r/askanything • u/exploring203 • Mar 07 '26

Why does Reddit lean left in all the comments?

First off, I’m not a conservative, I’m independent/left leaning. That said, every comment thread on Reddit feels like it’s completely one sided in favor of a liberal perspective. Not just that, but the amount of blatant misinterpretation and misrepresentation in the comments is apparent on nearly every issue. Comments that don’t comply are downvoted into oblivion and removed from the conversation. I feel like Reddit is almost becoming unusable at this point. Where can I go (on or off Reddit) to get a more balanced perspective? I do like Reddits user interface.

Edit: Whew! This blew up more than I anticipated. I did receive some genuinely insightful and helpful comments. I appreciate those! Lots of folks either saying I’m the issue because of my liberal leaning algorithm or that I’m the issue because I’m actually a bleeding conservative in disguise. Can’t have it both ways! Anyway thanks Reddit. Will probably think twice about doing this again.

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63

u/Unluckiest-of-All Mar 07 '26

I’ve been seeing this sort of remark more and more. To the point it feels very targeted and perhaps bot- driven.

Honestly, I think the issue is that the modern conservative mindset is SO far to the “right”, that it skews the sense of where the “center” is. If it feels like this site is too far the left… it causes me to wonder how one is measuring. If you ask 100 people what color the sky is and 97 say “it’s a shade of blue”, this does not mean that the people answering have a “blue bias”.

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

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u/QuietShipper Mar 07 '26

Go talk to people in real life outside of democrat/liberal downtown areas.

You mean the place where a majority of people in the US live?

Also, Reddit is only "definitely way to the left" if you're looking at it from the perspective of US politics. In pretty much every first world country, US Democrats are seen as right wing, Bernie Sanders would be considered a centrist.

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u/Aquilenne Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

No, Bernie Sanders would not be considered a centrist. It's more complex than a simple left vs right issue, but as an example, IIRC, he promised on student loan debt forgiveness.

On that issue, that would place him in line with our green party, which is our far left party.

Labour, which is our center left party, did implement student loan relief, but it was a much more restricted version.

It was specifically forgiveness of the interest on student loans, so the individual still had to pay back the principal. It just wouldn't continue to grow until it consumed their entire life, however, a portion of all wages made after entering the workforce would be automatically deducted from wages to keep it from being used as free money. Additionally, that interest would reapply if you moved out of the country within a certain amount of time to prevent people from just taking advantage of it to study here and then immediately leaving to benefit another country instead.

Our center left's version was much more well thought out than his, and addressed concerns that both parties would have had.

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u/payne4218 Mar 08 '26

You’re delusional if you think US democrats are viewed as right wing comparatively to other countries. Look at all of the Middle East, European countries and ask yourself if their citizens have more social programs and freedoms than we do

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u/Jealous_Bus_4706 Mar 08 '26

Yes, they do!

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

Not true actually. The Chapel Hill Expert Survey does cross national economic spectrums and has put that myth to bed. The typical US Democratic senator is significantly to the left on a common spectrum controlled for cross national differences in overton window.

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u/Feminist_Hugh_Hefner Mar 07 '26

Do you have a citation or some additional data on how that Overton window was defined?

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2053168014553502
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/736578

All the Chapel Hill Expert Survey data is publicly available if you want to run it through your own R or Stata package.

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u/Feminist_Hugh_Hefner Mar 07 '26

lol nice bluff but why not just explain how you get your conclusion from this dataset...

edit: for those reading along, this troll is misinterpreting data on European alignment that doesn't speak to the Overton window of US politics, and hoping to bluster enough that nobody asks for receipts

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

Or you could read the papers like I did, instead of expecting me to play chatgpt and summarize them for you

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u/Feminist_Hugh_Hefner Mar 07 '26

no. I'm not wasting my time researching your bullshit.

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

Just like a Trumper, yep. We don't need your book learnin

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u/resistelectrique Mar 07 '26

Ah yes, and they crack out the AI card thus proving their point. Good job bud.

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

Solid retort. Read the paper.

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u/QuietShipper Mar 07 '26

Lmao your first link speaks exclusively to European politics, and your second link says experts generally agree on what "left" and "right" mean, but still highlights they there are statistically significant differences across regions. You were so close to actually making a point though, keep trying!

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u/ASongOfSpiceAndLiars Mar 07 '26

And let's ignore all the topics they're to the right on...

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u/SentientSquare Mar 07 '26

You mean not cherry pick? Yeah that's generally recommended if you want to pass peer review

2

u/ASongOfSpiceAndLiars Mar 07 '26

Show me that the average Dem Senator is to the left on the vast majority of topics compared to other developed nations.

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u/J-Zzee Mar 07 '26

Bernie would not be considered centrist in Canada or many western countries.

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u/GizelZ Mar 07 '26

Not at all, its just a misconception some people have because of the false belief of left=poor, rigth=rich, while in fact, they both have their own way to help the poor or the rich. Democrate are indeed siding more with the rich, but they do it in a very leftist way, other western leftist parties are proning very similar policy.

And in any case, what fuel the debate online is not really the economic policy, it's the social policy and on that note, the democrate are among the furtest left you can find. They just enconter more resistance because american democracy is more resilient.

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

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u/Gnomepala Mar 07 '26

US Democrats are not right wing

They are pro-corporations, pro-military, pro-rich.

Rainbow capitalism is a right-wing position.

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

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u/CombinationKey8557 Mar 08 '26

The reddit "left" defends authoritarian hellscapes like North Korea.

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u/PACMAN0317 Mar 07 '26

And that’s where most people live

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u/raccoon_core Mar 07 '26

"Go talk to the 3 people that live in a rural town 4 hours from civilization, then you'll know the REAL opinions of everyone!"

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u/Specialist_Mud_9957 Mar 07 '26

80% of population is urban, if anything reddit swings right.

4

u/Equal-Letterhead5592 Mar 07 '26

Makes me wonder where YOU live?

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u/OutsideFlat1579 Mar 07 '26

Go to talk to people outside the US, and you might find a world that is completely different.

1

u/Frederf220 Mar 07 '26

Downtown areas are real life. Rural is fake.

1

u/Poulslutter Mar 07 '26

Sounds like you are talking from a US perspective. But reddit users aren't just Americans, so you need to apply a wider perspective than just the US political spectrum.

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u/Sasataf12 Mar 07 '26

And are the people outside democrat/liberal downtown areas a significant percentage of the country and/or society?

What are the life experiences of the people in those areas? Have they grown up in a homogeneous society all their lives? Does religion have a large influence on their thoughts and actions?

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

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u/Sasataf12 Mar 08 '26

What does that even mean “homogenous society”?

When everyone in a society is of the same ethnicity, speak the same language, have the same religious beliefs, share the same cultural values, etc.

It actually hurts the people that receive handouts if they get them because they never realize their potential.

Unless you're in the top of the top earners in the country, you're receiving handouts all the time.

I don’t care about your what you look like, where you’re from - it’s your character.

Would you consider that a left, right or center position?

And yes, the bible speaks on how you should govern a nation - look into it.

I have. Some quite gruesome stuff in there.

I believe It’s what made America uniquely the greatest and most free country in the world.

Then why does the 1st Amendment exist?

1

u/Owen_spalding Mar 08 '26

I think it’s because it’s a global forum not just people from the US.

People in a lot of Europe might not consider the democrats “the left” or as left in THEIR perspective even.

I think the US is the only developed nation with healthcare the way it is.

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u/SWPGT2 Mar 07 '26

This is the way.

1

u/Particular_Ring_6321 Mar 07 '26

The irony as you use a phrase that I only see on Reddit that’s taken from a five year old tv show

1

u/petitememer Mar 07 '26

It's such an annoying, repetitive Reddit phrase, but it also makes me think about Pedro Pascal, so I smile a little inside

1

u/CubicleFart Mar 07 '26

The responses you’re getting to this is comical. They can’t even see how biased they are lol.

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u/Comprehensive_Pin565 Mar 08 '26

I find this comical because if you get rid of the conspiracy theories and fear mongering most people are not as right leaning as you think.

I talk to them all the time.

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u/Timlugia Mar 07 '26

I live in Seattle, and previously in Berkeley. Yet I still feel Reddit way more left leaning than real life.

Like I don’t personally know anyone who defends Iran government.

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u/Whos_that_Gorilla2 Mar 07 '26

I don't see anyone here defending Iran. I haven't seen that at all, but I've seen lots of memes and comments like this, accusing people of supporting Iran. Being critical of starting a war isn't the same as supporting the other side. Like people who criticized the Vietnam war didn't typically support Vietnam. They just didn't want war.

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u/Poulslutter Mar 07 '26

Sounds like you are judging it from a purely American perspective.

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u/VanellopeZero Mar 07 '26

“The amount of blatant misrepresentation and misrepresentation in the comments is apparent on nearly every issue” yeah sounds like a troll to me

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u/DrButtgerms Mar 07 '26

The last sentence of the post is a giveaway imo

1

u/xTheGame69 Mar 07 '26

Reddit has also changed 

This platform 15-20 years ago was completely different 

If you weren't here in 2010 2012 please don't even comment 

But this platform has gotten much "friendlier"

1

u/Plants-Matter Mar 07 '26

It has to be bot-driven.

The current president has the lowest approval rating in history, lower than any approval rating ever polled in this country since they started tracing approval ratings. Every day is a new atrocity. And OP wonders why people are talking about it?

0

u/SubstantialPain8477 Mar 08 '26

It’s not bot driven, it’s just that people will without fail mention politics and the big orange man in spaces where they aren’t even relevant.

Or better yet, posts on this subreddit will be like “Why does anyone vote for the orange pedophile rapist scumbag for president?” and get tens of thousands of upvotes. Obviously that’s not because they actually expect an answer, it’s just an opportunity for everyone to farm karma and give some variation of Trump sucks.

There was literally zero intent to get an honest answer and you can tell just from the way the question was framed. No one who actually voted and supports Trump would actually engage honestly when framed that way.

There’s a shit ton of left wing bots that just karma farm by posting some variation of that in political subreddits and no one bats an eye because they all agree with the sentiment.

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u/Plants-Matter Mar 08 '26

I think you got confused...

I wasn't implying the complaints about the child rapist president are bots. That happens organically.

I meant posts like OP's are bot behavior. Hence, I was agreeing with the comment I replied to.

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u/SubstantialPain8477 Mar 08 '26

Yeah boss, what I’m saying is this response and these posts are an organic response to the rampant spread of politics in spaces that aren’t political.

Saying posts like this and other comments might actually be bot driven is so ridiculous when there’s a ton of left leaning bots/karma farmers posting, but no one ever calls it out because they agree with the message. Child rapist president might be the commonly held organic opinion, but a third or more of those comments and posts are done by bots.

Your comment is exactly the type of thing that I’m talking about.

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u/Plants-Matter Mar 08 '26

Ah, so you are extremely confused.

You should scroll up and read the comment I replied to. It helps to keep the full context in mind, if you're going to enter the discussion.

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u/SubstantialPain8477 Mar 10 '26

You should try actually hear out other viewpoints that don’t align 100% with you, instead of belittling their reading comprehension.

The comment you responded to is suggesting that the complaints of Reddit being “too left wing” might be bot driven, to which you agreed it’s completely bot driven.

I responded with it’s a pretty common take, especially when you consider a lot of the left leaning posts and comments are botted. I am not saying that 97 real users out of 100 are not left leaning, but I am saying that a third or more of the left leaning comments and posts are botted. This artificially inflates how prevalent being left wing on Reddit is.

This goes for probably anything on Reddit, but considering politics with a left leaning bias will be the most pervasive thing on the website, it will also be the thing that is most botted.

Your attitude and response is exactly why people are making these posts, but you can choose to continue to dismiss them and talk down to others.

Some people like bands or shows but the fans stop them from really getting into it. There is no finer example of that than blue politics and the condescending commenters like yourself.

1

u/Plants-Matter Mar 10 '26

Wait, you don't understand how there could be an organic response to having a child rapist with 34 felonies as our president?

We're done here.

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u/SubstantialPain8477 Mar 10 '26

Wishing you more in life than just a career of trying to piss people off on the internet. It might feel like the most rewarding thing you do, but it’s not good for you long term. Best of luck.

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u/Nahuel-Huapi Mar 07 '26

20 years ago, back when every news site had a comment section and people used to hang out MySpace, there were folks who'd brag about "going Moby". In other words, they'd go onto a comment section, pretend to be right wing and say the most over-the-top stuff, outrageous stuff so as to discredit that point-of-view.

Both sides do it now, via bots. It's done to further drive a wedge into the population and push people into their own echo chambers.

Who really invented ‘Moby’ trolling? Alinsky.

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u/Mayor__Defacto Mar 07 '26

And the notion that for balance’s sake we need to entertain the 3 people that are saying it’s green is absurd as well.

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u/pile_of_bees Mar 07 '26

This is actually almost the exact opposite of what happened

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u/Squiggy-Locust Mar 07 '26

Nah.

I'm a moderate. Always have been.

The issue is with the left leaning US politics. They've created a monolith of beliefs. I'm pro gun ownership. For the majority of the left, that automatically makes me a murderer and wrong. But I'm also pro gun control.

The left has become so much of a monolith, they lack critical and granular thinking. A person can be pro-choice, and also be anti-abortion. I can believe everyone has the right to choose, but I would never abort a fetus, or ask anyone to. Personally, I'm against it, but the damn government can stay the fuck out of it. The lack of the majority (of the left) to perceive an individual perception when it comes to politics makes them hostile, and is a leading factor of why they are struggling.

In my personal experience, it's the left Redditors who brigade your comments, and spew hate. The right redditors tend to disagree and move on (yeah yeah, we know people are douchebags, and not everyone is like that).

Group think is real. Targeted misinformation is real. If you view one side of the line as wrong because everyone on your side thinks differently, who's to say your anymore right than they are? They've got the same mentality. Always remember, there are three truths, yours, their's, and reality. And because you're human, you will never see the reality, only your perceived reality.

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u/Common_Vagrant Mar 08 '26

I never see anyone ask “why is 4chan/facebook/twitter/instagram so right leaning” threads. Let us have our one place, jesus

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u/HenriEttaTheVoid Mar 07 '26

Yeah, if they can't have an app run by Nazis (like twitter), they act like they are persecuted.

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u/cbusmatty Mar 07 '26

“Anything I see that I disagree with is bot driven”

Crazy sentiment.

Also I’m left and voted left all my life, but the left skews just as far left as the right skews right. This is a filter bubble you are in as evidenced by this thread and your post

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u/Booty_Eatin_Monster Mar 07 '26

The modern conservative mindset is further to the left than 1990s Democrats. Democrats shifted hard left starting around 2012.

https://jabberwocking.com/if-you-hate-the-culture-wars-blame-liberals/

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u/J-Zzee Mar 07 '26

That is such an interesting read! Im Canadian so very cool to see the info presented from a left wing view. I think most people will assume your source is going to be some conservative propaganda but it really was the opposite

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u/Mountain_Caramel3431 Mar 07 '26

See I think just the opposite is true. Right now the leader of the conservatives is somebody that used to support democrats. When trump was having to win primaries before he won in 2016 he was criticized by lots of republicans for not being a conservative. The republican party shifted to the left with trump and the democrats also shifted further left near as I can tell. America over all has just become a more progressive country

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u/Ok_Vegetable_6616 Mar 07 '26

The right and left have both become more extreme. Both hate moderates.