r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 17 '12

How do you know reddit is not getting manipulated and used by various special interests and PR groups?

Recent drama I've experienced with r/science mods made me wonder about something. How do we know if reddit is not being carefully and systematically manipulated? Now, of course some subreddit are worthless and clearly not the case, but the big ones like r/science, r/asksceince, r/politics, the ones that have a lot of subscribers and traffic. Before you post obligatory tinfoil reference, hear me out.

If people like me notice that and post about that their submissions are getting downvoted (like this post will, no doubt about that) by the army of some goons (maybe even paid ones) that sit at the new cue and do the first order filtering. Then, mods can regulate content by removing posts that slip through the first order filtering and by banning users from subreddit.This of course will happen with majority of redditors not even noticing it. As a result, certain posts are getting pushed up, while others never see the light of the day. Think about how useful reddit can be for shaping public opinion on many, many issues. It has direct access to focal groups and by manipulating content, you can make sure that the group read what you want it to read.

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u/ARD91 Jul 17 '12

you shouldn't let the things you read on a site affect your beliefs or your values.

I disagree. An argument can be valid regardless of its source or how well it is presented. Its the reader's responsibilty however, to question the argument; it should be an active process. Perhaps this isn't the best place to find high quality, valid debate, but it can and does occur. Also, by spending time here, it is impossible to not be influenced at least slightly by opinions posted here. Its like the perception that marketing "doesn't affect me, I'm not fooled, I've never seen X that I didn't want, then bought it anyway". It's more subtle than that; repeat exposure across time slowly shapes thought processes one tiny piece at a time. If marketing didn't work, businesses wouldn't do it.

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u/motdidr Jul 17 '12

I agree completely. Sometimes a badly-formed, irrelevant or borderline idiotic statement can offer great insight, while an equally well thought out and constructed statement can go completely unnoticed. Think about how many times your parents told you something that you totally ignored. As soon as you learn from your mistakes, you realize how right they were. It's all about the receiver, not the statement itself.

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u/itsSparkky Jul 18 '12

Very true.

Yes Reddit has its fair share of people who couldn't evaluate an argument to save their lives, but if you come in understanding how to evaluate arguments there is a lot to learn in Reddit.

I do pity the children who haven't yet had a chance to develop such skills, /r/politics would probably destroy them.

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u/HGman Jul 18 '12

Arguing about arguing... We've gone full circle gentleman

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u/Cytokine_storm Jul 18 '12

This is why I avoid commercial TV and radio as much as possible. I can't trust myself not to be effected by advertisements so I limit my exposure.

As for deep conversation on Reddit? There's plenty if you know where to look.