

Why are Slashdot's comments often impressive but Reddit's rarely so? - aniijbod


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tptacek
I have exactly the opposite impression. Reddit's commenting highs are the
highest on the Internet (higher by far than HN) and their lows are comparable
to Slashdot.

(I'm here because the volatility on Reddit is too much for me).

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Ovid
Slashdot is focused on a particular audience, unlike Reddit, thus suggesting
that comments may be more targeted and useful than the typical "OP is a fag"
idiocy.

On the other hand, checkout
[http://www.reddit.com/r/depthhub](http://www.reddit.com/r/depthhub). That
subreddit flags many of the deepest, most insightful comments on reddit and is
a fascinating trove of information about all sorts of interesting subjects.

For example, here's a brilliant comment that compares and contracts Aldous
Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984" (both excellent books, I
might add):
[http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1hhrpk/huxley_vs_orwe...](http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1hhrpk/huxley_vs_orwell_in_100_words/caugn0o)

In a sense, Reddit can tend towards a Brave New World style of information by
drowning us in so much information, much of which is false or inane, that we
can lose sight of what's important, but as a source of entertainment, it's
often terrific.

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ZeroGravitas
I'm suprised the comments so far accept the premise. I've not read Slashdot
regularly for a while, but when I pop in occasionally it stills seems the same
mix of informed, humane, sanity and crazy, ill-informed, poorly directed rage
that it's always been, i.e. mostly tilted towards the latter, even after
filtering.

~~~
mjn
It depends on the subject imo. The comments on political articles are rarely
good. But the comments on technical subjects can often be good. Compared to
HN, Slashdotters are curmudgeonly about startups and consumer/web technology.
But there are (I think) a larger number of commenters who come from an
engineering background, not necessarily computer/software engineering. So for
example, when Slashdot posts articles on nuclear power, or aircraft, or
chemical engineering, the comments section will often have at least a handful
of very good comments from people in the field.

~~~
B-Con
I have the same impression. The commenters tend to be techncially-savy, but
really bizarre on pretty much everything else.

------
aniijbod
Nobody here seemed to address the issue that I thought was the one most
pertinent to HN.

The 'comment management system' in Slashdot makes the best comments 'bubble up
to the top' because they obtain higher 'scores'.

Why is Reddit's 'comment management system' so much more primitive than
Slashdot's?

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munimkazia
It is very simple: Reddit is a more general audience website, slashdot isn't.
You should check out some of the better subreddits like /r/depthhub and
/r/TrueReddit for better content and comments.

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malandrew
Imagine the average person. Got that image in your head? If so, good. Now, by
definition just under 50% of people are dumber that person or worse in some
other vector such as civility in conversations.

Reddit is more inclusive of society than slashdot and is more likely to
represent everyone along the bell curve.

------
koalakid
The topics at Slashdot attract smart, well-spoken people.

Lately, I've been hanging out on /. for that very reason. The topics and
discussions are higher quality than HN IMO and the site is more configurable
for the user.

~~~
andrewcooke
huh. is that true? i should go back there. thanks.

