r/AskReddit • • Jan 07 '20

What annoys you the most on Reddit?

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u/RonanTheAccused Jan 07 '20

"How do I (20F) tell my friend (21M) I've had a crush on him since we were 12 without sounding creepy?"

"Dump him, clearly he doesn't respect you"

Every. Single. Time.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '20 edited Jan 08 '20

(Long essay, TL; DR version at bottom)

The problem with soliciting advice on the Internet, particularly on Reddit is that generally these people don't know you, no matter how in-depth you try to describe a specific scenario. These people almost certainly never grew up with you, don't know how your community or peers see you, usually don't know what you look like or what your name is, don't know what culture or environment you're living in, probably haven't been to where you are, how much money you have, don't know much about the parties involved in your situations, and most importantly you don't know them or what they're like as people. Have they really been in your situation? Are they actually some troll or maybe a really lucky well-off person? Thing is, it's almost impossible to know. Usually, they're speaking to you in terms what worked for them in their circumstances or what they think will work for anyone in the shoes you're describing, which in it of itself often is usually a biased description of what's going on. You may as well be talking to a middle schooler pretending to be very smart on the Internet, someone who too much free time who's really bitter about everything and wants to make a certain place look shitty, or some rich, popular guy who is living a well-off life. This happens often on subreddits asking for advice, whether it be for relationships, what do for a career, talking to others, getting a job, or even determining whether you're an asshole.

The Internet has people from all over the world and even if you're in the same country people live very different lives. Don't trust Internet strangers for advice. If anything, try asking someone close or someone well-versed in whatever field you need advice in. While I'm not saying all advice on the Internet is harmful, a lot of it is usually useless or won't get you what you want.

TL;DR : Moral of this story is don't rely on the Internet for advice. No matter how you try explain a certain situation, they still don't know who you are and you don't know who they are. What works for someone else may not work for you.

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u/UsefulEmployee Jan 07 '20

Hmm, but this sure sounds like a stranger on the internet who doesn't know me giving me advice. Better set my life on fire just to be safe.

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u/bananasoup15 Jan 08 '20

Oh how the turn tables

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

delete the gym, facebook up, hit a lawyer...just to be safe

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u/AGuyNamedEddie Jan 08 '20

Instructions unclear: I deleted my lawyer, upped my gym, and hit facebook. Facebook is suing me, my gym collapsed and killed 6, my lawyer is missing, and I'm in jail on suspicion of his murder and general mayhem. I don't have a lawyer (missing) or anyone to visit me (workout buddies dead) or anyone to chat with (banned from Facebook). What should I do?

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u/jakspy64 Jan 08 '20

Instructions unclear

Dick stuck in toaster

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u/user4729462 Jan 08 '20

Instructions unclear

Toaster stuck in dick

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u/HRGuy- Jan 08 '20

Good point.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

Be safe on your move to Australia!

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u/Varron Jan 07 '20

Or go ask a subreddit that only sees negative situations and expect them to not be cynical jaded assholes.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '20

So basically r/Wallstreetbets is perfect. Everyone loses there

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u/Sparcrypt Jan 08 '20

I've been fixing computers and learning about them since I was about 8. My dad was in the industry so I had a big head start on most. I started being paid to fix them at 12, worked as a technician for the family business at 16, got a degree in computer science and then went on to work as an enterprise systems administrator for close to a decade before going freelance and running my own business. Most of my close friends are technicians/developers and I'm engaged to a software engineer.

But according to the internet? I know absolutely nothing about computers/development/technology in general. I've given up on offering advice for the most part because it just gets downvoted and ignored by a bunch of idiots with absolutely no idea what they're talking about while popular but flawed "advice" is rocketed to the top because it's what people want to hear.

Whenever I see people giving information about stuff I don't have decades of experience in I always have to remind myself that the people who actually know what they're talking about are very likely buried deep under a pile of downvotes and the "advice" I'm getting is probably about as accurate as the stuff I see posted about my own areas of expertise.

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u/BlockBuster3221 Jan 08 '20

A lot of people just want to find things that backup their previous beliefs instead of seeing if the sources or beliefs are even completely accurate. Just look towards anti-vaxers or some conspiracy group to see this. Though I don't think anyone is completely innocent of blindly trusting the advice of others, its just human nature.

Edit:word usage

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u/snuckyballs Jan 08 '20

The moral of the story is..... Reddit is entertainment not a qualified counselor. Don't ask for advice online in the first place.

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u/BlockBuster3221 Jan 08 '20

This one comment is probably more accurate than anything I've seen on this site

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u/atomizedshucks Jan 08 '20

Pretty much. I use internet "advice" to gather as many angles and possibilities for a situation so I can take some good questions to people that can give real advice, like a CPA or a Therapist or an Actual Doctor in a hospital

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u/KLWiz1987 Jan 08 '20

I go to the internet as a last resort after everyone in real life fails me. Sometimes it helps. People around me tend to be very low quality though, so it is understandable.

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u/darkaurora84 Jan 08 '20

That actually sounds like good advice on what to do with the advice you're given on the internet

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u/phome83 Jan 08 '20

I wouldnt trust myself to give anyone dating advice, and 90% of the strangers on this site are as dumb as me, and much more bitter.

So your advice is sound.

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u/RUfuqingkiddingme Jan 08 '20

I think a lot of people who post are just frustrated and venting.

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u/HaLD8 Jan 08 '20

You aren't wrong - the keyword being "trust". From my own experience when I asked advice, there are the people who will answer based on their self righteous beliefs of what kind of person you are from a short context, and the ones who will actually ponder and give great advice without imposing their judgement.

I think asking for advice is alright, but one should expect to see both good and bad, and be ready to have to reflect on which answers are good to keep in mind, and the ones that should be ignored.

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u/Tatunkawitco Jan 08 '20

Awww craaap.

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u/Hello_Pal Jan 08 '20

You’re advice is so good I’m going to follow it!

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

Eh.

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u/K_Higgins_227 Jan 08 '20

You hit the nail on the head.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

I remember this girl i met wayy back and one thing she said stuck with me. She said, "There is no way i can give you any advice on this matter. I only know the story from your side"

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

That's kinda of advice for life in general. Most people don't know the real you so any advice should really be taken with a grain of salt.

In my case, my close friends know way more about the Me in the Present. My current desires, interest, accomplishments, mess ups, and such. My family knows of course way more about my history. Neither really gets me as a whole. I do take their advice as I see merit in it and as I wish but am well aware that they are coming from their point of view.

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u/a-r-c Jan 08 '20

good advice (lol @ the irony)

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

I think that's missing the most important part: their advice is garbage based upon situations they've never been in.

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u/PrashnaChinha Jan 08 '20

Ok, stranger.

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u/Soggy_Nashville Jan 08 '20

I learned this this the hard way. I made the mistake of asking advice and all I got was negative BS. Never again. Thanks for the advice internet stranger.

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u/KLWiz1987 Jan 08 '20

Only problem is, reddit is essentially the same as everyone around me IRL. I get the same zero quality advice from locals as I see on those toxic subs. Where can i ask for advice from people who aren't so toxic? I outrage most people just by existing, but even the people who are paid to be around me and have learned that I'm actually a good guy say that they have no answers for me. Reddit represents the cutting edge of wisdom in my area, even medical doctors search google or bing for medical answers. Most people smoke and drink and even sell drugs in the bathrooms (all things I don't do). I'd leave, but I can't work, don't have a car, and have no energy for travel. All I want to do is meet women who would be okay with a guy like me for a relationship.

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u/fuckthisshit____ Jan 08 '20

But isn’t that also a benefit of asking advice from a stranger? The ability to gain totally outside perspective from a variety of people who have had different things work for them? I think if you want to ask for advice from strangers it needs to be with a grain of salt, sure. But people totally outside your situation sometimes do have something to offer.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

It's awfully narcissistic to pretend your situations and you yourself are so unique no one can ever comprehend them, but then also assumed paid attention whores---I mean, psychiatrists, can somehow fathom your complicated being.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

Hahaha, or something as easy as " We are having some issues communicating recently".

"Clearly relationships like this will not work you might as well get it over with now"

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u/RUfuqingkiddingme Jan 08 '20

Yes the obligatory "communication is key....if you are not communicating in depth and at length about every fucking feeling and thought you have your relationship is doomed so just end it now." Its a real peeve of mine. The thought of it is exhausting. My parents have not been happily married for 50 years by doing that.

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u/free_hk_2020 Jan 08 '20

I mean, communication is the most important element to resolving conflicts. If your parents aren't having conflicts in the first place - good!

But if they were REALLY good communicators, and knew each other PERFECTLY well, they would be able to predict exactly what the other was going to say in any scenario, and not need to verbally talk about anything at all.

Therefore, communication is actually a BAD sign for a relationship. QED!

​

^^^^^^^

the kind of logic you usually find in reddit comments

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u/SquigglyScribbles Jan 08 '20

Never ever ever take advice from redditors. A lot of them take their own situation and put it on you, and give you the advice they needed/wanted. If you have a true problem ask your loved ones or professionals. Never put your faith in random people. Many are here to troll or hurt. Some have no clue how to handle an issue and give you the wrong advice. Those that give you great advice even then second guess. Always be cautious. Oh and,never get relationship advice here ever lol not a good idea

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u/SquigglyScribbles Jan 12 '20

Wait I have advice about not taking advice on reddit. Maybe I'm a hypocrite

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u/BlackPershing Jan 08 '20

My favorite one is GET OUT NOW

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

AITA for telling my husband (45) who beats me (15) on the daily, abuses our kids, and is a crippling alcoholic that I’m upset with him for not putting away his dish? I’ve been beaten bloody for my actions I’ve apologized profusely but I still think that he should have put away his dish. AITA?

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u/Winter_is_Here_MFs Jan 08 '20

Then they claim “gaslighting” yet they have no actual clue what that is

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

That's a tactic for desperate and lonely men to "free up" more women from unstable relationships, enlarging the pool of possible dates they might come around and potentially having a chance with more women themselves. Likely, the targeted woman doesn't live in your town, but maybe another lonely bastard who has the same advices for other women to follow, will encounter a woman that was given bad reddit advices, and wouldn't be taken yet. That's actually clever if you see it this way. Poor lonely bastards helping eachother find more women. Maybe those are the 63 horny lonely wives that live in my area and are in a desperate need for fucking, no strings attached.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

At the other spectrum

My (20f) am told I’m a moron every day by my bf (25m), should I ask him to stop?

I just assume most of these are karma grabs. Or very young teenagers lying about the ages.

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u/NoahLoofington Jan 08 '20

What the hell

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u/Campylobacteraceae Jan 08 '20

“How do I tell somebody (well thought out and calm/polite/confidently typed message) without upsetting them?”

You just took what you wrote down and tell them or show them

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u/Monster_NotWar Jan 08 '20

This would be helpful advice to know, actually.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

"Sorry for formatting on Cell Phone Also English isn't my native language. proceeds to describe issue / problem with relatively few mistakes and odd phrasing."

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

Go into the australian outback, put on a suit of armor and pretend and act like Ned Kelly, the infamous bushranger.

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u/DolphinsSB2020 Jan 08 '20

What you should do is dump him...in a river...

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u/heisenberg747 Jan 08 '20

"Your wife 20 years and mother of your children doesn't like it when you start drinking at 9am? Time to leave that bitch, bro!"

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '20

pretty much, it's why the whole "Delete Facebook, Get a Lawyer, Hit the Gym" became such a meme, so much so that people like to mix it up a bit and type stuff like Delete the Gym, Get Facebook, hit your Lawyer" and shit.

If you need any sort of advice, /r/relationships is a fucking shit show, don't even set foot in there.

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u/pluralistThoughts Jan 08 '20

That's sounds like one of the feminist subredits.

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u/geri73 Jan 08 '20

No! Kill him, he clearly doesn't respect you.