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Why is reddit so toxic?

Tony Ramirez

Single forever. Friends?
V.I.P Member
Really. I never purposely go there but whenever I google questions, reddit shows up in the search results with profanity (yes I have safe search turned on) in many of the results which is unnecessary. A few times even found porn on reddit.
 
There are toxic people everywhere — it is just important to know how to avoid or interact with them if you come across them. I like reading reddit but I don’t participate.
 
Just a guess, but it might be because it is absolutely huge, so it isn't possible to moderate or police effectively. I'm sure if Autism Forums had as many members, it would be way more toxic as well. The larger a community is, the more diluted the "community spirit" becomes, as you know there are thousands of other toxic people on there, so your own rude contribution won't change much. Another possible reason could be that Reddit communities have fewer rules than Autism Forums.

This is all just guesswork, but in my experience the larger a community, the more toxic it becomes. It's why I avoid Reddit as much as I can.
 
It depends which areas of reddit you go to what you get.

I like the awww and funny subs, Not the Onion, and some others.
 
It depends which areas of reddit you go to what you get.

I like the awww and funny subs, Not the Onion, and some others.
I really like the memes and the funny subs also. Damnthats interesting also has some good things to it. It’s a good place if you dont actively participate and just view it. I sometimes get book recommendations from there.=)
 
I think the problem is just there no matter where you go.

You are never more than three clicks from something you disagree with.
You are never more than four clicks from something that you find morally wrong
You are never more than five clicks from something that makes you go 'ewwww'
You are never more than six clicks from something than melts your eyes because it is impossible to un-see.
 
Of course it depends on the subreddit, some topics don't attract as many wingnuts as others, some are better moderated, but size is the biggest factor.

Reddit is huge, so wingnuts can easily use it to get attention. Some really top tier operations use bots to look for keywords and post hate-filled messages and rile people up.

Anyway, quick tip to filter out Reddit in your Google search results:

Add the operand -inurl:[write URL here] to the end of your search, for example:

cat memes -inurl:reddit.com
 
I really like the memes and the funny subs also. Damnthats interesting also has some good things to it. It’s a good place if you dont actively participate and just view it. I sometimes get book recommendations from there.=)
Yes.
Books.
And Mildly Interesting.

reddit is vast and the moderators are specific to each area.
 
Yes.
Books.
And Mildly Interesting.

reddit is vast and the moderators are specific to each area.
Yes, that is what I see too. Some moderators are very good and there are others that dont seem to be around.

I also get my crime obsession from reddit…=)
 
I'm not sure what's so toxic about a site that generally allows profanity and pornography to contain such things... I mean, it's a site meant for adults for the most part.

I kind of would get it if you were talking about some of the really nasty things that can be found there, such as when extremely graphic footage of people dying from the war in Ukraine makes it to the front page. But swear words and porn? that's just basic Internet.
 
If safe search which is designed for kids can't block it.

Also, I have been doing my searches with -reddit taken out. But sometimes I forget, and I stumble upon that filth.
 
I agree with @tree, it definitely depends on which sections of it you go to.

It's best to think of Reddit not as a single site, but more like MANY sites that just happen to be tied together by the same formatting. The actual content is often WILDLY different from one to the next.

For instance, as you say, I've certainly seen many that are just, well... yeah. "Toxic" doesnt even quite describe them. They are worse than that! But then there's others that are the opposite, like the roguelike page. But that's also a DRASTICALLY smaller one than most, and the roguelike community tends to be a very tight-knit one. Nobody cares to argue politics or any nonsense of that sort there, not when they could sit around trying to determine whether Nethack is better than Angband, or whatever.

I often go to the real small ones like that if I have some questions or something. Like I was checking out the one for Marvel Champions (board/card game I got into) for some strategy tips and rules questions, and it is a pleasant place.

Those big ones though.... blech. I dont know why anyone would use them. I mean good grief, just a GLANCE at any of the big ones makes me feel like I need a shower.
 
Reddit has some pretty good NSFW filters so that you can't really stumble into anything you don't want to. I've literally tried to access adult content on there when I'm not logged in and they make it super difficult. I don't know what to tell you if you really despise profanity that badly though, the internet is kind of full of it. And IRL

My only issue with Reddit is the karma / clickbait nature of it all. It feels like you're interacting with a bunch of potential bots and gives you those dead internet vibes.
 
I use a profanity filter extension which works on reddit. The problem is when they force you to use there app and there is no filter.
 
I think the problem is just there no matter where you go.

You are never more than three clicks from something you disagree with.
You are never more than four clicks from something that you find morally wrong
You are never more than five clicks from something that makes you go 'ewwww'
You are never more than six clicks from something than melts your eyes because it is impossible to un-see.
I think you overstate the number of clicks. :)

Seriously, the anonymity of the internet allows everyone to let their bad side come out. Many people appreciate the opportunity to be rude and nasty online because they can't be that way in real life, and there are lots of things they'd like to be rude and nasty about. Other people are rude and nasty because it is a little power trip. If you can get someone to react, you have a bit of power over that person. That's the appeal of being a troll.

I have a few NSFW blog posts, but there's nothing sexual or foul mouthed about them. Mostly WordPress and Substack posts related to nudism.
 
It depends which areas of reddit you go to what you get.

I like the awww and funny subs, Not the Onion, and some others.
I just watch Reddit YouTube videos for the experience.. mostly the funny stuff like crappy design, therewasanattempt, crappyoffbrand, and other “fail/you had one job” type subreddits.
 
Just now I googled with the useless safe search "asd impossible to meet new people" and right away reddit gave me an explicit title from their autism community that would not be allowed to post a title like that here. Reddit is a toxic cesspool that needs to be shut down since it is not moderated at all. I even seen profanity on the Disney reddit section.

I am going to post that search topic on here.
 
@Tony Ramirez


Reddit is moderated.
Each sub has a different moderation team.
The standards vary, sub to sub.

I don't use all of Reddit, but the parts I do use, I enjoy.

News, Worlds News, aww, TwoXChromosome, Mildly Interesting,
Funny, Today I Learned, Not The Onion, Life Pro Tips...and other subs.
 
No, it's not. I should not have gotten an explicit title from their autism community. I know if that title were posted here, it would have been modified.

Anyway instead of going to the cesspool that is reddit I posted the question here.
 
Yes, Reddit does have moderators.
Each sub section.

Their rules are different from this place.
 

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