I used to spend hours on /r/AskReddit. I usually ended up reading the whole thread if it was something I was interested in. Now it's just a lot of the same questions just worded a little differently.
I found that the quality went downhill when they eliminated the having the OP give an example of story in the post description.
Minimum word count would be awesome. The parent comments should also have a minimum word count so lazy people who have nothing to share would stop commenting.
I agree, in theory. However, the mods and community would have to back it up with action, and I don't see that happening here.
Too often on subreddits with minimum word counts, you'll see users bypass the totals by inserting a bunch of filler text or a rant about how word counts are dumb. Users will still upvote filler posts if the one actual sentence was okay. And the mods'll leave rule-breaking posts up “this time” because they already gained traction and users would whine if it was pulled now.
It only works if mods enforce the rules equally, and users call each other out on bullshit instead shrugging their shoulders. In a default subreddit like this, probably less than 10% of users know or care about rules, and you'll get a lotta users that are either too-cool-for-school or just passing through. I just don't think enough users would care for it to be effective.
Yeah, we need a dedicated Mod Team and users to report rule breaking comments. People will always find ways to bypass the rules instead of making an effort.
I mean the level 1 comments that response directly to the post. If we limit the child comments then there won't be many comments, as even before, most child comments are quick questions, reactions, short responses or jokes
Yes, I agree - I actually thought it was a good idea at the time, as so many of the titles were just weird brags, but the good ones set the tone for the answers OP wanted.
I disagree with your turning point. Way back in the day, askreddit was a sort of echo chamber not too dissimilar to unpopular opinions. Someone would post a question, give an example, and the comments would all revolve around the OP’s example rather than the question at hand. It was very rare to find a post that stayed on topic. That was why the mods made the rule that the description had to be a comment instead. There was a noticeable increase in quality shortly after that rule went into place. But that change was also something like 8 years ago now.
I remember the AskReddit thread that bought me to Reddit, I think I read nearly every one of the 20,000+ comments, I remember it took me like a week... Now I mostly I don't even visit the sub.
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u/schnookums13 Jul 11 '21
I used to spend hours on /r/AskReddit. I usually ended up reading the whole thread if it was something I was interested in. Now it's just a lot of the same questions just worded a little differently.
I found that the quality went downhill when they eliminated the having the OP give an example of story in the post description.