Reddit is broken. It’s potential often derailed. I’m working on what’s wrong and why with online raw reply and discussion places like reddit and Beehaw, with this very “Body” section, where the OP can expand their reason for posting & pinned to the top, one such correction.
Other issues include what I call “Clutter”, like spelling, minor details & and grammar corrections, which should be temporary and separate, so we improve our writing without ego or disruption to the main experience. You want to keep the young from becoming online brats like we all succumb to? Make a better system.
So what’s a good sub to start such discussions?
An anonymous, peer-review spelling and grammar checker actually sounds like a good idea- if you can manage to keep it from being abused.
It’s pretty often I notice someone say something like “Perl” when they mean “Pearl” or “Heal” instead of “Heel.” I usually don’t say anything for fear of coming off as a dick.
Built in correction is a good idea, but adding a feedback method that allows polite corrections and additional details is my thinking. Not everyone can spell and we all fail to communicate properly. My brain switches their/they’re/there when writing, but notices the mistake when reviewing. The preview option here is great and is on my list. What was great about Reddit Is Fun is it remembered your unposted replies if you clicked away: free draft saving
I use Reddit to process my thoughts and build up my own lines of thought over time. My posts are heavily edited, because while it’s an immediate experience, just post and forget, the content is not (“but you said a month ago…”). I don’t care about Karma, I care that the writing is good. We’re building and then repeating & refining our posts over time anyways. The posts are new each day, but the subjects, issues, etc are not and our thinking is both enhanced by writing and developed across each new comment over time as we reencounter those subjects (“When I first heard about it i thought _____, but now I think ___”).
The reddit ecosystem and usage are counterproductive. I use it as a working journal, rough drafts with free editors, fact checkers, researchers (quality will vary, but search engine research is a click away).
What happens is conversations get derailed, by both ego and interruption. My goal is a more productive and positive user experience. Forget Karma, sometimes down votes are good. I’ve been thinking about and designing a user experience that uses the format better.
Example: Reddit comments vs private chat. Combine them, with individual discussions fixed, then others can comment on that discussion. I think when we post we should be able to pin replies we like at the top.
I can’t go into too many such details (NDA required!).