• Impleader@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    20 hours ago

    My tinfoil hat theory is that Reddit is pushing them to steer trending discussions away from class issues and toward some other kind of manufactured conflict, namely, men vs. women. A lot of the comments on those subs seem a little too contemptuous and rage-baity to not be bots fanning the flames. I think Reddit is still trying to shake its old image as a “counterculture” space and become more of a generic engagement-slop site to be even more ad-friendly. It’s also very convenient that Reddit allows profile history hiding now…

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 hours ago

      It’s sad that your “tinfoil hat theory” is… probably not wrong. This is pretty aligned with what these social media giants have been getting caught doing for ages now.

      It might not even be “muah hah hah” (although it probably is). It could just be that those things are engagement bait that the spreadsheet/algorithm likes so it keeps pushing it harder.

      We definitely need to side-eye all these manufactured conflicts as you say. It’s really irritating how, once the upper classes start feeling the pressure, suddenly everybody is dividing themselves into hair-color tribes, generations, gender factions, tax brackets, whatever.

      The bait keeps the heat off where the heat is needed most! The ones doing this to us!