between rampant poor reading comprehension, bad faith, bots, trolls, AI slop, assuming humans are AI/ bots, karma farming, stealing content, astroturfing, hive mind/ group think, dunning kreuger effect...reddit should be dead. I'm mostly here out of habit, honestly. reddit can be good for finding answers to random searches, but is an awful community.

There's still life here in very specific groups. The Jigsaw Puzzle group gives me hope for humanity, for example. They have zero tolerance for AI and rip-off brands that effect the Puzzle community.

One would think the birding communities would be left alone here because..nerd alert, but nope. AI, stolen material and karma farming and bots exist in them for some reason.

I posted a cell phone pic in a group I'm in and was accused of using AI. Post removed and I got a warning. I wrote to the mods and got no response.

The internet experiment is basically a failure. It used to be the wild west, now it works more like 1940s communist Russia.

First, switch to old reddit. Then unsub from default subs. Then find subs about things you're interested in and subscribe to them.

Reddit isn't really "social media". It's a megaforum. So don't post willy nilly. Posting a thread on a forum has always been risky going back 30+ years. The larger the forum, the riskier it is. Comment in established threads instead.

As someone else pointed out, a lot of people subscribe to this sub because they hate reddit. I'm here because if and when it goes down, we're screwed. I got my eggs in one basket here. Most of the subs I'm a part of are for technical help. So there needs to be alternatives.

I have a different experience but I probably use it differently than most.

There are a few epilepsy groups that have been incredibly informative and supportive. There's also a support group of Redditors with epilepsy that video chat twice a week. For a host of reasons, epilepsy can be isolating so finding a community like this is truly helpful.

I mostly post cat and dog pictures and there are 1,000 subreddits for pets.

For these reasons, Reddit is a positive force for me.

You couldn't have picked a worse subreddit to post this in to be honest 😅 It's literally for people who hate it here and want to find an alternative. Which explains the responses you're getting. 

Here's some info which might help: 

• No, reddit isn't dead, it's one of the most visited websites on the internet
• Reddit has arguably gone "downhill" since becoming publicly traded and AI becoming widely available, but trust me it's far less of a racist, sexist shithole compared to, say, 2014.
• Your experience here is what you make it. If you subscribe to r/CrossStitch and r/StardewValley you'll have a pretty pleasant time. If you subscribe to r/DankMemes and r/TrueRateMe - it'll be considerably less so. 
• There are (poorly enforced) reddit-wide rules but each subreddit is its own little microcosm. It takes a lot of lurking to get a handle on what the prevalent opinions, posting conventions and inside jokes are for each subreddit. If you post without having a good handle on that microcosm you'll probably not have a good reception.
• I would generally avoid posting any identifying information here. Even photos of your living room. Especially as a woman. Creeps lurk everywhere, even in "safe" subreddits.
• I generally have a better time sticking to comments rather than making top level posts. 

Good luck!

Reddit is a shadow of its former self.

It's all bots

I've been far too long on this site. It has been shifting towards less interaction and more stupid reaction and drama. However there are subreddits where people still support each other. Its just a matter of finding them.

I think a lot of people have forgotten that reddit was a link aggregator site first. The only thing you could post where links to other sites. Memes were posted on Imgur and linked to the meme subs.

So what Im trying to say is, take a look around the subs you might be interested in. Look what is posted and how. Then it'll be much better.

There's literally hundreds of thousands of subreddits. Some are great, some are toxic, most are in the middle. All depends on where you hang out.

In addition, every subreddit has rules, and a bit of a culture. Before posting or commenting, it's best to read the rules, and read the sub for a little while to try to get a feel for the culture (just as you would take a quick look around and adopt different behaviors if you walked into a disco vs walking into a library).

If you're making a new post, it's also highly advisable to search for a few keywords from your post to see if the topic has already been covered. One of the most common reasons for getting a post downvoted is asking a question that has already been discussed to death, and answered, dozens of times in the past month - the regulars will be really tired of it, and it'll be clear to them that you, the new person, didn't bother to look around any before making your post.

You might find a niche... but it's very problematic for sure. I run Manjaro on my computer, and I am a member of the Manjaro forum... however, traditionally people tend to prefer to find a subreddit (r/Manjaro) and treat that like an official forum.

Let's be clear, it is certainly not that. I see dozens of people work through issues in the forum, which is controlled and effective - and is formatted in a different and more efficient way.

Reddit is more like idle chat, with many stupid people, many trolls, many bots, and a great deal of misinformation - the same can be said for YouTube also.

I'm really curious about you posting a picture in a subreddit about TV Placement, that sounds ridiculous to be honest...

But your statement here suggests that you posted a serious question in r/TVTooHigh to ask people for serious advice... taking a look at it now, I can see it is very obviously a non-serious subreddit, designed to simply critique, mock, and show pictures of ridiculous TV placement options and take the mickey in general... so you would get downvoted for not being bright enough to see that... and if you put your TV above a fireplace, then you're really in the firing line for Muppet of the Year award...

You are really expected to have enough intelligence to know where you want to put your TV, so I think it's obvious that asking a bunch of random strangers is not an intelligent thing to do.

Different subreddits have their zeitgeist. And if you go against the zeitgeist, you will be downvoted unmercifully.

r/TVToohigh, for example, has very strong opinions about TV placement. r/centuryhomes has very strong feelings about preserving original features in a home and keeping original woodwork unpainted.

People have strong opinions about all kinds of things here on Reddit, from the way people hang their toilet paper roll to whether or not pineapple on pizza is acceptable. Welcome to Reddit. 🤷‍♀️

Try using it in at the url old.reddit.com on Firefox with Reddit Enhancement Suite and Ublock Origin.

Like with everything else - you need to find your own place here.
Never read /all and /popular, always read your /home, where you curate your content.

Yes, you would need to read /all first to find places that you like and joining them. But after 3-4 months you should just switch to /home and never go back.
And try to switch to old.reddit.com - it have way less ads, random unrelated things, etc.

Also - don't create new posts in any even remotely big subs, just for the sake of your sanity. Reddit is not a social network to share, it's a content provider for your to consume. 90% of all new posts are very bad, but you simply don't see them and only read good posts, creating you illusion that it's easy. But no, no - posting is hard! Leave it to people who know what to do :]

Reddit is a doomer site that attracts depressed nihilistic fear mongers who love shitting on anything that isn't "everything is bad".

Social media is geared towards negativity because it creates more engagement, which then fosters a negative feedback loop.

Historically only about 10-15% of social media users engage by posting/commenting. The vast majority of Redditors just lurk and scroll because they can't be arsed with the negativity that comes from making posts or comments, as you're experiencing.

It's why you never meet people in real life like Redditors in the comments. They're an irrelevant minority of sourpusses who dominate internet discourse because this is the only place where their voice is heard. If you talk to people in real life about the same topics you get a completely different perspective.

I've been here for over 10 years and it's bonkers how shit it's got in the last few years. Also the site is riddled with bots reposting popular posts and comments constantly. It's an utter shitshow.

Maybe try the fediverse. Piefed, lemmy, or Mastodon. It's a smaller community, but generally there are older people, there.

Try Lemmy, Piefed, or Mbin if you are looking for a forum with voting (which is what Reddit is).

Reddit definitely used to be better (less bad?), but bots, idiots, and trolls have been increasingly prevalent in recent times. You might be able to salvage something of your experience here by unsubscribing from the frontpage subs (which have largely been ruined mainly by reddit administration causing many of the better mods and content creators to leave after the API debacle, the IPO, and general enshittification of the site), and subscribing to smaller communities that don't have as much of a bot problem.

The TV Too High reference makes me think this is a bit 🤣

There are niche subs with nice mods who want to take care of the community but it's a dime in a dozen. Reddit won't die like Facebook.

and got downvoted so bad I was in the negative for a while.

Its important to understand that upvotes/downvotes arent exactly a like/dislike button. its primary function is for the community to move the post upwards or downwards on the list of threads, such that better content goes to the top and is more likely to be seen. All posts will slowly fall downwards even without votes so that the top always has fresh content.

So if a lot of people downvoted your TV, there was a reason it didnt fit the sub.

Up and down votes don't mean anything really, probably just laugh at it. It's imaginary Internet money you get when you say something popular, and spend it to say something unpopular later lol. There's a lot on Reddit you can learn from it's just chaotic and you have to search for stuff sometimes. Some subs are dumb echo chambers I've been banned from some I never even visited because I posted on others that allow all viewpoints haha, but that's how they get their self esteem, so I skip those subs and go to more open ones.

For all intents and purposes, yes. It's all bots and power tripping mods. If you want a community of real people, go to piefed, lemmy, or kbin.

Just thought i’d add my personal experience because maybe it’s relevant. But I have been grossly addicted to screens, and media and apps of any genre for most of my life now. I love digital platforms like no one else i’ve met, but despite a high screen time since 2008, i never took to reddit. I tried many times but never could get myself to enjoy it beyond scanning the occasional web search link for a specific question. I didn’t bother forcing it tho, i mean there was always strong competition from other platforms for my attention i guess. I remember many years later in 2020 I met a good friend who said they could scroll reddit for hours or get lost in rabbit holes on here. I felt so confused bc i felt it was sooo boring. I tried it again but fell flat. Then around 2022 I made an account for something specific, idk, maybe it was looking for advice on something and now i’ve been sucked in ever since. But I still feel like the app is no better or worse than it used to be for me, I think it was just a time and place that got me sucked in. I do also find it a bit dead tho, but I also feel like almost all of them feel even more dead.

But despite being sucked into the app a few years ago, I DO NOT “like” it that much, but I also don’t dislike it enough to stop using it. I often find people are too harsh, too critical and unsupportive. I find it bizarre, you’re anonymous so why not just use that to be even more corny and positive. But I also don’t have any good alternatives unfortunately. I HATE meta sites, awful platforms for me. I do not use snapchat at all anymore because it phased out for me. I have found some great Discord community servers, but also many many awful ones. I really enjoy TikTok, but I worry that its enshitification is inevitable tbh. But still largely really enjoying it :)

At the moment I am trialing using a Lemmy account, mastadon account & a Blue Sky account. I haven’t trialed it enough to really get a feel for any of them tho! I think smaller servers/ niche areas are often always going to be much better overall. I have no clue what the future of digital networking is going to be like tho, i hope it’s bettter tho

Reddit is but a shadow of its former self. There are still some niche subs that are worth visiting, but most are just bots and idiots.

If you want a whiff of what reddit used to be like, try out lemmy. It hasn't got as big a userbase and it takes some effort learning to navigate. But for now, it's the best alternative there is.

Probably 75% of my posts are removed for breaking some obscure rule (or because the mod is in a bad mood). Don’t take it personally! Some mods (and users) are just arseholes. There are great communities here but it took me a couple of years to get the balance right. Keep at it!

I started lurking here when it became apparent digg was taking a poo. Things have changed.

If your husband sends you stuff you like you're 1/2 way there.

Not all subs are equal.

all depends on the communities you find yourself in, and IMHO leaving a lot of the default subs like r/ news and r/ politics

find communities you enjoy and your time will be better, I rarely have issues like so many others seem to

It’s really hit or miss for me depending on the subreddit. Most of the ones I subscribe to are good, a few a not so much. 😁

Reddit is not like facebook, Instagram, etc.

The whole "social media experience" where you always share things about yourself is not how people act on Reddit. This is just sort of an "internet cultural hub"

All said, Reddit has only gotten worse with time. The quality of posts and information is lower, and subreddits often feel rather cold and dead now.

I joined Reddit in 2020. I think around 2022-ish was when it was at its peak when it came to the amount of people using it. In the last year or two, it's been getting worse. I still like it and use it more often than other platforms. Just be careful with the big subreddits since those ones can have trolls or very strict mods. It's best to stick to ones that fit your niche interests.

It's gone downhill dramatically since around 2020. You will absolutely get downvoted most of the time, even in subreddits dedicated to helping newcomers to whatever topic they're about. You will also get randomly banned by petty mods. It's really dire.

When Digg opens up properly hop on over, it's way more relaxed at the moment.

It's pretty rare to have an actual conversation with someone on here. Even rare that the conversation is civil and productive. I gave up posting stuff on reddit many years ago because it all got taken down. I'm convinced that moderators are the main problem. To paraphrase douglas adams - anyone capable of becoming a moderator should, in no way, be allowed to be one.

I actually was a moderator for a while for a reasonably large subreddit. I made a useful wiki for it which brought together many primary resources on the topic. I didn't ban very many people or remove many comments cause I feel that should be done minimally and consequently I was banned from being a moderator by the other moderators. And after I was banned from being a moderator the wiki was taken down and replaced with a blank page, which was weird. The wiki was inarguably a non-contraversial, neutral, and useful. It's amusing that arguably the moderators moderated me from being a moderator for not moderating enough.

Reddit is flooded with insane, stupid, evil people. It's flooded with garbage that Will treat others badly. This includes mods.

I couldn't find the information I needed so many times from search engines that I gave up and reluctantly tried Reddit. It's only somewhat better, but still awful for getting information.

And the people are terrible cancer. Humans have become like this. It's just very common now. I can't find anything better, so I'm stuck here.

Mods having a little fit over the silliest of things and banning you.

Try Bluesky.  Its not as hostile over there.

Wait, are you AI? Or a Russian bot troll?

I mean your tv is indeed too high. If you posted in r/tvtoohigh do you expect people to not complain the tv is too high?

It's always kinda been this way. Communities sometimes go to shit. I wouldn't take it personally. The biggest subs tend to be garbage, but there's almost always alternate subs for a given subject.

Also, don't worry too much about karma and down votes. A lot of people just use them as an "I disagree" button.

Yeah reddit is sadly looooooong dead. Where they fucked up is giving us access to the statistics of views on posts. You can get over 10,000 views on a post and very little engagement positive or negative. Bots people all fucking bots...

People these days are always looking for something they find wrong with just about anything...Those people walk around acting everything they do is perfect...they are miserable and should just get off the internet and seek professional help...

Reddit is filled with a lot of people who think they know everything and are better than everyone, it sucks and it’s toxic but it’s always been like that.

I don't know what Reddit you are referring to, but the mainstream is nothing but a communist/liberal echo chamber of mob rule where any difference of opinion is punished by downvoting and ban. The moderators are definitely the same.

Yes, it’s dead / dying. 

Reddit has always been a crapshoot as far as community and mod standards, but the rampant AI bot spam has caused everyone to crank up the control level to 11 - or to abandon moderation altogether.

You don't really need to be posting for entertaining or even discussions through, right? You can just view different subs, comment if you want to be part of the conversation.

Here's another minus for you! :)