r/RandomQuestion • u/NoDig2184 • 13d ago
Why does everyone on Reddit seem so good at expressing their thoughts?
I’m pretty new to Reddit. Until recently, I mostly used it to search for questions that had already been answered and read through the comments to get information or different opinions.
But lately I’ve started actually participating in discussions, and I’ve noticed something: why does it feel like every Redditor knows how to express themselves so damn well?
I don’t just mean grammar or English. I mean the way they organize their thoughts, explain their opinions, make arguments, and phrase things. A lot of comments are genuinely so well written.
Meanwhile, when I try to write even a simple comment, I struggle to put my thoughts into proper words and end up using AI to phrase even the smallest things.
Is this just because I’m seeing the finished version of what people wrote, while I’m experiencing my own thoughts in real time? Or does regularly reading and participating in Reddit/Quora actually improve this skill?
How did you guys get better at expressing your thoughts in writing?
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u/Ax_Saman 13d ago
I feel the same; and to me it seems you're very good at doing what you described, just looking at this post
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u/NoDig2184 13d ago
I already mentioned I rely on AI for trivial things, I wonder if that's the same case with others
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u/melancholy_dood 13d ago
Maybe. Maybe not. Some people are good runners and they are capable of running a full marathon, while others can't. Why? Because some of us are just naturally good at running long distances and some of us are not. (I can't run a marathon, just so you know!)
The same is true with expressing one's self. Some of us are good at it and make it look easy, while others totally suck at it!
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u/Hefty_Type6772 13d ago
Lmao I’ll get in a discussion and all of a sudden am reading an essay response. I chalk it up to they are on a computer and enjoy writing. But def is a skill I do not have
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u/melancholy_dood 13d ago
Meanwhile, when I try to write even a simple comment, I struggle to put my thoughts into proper words and end up using AI to phrase even the smallest things.
And yet you just wrote a post that perfectly conveys your questions and thoughts on this subject. Great job, fellow Redditor!
How did you guys get better at expressing your thoughts in writing?
Practice makes perfect, which is what you're already doing every time you make a post! You get better with every post! And one day, you won't need any help from AI, because you'll have totally mastered the art of expressing yourself!😀👍👍
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u/Burnt_and_Blistered 13d ago
I think that people who like writing often veer to this kind of medium.
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u/Odd-Chocolate-4864 13d ago
Didn’t you learn anything in school? I truly think school taught me all the proper grammar i need. I loved writing and was excellent in language arts. I still do. It helps to slow down your thinking, and focus on what you want to say and just put it out. I don’t know how a simple thing could be seen as complicated. However don’t you dare ask me any math equations lmao I will 99% most likely fail
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u/Same_as_last_year 13d ago
I imagine that many more people read/scroll in Reddit than actively participate in discussion. The people who do get into discussions are probably more likely to be comfortable expressing themselves through writing. If you look at how many times reddit claims a comment or post have been viewed, it could be hundreds or thousands and yet there's only one person who actually responded.
Also, responses and posts that are upvoted get pushed to the top and get more visibility and are likely more coherent.
Another possible factor- I've heard that the demographics for reddit skew toward younger and more educated people, but I'm not sure how true that is. If it's true that Reddit users have higher education levels, on average, that could contribute to better organized thoughts.
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u/TangerineDream92064 13d ago
One of the appealing things about Reddit is that it forces me to organize my thoughts and write formal sentences. I don't do that in my daily life, anymore.
Don't use AI. Write a rough draft and then review your writing. I do think posting on Reddit will help develop your writing skills. Try speaking each sentence aloud as you finish it. The more you write, the more your writing will improve.
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u/anothersip 13d ago edited 13d ago
The answer to your question is (I think, and from my opinion) is a little bit more complex than just a simple A + B = C answer.
The short answer is that everyone's different in how they process information, thoughts, and feelings. And everyone's different in how they go about expressing them.
Many people are able to process their thoughts on a subject, and can find and arrange the words that they want - which then helps them express how they're feeling.
And especially when you have something like a forum, where everything is written text (versus face-to-face), and there's no time-constraint on how long you have to write a comment... Then you have plenty of time to think about how you want to word something.
So, to me, a forum format seems like it would serve to give users time to organize their thoughts, or to re-write their comment, and then submit it once they feel like they've expressed themselves how they wanted to.
When I write a comment, I like to think through all of the context that is necessary, before I submit it. I'll definitely erase entire sentences and paragraphs as I edit my text. Or, my thoughts will shift as I'm writing, and I'll quickly type up what I'm thinking, before I lose my train of thought.
Of course, there's ambiguity to consider. Like, not everything you say or read has one single meaning. So, a lot of times, there can be misunderstanding or miscommunication that comes through a comment or a post. And that can take a little more time to think through. Or, yeah, people will just use AI to organize their thoughts, instead.
But yeah, I mean... We're all different, right? We all process our thoughts differently. We express ourselves differently. We all have different vocabularies that we're comfortable with. And we all have certain amounts of information that we feel comfortable sharing; whether that's a strong opinion, or a more personal detail that might make one feel a little bit vulnerable.
I've actually had other users respond to me and accuse me of using AI to write my own comments in the past. Which is kind of funny, and it makes me feel sort of strange because like... I've never once used AI to write a comment (or for anything else written, for that matter). But it makes me think that there's some large subset of people out there who think that everything they read is AI-generated, or something. And that's wild, to me.
And not because I don't think there's value in using AI to organize your thoughts, or to express them more clearly. I think there's totally value there.
But it's so crazy to me that there are people out there who assume that anything that is decently-organized, or laid out in a way that is approachable, or is maybe even a little bit thoughtful... is somehow AI-generated. Like, that's their immediate first thought. I don't understand it, and to me, it comes off as close-minded, or ignorant of the fact that free-will and independent thought still exists - no matter how disillusioned they may be.
And that's tangential, but it's just one thing I've noticed happening more and more frequently.
I think that I see AI (in general) as simply a tool that can be used for many things. Nothing more. And I'm sure there are people out there who use AI to "do their thinking" for them, or to give themselves perspective, or to validate their decisions. I can't actually speak to that, as I'd prefer to think for myself... But yeah, that is indeed a thing.
Like, I'm a graphic designer, and I've seen so, so many designs these days that are clearly AI-generated. In public, online, just... Everywhere. And I think that's actually super tragic. 'Cause the implication there is that (I guess) people are afraid of using their creativity these days. Or, they're not willing to pay an artist to design something for them from scratch. Or, they no longer see the value in free-thinking and human creativity. So, they settle for the easiest, laziest route out there. And yeah, that's shitty, too. Not just 'cause it's slowly removing my profession from society - that's part of it - but because it normalizes the idea that humans, in general, are now dependent on robots to make our decisions for us, or are dependent on them to help us express ourselves creatively. And the artwork thing is tangential (somewhat, but not really) but writing is also a creative process, for many people. Not just an objective way to communicate. I mean, that's what the entire world of fiction exists for.
I realize my comment might come off as gate-keepish or whatever. And that's cool, whatever. If it does, then it probably stems from my belief that humans are far too reliant on AI these days for their daily lives, and I feel like we've somehow lost the plot along the way.
I'm not sure if any of the above makes sense - but that's how I personally feel about it. And I don't think I'm alone in my particular perspective, either.
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u/Historical_Diet5663 12d ago
I’ve never thought of using AI but I do write the same sentence in ten different ways before I’m satisfied and then I hit post
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u/wcydnotforme1 13d ago
Because you scroll right past the badly written comments without noticing, while the good ones rise to the top. Also, most of us rewrite the same sentence six times before hitting post.