this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
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I have a conspiracy theory about Reddit and social media in general:
I think its algorithm not only puts up links but users and their comments in their view that are more likely to piss you off, and they measure this based on observing your post and comment history. I believe they categorize users by political affiliation and moral outlook by this method, and use that info to purposefully expose you to people who will cause you conflict to drive up engagement and therefore ad dollars.
I believe they also use chat bots to argue with people for that purpose.
Honestly I don't think an algorithm needs to work very hard to "be mean" like that. Sure, you can purposely put people with clashing views in each other sight on a place where people go to hang out and have fun. But you don't even need to go do that on purpose. To some extent, people naturally produce more "engagement" with stuff that's controversial/argumentative.
Imagine if I were to walk past you and say some completely innocent comment. Now imagine I were to walk past you and insult your favorite movie/show/song/game/whatever. You'd be far more likely to respond in the latter case.
So, as people respond, more activity is generated, and that makes the post "hotter". Simply boost what's hot, and you have a veritable litany of controversy.