalists can't write for ****, or are so politically correct the articles are worthless anyway.