While I enjoy some Reddit drama every now and again as much as the next person, this article had a plenty of words but very little substance. A few former mods are concerned that new mods don't have the proper knowledge and background to moderate effectively (but with no concrete examples of a post's misinformation directly leading to harm), and researchers are worried they may no longer be able to use Reddit data for their studies (although Reddit has a policy around research-based access and is working with Pushshift to improve access).
These examples feel cherry-picked, and the article itself says that it's too soon to say whether or not content quality was impacted by the API changes and mod replacements. Without actual data - or at least many more examples of specific concerns that weren't present before the changes - it doesn't do much other than say "a few people are worried that something bad might happen."
Same, the subscription page is essentially my homepage. It has exactly the content I want on it, and I can always use the sidebar recommendations if I feel like browsing for something new after my queue is complete.
My response comes down to what I feel the other person's intent is. If they're a troll, I don't engage to begin with - downvote and move on. If we entered into a conversation but I find that they're arguing in bad faith (they want to argue, not reach an understanding), then I say something like "I'm not going to argue with you about it, but I appreciate your perspective" (even if I don't). If it seems like it could be a useful disagreement, though, I'll consciously remind myself that there's a person behind the text, and I'll continue the conversation until it reaches an end. It may be uncomfortable, but remembering that we're all just humans being human helps me tone myself down.
The vast majority of people I speak with just use regular old text messaging. If it's someone I meet via networking at work, I'll occasionally get asked about LinkedIn; same thing but with Discord if it's someone I meet gaming online.
As someone who grew up in the US, from my perspective it's less a question of "how good of a job did they do" and more a question of "did they do so poorly that I'm okay with them not making enough money to pay their bills or buy food this week." Not that my single tip is going to make that difference, of course, but at least in my circles the thought is that delivery drivers and waitstaff are paid poorly enough that tips are needed even for average service. It's not a great system and I'm all for changing it to making tipping truly optional, but in the meantime I'd rather tip even subpar service than contribute toward someone's financial worries.
In general, I tip a flat $5 for food deliveries (pizza, Uber Eats, etc.) and $10 for grocery deliveries since they have to carry more stuff to my door. I may do more than that for special circumstances, but I find tipping the same amount every time makes it easier for me to ensure it's fair across the board and I haven't shorted anyone. That said, I'm only ever ordering for myself - I'd probably adjust amounts if the orders were for multiple people and routinely had a lot of items.
There currently isn't a way to see upvotes and downvotes separately in Sync like there is in some apps like Jerboa (I was wondering the same thing a few days ago), but it's listed as an enhancement request on Sync's GitHub so hopefully it'll be added at some point!
I paid to remove ads immediately (which is also what I did with Sync for Reddit), but I'm also waiting to purchase Ultra to see if it gains any must-have features. The app is already great in its completely free version so anything else will just be cherries on top.
I agree, and I would extend this thought to also include situations where it's simply the wrong audience for your post. The content itself may not have anything wrong with it, but if you post a casual joke or comment without much depth in a community that's built on deep conversations and well thought out replies, for example, you're likely to be downvoted simply because the context wasn't appropriate.
I believe there are a few Lemmy instances that don't have downvotes enabled. (Beehaw might be one of them, but don't quote me on that.) If downvotes are a stress point for you, you could try joining one of those instances.
I personally find both upvotes and downvotes to be useful as a way for me to quickly see the community's reaction to a piece of content. If I'm scrolling through my feed and see a post with many downvotes and few upvotes, for example, I know that post is unlikely to interest me and will move on. Conversely, a highly upvoted post or one with a mix of both upvotes and downvotes is more likely to have a good conversation in the comments in my experience.
If I make a post that receives a large number of downvotes - or if most of my posts tend to be downvoted - that's a signal to me that I'm either not communicating my message well (confusing, passive aggressive, etc.) or that my message itself may not be welcome (hate speech, misinformation, etc.). In either case, I use that as a mental trigger for me to reflect on my posts rather than a reason to become unhappy with the community/platform as a whole.
Cities: Skylines is a great game, although traffic can be a struggle to master.
I mentioned Timberborn in a recent conversation about colony sims, but I'd consider it a fun city builder as well. It's in early access and has received regular updates, and imo it's already worth the money with what's currently available.
While I enjoy some Reddit drama every now and again as much as the next person, this article had a plenty of words but very little substance. A few former mods are concerned that new mods don't have the proper knowledge and background to moderate effectively (but with no concrete examples of a post's misinformation directly leading to harm), and researchers are worried they may no longer be able to use Reddit data for their studies (although Reddit has a policy around research-based access and is working with Pushshift to improve access).
These examples feel cherry-picked, and the article itself says that it's too soon to say whether or not content quality was impacted by the API changes and mod replacements. Without actual data - or at least many more examples of specific concerns that weren't present before the changes - it doesn't do much other than say "a few people are worried that something bad might happen."