My first shadowban I think took me about 2 months to realise why I wasn’t getting any replies… I had posted numerous help topics and just started to think that Reddit wasn’t that useful anymore.

Then I realised I’d been shadowbanned. I didn’t even know what it was.

I guess my IP or something got flagged because generally I was never able to make an account that lasted more than a few days without getting shadowbanned. At first it was okay even, some subreddits your account was working fine. Posting in the homelab subreddits or datahoarder etc. other subs like news, worldnews etc. my comments never got any replies.

I only ever used my acc mostly to ask questions. When I got my answer, I abandoned the thread. Didn’t have time for drama and I generally didn’t even reply to comments except to give more info on a request.

Month-on-month it got worse. Accounts which had no right to be flagged, got shadowbanned. One day I’d be posting fine, the next. Shadowbanned.

Then I’d make another account. Different device, different IP, even from a friend’s computer in another country. I realised later they’d track you through everything. If you went to threads of a person who was shadowbanned, you also got it. Ultimately I spent ages trying to have even just one account with enough karma that I could post without captcha or 10 minute delay.

I wasted months and despite how much I read about it. I could never figure out how it worked. Reading about it also felt like a waste of my time.

When reddit finally shut down the public api and the apps I was using stopped working. I ditched it immediately. Gradually I also went back to stackoverflow. Even if it takes longer to get an answer, they are so much higher quality.

Looking back, I knew reddit sucked but boy was I mad when I thought of how much time I wasted. Just because I didn’t spend 7 years of my life building a 75k karma account…

  • BornVolcano@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I don’t think any of that constitutes a shitty user. Maybe just a note so active one. Maybe they’re anxious about it, or still learning, or prioritize their own needs above others (which isn’t something that should be inherently shamed)

    I don’t thank every comment reply I get, am I a shitty user, or did I just make a decision where and when to spend my energy?

    It’s not the sort of user I would actively engage in conversation with, sure, but it’s far from a shitty one

    • stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Prioritizing your own needs above all others should be shamed. To quote George Costanza, we live in a society. Being selfish isn’t a good thing.

      Literally only taking and never giving by his own admission isn’t something that should be supported.

      I didn’t say thank every comment - I said literally say thanks to the one that provided the correct answer, and maybe even an indication that it was the correct answer. Is every other user supposed to try every suggestion in a thread because OP was too lazy to say “thanks, that was it”?

      Posting a thread then not engaging in that thread is pretty weird behavior.

      Would I shadow ban him? No. But I could also see why someone might mistake that for a spam bot.

      • BornVolcano@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Okay so you took a basic statement I made and turned it into a black and white extreme. Prioritizing your NEEDS above others is crucial because if you don’t attend to your needs, you can’t be sure anyone else will. You also can’t effectively attend to the needs of others without first attending to yours.

        I never said that you should act in a way that infringes on others’ needs or boundaries, but your needs are not their responsibility and their needs are not yours. Anything beyond that is the application of empathy and connection, which is important, but not something to be shamed when there is a lack of it.

        In a survival situation, you cannot reasonably expect people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. That’s just not a viable expectation. There is a grey area here in which some degree of self prioritization is necessary. Society is not a hive mind and I’m not saying “it’s all about me, fuck everyone else” but you’re also not responsible for how they feel or act. Personal accountability as well as caring for yourself.

        • stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Reddit or lemmy is not a survival situation. Prioritizing your own needs to the exclusion of all else is selfish.

          OP self declared that he never prioritizes anyone else.

          You’re inferring gray where none seems to exist.

          We live in a society, other people’s needs should be your needs when you’re able to easily help or provide. It costs virtually nothing to contribute back.

          If everyone acted like OP, no one would get questions answered or receive help here or on Reddit.

          People without empathy surely should learn some, and shame is what society uses broadly to enforce positive (and sometimes negative…) behaviors.

          • BornVolcano@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You’re inferring grey where none seems to exist

            There’s always some level of grey in every situation

            If everyone acted like OP

            That’s the point, they don’t. No one expects this to be a behavioural standard, but shaming behaviours without understand the underlying cause of them will never change the behaviour.

            People without empathy should learn some

            It’s rarely anything close to that easy

            I’m tapping out of this conversation. Our viewpoints are too drastically different here to have any sort of productive interaction

          • reddit_sucks@lemmy.worldOP
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            1 year ago

            OP self declared that he never prioritizes anyone else.

            Wtf? No I did not.

            People without empathy

            Jesus christ Steve, you need help. I pity anyone who starts making such brazen accusations and likens a person avoiding the very kind of drama that you are insisting on dragging people into, as thought it would be some lack of empathy.

            If you want to argue about being a good example in a society, how about not behaving like the perfect example of the dick you’re being right now? Might want to start there mate!

      • reddit_sucks@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 year ago

        You’re overly hostile and anti-social. I guess we have the Reddit hivemind to thank for that kind of behaviour. Who cares if I thanked every person who answered? Do you wave to every single person who slows down when you try to cross the road? I try to, but no one is perfect. Is this menial topic the kind of hill you want to fight or die on?

        Here’s a great meme to describe the kind unwarranted hostility users like you exhibit.

        I really hope you re-think how you engage with people here, otherwise you’re just going to find yourself constantly in arguments and getting shit on.