I had the same thought as you, but there are perhaps other factors which could contribute to this too.
We see the chart and assume the shift is due to more negative bias in how people respond, but it could also be due to a change in how people post.
For one, the demographics of reddit would have slowly changed over time, from largely a bunch of nerds in 2010 when reddit was niche, to a more general cross-section of society as reddit became closer to mainstream social media.
This (among other factors) may have brought with it a shift in motivations from people genuinely seeking advice (and therefore posting truthful stories) to people seeking validation and a cathartic dose of upvotes (and therefore posting highly biased stories which favour themselves, and paint their partner in a terrible light)
Now, I don’t think that explains all of it. I do feel on a purely personal and qualitative basis that the Internet in general has certainly become more toxic over the past decade, and that people are more angry and hostile now. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a single-factor cause.
Yep. That entirely tracks with my expereince. there was a huge shift in the userbase around 2016 and lots of validation/drama seeking users started showing up and mobbing subreddits with their shitty attitudes.
i was part of a sub from 2013-2019 and around 2016 it the userbase shifted to whiny entitled jerks from more chill people who could argue and debate and were seeking legit community/advice. the new users just wanted DRAMA and entertainment to the point they would just start picking fights and making posts about how ‘problematic’ other users were.
dumb and arrogant drama seekers ruin everything for everyone. I’ve also dealt with that IRL among hobby groups. After it’s established and going well, a bunch of the ‘we want to be cool and we heard you were cool’ types come and ruin the activity with their drama seeking nonsense.
I had the same thought as you, but there are perhaps other factors which could contribute to this too.
We see the chart and assume the shift is due to more negative bias in how people respond, but it could also be due to a change in how people post.
For one, the demographics of reddit would have slowly changed over time, from largely a bunch of nerds in 2010 when reddit was niche, to a more general cross-section of society as reddit became closer to mainstream social media.
This (among other factors) may have brought with it a shift in motivations from people genuinely seeking advice (and therefore posting truthful stories) to people seeking validation and a cathartic dose of upvotes (and therefore posting highly biased stories which favour themselves, and paint their partner in a terrible light)
Now, I don’t think that explains all of it. I do feel on a purely personal and qualitative basis that the Internet in general has certainly become more toxic over the past decade, and that people are more angry and hostile now. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a single-factor cause.
Yep. That entirely tracks with my expereince. there was a huge shift in the userbase around 2016 and lots of validation/drama seeking users started showing up and mobbing subreddits with their shitty attitudes.
i was part of a sub from 2013-2019 and around 2016 it the userbase shifted to whiny entitled jerks from more chill people who could argue and debate and were seeking legit community/advice. the new users just wanted DRAMA and entertainment to the point they would just start picking fights and making posts about how ‘problematic’ other users were.
dumb and arrogant drama seekers ruin everything for everyone. I’ve also dealt with that IRL among hobby groups. After it’s established and going well, a bunch of the ‘we want to be cool and we heard you were cool’ types come and ruin the activity with their drama seeking nonsense.