From Tildes to Reddit to Mastodon - the current state of "Text Rich" social networks on the Interwebs
The nature of social networks is very dynamic in nature. About two decades ago, who would have thought that the leading "text rich" social network sites like Tildes, Mastodon, etc. would be so popular today? Especially when Reddit had just taken some some baby steps and was mostly considered the hipster's town square sometime in late 2000s. What do you think will happen by the next decade?
By "text rich" I mean networks where textual content is of the primary focus, other media formats like images and videos are usually secondary. Even with Reddit's flashy new interface and all, their main focus is still on text content which is good. I think one great thing about this kind of content is that it is refreshingly creative and original, and gives you an opportunity to have intellectually fulfilling discussions - which is quite rare on other kinds of networks.
Summarily, below is a brief list of such networks which are doing a fabulous job in letting us exchange ideas and share useful information:
- Tildes.net
- Old Reddit
- lobste.rs
- news.ycombinator.com
- slashdot.org
- mastodon.social
- Discuit
- hubski.com
- metafilter.com
Feel free to suggest more, we need more of them!
I don't know if Reddit belongs on this list any more. The default experience is heavily, HEAVILY tilted towards image and video posts. They get most of the engagement, and it will only grow more so as the userbase continues to shed the old guard and the admins pursue their monetization strategy. There are text posts, obvs, and every post has comments (at least the ones that aren't bot reposts), but then again so do YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Agreed that it is no longer representative of reddit as a whole, but there are somehow still good text-focused subreddits but that is of course only because of individual moderator teams, r/CredibleDefense being my best example. r/WeddingShaming is also hilarious, and there are quite a few subs similar to that with a lot of text rich stories and discussions etc.
There are also some really good mental health subs that are text posts only as well, r/BPD is very helpful at times for example. Other than that though, yeah, it's very few and far between. You really do have to go looking these days to find the good ones - often times very small communities with less than a couple thousand subscribers, like fan subs for niche book series, and creative subs usually have good vibes, although now we're talking image based like r/CrossStitch.
I will say though, I still find plenty of great discussions under image and video posts. Other social media still isn't anywhere close to the quality of the comment sections on reddit - ignoring the tiktokyfied front page type of subs of course.
Although that is not the focus of development anymore, if considered in isolation, the text-centric segment of Reddit is quite possibly still among the largest text forums on the internet.
They aren't very popular comparetively speaking. The image and video based social networks like Instagram and TikTok with quick 3-7 second content have hundres of millions of users. And Reddit is going that route as well. Text based media is already super niche. And will likely stay so as the internet will become increasingly diversified.
What you say seems plausible, but I wonder if framing things that way is helpful.
I used to be impressed by big numbers, and Google sure had lots of big numbers to boggle at. But nowadays, I wonder how many millions do you need?
A site with a million users seems like a big headache. More users, more expenses, more problems. If it’s how you make your living then sure, more revenue is better, but if you’re not, there’s no reason to pursue it.
I am not advocating pursuing anything in particular. I think the fragmentation and diversity of social networks is a good thing. I am not sure it is beneficial for us as a society with everyone on the same big networks. Smaller niche online communities don't tend to bring out the worst in people like it appears to do at the big platforms. So I think we are on the same page here.
Only to make line go up.. eternal growth and profits..
I'd actually add Substack and Wordpress to that list. This past week I've found a lot of good reads on Substack / realized how much was coming from Substack. The comment sections can be really good. I think the difference between these blogs and Reddit or Hackernews or similar is that anyone who bothers reading a blog 1) likes text a lot and 2) shares a baseline level of respect for the person's ideas. On Reddit, you may simply stumble upon things you really disagree with, or attract a troll or several trolls who swoop in for the day. Bigger blogs also sometimes have open topic posts where you can post and discuss whatever in the thread.
Totally agree. Substack and some of the comment sections have really filled an "effort post" void for me. I often find really written arguments that expand my views and challenge my assumptions.