This is a theory that’s previously been stated in log/39-normie-hypothesis.gmi, but I think it’s worth expanding on as it’s become very relevant with the recent Reddit shit-show actualizing just how bad that website has gotten along with social media in general. I think the model demonstrate how the ’enshittification’ process is an inevitability with any social media that is run on a venture capital model. An online community can be like a village, where you have familiar faces, collective experiences, shared values and so forth.

This article perfectly explains why large social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit) are trash.

What you’ll get is a place where everyone is a stranger, where being a jerk is the norm, where there is no sense of belonging, where civility and arguing in good faith is irrelevant because you’re not talking to someone, you’re performing in front of an audience to make the number next to your comment go up so you can briefly feel something that almost resembles belonging and shared values.

  • LeighOPEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Those are excellent points, and I don’t disagree.

    Still, maybe the vastness of Reddit is what lends itself to that true feeling of anonymity. A place can be anonymous but also small, and so even though you don’t know who’s on the other end, maybe it just feels different? Speculation.