Would you say Reddit is pretty toxic?

[Ghost Of Mascevanje]

To me, not really. While I've never had an account on Reddit, I have browsed through some parts of it on multiple different occasions when searching for certain subjects (that website just keeps on popping up in the search engine results!). Judging from what I've come across, it varies or is somewhere in between.

One thing that I'm certain of though is that Reddit is nowhere near as "toxic" as 4chan. I don't really use or post (never have) on that website either, but I have browsed it various times in the past in order to study the kinds of humans and robots that congregate over there (I guess it was also a sort of "morbid curiosity" type of thing). Needless to say, I've learned quite a bit about racists, sexists, psychopaths and other assorted degenerates.

 

[maria110]

I think Reddit is okay. I've found it slightly less toxic than Twitter.

 

[amemome]

I think it depends on the subreddit. Overall, it's just like any online forum. There are people who like to yuck on other peoples' yums but there are also people who will stick up for you if they see you're being treated unfairly. If you don't like the way you're being treated and see that it's the norm rather than the exception, then it's probably best to find somewhere else to hang out.

 

[pawpatrolbab]

I've used Reddit off and on and have never had a negative experience over there. I'm sure it's like most social medias though, there's always a handful of bad people on them

 

[mermaidshelf]

For years Reddit was extremely toxic and I would avoid it like the plague however I feel like it actually improved A LOT since the 2000s. Overall the demographics lean more toxic however you can find nice subreddits with good moderating. I don't really use it and I curate almost all my social media to reduce the amount of toxicity I have to read.

 

[VioletUV]

I stay away from reddit, as well as any social media other than forums. I’ve come to realize that aside from forums, there is a lot of toxicity. I find some of the replies to either be jokes, insensitive, or both. I know that no places are safe from toxicity, but there sure is a whole lot less of it on forums. I started using the internet around the time online forums were big. I grew up with forums. It sucks that social media is the big thing now because most platforms people are using, I have zero interest in.

All of this toxicity makes me wish that forums could regain popularity. I’m not big on social media because of the toxicity and how it’s used. Mainly, it’s just pictures used to show off and people mindlessly scrolling to see how much better someone else’s life is. It’s a (negative) vicious cycle…

very true. although the last forum i was a member of years ago was very toxic in the end of its life, it was still far less toxic and way more fun when it lasted in comparison to reddit and other social media these days.

this is why im trying to find forum style communities lately. and discord is okay but i don't really talk most of the time and with big communities there, you tend to miss out on quite a lot.

 

[Snowesque]

I used it for game trading for about a year. It was a fairly neutral experience overall. One outlining experience comes to mind where someone from a sub-reddit tried to start an argument with me in a random Twitch channel I was watching to avoid Reddit moderation. Then they still tried to trade with me as if nothing happened. Where aren't those types really though anymore.

 

[StarlitGlitch]

I voted "okay" but I'm probably between the top two. Reddit really depends on the subreddit, there are such different people that use each one and like someone else pointed out it also depends on the size of the subreddit. As a whole I would say it's more toxic than, say, a forum or some other forms of social media. The fact that, erm, subreddits that are designed just to mock other users and will go back to taunt the users about being mocked there says a lot but ofc that's not everyone. I also am not a huge fan of karma/voting systems, including our own as useful as it is, since they push things in a certain direction. but i'm still happy whenever someone likes my posts here lol

In short forum supremacy!!

 

[DarkDesertFox]

I spend a good amount of time on Reddit and it really depends on the subreddit you're browsing. For the top most popular subreddits, I would say definitely. That's why I tend to stay away from those ones. Twitter is toxic in the fact everyone is trying to cancel each other and find something to be offended about, while Reddit is toxic in hivemind opinions and downvoting people who don't share the popular perspective. The main reason I use Reddit is for the convenience of browsing by topic, not so much for the people who use it.

 

[salty-]

Tbh I've used reddit for quite a bit and I don't really think it's 'toxic' especially depending on the subs you hang out on. Like subs like /mildlyinteresting or /mademesmile are pretty good communities, and then gaming communities that aren't typically 'toxic' are pretty good too, like /animalcrossing are pretty happy communities.
I think every social media platform has a chance for toxicity, like twitter is definitely guilty of toxic af communities, Cookie Run is a mess on there tbh lol. I think reddit just has a "reputation" for bad stuff so people tend to really only stare at the toxic portions of it and ignore the non-toxic parts of it. It's really not that bad, it has it's moments but all SM does.

 

[Neb]

There’s a lot of really toxic, pretentious people on there and some subreddits have very disturbing content, but are still kept up by the site for some reason. I browse and never interact outside of upvoting or downvoting. Some of the worst subreddits are for specific towns and cities. My local subreddit is just filled with people complaining about people moving in from out of state and remote workers.

 

[Dunquixote]

I belonged to one that had the toxicity fairly under control; nothing they could do about the random downvoting though. But the other subreddits, definitely. someone made a racist asian stereotype joke which went against the rules but the mod never replied to my complaint and left it up. they took down a post that used a particular racist word right away though. I’m done with reddit now. It’s really not worth the stress to deal with the rudeness and toxic behavior. I stopped playing the games partially due to this too.

 

[SkyKnight03]

oh reddit. i don't hate reddit, but i do have specific opinions about it. it makes a great search engine, and often adding 'reddit' to the end of your google search can provide better results. especially if there's a problem, you might find a 100+ page discussion regarding your exact issue.

i don't like the downvote system. it encourages hivemind behavior and creates an echo chamber. simply saying a different thought to the group (even if it's subjective) can get your comment downvoted and hidden because the crowd does not want to hear it. this keeps me far away from ever posting on reddit. it doesn't even have to be anything serious like politics, but i could post an opposing opinion about my favorite sports team and it has the potential to get shoved down into oblivion. i don't think reddit is a place that encourages healthy discussion. there can be some great information provided, especially as a hobbyist, but it's not a place that promotes new perspectives.

there are many different sections on reddit, so I'm sure not all of them are like this. but in general that's the gist i get from it.

 

[moonbyu]

a couple of weeks ago, i got into a fight over something dumb with people whose post histories (or at least the parts i had managed to read before just going "wow these people are absolute ghouls and i hate them" and blocking them) was just as pretentious, toxic, hostile and awful as their personalities and way of talking to people on the internet so.. yes, kinda.

i realize that some subreddits just seem to attract really bad people who are all types of intolerant, sick and bigoted and i make sure to block and leave as quickly as i can to avoid doomscrolling because i know i cannot control nor stop myself once i do it lol.

i certainly don't hate it as much as i hate twitter/x or instagram but it's starting to get there for me!!