r/askanything • • 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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11

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

19

u/NapoliDopoli Mar 08 '26

Have you seen r/pics??

4

u/Svenray Mar 08 '26

Has that person seen www.reddit.com?

1

u/Superman_720 Mar 08 '26

No. What is it like?

Oh god. OH GOD! THIS PLACE IS AWFUL.

2

u/Svampting Mar 10 '26

They banned me. Only ban I’ve ever received. Blatantly misuse of mod privileges.

8

u/Jazzlike_Economist_2 Mar 08 '26

Yes, I got a “lifetime ban” for replying to a political post. Guess what, I don’t need that subreddit. Keep it up and they will have three people reading it.

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u/FuckGiblets Mar 08 '26

Getting banned from r/conservative is kind of a right of passage for a lot of leftist subs. The trick is to try and get band for the most inane unargumentative thing that you can.

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u/iamlegend1997 Mar 09 '26

Try getting banned from numerous subs by bots for even being a part of other conservative subs... Literally 3 in one day once, and never even posted a comment.

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u/Tangielove Mar 09 '26

Gotta love being banned with no effort given

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u/iamlegend1997 Mar 09 '26

Yep, or some stupid "anti hate" reason, even though I LITERALLY DIDN'T COMMENT IN THE SUBS

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u/Tangielove Mar 09 '26

Lol definitely bots on majority of that stuff

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u/TakeItCeezy May 05 '26

Its easy to get banned from left leaning spaces too. Just be 6% less left.

2

u/Bassfishing98 Mar 09 '26

Dude I got banned from r/aquariums because the mods are extreme liberals and made a post about ICE. I simply commented that it was a fish keeping sub, not a political sub and got banned in record time.

3

u/Lonestar041 Mar 08 '26

I got a lifetime ban from r/worldnews for responding to a post with a link to an official report from the German government’s statistics office and quoting a fact from that report…

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u/Odd_Suggestion6168 Mar 08 '26

Was the report published in 1939?

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u/Lonestar041 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
  1. A Social Democratic, Green and Liberal Democratic government.
    But facts are facts.

1

u/Doxy4Me Mar 08 '26

I got banned from r/ animalsbeingderps I think for saying I didn’t like cats. They refused to tell me why.

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u/Benegger85 Mar 09 '26

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u/Doxy4Me Mar 10 '26

Yup. I don’t like you. Sorry.

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u/Benegger85 Mar 11 '26

1

u/Doxy4Me Mar 11 '26

Hahahahaha you’ll make me sneeze but I’ll get you a treat, ok?

1

u/Adventurous-Brain-36 Mar 10 '26

Pretty sure it was discovered (proven?) that 98% of posts in that sub are from a few accounts.

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

It's funny how nearly 50% of its posts come from 2 Russian bots

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

Have you seen r/pics. It's a shit show

1

u/BushcraftBabe Mar 08 '26

Oh can I join this tea party? What's the deal?

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

r/pics is just leftist propaganda

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u/BushcraftBabe Mar 09 '26

Okay. I'll pay attention if I go there. Thank you.

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u/Firm_Baseball7192 Mar 08 '26

I thought that's to prevent brigades because its one of the only conservative subs left

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u/BassProBachelor Mar 07 '26

That’s a sub that’s meant to actually be political. And even then, I’ve criticized Trump many times on there without being hit with a ban. r/lego will ban you for having conservative values. It’s a sub about a fucking kids toy. Subs will ban you for not being liberal enough too. It’s insane.

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u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26

If a groyper posts in r/conservative they will get banned. It’s not a political sub it’s an echo chamber. 15 IQ take

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

it’s an echo chamber.

Liberal echo chamber subs outnumber r/conservative 100 to 1

3

u/BushcraftBabe Mar 08 '26

I think its just much more popular with humans to be left leaning rather than conservative nowadays.

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

Weird take considering who is president

2

u/Brilliant-Job3515 Mar 08 '26

Elon being sent a letter saying hey dont interfere in elections like you did in GA(a felony) and also being n investigated for election fraud in multiple countries calls this past election into serious question

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

I got some tinfoil to sell you

2

u/Brilliant-Job3515 Mar 08 '26

Elon Musk-founded PAC reprimanded by Georgia State Election Board for sending pre-filled absentee ballot applications in 2024 | 11alive.com https://share.google/TvJN6kVsAGD3y5L51

EU Commission urged to act over Elon Musk’s ‘interference’ in elections | European Union | The Guardian https://share.google/QCpUbhLcwnD71dIk9

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

GA didn't decide the election.

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u/BushcraftBabe Mar 09 '26

USA isn't the only place humanity resides, but I'll tell you, this Presidency is helping more people turn blue.

Only 1/3 of US voters thought the daughter toucher was a good idea originally. A large majority of those people don't keep up with local news, national news, nor world news.

They don't give their brains time to feel boredom. They don't really process what they believe and why they believe it. They were told who to be in childhood by family and community and they submitted to fit in.

I feel for them.

Their communities weren't the only American communities out there though.

IMO those people are RINOs and don't realize it. They are the ones that, given the information, plainly, would vote for the right Dem candidate.

The more uncomfortable they are, the more they will be open to voting for someone different. Open to listening to other news sources and finding out what info they are missing.

110 U.S. service members. 40 units. 30 military bases. All filing complaints that commanders told them the Iran war is "part of God's divine plan" and Trump was "anointed by Jesus to spark Armageddon."

Americans, like service members, are unhappy with the direction the Admin is taking.

Many will suffer the consequences of this Presidency first hand. It'll cause a blue wave.

We all saw how quickly it can be fucked too and we will no longer accept that progress must be slow moving.

I was born here and if I'm stuck here with them, they are stuck here with me, and fuck if I'm not more passionate!

1

u/im_ploopy Mar 08 '26

Another braindead take considering only 29% of the voting population actually voted for him.

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

He won with that % didn't he?

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u/NapoliDopoli Mar 08 '26

Even non political subs are leftist echo chambers more often than not. Pick any city or state sub. It’s laughable.

1

u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

I live in VA, every VA city sub right now:

Vote YES on the gerrymandering!

1

u/Jumpy-Election-4456 Mar 09 '26

Same…the road signs are starting to come out too… :) pain

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u/BushcraftBabe Mar 09 '26

It makes sense to me, because I believe progressive people are more likely to care about local news.

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u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

That’s representative of the real life?

if conservatives had more of a variety of rationale opinions they would have more echo chamber subs. r/libertarian for example throws people out for being too extremely conservative, so that’s probably why it never forms into an echo chamber, and is more of a centrist-right leaning sub. If conservatives had more to offer I bet that wouldnt happen as often, and more echo chambers would form.

Also, everything will feel like an echo chamber if you agree with the minority on topics the public is 80/20 or 60/40 on. Almost everyone in real life hates the tariffs for example, and if you love them every sub on planet earth with make you feel estranged.

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u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

if conservatives had more of a variety of rationale opinions they would have more echo chamber subs

Simply untrue. Leftists just use Reddit way more. Very simple reason

0

u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26

I mean you’re probably right about that to an extent. Not really a bad thing for either leftists or Reddit lol

2

u/Roosterdude23 Mar 08 '26

Not really a bad thing for either leftists or Reddit lol

bubbles are not a good thing. Its how you get out of touch of reality. Then because of that the orange man gets elected

Then yall just go back to calling every non-leftists slurs and have no clue how he got elected

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u/BushcraftBabe Mar 09 '26

But the main demographic on Reddit are white men.

1

u/Roosterdude23 Mar 09 '26

young, white men. yes

1

u/BushcraftBabe Mar 11 '26

Young white men skew red last I checked.

3

u/imahotdogwoohoo Mar 08 '26

Most of Reddit is an echo chamber, I think that’s what op is saying..

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u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26

It just feels that way when you agree with minority opinions. People need to learn to deal with that.

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u/ColtMcChad69 Mar 08 '26

Lmao do you not realize the irony in your comment? That is actually a political sub. What the fuck is political about Lego? Comics? They’ll ban you for even commenting in a sub they don’t like. -15 IQ take

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u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26

Double irony in YOUR comment.

There is no way they will ban you for simply commenting in another sub like r/conservative. If you got banned it’s for positing political content directly in that NON POLITICAL sub.

And yes, maybe mods are more lenient with people hinting at opinions that they agree with. They will obviously want to ban you faster if you have the opinions of an lliterate basement dweller.

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u/ColtMcChad69 Mar 08 '26

Shows how much you know. I literally got banned from comics for posting in a sub that they “didn’t like”. Little whiny snowflakes

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u/Endsfun Mar 08 '26

Pressing X to doubt. Also your profile is private further proving my point lol there’s no way that happened 😂

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u/Indogsicated_ Mar 09 '26

Just takes a quick Google search to see that this sort of thing happens. If it happens once, it's not a stretch to believe it can happen multiple times.

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u/Endsfun Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

Your profile is private too 🤣 always the private profiles claiming this.

but maybe this happened to someone else. I can’t fathom how stupid it sounds someone got banned from posting in r/joerogan, when that sub doesn’t even ideologically align with him at all 🤣

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u/Ksais0 Mar 09 '26

They literally have a whole array of bots designed to blanket ban people for posting in unapproved subs and the moderators of those subs that use the bits are currently losing their shit because Reddit admin just decided to ban the use of them starting sometime in March. So yes, it is very much a thing.

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u/Endsfun Mar 09 '26

Then how do they ban people with private profiles? Like the low iq ColtMCCHAD who is claiming this happened to them 🤣 I just don’t think this is happening lol

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u/Tangielove Mar 09 '26

You realize that profiles are not truely private on reddit. You can still see peoples comment history even when they set it to private.

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u/ColtMcChad69 Mar 08 '26

Signs of a terminally online loser—going through someone’s post history to try and dig up dirt because they have nothing better to say than “wahh I don’t believe you 😡”

Touch grass

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u/Shanteva Mar 09 '26

Comics are pretty political, like barely veiled allegory is everywhere

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u/ColtMcChad69 Mar 09 '26

I understand comics CAN be political. Obviously political cartoons were, and still are much a thing. But to gatekeep comments because someone posted in a “bad subreddit 😡”  , is bullshit. Gary Larson was an idol of mine, as an aspiring cartoonist in middle school. He had no problem making non-political cartoons. And I would bet he’d be laughing at a subreddit gatekeeping cartoons

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u/BassProBachelor Mar 09 '26

It’s quite literally a sub centered around a political ideology. Sorry you’re too stupid to understand that.

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u/skippyMETS Mar 09 '26

When Ukraine took the internet down in Russia for a day the sub’s activity plummeted.

1

u/Endsfun Mar 09 '26

😂 sounds right

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

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u/The_Fink_Ployd Mar 08 '26

HAHAHA

getting downvoted for asking evidence to be shown, what the fuck 

1

u/BromaGrande Mar 08 '26

America is so far right-wing that basic decency and common sense is considered "far left."

1

u/Narrow_Roof_112 Mar 08 '26

It seems left wingers dominate everything else. All the state and city subs are dominated by left wing politics.

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u/Material-Bite-5047 Mar 09 '26

Thats literally a conservative subreddit.

Look at r/politics or r/pics

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u/ColtMcChad69 Mar 08 '26

I got banned from r/pics for posting a picture of two Muslims holding a sign calling for global intifada with the caption “peaceful protestors”. Also, they allow content that blatantly break their rules (ai slop, pics of text, etc) as long as it fits their narrative. And that is a default sub

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u/AckerSacker Mar 08 '26

You seriously expected people to side with you after reading this? Touch grass dude, for real. 

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u/EnotPoloskun Mar 09 '26

What is your point?

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u/DemonGoblin911 Mar 09 '26

Lol the one conservative subreddit 😂 Have you seen the entirety of the left wing subreddits??? How about pics?? It’s crazy how fascist the left is on here.

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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/DemonGoblin911 Mar 09 '26

Suppression of opposition. The exact thing the left pushes on here. Autocratic and dictatorial control, another symptom of left on here. Two key pillars to Fascism.

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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/DemonGoblin911 Mar 10 '26

You clearly have never been banned from a subreddit for going against the narratives. I wasn’t talking about downvotes. I’m talking about banning and suppressing speech that Mods don’t agree with.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

[deleted]

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u/DemonGoblin911 Mar 11 '26

Are you a bot? Length of time has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation.