Why do People Hate Reddit?

I just recently got the Alien Blue app for my IPad, and have been making pretty good use of it for news intake, but come to find out there are people who fucking HATE Reddit. The only real reason that anyone has given me for hating it is an excessive use of memes on the site, and a crappy layout/design. I really don't understand either of these complaints.

I mostly use the app, and it's really convenient, and yes when I went to the actual site for the first time it was a little confusing, but it wasn't a chore to figure it out or anything. There's an FAQ and everything plastered right up front. As for the memes I haven't really run into that problem at all. The solution pretty much seems to be don't subscribe to WTF or pics, beyond that your good.

Reddit is very helpful in that it allows me to visit Twitter much less often, and I'm definitely not going to stop using it because it's unpopular, but I just wanna know. Is it the fucking 4chan elitists or something?

The site itself is desperately in need of some design love, in terms of both appearance and usability. However, I think most of the hate is just the typical sort of internet beef that develops against any community as it starts to become more closed off and insular (see NeoGAF, 4chan, etc.).

My issue is that the memes there are forced so hard by the community in an attempt to get karma (imaginary internet points) that none of them will ever become actual memes or funny.

Atheism is pushed extremely hard and the atheists actually get stick from each other for being too pushy about it. Personally I think they should push atheism as hard as they can because no matter how annoying it is, religion is still worse.

I also hate the way that just by seeing the front page for a day or two you immediately know what the trends on twitter will be in a week's time, and what the '...and finally' stories will be on bad news sites over the next two weeks. I find myself saying "Saw that on Reddit" and knowing way too much about trivial things all the fucking time.

Things like r/misogyny with their video's of woman being killed don't help.

@EuanDewar: Yes forgot to add that, some deeply disturbing subreddits that seemingly aren't policed at all.

Most internet forums are dreadful, Reddit is included.

I love Reddit, it's 4chan with class.

I'd relate it somewhat to how adults often just shake their heads when thinking about what assholes they were when they were teenagers. And looking at Reddit is like looking directly at that period of their lives. It's kind of like 4chan, but with pretense.

Reddit is usually a pretty love it or hate it site. Personally, I hate it, but I get its appeal.

false pretense posts,

"a friend of mine just said this..." and variations there of.

meme overuse, general lack of creativity.

repetition of posts, variations of "hope this gives me karma..."

this is at least front page, maybe reddit gets better below.

Don't like the lay out, don't like the karma system (karma should be gained over time and only handed out on rare events, not because you posted a funny story or picture) and the subjects discussed are often not interesting or the lay out makes it impossible to read it.

As someone who spent several years writing and reading C++ in my youth, I still have trouble navigating or following a conversation on reddit.

Then again I haven't spent more than 10 minutes there in my life.

@AlexW00d said:

Most internet forums are dreadful, Reddit is included.

I haven't spent too much time on Reddit but I was kinda turned off when Something Awful started a campaign to get Reddit to remove subreddits that allowed and encouraged child pornography.    Also it has too many crazy libertarians for my liking.  I can deal with Ron Paul supporters but when you get people who believe Bit Coins are the future and think Atlas Shrugged had the right idea then I kinda want off the crazy train.

I don't hate it, I just don't use it. I do hate anything even remotely related to 4chan though.

There are a lot of seedy and horrible corners of reddit. There are also a lot of stupid subreddits that overuse stupid memes and post a ton of rubbish posts (r/gaming is a perfect example of this). There are also a bunch of awesome subreddits, but you usually have to dig a little to find them.

http://www.reddit.com/r/PicsOfDeadKids/

http://www.reddit.com/r/beatingwomen/

http://www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu/

obviously those first two are extremely NSFW.

Also, the reddit userbase threw a hissy-fit when they took down some child pornography subreddits claiming it was a violation of "free speech."

@zaglis said:

It is the same reason why so many people like to talk shit about Call of Duty. Not because it is BAD, because it is cool to hate the super popular thing. reddit is so huge that it can run a meme into the ground in less than a day

Not everyone hates things because they're popular. It is possible to legitimately dislike something that a lot of people like.

@Kaiserreich said:

http://www.reddit.com/r/PicsOfDeadKids/

http://www.reddit.com/r/beatingwomen/

http://www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu/

obviously those first two are extremely NSFW.

Also, the reddit userbase threw a hissy-fit when they took down some child pornography subreddits claiming it was a violation of "free speech."

I'm going to admit to not knowing a great deal about Reddit, but existence of those kinds of pages feels like proper justification for anyone to shun it.

The bigotry is a good place to start.

@Anwar said:

@BraveToaster said:

@zaglis said:

It is the same reason why so many people like to talk shit about Call of Duty. Not because it is BAD, because it is cool to hate the super popular thing. reddit is so huge that it can run a meme into the ground in less than a day

Not everyone hates things because they're popular. It is possible to legitimately dislike something that a lot of people like.

Nope, they only reason why popular things are disliked is popularity. /sarcasm

Okay, I deserve that for stating the obvious.

@Superkenon: The thing is, you need to go looking for that sort of thing to find it. Subreddits generally aren't policed unless they have blatantly illegal content, and the posts on those will never make the front page. Anyone -- literally anyone -- can make a subreddit, which leads to a lot of fucked up shit. The fact that reddit admins avoid interfering unless absolutely necessary is one of the best things about the entire website. Censorship is absurd, and people should be free to say whatever they want.

Shunning reddit because of the existence of those kinds of pages is like shunning google because you can find the same sort of thing by typing in a few search terms.

Because their humor level is on par with youtube comments

Never checked it out until just now. I thought it was pretty cool but like people here are saying, it could use some redesign.

I started visiting Reddit a few weeks ago. I think it's great.

@Superkenon said:

@Kaiserreich said:

http://www.reddit.com/r/PicsOfDeadKids/

http://www.reddit.com/r/beatingwomen/

http://www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu/

obviously those first two are extremely NSFW.

Also, the reddit userbase threw a hissy-fit when they took down some child pornography subreddits claiming it was a violation of "free speech."

I'm going to admit to not knowing a great deal about Reddit, but existence of those kinds of pages feels like proper justification for anyone to shun it.

Hardly. Reddit is what you make it, none of that sick shit gets put on the front page, obviously.

If you want to dig deep into the more questionable subreddits then you can do that, but your experience is what you make it. There's a lot of fantastic subreddits for all kinds of niches, as well as really good support groups for various things. I've browsed /r/relationships a few times and there's a lot of good advice thrown around there.

Reddit is nothing but a hivemind. The shit people say just to get virtual internet points is fucking crazy and sad. It's sad because if you break out of that hivemind way of thinking, everything you post will get downvoted into oblivion and no one will ever see what you have to say.
 
I try my damnedest to stay out of the "mainstream" reddits and go to things like, I don't know, Mass Effect or MGS related content. Shit I know. Shit I know people won't be stupid in. It's also a good way to keep up on information about those specific departments. But you'll still find stupid karma whore bullshit that makes you wonder why these people need to be validated by strangers on the internet, you'll find that anywhere.
 
And don't even get me started on their fucking "memes". Hey guys here's a picture of a table, GOOD GUY TABLE THANKS FOR KEEPING MY FOOD OFF THE FLOOR HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
 
It's not funny. None of their memes are funny, and the ones that are came from 4chan anyway.

@N7 said:

Reddit is nothing but a hivemind. The shit people say just to get virtual internet points is fucking crazy and sad. It's sad because if you break out of that hivemind way of thinking, everything you post will get downvoted into oblivion and no one will ever see what you have to say. I try my damnedest to stay out of the "mainstream" reddits and go to things like, I don't know, Mass Effect or MGS related content. Shit I know. Shit I know people won't be stupid in. It's also a good way to keep up on information about those specific departments. But you'll still find stupid karma whore bullshit that makes you wonder why these people need to be validated by strangers on the internet, you'll find that anywhere. And don't even get me started on their fucking "memes". Hey guys here's a picture of a table, GOOD GUY TABLE THANKS FOR KEEPING MY FOOD OFF THE FLOOR HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. It's not funny. None of their memes are funny, and the ones that are came from 4chan anyway.

Gross generalisation.

I only like the IAMA or whatever it is that they call it. I thought it was cool that Brandon Sanderson and Steven Erikson did that. Granted, some of the questions are usually stupid but still.

Also, yeah, they could use a redesign.

@N7 said:

Reddit is nothing but a hivemind. The shit people say just to get virtual internet points is fucking crazy and sad. It's sad because if you break out of that hivemind way of thinking, everything you post will get downvoted into oblivion and no one will ever see what you have to say. I try my damnedest to stay out of the "mainstream" reddits and go to things like, I don't know, Mass Effect or MGS related content. Shit I know. Shit I know people won't be stupid in. It's also a good way to keep up on information about those specific departments. But you'll still find stupid karma whore bullshit that makes you wonder why these people need to be validated by strangers on the internet, you'll find that anywhere. And don't even get me started on their fucking "memes". Hey guys here's a picture of a table, GOOD GUY TABLE THANKS FOR KEEPING MY FOOD OFF THE FLOOR HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. It's not funny. None of their memes are funny, and the ones that are came from 4chan anyway.

Gross generalisation.

@N7 said:

@Sooty said:

@N7 said:

Reddit is nothing but a hivemind. The shit people say just to get virtual internet points is fucking crazy and sad. It's sad because if you break out of that hivemind way of thinking, everything you post will get downvoted into oblivion and no one will ever see what you have to say. I try my damnedest to stay out of the "mainstream" reddits and go to things like, I don't know, Mass Effect or MGS related content. Shit I know. Shit I know people won't be stupid in. It's also a good way to keep up on information about those specific departments. But you'll still find stupid karma whore bullshit that makes you wonder why these people need to be validated by strangers on the internet, you'll find that anywhere. And don't even get me started on their fucking "memes". Hey guys here's a picture of a table, GOOD GUY TABLE THANKS FOR KEEPING MY FOOD OFF THE FLOOR HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. It's not funny. None of their memes are funny, and the ones that are came from 4chan anyway.

Gross generalisation.

YOU'RE a gross generalization!

well fuck

@N7 said:

YOU'RE a gross generalization!

+10 Internet(TM) Points for demonstrating the proper use of that comeback.

I like Reddit.

Reddit is huge.

I think Reddit's great because there are so many parts of it that are completely different to all the other parts. Take some time to find subreddits that you're interested in. Personally I never look at r/all or most of the top reddits - most of it is memes and "circular-email-content". Every now and again I look at r/gaming and skim for good content, avoiding most of the stuff about Valve, Steam and Gabe Newell (even though I like these things).

Reddit's really useful for individual games. For instance, if you want to know EVERYTHING about Diablo 3, then follow the Diablo subreddit. Yes you'll see a lot of moaning and filler, but there's so much info that would be incredibly hard to find without Reddit.

I think the comment system is the best on the internet. Generally the most interesting points are at the top and thoughtful comments are often rewarded. Yes it's a popularity contest, but look at the bottom comments and you will hardly EVER see a well written comment. Every time I see something buried it's because it's rude, or stupid or both - not because it's a well written unpopular opinion, those are generally in the middle of the thread.

If there's one thing that really annoys me about Reddit, it's the karma system. People REALLY seem to care about this internet number and so they do/say things just to increase it and get really upset as soon as they get 2 down votes. A lot of people go on about the HIVEMIND, but these are just popular opinions, there's nothing spooky about majority opinions. So many people complain that the hivemind ruins everything, but there's nothing wrong with getting down votes. Swallow your pride and have an unpopular opinion, don't whine about everyone else's.

EDIT: Also, just because there are horrific subreddits including child porn, violence, etc, does not mean that all Reddit users read that stuff and are okay with it. Reddit is like a country, just because there are some bad people there, does not mean that everyone else is.

@AlexW00d said:

Most internet forums are dreadful, Reddit is included.

these included as well at times.

Every forum has it's degenerates, it's the internet. Who cares what the general media thinks of the site, it has its useful resources at times especially on some of the subreddits and it has tons of cat photos.

It needs a major site redesign. The appeal of it looking like it's indie or a small website is lost on me as Reddit is quite popular. I also don't like the humor such as forced memes or inside jokes that I don't get. I still like Reddit since it usually makes me discover cool stories that I wouldn't have known of beforehand. The DKR shooting in Colorado is a great example of this as Reddit has a timeline of the incident. Overall Reddit is okay, it just has some glaring problems that can be fixed.

I don't hate Reddit, although I really only prefer looking at the funny pictures, that's why I go to Imgur.

The people on Reddit just seem like very angry people every time I go on. Its fine to get mad sometime but take a break guys.

Reddit has the most mindless, lowest common denominator memes and humor. It is such a hive mind of single, straight, white male think that anyone else is squashed. It's a terrible place for sad people to feel included.

I've used it for five years. Ugh. I only ever check the Dark Souls subreddit anymore...

I refuse to go on it because of how ugly the site is and how many 13 year olds post there

@Anwar said:

@BraveToaster said:

@zaglis said:

It is the same reason why so many people like to talk shit about Call of Duty. Not because it is BAD, because it is cool to hate the super popular thing. reddit is so huge that it can run a meme into the ground in less than a day

Not everyone hates things because they're popular. It is possible to legitimately dislike something that a lot of people like.

Nope, they only reason why popular things are disliked is popularity. /sarcasm

Popularity leads to intimacy, dawg.

I used to be a huge reddit guy (I spent 3 or so years reading it very frequently), and then about a year and a half or so ago I quit. All of the subreddits that I used to read turned into terrible meme/jerkoff wastelands. I then realized that my interests are specific enough that I don't need any sort of aggregator to get it all, I can go straight to the source (e.g. Giant Bomb). The community (in large part) I also found rather irritating (meme-happy and prone to internet groupthink/mobs, which happen to be two of my least favorite qualities on the internet).

I wouldn't say that I hate the site, but I don't think I will ever want to go back.

Its design makes me want to hurl and the hivemind mentality is insane. Zero interest.

Every story I hear about Reddit involves a bunch of people from the site being assholes to someone and hiding behind guises like free speech to justify it, so I've never had any desire to go there. I'm sure it's not all like that but I'd rather steer well clear.

Ideas and memes are pushed so hard on reddit. The good and interesting boards are usually underpopulated and slow. Although some gems do pop up like http://www.reddit.com/r/theeternalwar/

I can honestly say, (at least to my knowledge) I've never been to Reddit. I guess I should probably check it out?

the thing is, with Reddit, there are some cool boards... but the more popular the board, the worse it is usually. Whole lot of misogynists, racists, etc. on it as well.

@Chaser324 said:

The site itself is desperately in need of some design love, in terms of both appearance and usability. However, I think most of the hate is just the typical sort of internet beef that develops against any community as it starts to become more closed off and insular (see NeoGAF, 4chan, etc.).

What that guy said.

I went to Reddit once just because I kept hearing about it and was curious.

I got turned off right away due to the design besides the fact that I don't think I want to be involved in such a community from other shit I hear.

Because they just rehash old shit, It´s full of hipsters and 12 year olds who think they are funny and have shirts with "le monkey face" and "me gusta" retarded memes. Fuck Reddit. I don´t hate NSFW, that´s normal on the internet. I hate them because they are unoriginal and stupid. It´s what is bad about the internet and kids now a days. Even 4chan is more intelligent than this... Even /v/. This is just an example of a regular redditor outside of reddit. If you are a fan of reddit or it´s content: fuck you.

I made the front page of Reddit once so fuck all you guys.

Fuckers.

(in before someone takes this too seriously)