Skip to content

Comment on Ask HN: Where to have good discussions online?parent

Comments

Reddit pushes against any form of discussion. If you don't echo the sub's sacred tenets, the mods mute or ban you for "trolling" or "misinformation".

It doesn't even have to be a controversial or topic-based sub, and the comment doesn't even have to be a politically or socially-sensitive issue.

Eh, I see this complaint all the time. I've never actually seen it. Just avoid the subs with crappy mods and you'll be fine.

Well, depending on how you define "discussion". Nine times out of ten, when I see this complaint, it's because what they call "discussion" I'd call "trolling"...

For example in my hometown subreddit (~ 100k users) I got banned for 90 days for "trolling". I comment there roughly in the same tone that I comment here, so I couldn't tell what it was that had been marked trolling. I messaged the mods, and, as usual, got no reply.

I'm not in the least bit surprised about that. My understanding is that Nextdoor, which is a social media service for local communities, is also a drama-filled nightmare. I'd be shocked if equivalent Reddit communities didn't share those same issues. That has nothing to do with Reddit, per se, and more about how local community forums can be pretty damn toxic places, unfortunately.

I'm not saying it's good, the other places outright ban discussions though.

My experience is also different than yours, I guess it's based on the subreddit

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.