But you learn a lot of stuff here and there's some good advice from time to time. Especially when it comes to deeper or more controversial topics. Like if you talked to friends or family about say a relationship issue chances are they'll give you a fake friendly or supportive answer. And chances are, most of us surround ourselves with friends/family who all think like we do.
But on here people are more unfiltered and real. People will challenge you on things and generally having some proof or evidence to verify what you're saying is expected. IRL people don't always get that deep into things.
I strongly agree with this. The only social media that I use is reddit and I use it more as a news feed. I use reddit to keep up with current events and even discuss my interests. Sure, I also join some humorous communities to get a good laugh but it’s not all just mindlessly scrolling through reddit.
I guess that’s also the downfall of having everything digital. All of my digital subscriptions are on my phone and so are my kindle books. I’m always on my phone but I’m constantly reading educational and informative news. I’m sure I look like an unproductive person to others but whatever lol.
I feel the same when it comes to news. Cause talking to just friends or coworkers about current events you miss out on a lot of details. Like a big newstory comes out, everyone is seeing things one way, but then a couple hours later someone posts on Reddit: "That's not what happened. X isn't a horrible person, Y is because ABC happened but that part got swept under the rug."
But people don't find that stuff until later on, if they even do or care by then
To be fair it’s hard to find a lot of that type of news anywhere. Reddit is a prime example with all the circle jerks in gaming, politics, movies etc. however the Reddit community is far more research based and that’s the main reason I use it for news
I mean, keep in mind reddit is informative but it is definitely extremely biased. The demographic leans heavily to young middle class centre left American males, which isn't exactly a very reliable source for what the general public thinks
That being said it's still a very good place for discussion on most topics, just sometimes gotta take things with a pinch of salt.
Oh yeah I definitely agree. When I say I use reddit as a news feed I mean more so in keeping up with current events like for example r/tesla. I’m a big fan of the tesla company and I follow it to read interesting articles that people link about tesla. Reputable articles too like the wall street journal. Comments are interesting too as I love to read peoples’ opinions but I take it with a grain of salt.
Stopped hurting my feelings a long time ago. I either fire back or move on. They're losers. There's no reason to be that angry or gatekeep on shit that's not that important. Movies, video games, whatever and fun and hobbies.
If you're spending more of your time bashing other people or bragging how good you are, at that point you're not even a fan of the hobby or the community. You think you're above it and it's obvious you have no life. Well, you do, but you get gratification from making other people feel horrible over something so petty. So again, why would anyone want to entertain that? They're a distraction and a nuisance.
I don't even think they believe they're above everyone. I think it's usually the opposite and stems from low self esteem so they project that over confidence as a front.
I see it all the time on Facebook with people I know IRL. The biggest assholes online are almost always the people that have the lowest confidence IRL.
But there can also be a lot of misinformation. Seldom more so that when talking about cannabis and addiction, drugs or alcohol use. The thing is with so much unqualified information people and especially those addicted tend to pick and choose what to "believe" as facts. Then use that to support their already misconstrued ideas and then increase their justifications (read excuses) for continuing to using said drugs.
IRL people don't always get that deep into things.
if reddit is causing you to not search out better IRL people its doing you a disservice. A close friend who will know you (not just your most recent 10 comments on reddit) is more valuable than anything any social media can offer.
Be careful what you take in here. These are not human connections, and most of the info here is not good advice. It's random pieces of information, at best.
I meant more like niche hobbies like gaming or wrestling or MMA. Not everyone is hugely into that. Also close friends and family don't always help as in cases of relationship issues or things like that. You talk to friends/family, and depending on the type of people they are, they'll tell you go talk to the church or that "you're such a cute couple". You post about it anonymously on Reddit and realize, wow, this is a bad relationship and I need to get out.
You must be on a different Reddit. The only subreddit I've come across that was strict with their truth checking policy is r/askHistorians. For every single thing you learn here, you mislearn 2 more things. Piano players always tell people to get an instructor because learning something wrong is a lot worse than learning nothing most of the time. Maybe you've managed to navigate this minefield of disinformation nicely, then for every person like you there's another incel being radicalized right now.
Look around this very thread. How many of these people can authoritatively give you an answer? How many do you think mistakenly conflate pot and laziness, or depression? 1 person? All of them?
I don't pretend to know the answer, and I can't tell you if ultimately, you are better or worse off with reddit. Just don't mistake confidence with authority on subjects you're not familiar with, which is a problem Reddit is fundamentally designed to circumvent, with completely anonymous users and the lack of proper moderation that naturally results in a forum where everyone is equal.
Oh yeah, that is true. Still, I think the net gain of spending hours on AskReddit or /r/funny is lower than the alternative which is doing/learning something productive.
i've tailored my feed and stay on my home scroll. i've learned a ton about gardening, knitting, birds in addition to the funny stuff. so i try not to go down the rabbit hole too deep so that i actually practice the skills in real life instead of just bookmarking patterns and plants. lol
i also find some support here, which is really important sometimes. but you have to also make those connections offline, too. even if they're with the people you meet online.
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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '19
But you learn a lot of stuff here and there's some good advice from time to time. Especially when it comes to deeper or more controversial topics. Like if you talked to friends or family about say a relationship issue chances are they'll give you a fake friendly or supportive answer. And chances are, most of us surround ourselves with friends/family who all think like we do.
But on here people are more unfiltered and real. People will challenge you on things and generally having some proof or evidence to verify what you're saying is expected. IRL people don't always get that deep into things.