I don’t know about y’all, but I for one have personally have been resorting to Reddit lately for ‘advice’.
(On a side note: You should never ever trust advice given on sites like Reddit, and especially from online anonymous strangers on the internet. The digital abyss can be a deep, dark dangerous place, hence whatever you read should be taken with a grain of salt.)
Now, before you dismiss wholly the notion of receiving advice from strangers on the internet, there is merit from browsing through the likes of various online social media forum sites such as Reddit, 4chan and Quora.
Just so to have a rough idea of what netizens think about getting advice from Reddit, I resorted to well none other than Reddit, in which here are snippets of some of the comments I generally agree and resonate with:
Snippet 1:
This is true as you have no idea who’s really behind the account
Snippet 2:
Snippet 3:
The ‘merit’ that comes from reddit, as stated in the above two responses would be the variety of options, information, perspectives and experiences offered by the good netizens of Reddit. Leveraging off the wisdom of the crowd, it is crucial for you to develop the ability to be able to distill information from various sources and make your own informed decision basing off your personal circumstance.
What is Reddit and Why Is It So Popular?
Keeping it brief, Reddit is a “network of communities where people can dive into their interests, hobbies and passions.” Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian and Aaron Swartz, Reddit has come a long way since then, from having a couple hundred million monthly active users over, to eventually going public in 2024 with a $6.5bn valuation aim.
Reddit is known for its vast array of communities or ‘subreddits’, which pretty much relates to any topic imaginable. Spanning from the topics of ‘aliens’ to ‘notinteresting’ to ‘infp’, there’s nothing short of topics or communities one would not feel they would not be able to associate with. Subreddits & communities allow members to post forum-like threads of content, which could be in the form of a text, story, photo or survey etc. It materializes as a platform that allows people to maintain a two-way conversation about…erm pretty much anything, and involve perks such as attaining ‘karma’, which is a ‘reflection of the upvotes and downvotes you receive on posts and comments you’ve made.” It is basically your ‘reputation’ on Reddit, represented as a numerical score which essentially reflects how you’re being judged by other redditors on how well you effectively engage, contribute and dish out quality content.
On Reddit, words > followers & clout
Karma Count:
Nevertheless, this might not be an accurate representation, as we as humans are subjected to conformity bias and group think, while often swaying towards a one-side argument. Hence, positing the occasional need for someone to play devil’s advocate to really get the ‘opposing side’ of the discussion to get going, rather than steelmanning an argument that have constantly been reinforced in a supposedly ‘echo-chamber’- like environment. That’s the beauty of an open-based discussion forum, the opportunity for one to attain information through the experiences of others, that you wouldn’t often get from the usual media/news outlets. And that’s where your ability to discern information comes into play, as well as demonstrating the ability to exercise sound judgement should you decide to apply any of the Redditors’ advice to your personal circumstance.
The power and influence of Reddit communities cannot be understated, as the impact that the opinions of others have on some, could go a long way indeed. This stems from the notion of tribalism, a behavioral effect which has been in existence since the earliest human cultures, predating even the advent of the world wide web and technology. Reddit communities allow for the banding of people who are in a ‘similar’ position, allowing them to form collaborative cliques and enabling them to share their personal experiences, be it about their success stories or the plight of others. The proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” have never been truer when it comes to the dynamics within communities. People want validation and empathy, and who better to provide ‘advice’ and reassurance than those who are/were in the same boat.
Eg: Reddit’s top communities with millions of members:
As you can see, these communities relate to extremely broad categories in general. However, anyone can create specific communities for those ‘sub-categories’ within the broader categories itself. (eg Chemistry/biology/physics et al. for ‘Science’.)
Just like almost every other social media platform, the Reddit algorithm itself deserves merit as it provides you with a tailored list of recommended communities that’s based off those you joined. (albeit too well)
Eg: My tailored feed
Eg: General Sub-reddits Topics:
As you would notice, the above communities I specifically chose relate to that of relationships, one’s career (investing/retiring) & personal development/self-improvement, which are all substantial aspects of everyone’s lives. You would notice that most discussions under those topics revolve around people asking for advice, with others chipping in to provide their experiences and two cents worth. Apart from given advice, there is no shortage of information, facts, data and analysis provided by some pretty well-versed individuals within the other communities. That being said, there isn’t any shortage of ‘BS’ or trolling going on Reddit either, so DYOR!
On a closing note, acronyms (like the one I just used in the previous sentence) are used prominently throughout Reddit, some of which you might have come across before such as NSFW (Not Safe For Work), DYOR (Do Your Own Research), NFA (Not Financial Advice), AMA (Ask Me Anything) and LARP (Live Action Role-Playing). Reddit lives and breathes on the web, and as such, represents the embodiment and cultivation of internet and memetic culture being intertwined and meshed with one another.
This vast amount of information and explicit peer-to-peer knowledge transfer is the holy grail that gets myself and millions of other individuals browsing through Reddit.
Concluding Thoughts
All in all, Reddit is a valuable platform for individuals to be able to exchange information and experiences with one another. You get to learn something new each time, from and through the perspectives and lenses of others. A cautionary note however would be to take some of the advice/information provided with a grain of salt. Filter the information carefully and tailor it accordingly to your personal circumstance. I hope that universities would one day accept Reddit as a valid form of citation. Wishful thinking, but it’s not today. There is always merit from the wisdom of the crowd. Take Polymarket for example, the world’s largest prediction market which allowed for the market to predict the winner of the US 2024 presidential election. It has since been claimed to be more accurate than presidential polls.
Just like my previous article where I delved into why we should not fade memes, the next time you want to seek advice, don’t fade Reddit just yet.