thoth's Journal: Why I like Reddit

This is just personal opinion of course, but I've been logging in and checking things here a lot less frequently lately. Why is that?

It's easier to avoid hot/controversial topics, because Reddit is opt-in and Slashdot is opt-out. If I want to follow Politics on Reddit, I need to find the subreddit and subscribe. Here, I see all posts and have to go exclude tags I don't want to see. Granted, that isn't backbreaking but is a minor inconvenience.

I get more specific feeds by picking appropriate subreddits. I want to read stuff about programming, sports, and my favorite computer games. Yep, I can arrange for that to happen on reddit. This is more luck of the draw, er... whoever submits a story that might fit that.

There is more community. I think so at least, from the viewpoint that reddit users acknowledge others outside reddit or have helpful/interactive groups. This is most visible in MMOs, where the garden variety few I dabble in all have reddit guilds/clans/corporations/whatever with open recruitment. Another example is the DailyProgrammer reddit, which posts easy/medium/hard problems for everybody to solve in whatever language they want to use. There is the occasional helpful comment or pointer for the language newbie. The boardgames subreddit arranges occasional trades and also participates in the boardgamegeek math trades. None of that happens here. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but Slashdot users don't acknowledge they are users of Slashdot, outside Slashdot itself.

It is easier to follow. Back when I used Slashdot most, I had a job where I could keep it open and refresh constantly. I was able to participate on the hot/current topic. I can't do that anymore so Slashdot is more of a passive reading site these days. If you miss commenting on the most recent 5 or so stories, the crowd isn't there so there isn't much point - very few people will see or answer you. Reddit's way of handling replies has its quirks, but not being there within the first 3 hours of posting doesn't destroy your ability to participate.

Fundamentally, my Slashdot usage is shifting to checking it once a day, opening a handful of recent stories and sifting for the top replies. I only post if I just happen to catch something of interest that is very recent (and of course, I feel like I have something to add with a post). Reddit is the site I check for info I want to read, from Programming, Coding, Boardgaming, EVE, etc.

I have taken one step to making my newsfeed here more palatable. I excluded Politics and YourRightsOnline. I'm just tired of reading the same circle-jerk who-can-shit-the-biggest-pile-of-hate-on-the-current-administration-or-government. I originally came here in late 1997 or 1998 for the tech slant.