Is Reddit worth joining?

[DeborahAnnabelToo]

I'm looking for other interesting websites to join. I don't know much about Reddit. Anyone here on it who can give me some tips? Is it very States-centric?

Be very selective about the subreddits you join and you will probably have a positive experience. I learn something new every day there. I especially like ELI5 (Explain It Like I'm 5). Some subreddits are more US-centric than others.

Ignore the trolls.

The one thing I despise is the derailing of potentially informative threads by people who think they are clever.

I have joined, but still working out how to use it. Seems a bit confusing at moment.

I think you need to persist with it. I really didn't get it to begin with but I use it every day now.

If you're a fan of reading about CF's on here, check out r/choosingbeggers. Shocking!

There are lots of subreddits which pride themselves on social commentary - shitamericanssay and menwritingwomen are quite good for that.

There are so many very specific subreddits that you should keep looking at recomendations generated, or cross posts. You could never predict what there might be a sub about, or what that sub might be called.

My favourite is accidentalrenaissance.

Definitely join. People are so knowledgable about their 'thing' and are willing to share that knowledge. I love it. There are so many subs that I am sure you will find something that interests you. Obviously you will there will be plonkers , as there are anywhere on the internet but just walk on by and you will have a great time.

It's like every other online time-suck, but I have found some useful/interesting things on there.

IME the only subs which aren't US centric are the country/area specific ones. So for example there are several UK focused subreddits, a Europe one, and occasional offshoots like UKParenting (which is nice because some US parenting culture is ). Otherwise in whatever sub you post, if you need non-US specific advice you need to state it in the OP, otherwise people will assume you're based there and start recommending US only brands or locations or services or saying that something is "just a few dollars" - sometimes it doesn't matter, of course. It's also very male centric, there's a lot of acceptance/normalisation of porn, for example.

I don't know if they still do default ones, but I recommend unsubscribing from the default subs as many of them are awful.

You have to get used to the threaded nature of conversations.

Once i got myself setup i found it so addictive i had to delete it from my phone! Good for videos of things that may be in the classified sphere, for example i remember they got a hold of the security tapes from the embassy where that journalist was killed by the Saudis etc

It has pros and cons. I think the fact that it is so big doesn't help with the cons. I mean, you can accidentally find yourself amongst the incel/MRA ("red pill") bunch really easily in my experience. However, because it is so big, there is corner for everyone. Any interest you have, there will be a sub for it. I've learned DIY, cooking, languages and more.

Thanks for all the input, very useful. It sounds like it will take a bit of time to wade through the dross (like any other place on the t'internet!) before I find areas of it which I'll get something out of. I've got the app now and joined a few subreddits- I think I'll just have to poke around for a while donning a hazmat suit!

I love reddit. I love that there are subs for almost everything, even very niche interests.

I love it OP - it's different to other social sites as it's totally anonymous, and I've learned loads of really interesting stuff from it. I browsed it a lot to keep my mind off a v stressful IVF cycle so I have a soft spot for it.

You don't have to actually join to begin with, you can just download the app and browse the 'popular' tab - the posts there come from every sub on the site and have been 'upvoted' enough to make the 'front page'. If you like it you can make an account and join as many subreddits as you like, so you can curate (bleurgh hate that term) your own timeline similar to Twitter and instagram, etc.

I was surprised to see how many memes, news stories and viral posts on Twitter, facebook and all those other 'Unilad' and 'BoredPanda' sites had started off as original content on Reddit.