Author Topic: What are your thoughts on Reddit?  (Read 4874 times)

Warmsignal

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #15 on: January 27, 2020, 03:14:00 pm »
I'll say I actually enjoy reddit. I find with most forums, and to be honest this one included sometimes, I often feel like I'm just talking at a wall. I feel like everyone just talks at each other and there's very little actual communication. That said, this forum is far better than most (hence I'm still here once in a awhile). Reddit just makes it a bit easier to have conversations inside a thread. I don't care much for the upvoting/downvoting, but if you filter in each subreddit for "new" you get new posts.

My favorites are probably r/retrogaming and r/shmups. R/gamecollecting is kind of a joke these days. It's all 13 year old posting a picture of their (dad's) N64 on the floor with a 19 inch CRT playing Donkey Kong 64 with the caption "I'm 13 y.o., how's my collection so far!?10010!!!"... and a bunch of "I found these 10 worthless games at good will for 75 cents" kinda stuff. There's some good parody posts lately though so maybe the community's shifting.

I do feel you don't really get to know or recognize anyone though. Which is a plus to forums like this where you get to count on certain people providing the right info, unique perspective, or humor. I wish I had more time to get involved and interact more with this community. Love this place! But, reddit has a place too I suppose.

In some cases, I can attest to the lonely feel on forums like this one. Some of the other forums I've frequented implement a feature for sending "rep", which is essentially a way of privately letting someone know that you liked their post and if so inclined, you can leave as comment as to why you rep'd, or not. It's a nice way of feeling like your inputs are read or valued on a forum where post quoting every single time is not feasible. I think VGC could use a feature like that. If I'm not mistaken, I think this forum build might be the same one others have used which implement the rep feature. Perhaps it's an option?
« Last Edit: January 27, 2020, 03:15:36 pm by Warmsignal »

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #16 on: January 27, 2020, 06:57:40 pm »
I'll say I actually enjoy reddit. I find with most forums, and to be honest this one included sometimes, I often feel like I'm just talking at a wall. I feel like everyone just talks at each other and there's very little actual communication. That said, this forum is far better than most (hence I'm still here once in a awhile). Reddit just makes it a bit easier to have conversations inside a thread. I don't care much for the upvoting/downvoting, but if you filter in each subreddit for "new" you get new posts.

My favorites are probably r/retrogaming and r/shmups. R/gamecollecting is kind of a joke these days. It's all 13 year old posting a picture of their (dad's) N64 on the floor with a 19 inch CRT playing Donkey Kong 64 with the caption "I'm 13 y.o., how's my collection so far!?10010!!!"... and a bunch of "I found these 10 worthless games at good will for 75 cents" kinda stuff. There's some good parody posts lately though so maybe the community's shifting.

I do feel you don't really get to know or recognize anyone though. Which is a plus to forums like this where you get to count on certain people providing the right info, unique perspective, or humor. I wish I had more time to get involved and interact more with this community. Love this place! But, reddit has a place too I suppose.

In some cases, I can attest to the lonely feel on forums like this one. Some of the other forums I've frequented implement a feature for sending "rep", which is essentially a way of privately letting someone know that you liked their post and if so inclined, you can leave as comment as to why you rep'd, or not. It's a nice way of feeling like your inputs are read or valued on a forum where post quoting every single time is not feasible. I think VGC could use a feature like that. If I'm not mistaken, I think this forum build might be the same one others have used which implement the rep feature. Perhaps it's an option?

Yeah pretty much this. Can't all be perfect. It's nobodies fault, just a limitation of the format I suppose.

pzeke

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #17 on: January 27, 2020, 10:24:02 pm »
I'll say I actually enjoy reddit. I find with most forums, and to be honest this one included sometimes, I often feel like I'm just talking at a wall. I feel like everyone just talks at each other and there's very little actual communication. [...]

I do feel you don't really get to know or recognize anyone though. Which is a plus to forums like this where you get to count on certain people providing the right info, unique perspective, or humor. I wish I had more time to get involved and interact more with this community. Love this place! But, reddit has a place too I suppose.

In some cases, I can attest to the lonely feel on forums like this one. Some of the other forums I've frequented implement a feature for sending "rep", which is essentially a way of privately letting someone know that you liked their post and if so inclined, you can leave as comment as to why you rep'd, or not. It's a nice way of feeling like your inputs are read or valued on a forum where post quoting every single time is not feasible. I think VGC could use a feature like that. If I'm not mistaken, I think this forum build might be the same one others have used which implement the rep feature. Perhaps it's an option?

I understand where dharmajones93 is coming from; given the anonymous aspect of the Internet, the analogy that sometimes we could feel like we're "talking to a wall" in places like this (i.e. forums) is quite accurate—I can understand one could feel ignored after making a post. But, at the end of the day, is it really necessary to expect a "thanks", so to speak, from anyone that read your comment/post? The main reason, I believe, we visit and participate in these kind of places is to interact with others that share our hobby, and by and large that's exactly what we end up doing, so making an e-friend or two is a bonus. And mind you, by "thanks" I mean getting your comment/post noticed or replied to; I don't mean "thanks" in the literal sense, although I guess could also apply.

With that said, I'm well aware of forums with a "reputation system", and believe it's a useless feature that ultimately becomes a popularity contest and a way to promote an "elite" community—the “cool kids club” if we’re to give it a name. A good number of people in forums already think they're better than everyone else the bigger their post count is, so certainly a rep system will make that far more enjoyable. And sure, one could say a system like that would help to "flag" bad users (i.e. trolls), but there's already a report feature set in place, so that angle becomes moot fast. Not to mention that a system like that lends itself for negative usage; and quite frankly, this website is long overdue of proper, genuine updates, so the least it needs is something as superfluous as a point system for the sake of adding something new.

Yeah pretty much this. Can't all be perfect. It's nobodies fault, just a limitation of the format I suppose.

I know this will sound mean, trust me when I say it’s not my intention, but; are you here to interact and share your love for the hobby or looking for validation? Granted, one could make the argument we as human beings look for validation in some form or another, but your comments/posts are being read by someone, I’m sure of that. I would guess that since most threads around here tend to be in the form of a question—this one being a good example—that’s why you’ll see some make posts that read as if they hadn’t read any of the other replies, which I admit I’m guilty of, but do try to not do as much.

All in all, I think you shouldn't get too hung up on whether your posts get read or not; I think being a part of the community is incentive enough—you're interacting with your peers as it is and are bound to be reciprocated in return one way or another.

I know your every move behind this face; I have control over expendable slaves.
When confrontation comes down to the wire, I'll use my cyclotrode to commence the fire.
You're never gonna get me!

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2020, 09:08:29 am »
I like the Atariage take on 'rep', although I'm quite sure it's not something in this forum's setup- each post has a button at the bottom allowing you to choose from 5 symbols: Like, Thanks, Haha, Confused, Sad. It allows for someone to comment on a post without having to quote it & add a short reply that ultimately doesn't contribute to the conversation. The actual 'reputation' number is only viewable on a person's profile, can't go down, & has no bearing on anything else on the site- so it really doesn't come into play.

As far as the 'talking to a wall' thing... I'm actually SUPER OK with that. Maybe my situation is more unique, but in-depth discussion of gaming stuff, especially retro or collector issues, isn't something I can do 'in real life'. I can talk games with friends, sure, but it's limited mostly to Monster Hunter & whatever might be in the news currently. Nobody cares about, say, the Intellivision Amico or trying to find the perfect storage solution for handheld carts, or what-not. Forums like this one give me a chance to get those thoughts out without feeling like I'm bothering anybody. I probably worry too much about bothering people, so online posts mean I can relax- I'll be easy to ignore (and won't even know it's happening!) Maybe somebody reads it & cares. Maybe not. Either way, I feel a lot better getting stuff written out instead of letting it swirl around in my head.

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2020, 12:14:00 pm »
I'll say I actually enjoy reddit. I find with most forums, and to be honest this one included sometimes, I often feel like I'm just talking at a wall. I feel like everyone just talks at each other and there's very little actual communication. [...]

I do feel you don't really get to know or recognize anyone though. Which is a plus to forums like this where you get to count on certain people providing the right info, unique perspective, or humor. I wish I had more time to get involved and interact more with this community. Love this place! But, reddit has a place too I suppose.

In some cases, I can attest to the lonely feel on forums like this one. Some of the other forums I've frequented implement a feature for sending "rep", which is essentially a way of privately letting someone know that you liked their post and if so inclined, you can leave as comment as to why you rep'd, or not. It's a nice way of feeling like your inputs are read or valued on a forum where post quoting every single time is not feasible. I think VGC could use a feature like that. If I'm not mistaken, I think this forum build might be the same one others have used which implement the rep feature. Perhaps it's an option?

I understand where dharmajones93 is coming from; given the anonymous aspect of the Internet, the analogy that sometimes we could feel like we're "talking to a wall" in places like this (i.e. forums) is quite accurate—I can understand one could feel ignored after making a post. But, at the end of the day, is it really necessary to expect a "thanks", so to speak, from anyone that read your comment/post? The main reason, I believe, we visit and participate in these kind of places is to interact with others that share our hobby, and by and large that's exactly what we end up doing, so making an e-friend or two is a bonus. And mind you, by "thanks" I mean getting your comment/post noticed or replied to; I don't mean "thanks" in the literal sense, although I guess could also apply.

With that said, I'm well aware of forums with a "reputation system", and believe it's a useless feature that ultimately becomes a popularity contest and a way to promote an "elite" community—the “cool kids club” if we’re to give it a name. A good number of people in forums already think they're better than everyone else the bigger their post count is, so certainly a rep system will make that far more enjoyable. And sure, one could say a system like that would help to "flag" bad users (i.e. trolls), but there's already a report feature set in place, so that angle becomes moot fast. Not to mention that a system like that lends itself for negative usage; and quite frankly, this website is long overdue of proper, genuine updates, so the least it needs is something as superfluous as a point system for the sake of adding something new.

Yeah pretty much this. Can't all be perfect. It's nobodies fault, just a limitation of the format I suppose.

I know this will sound mean, trust me when I say it’s not my intention, but; are you here to interact and share your love for the hobby or looking for validation? Granted, one could make the argument we as human beings look for validation in some form or another, but your comments/posts are being read by someone, I’m sure of that. I would guess that since most threads around here tend to be in the form of a question—this one being a good example—that’s why you’ll see some make posts that read as if they hadn’t read any of the other replies, which I admit I’m guilty of, but do try to not do as much.

All in all, I think you shouldn't get too hung up on whether your posts get read or not; I think being a part of the community is incentive enough—you're interacting with your peers as it is and are bound to be reciprocated in return one way or another.

I think I'm not saying it right. I'm here to have a conversation, not get recognition or a reply/validation. Like, we're having a meaningful conversation; however, in most threads there isn't, in my sole experience, this level of conversation.

I feel like I'm talking to a wall in the sense that the OP will post a comment, and rather than conversation, there's 30 people throwing there answer at the OP, but not talking amongst themselves. Again, this forum is better than most. I don't need to be heard, and I don't come to forums to share my opinions, rather to share experiences and conversations remotely, to elevate conversations not just to say out loud the same thoughts that bounce around in my head in the hope that someone will validate it. It's exactly the interaction that I'm looking for but find so rarely. In fact sometimes is the opposite, I might respond to a comment and have the person be like "hey bud I came here to say my peace not have a conversation," or at worse you get verbally abused. Which are fine, except the abuse but it's rare. I'm pointing out the worst things of course, but these are my observations.

But in terms of Reddit, a superficial "thumbs up" is the last thing I need, except that in reddit there is value in that more people might see it and desire to engage. But in practice I don't think that's how it plays out. You're definitely right about the popularity contest piece of it which might even go as far as to dissuade people from participating.


Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #20 on: January 28, 2020, 12:17:32 pm »
I like the Atariage take on 'rep', although I'm quite sure it's not something in this forum's setup- each post has a button at the bottom allowing you to choose from 5 symbols: Like, Thanks, Haha, Confused, Sad. It allows for someone to comment on a post without having to quote it & add a short reply that ultimately doesn't contribute to the conversation. The actual 'reputation' number is only viewable on a person's profile, can't go down, & has no bearing on anything else on the site- so it really doesn't come into play.

As far as the 'talking to a wall' thing... I'm actually SUPER OK with that. Maybe my situation is more unique, but in-depth discussion of gaming stuff, especially retro or collector issues, isn't something I can do 'in real life'. I can talk games with friends, sure, but it's limited mostly to Monster Hunter & whatever might be in the news currently. Nobody cares about, say, the Intellivision Amico or trying to find the perfect storage solution for handheld carts, or what-not. Forums like this one give me a chance to get those thoughts out without feeling like I'm bothering anybody. I probably worry too much about bothering people, so online posts mean I can relax- I'll be easy to ignore (and won't even know it's happening!) Maybe somebody reads it & cares. Maybe not. Either way, I feel a lot better getting stuff written out instead of letting it swirl around in my head.

The beauty of the format is you really can participate however you want. I know personally my friends could care less about some obscure PC Engine STG, but at least here I can at least read and even participate. I for one enjoy your posts and unique perspective!

Warmsignal

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #21 on: January 28, 2020, 12:32:15 pm »
Over at Sega-16, the rep system is certainly not used as any kind of popularity contest. It's a small community of regulars like here, only you can rep posts. There's no popular, or unpopular members, everybody reps occasionally and nobody pays attention to the number. It's more just like "Oh, somebody liked my contribution... cool", and then you move along. For something a small as that, even a schmuck like me feels like a valued member of that community. A little validation doesn't hurt.

I'm never sure how the posts I make here are landing - are they annoying at all, informative at all, amusing at all? Is there some kind of value to them? I like to share what I'm doing with others, because there's nobody IRL who cares about this little obsession of mine. The Internet inspired me to take this hobby seriously, and it's the Internet I look towards to share my experience of it with. What isn't more fun when you can share it with someone? I enjoy my time here, and I think we have a fine little group of regulars, but the sense of community is different from what I've experienced elsewhere. The feel here has an air of Q&A and formality.

...I'm digressing.

Lousy Reddit.

Quote
Like, we're having a meaningful conversation; however, in most threads there isn't, in my sole experience, this level of conversation.

My thought as well.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 12:36:49 pm by Warmsignal »

pzeke

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2020, 02:03:20 pm »
All of these talk reminds me of Sally Fields at the Oscars in 1985 and that unforgettable quote of hers...

I think putting too much importance on whether your posts land or not seems otiose. If your posts are an honest representation of yourself, the rest should fall into place. The point of contention here that this forum lacks a sense of conversation is kind of lacking since that's exactly what I see taking place around here. All that this discussion has brought forth is a need for approval, which seems kind of childish.

In this day and age online messaged boards are very much outdated, essentially a dead horse by this point in time, so we should count our blessings the fact there's any traction. I personally think we have a rather close-knit group here.

A little validation doesn't hurt.

Yes. It can.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 02:12:16 pm by pzeke »

I know your every move behind this face; I have control over expendable slaves.
When confrontation comes down to the wire, I'll use my cyclotrode to commence the fire.
You're never gonna get me!

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #23 on: January 28, 2020, 03:06:34 pm »
The point of contention here that this forum lacks a sense of conversation is kind of lacking since that's exactly what I see taking place around here.

We're not talking exclusively about here, as in VGCollect, though, or at least I wasn't. I made a point to say this forum didn't. I meant the format of an open forum vs. reddit. Which is why I said it's a "limitation of the format" not a limitation of VGCollect. I don't think any of us are seeking approval or validation, but we see value in approval and validation from a community in which we want to feel we belong. I personally despise 99% of social media but I see some value in the way reddit is formatted. While forums like these are dying I agree, I think we can all agree that we find some value in VGCollect. Enough to keep us around.

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #24 on: January 28, 2020, 06:21:46 pm »
I browse some subreddits for news. I never made an account though.

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #25 on: January 28, 2020, 08:05:13 pm »
I like the Atariage take on 'rep', although I'm quite sure it's not something in this forum's setup- each post has a button at the bottom allowing you to choose from 5 symbols: Like, Thanks, Haha, Confused, Sad. It allows for someone to comment on a post without having to quote it & add a short reply that ultimately doesn't contribute to the conversation. The actual 'reputation' number is only viewable on a person's profile, can't go down, & has no bearing on anything else on the site- so it really doesn't come into play.

As far as the 'talking to a wall' thing... I'm actually SUPER OK with that. Maybe my situation is more unique, but in-depth discussion of gaming stuff, especially retro or collector issues, isn't something I can do 'in real life'. I can talk games with friends, sure, but it's limited mostly to Monster Hunter & whatever might be in the news currently. Nobody cares about, say, the Intellivision Amico or trying to find the perfect storage solution for handheld carts, or what-not. Forums like this one give me a chance to get those thoughts out without feeling like I'm bothering anybody. I probably worry too much about bothering people, so online posts mean I can relax- I'll be easy to ignore (and won't even know it's happening!) Maybe somebody reads it & cares. Maybe not. Either way, I feel a lot better getting stuff written out instead of letting it swirl around in my head.

I read everyone's post I enjoy it :)
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stealthrush

Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?
« Reply #26 on: February 06, 2020, 01:26:35 am »
I enjoy using Reddit, but also noticed a shift for the worse happened around 2014-present, current news threads make their way on nearly every non-political community. I unsubscribed to majority of the the default subreddits, and I'm regularly on /r/retrogaming plus a few other console specific communities. One highlight is the /r/gamesale, had plenty of great transactions that went smooth sailing.