Reddit can be a great place to connect with people and to learn about different topics, but let’s face the facts: there are a lot of people out there with dangerous ideas that spread like wildfire on the Internet.
That’s why it’s important to find your news from reputable sources…which can definitely be hard to do these days.
Folks on AskReddit shared what they think are the toxic and potentially dangerous ideas and beliefs that people share on Reddit. Share your thoughts in the comments.
1. Deviating from the norm.
“Absolutely hating on those that deviate from the norm. Hating on people that conform to society’s norms but not Reddit’s norms. Hating on people trying to have fun or hobbies.”
2. Pure selfishness.
“Glorification of selfishness. I get the impression a ton of people on this site have difficulty asserting themselves, or recognizing or setting their own boundaries, because Reddit is full of advice geared toward people with these problems.
What these posters seem to forget is that not everyone is codependent with self-esteem through the floor. And yet anytime anyone wants to get out of something that someone else wants them to do, Reddit leaps to “no is a complete sentence! Put yourself first! Don’t JADE!” In real life though, maintaining healthy relationships requires sometimes doing things you aren’t thrilled about for others’ sake.”
3. Let’s see the proof.
“Reddit is very much “Guilty until proven innocent”.
They will jump straight down the throat of any alleged criminal with 0 facts, 0 context, and demand they be sentenced to years behind bars, or worse.”
4. Quick to judge.
“Reddit has a tendency to label people “toxic” and encourage relationship advice that isn’t great.”
5. That’s bizarre.
“Worshipping celebrities. 10 year olds don’t need to receive death threats because he’s never heard of a 55 year old actor.”
6. Hostile to the facts.
“Reddit is extremely hostile to actual expertise. If you state outright “I do this professionally and you are wrong” it will send people into an impotent rage. If you don’t say so, they will smugly keep missing the point. There really is no good way to try to correct misconceptions or bad information.”
7. Amen to this one.
“To an extent, Reddit plays a role in the growing anti-intellectualism. There seems to be a large assumption that this is a website of experts and lengthy replies must be credible. I saw a fellow redditor describe it perfectly, “you finally realize how little most redditors know when they start talking about a topic you happen to be well researched in”.
I see this in two places primarily, topics about public education (I am a middle school teacher) and topics such as anti-vaccine. I understand reddit hates anti-vax for good reason, but it is also stuck in the old “anti-vaxxers are just stupid” stereotype. Instead of educating and helping the problem, they just poke fun. This unfortunately drives more anxious parents toward anti-vax communities. A little empathy, understanding, and education would do more to combat ideologies such as anti-vaccines than anything reddit actually does.”
8. Does that mean you can do whatever you want?
“Those people who make introversion out to be an excuse for some pretty terrible antisocial/misanthropic/unacceptable behavior.
I don’t like loud spaces and can feel overwhelmed by crowds of people; I would pay not to go to a concert. I also genuinely love the people in my life and will always make time for anyone who needs me. In my experience this is true for everyone extroverts and introverts alike.”
9. Don’t take this advice.
“Everyone is an armchair psychologist. You post about feeling sad sometimes and inevitably someone is like “thats because you have atypical depression and bipolar disorder” or whatever.”
10. Come on Reddit…
“One example of this….a medical doctor posts a well written comment about the dangers of over prescribing anti biotics. Top comment of the thread. Tons of awards. Later a 2nd year med student posts a similar comment. Still well written but maybe misses a few key points specifying how and why. Again…top comment of the thread. Gilded to the nines.
Later a college freshman bio major writes a pretty bad summary of the situation but it’s part of the Reddit hive mind echo chamber so anyone who bothers to correct him gets misinterpreted and downvoted. And so on and so on until someone LITERALLY TELLS ME they read on Reddit that taking antibiotics is dangerous and will lead to a super disease that will wipe out humanity. Come on Reddit….”
11. Stereotyping.
“Stereotyping, in general, seems rampant. Many comments and posts seem to believe that individuals are incapable of independent thought and just reflect the race/religion/gender/ethnicity/group/nationality/political party/subreddit/culture they belong to.
People are varied even within ideologies. Argue points and issues, not identities.”
12. That’s not good.
“If your partner does anything at all that you dislike, you should dump them, take them to the police, avoid all other partners in the future, etc etc.
Particularly prevalent in Relationships, Relationship Advice, AmITheAsshole and even just AskReddit itself. It’s rather appalling, and it seems to be pushed by people who have no idea what being in a relationship is actually like. It’s not fucking easy basically, you want to love something and be in a completely committed relationship? Prepare to fight for it, because it is not easy.”
13. What about the gray areas?
“Failure to acknowledge any nuance or gray areas. People feel the need to go all in on one side for any issue. I think they feel they’ll look weak or hurt their argument by relenting on any point. Or having a discussion on any point.”
14. Bad advice.
“That whenever someone in your life isn’t behaving perfectly or 100% supporting of you all the freaking time, you need to “cut them out of your life” because they are “abusive” and “toxic”.
I’m curious how many families have been ruined by such destructive advice.”
15. Most people are good people.
“Most Americans I know are nowhere as racist, dumb or fat as reddit makes everyone else think.
A good bunch of them are smart, hardworking people, and are also nowhere as extremist as to be considered far-right, far-left, etc. Reddit might be a huge echo chamber in politics, but, at least the Americans I know, have moderate views and are easy-going people.”
