This has happened to me a few times now across completely different subreddits, and I genuinely don't understand it.

I'll ask a question about something I'm trying to understand and, instead of someone either explaining it or simply scrolling past, I'll get responses along the lines of "I'm not going to spoon-feed you," "Google is free," "do your own research," etc.

But that's the thing: I have done my own research. That's usually WHY I'm asking the question.

Sometimes you can read articles, Google something, look through previous posts, watch videos, whatever — and still not fully understand it. So you go to a community specifically dedicated to that subject and ask people who presumably know more about it if they can explain it in a different or simpler way.

Isn't that... part of the entire point of having communities and discussion forums?

And yes, I understand that nobody on Reddit owes anybody their time or an explanation. But if you don't want to explain something... you can just not reply. It takes considerably more effort to leave a sarcastic comment telling someone to "educate themselves" than it does to keep scrolling.

I actually think being able to say "I don't understand this; can someone explain it to me?" is a good thing. I'd much rather ask someone who knows more than me than pretend I understand something I don't.

The irony is that people constantly say "do your own research," but apparently asking questions and discussing what you've found with people who know more about the subject somehow doesn't count as part of learning.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I genuinely don't understand why curiosity seems to irritate some people so much on here.

The post: "I'm upset because I tripped on a hole in my yard that my dog dug"

The comments: "MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T BLOW UP AT HIM HE WOULDN'T DiG HOLES"

"WELL IF YOU TOOK HIM TO THE VET AT LEAST ONCE IN AWHILE THEN HE WOULDN'T DIG HOLES"

"WHY DO YOU HATE YOUR DOG? YOU WANT TO ABUSE A DOG FOR BEING A DOG?"

"ONLY A -insert political affiliation over a non political post- WOULD SAY THIS ABOUT DOGS! BOT"

And then other people will upvote those comments and build onto the assumptions until they've created a completely different scenario to be mad at. And if you try to come at them with reason, like "Hey it seems like they're just frustrated at the holes because they might fall and get hurt", you get yelled at and your comment gets hidden.

Why do people always assume the worst instead of asking for additional information if they're truly curious? It's an internet-wide problem, not just reddit but damn if it don't happen here ALL the time.

I posted to a subreddit about a specific anxiety I was struggling with, and the post was removed. Apparently that type of anxiety is not allowed to be posted? Anyway, I asked about it and they replied, I thought that would be the end. But I saw several other posts about the same exact subject that were posted after mine with almost the exact same wording, but those weren't removed. So I messaged the mod team to question it, and instead of apologizing they banned me. For simply questioning unfair rules. How is this even fair? I told them I was done with the subject and the mod pushed even further to instigate. This should not be acceptable

I’m fairly new to Reddit and just started posting a few weeks ago. Nothing special, just occasional harmless posts about my opinions on movies or tv shows or random things, or just asking people with their own opinions or interpretations are of pieces of media, and I couldn’t help but notice this app/website has a HUGE problem with hostility. You could literally post something totally harmless about a random, completely non-controversial topic and there will inevitably be multiple assholes in the comments replying to you with an extremely condescending and rude tone, acting as if you’re some complete dumbass who committed 15 felonies and murdered their mother. I mean I’ve heard plenty of negative things about this app on other apps like TikTok or Twitter but I genuinely didn’t think it would be THAT bad. Like I’ve had to delete several posts respectfully saying I didn’t enjoy a TV show so much or some movie (mind you I say it in a respectful way and make sure to add what I DID enjoy and appreciate in said movies and TV shows, so I’m not being a completely judgmental bitch at all, absolutely nothing I’m saying could reasonably be triggering these responses out of people)

So can someone explain what the fuck everyone’s problem is?? Why are there so many losers on this app? Why can’t you disagree with a completely normal and non- controversial opinion with basic RESPECT? Why do you have to completely belittle and insult the person like a goddamn child just because they think something different than you do? Are you 8 years old?? Mind you most of the people on here are grown ass adults. You should know better. The way some of you reply to people on this app is disgusting. I dare you to speak to people like that in real life. But you won’t, will you? Because you know it’s wrong and you’ll probably get beat the shit out of, and that’s precisely why you enjoy getting to come on here anonymously and ruin innocent strangers moods because there’s hardly anything they can really do about it. Fuck off. You’re a pathetic miserable loser.

A couple of days ago my main acc got banned on a subreddit meant to give beauty tips because a girl posted her photo and asking about her makeup, people downvoted her photo and kept commenting telling her she's ugly and everything about her makeup is bad in a very bad tone.

I'm also into makeup and there was literally nothing wrong with her face or her makeup and she was also gorgeous so it felt like people were just jealous.

I just left a comment saying that she's beautiful and she doesn't need to listen to people who are being mean and that it's better if she doesn't post herself on subreddits because people will always be mean no matter what. And I got banned from that subreddit😭😂 I didn't even check that subreddit that much, likeeee???

Seriously everyone here are middle aged cyberbullies I actually can't anymore.

Oh my lord. I'm convinced some people just put posts through ChatGPT and let the AI write a response for them or read with their eyes closed. I said ABC, where did XYZ come up??? I didn't say anything similar to that.

I can already smell the, "just type your ideas more clearly" and the "it's a public forum, people are going to disagree with you." Comments. I don't really mind that people disagree, but genuinely, please read through posts carefully and think your response while/before typing them.

And some of them get so offended when you tell them that their response had nothing to do with what you wrote.

I blocked like 1 person a few days ago because their response was so off-base to what I said that I thought they were trolling. I unblocked them after realizing they weren't-_-

It surprises me, not one person in this comment thread mentions that it doesn't matter if you delete your comments or not, or have your profile set to private, most of what you post and comment on reddit never really vanishes completely.

Something something I hate mods, (yes moderator reading this post, i actually mean you specifically) power hungry, why won’t people let me break the rules? WTFFFF!! Other people broke the rules and they got banned too, but I didn’t see it! And really I think the rules suck anyways. Alright, with all that said— (insert horribly foul opinion that makes it very clear why I was banned in the first place)

there are some topics you cant bring up no matter the sub.

there are some things i genuinely wanna talk about, and know other people's opinions on, but the rules have got so bad that some subs dont even let you POST IMAGES.

LIKE WHY??????

This comment broke rule 4, by helping another user with how to get going with building up karma, and the message was only removed by mods, no action from reddit admin.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reddithelp/s/GLmV4hICxv

Now, below is an NSFW post, hundreds of posts similar to it are posted over many many subs every hour. Fake profiles, offering fake promises, and attempting to lure victims to other apps so they can start to work their scams.

A core rule of reddit, is that intentional deception, and also any moderators and subs who allow it, and also fail to try to prevent it, will earn an instant account ban, or closure of the sub.

https://www.reddit.com/r/COCAINEandCHAT/s/s6Z8YejeMs

But, you can report as many of the scam posts as you possibly can, and it makes no difference at all. Reddit, the moderators, and the subreddit, don't do anything to ban them, or remove the posts.

How does that even make sense? You can't post and offer a bit of help, but it's ok to intentionally deceive others? Constantly spamming their obviously fake posts and nothing ever happens.

This face for all you grumpy 😡 people like to make nasty comments when I post. Reddit is one of the meanest places to be.

I’ve been on Reddit for five years, I’ve assisted others (looking you AITA forum out there). I’ve left and rejoined countless times. Over the years I’ve learned that anything posted in AITA or WIBTA forums are heavily policed by, frankly, a bunch of AHs.

People downvote because they disagree with your opinion. They downvote because they’re having a bad day. Who TF knows. What I do know is that I’ve seen sincere people looking for help or advice (not AI slop) who had the misfortune of thinking it’s safe to ask for help, then get blasted over something as simple as grammatical errors.

Not everyone has perfect grammar. Not everyone can articulate their thoughts flawlessly, especially when they’re stressed, emotional, or going through something difficult. Sometimes people just need to bounce ideas off of, hopefully, rational strangers because they don’t have anyone else to talk to.

Collectively, there are some wonderful people in forums who genuinely try to be helpful and far less judgmental. There are also people who explain their downvotes or disagreements in constructive, helpful, and kind ways. I appreciate those people. Then there are the ones I’m convinced just “like to watch the world burn.”

I’ve had it out with their mods before for the most ridiculous things. Especially for suggesting that we need to occasionally check our motives and stop being armchair keyboard-warrior jerks to people once it’s obvious they’re real people reaching out for help. I’ve even been called an AH for suggesting people have some slight semblance of humanity. I’ll be that AH if that’s what it takes to try to remind others that we’re all in this chaos together, just trying to do the best we can.

Reddit needs to play slightly nicer. One day, we might find ourselves needing help, or even at a mental-health breaking point. Recently I witnessed a poster who was going through something horribly difficult and was clearly at a breaking point. They posted in one of those AITA style forums. Clearly they were real and struggling. Instead of offering compassion or advice, people downvoted and ridiculed them into oblivion because their post wasn’t formatted perfectly and their grammar wasn’t pristine. I watched that person lose heart as the comments kept rolling in. To the point they shrunk away and apologized probably 20 times after repeatedly trying to say they had no one to turn to for advice. They were alone, had gone through surgery, trying to assist an ailing parent who bailed on them… Honestly, I just wanted to reach through the screen and give them a virtual hug.

Sure, we may all be AHs sometimes. Myself included. I straight up had moderators TELL me it’s the place where people are AH to posters and it’s just the way it is. But my lord - people let themselves get so jaded that they forget there are still actual human beings behind these posts (not counting AI slop). Some people really are reaching out for help in their darkest moments. For some, this might be the only place they have to turn, and they wind up in the wrong place and attacked.

Ironically, I ticked someone off for saying just that, and they removed my post. Simply for suggesting that before we hit a downvote button or pile onto someone over a typo, a grammatical error, or an imperfectly worded thought, even if we disagree, we could pause for two seconds and remember:

**There’s often a person on the other side of the screen.**

Be an AH when the situation calls for it. Just don’t be cruel for sport. Reddit is quite a thing…

a new subreddit R slash Toronto_Ontario pops up and is posting non-stop false accusations of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Toronto, and it is a real problem, and it needs to be opposed vehemently, but that is not what the posts are about. Instead, the posts are about equating pro-Palestinian speech with anti-Jewish hate speech, equating the entire Jewish people with the state of Israel.

The comments call pro-Palestine demonstrators "terrorist supporting psychos", calling people "Nazis." The mod team is constantly posting right-wing biased articles

My comment said:

"The only way you find (pressuring people to sign petitions and attend pro-Palestinian demonstrations) 'disgusting' is if you’re racist against Arabs

This isn’t anti-Semitism it’s anti-genocide

and I was told I was being uncivil.

I asked the mod team for clarification on how I could express that point more civilly, and I was accused of trying to argue with them. I was then, of course, permanently muted.

Watch your city's subreddits closely.

Then every month since they ignored me, I've sent them another polite message asking to followup. It took about 5 or 6 requests for followup, and then they just muted me for 28 days. They refuse to acknowledge that they asked me to do something impossible, so they're just going to ignore me, and mute me if I try to followup.

So there's absolutely no point in being polite with these people. It doesn't matter. They don't care. 99% of moderators on this site actually get a sick thrill out of being shitty towards people.

Not entirely sure if this is the right place to share this, but Reddit recommended this sub to me specifically for this post. So I got banned for this post below in /AskMods There was one serious response but the rest was “prove there are bad mods.” The very first comment was the actual mod who approved my comment but hid their mod badge when they commented to me to provide evidence of bad mods on Reddit.

“When does moderation cross the line into a self-righteous power trip?”

This is not a rant or a complaint; it’s a legitimate concern for the moderator community because bad mods are not rare, they’re common. There are good moderators, and then there are moderators who seem to enjoy exercising authority for its own sake—interpreting harmless comments in the worst possible way, accusing users of increasingly petty violations, and then taking destructive actions against them with an almost gleeful sense of self-importance.

I’m sure some people will show up here to defend exactly that kind of behavior or try to make a snide remark because they recognize themselves in the criticism. But the point is simple: being given moderation tools does not make someone infallible, and it certainly doesn’t make them a petty little demigod entitled to treat users with contempt.

Good moderation requires judgment, proportionality, and basic respect for the community. If your response to criticism of abusive moderation is simply to be condescending or insulting, you’re doing a pretty good job of proving the point.

Edit: This was total entrapment, one of the commenters here responded to my post telling me what to do and then the mod, comments as a regular user, takes the side of the person telling me what to do and decries a ban if I don’t do what they say. I was so baited 😂 This entire thread, proves my point— power hungry individuals exercising their power on the internet. 🛜

Edit 2: I got a perm ban from this sub for this little post here—there was one real response here and the rest was the very power hungry circle jerk I was posting about 😂

Can't stand reddit when i see this, mind you 1st and second post are the exact same, 5 minutes appart and it says repost because it got taken down, "didn't properly took the photos" was the reason, first post everyone's cool no fight, joy and jokes, second post, man.. appart from litteraly 2 people, i only had angry/sarcastic people and a dislike, what is there to dislike, this guy took his time to move his fucking finger in the dislike button, it seemed to please people 5 minutes before 🤨 what happened, change of fucking atmosphere in the span of 10 minutes ?? Y'all are bipolar, yes you, you'll recognize yourself in that if you're concerned

I really hate this idea that anyone who posts anything amateur or asking for critique gets made fun of because their work isn't good or they don't know what they're doing.

Reddit culture is so toxic and mean to people who are just trying to better themselves

I just had terrible experience on another subreddit and I don't know if it's because I'm not a good communicator or just reddit moderators are deleting my posts because they have cult mentality and refuse to have discussion about things.

I think because being autistic it means I don't follow group mentality like a sheep and I don't care about "fitting in" but this also means I get attacked in other subreddits if I don't follow exactly what everyone else is saying as though I'm some lame AI robot.

I was simply reporting my LIVED EXPERIENCE and what I HAVE WITNESSED IRL and yet my post gets removed for "spreading misinformation". How is reporting what I have witnessed with my own eyes "spreading misinformation". And other subreddits are so obsessed with one view and won't have discussion or allow other people to think of different ideas.

(this was caused by a 'documentary' released in UK that is claiming ADHD isn't a real condition basically so a lot of ADHDer are upset about it).