Honestly, any user or mod that sticks around Reddit after this entire thing…I just don’t get. How can you be so disregarded, have your opinion so thoroughly dismissed, and then just keep creating content and driving traffic to the company? Fuck capitalism, but fuck reddit in this particular instance.
My worry now, as a bunch of us leave Reddit (the “non-social media” social media site that gave us all some internet community without the horribleness of FB/IG, etc), is that now that these companies have cornered their “gateways to the internet,” there is no wrenching them back. Whether we like it or not, the bulk of people are…well, kinda stupid. They like reality TV and don’t fast forward through commercials and they watch big bang theory and never question if companies’ existences are a net positive. They just take them as a given.
Americans in particular seem to be pretty guilty of this, because our lifestyle lends itself to being spoon fed. It’s easier, makes life simpler…it’s just “the way things are done.” So while I’m hoping this is the beginning of us taking the internet back…I just find it hard to grasp onto any hope for big, positive change. I just feel like we’ve been beaten into submission and as the planet burns to a crisp, capitalism is just gripping the reigns tighter than ever because they know this should be about the time that people start to buck. But…we just don’t. I think even they’re surprised.
I always thought a scary amount of undetected “guerilla marketing” was invading Reddit. And I’m convinced bots were ginning up conversation in the comment sections of those Reddit posts. And bots were downvoting me when I cried manipulation. And all those voices I always hear were very against me.
Facebook owns it.