This astroturfing issue on Reddit is still relevant in 2025!

Just an observation but I feel within the past year, that sub is dominated by links from the daily beast.

I know Reddit is kinda trash at this point but I still occasionally browse but I absolutely cannot stand that rag of a media website. Their headlines are attention grabbing clickbait IMO.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed. I haven’t crunched any numbers or anything because I don’t really even give that much of a crap.

story by Alexander Willis

... is this a blog post ?
(( crossposted from Reddit, then to politics community on lemmy(dot)world ))

Beyond the Front Page of the Internet

Hi everyone,

The end of the year is as good a time as any for reflection, and lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes Reddit special.

When we started this site 20 years ago (AKA Very, Very Old Reddit), the goal was pretty simple: create a space where people could talk about interesting things they found on the internet. What began as an alternative to traditional media came into its own as an alternative to social media, and now that AI is everywhere, our aim is to keep Reddit the most human place on the internet. No matter what platforms or technology are trending, we’ve always strived to be a more authentic antidote.

Over the years, Reddit’s been stereotyped in all sorts of ways: shaving-challenged basement dwellers, keyboard warriors with too much time on their hands, or—more accurately—the funniest, most interesting, and helpful people on the internet. Take your pick. I’ve never liked the idea of a Reddit hivemind or archetype because Reddit’s not one thing. It never has been. Though I admit it’s always had a certain vibe, today even that is entirely dependent on which subreddits you hang out in.

For a long while, we were known as the “front page of the internet,” but we’ve outgrown a singular front page for everyone. You have different interests than I do, and your Reddit should look different from mine. And from your neighbor’s, or your coworker’s, or your best friend’s. Whether you’re in a community of fellow first-time parents, aspiring solo travelers, fans of your favorite reality show, or people who run ultra-marathons, Reddit is home to all of it. 

Which brings us to r/popular, the default feed for new users. In theory, it’s what’s most popular on Reddit, but it’s actually what is liked by the most active users on Reddit—which is not the same thing. Having it as a default feed gives the false impression of a singular Reddit culture, one that is neither representative of Reddit nor appealing to new users (or anyone at all, IMO). Which is why, in the near future, we'll stop showing it to new users, and unless you read it regularly, we’ll remove it from the core group of feeds in the app. 

Said more directly: r/popular sucks, and we’re moving away from it, and towards better, more relevant and personalized feeds.

We’re one platform, yes, but with many minds (at least more than one). One of my favorite aspects of Reddit is that every community has its own culture, rules, and sense (or lack) of humor. We are a constantly evolving ecosystem where anyone, anywhere, can connect on almost any topic or belief. And if your perspective isn’t represented, you can create the community you want to see. The freedom to build your own corner of the internet is what makes Reddit, Reddit.

On Reddit, no strongly held worldview exists unchallenged. For every earnest subreddit, there is a vibrant and more funny circlejerk counterpart lurking in the shadows. That balance—and sometimes tension—reflects how the world actually is.

More people are visiting Reddit than ever before—116 million every day. And when I look at the top-visited communities, it’s not surprising to see that they are (mostly) coming here to laugh, ask questions, judge, and generally be entertained.

Top 20 SFW subreddits by weekly active visitors, as of November 20, 2025.

Reddit thrives when its communities are unique. That’s why we empower them to make their own rules (on top of ours) and grow the way they want to. But distinct communities require distinct leaders. A situation where someone moderates an unlimited number of massive communities is not that, which is why we’re making a few changes.

Namely, we’re limiting the number of high-traffic communities any single person can moderate. This is a major shift with a lot of nuance, so we're not rushing. We’re focused on helping all affected mods and communities through the transition, which you can read about in detail here.

Relatedly, you may have noticed that we updated how we display community size. We switched from Subscribers—which was really just a measure of age—to Weekly Visitors to reflect actual activity. (And if you really miss subscribers, you can add them back with this devvit app.)

These changes are all part of the same goal: making Reddit more conducive to how people actually use it today.

Reddit is for everyone because it’s built by everyone. We’re a vibrant city of coffee shops, nightclubs, arenas, and yes, a few weird basements (neckbeard not required). Sure, you can come here to argue, but like in real life, most people come here to connect. We want to help you do more of that.

Thank you to all of you who make Reddit what it is and what it can be next.

See you next year,

u/spez

• If you search “the username” site:reddit.com you get everything.
• Reddit shows it all. Just search for "author:[username]". It shows all comments and posts made by said user
• If I go on your profile and hit the search bar then hit best of I can see everything
• You can just add "/search" to the end of the profile URL
• Click on any username, go to the search bar, go to "best of" and everything shows up.

TL;DR: Got permanently banned from r/interestingasfuck for commenting about Chinese surveillance, because I posted a news article in a different subreddit. Bots ban you across subreddits based on where you’ve posted, not what you said. Reddit allows it. Protect yourself.

Full text: Today I commented on a post in r/interestingasfuck about a compulsory surveillance app installed on Indian phones. My comment? “Okay but no one bats an eye when China does this?” Within minutes, I was permanently banned. Not for what I said but because I had previously posted in a completely unrelated subreddit.

The ban message: “This action was performed by a bot which does not check the context or content of your comments.”

The bot openly admits it doesn’t care what you actually said.

Here’s something most users don’t realize: when you post in a subreddit, the moderators of that subreddit can see your entire Reddit history for 21-28 days after your last interaction there.

My “offense” was sharing a news article about X unmasking fake Gaza influencer accounts. It had 69 upvotes and 97% approval. Didn’t matter. Bot saw “participated in subreddit on our list” and executed. A command set up by a human moderator. To get unbanned, I have to delete my posts there and recite this exact phrase: “I have read the ban message, deleted all posts and comments in that subreddit and am now ready to be unbanned.” Wrong words = auto-muted by another bot.

That’s not an appeal. It’s a loyalty oath enforced by automation.

Why This Matters

1. It creates echo chambers: If participating in one community gets you banned from others, people stop engaging with diverse viewpoints.
2. It punishes good-faith engagement: I’ve seen people banned for criticizing a subreddit — the bot doesn’t know if you were agreeing or disagreeing.

What You Can Do

1. Block the bots. (list of 52 bots I have found will be in the comments)
2. Adjust your privacy settings. Go to Settings > Profile > Content and activity > Hide All. This hides your posts and comments from public view (though mods can still see your history for 21-28 days after you interact with their subreddit).

The Bottom Line: I shouldn’t have to maintain a blocklist of bot accounts and hide my post history just to participate normally.

When the best advice for using a platform is “hide everything about yourself and fragment your identity across multiple accounts,” something has gone fundamentally wrong with how that platform is governed.

Suggestion - Reddit should introduce like X(Twitter) the account created location and where they are currently logged in from.

Edit: from u/boredbythechore Pasting the list of usernames instead of links. I found it quicker to go to Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked accounts and add users that way instead of having to click each link.

hive-protect BotBouncer bot-bouncer Saferbot SaferBot2 SafestBot safebot BotDefense USLBot AutoBanBot MisandryBot banhammerapp evasion-guard SpambotSwatter SpamBustr bot-swatter purge-user RepostSleuthBot MAGIC_EYE_BOT DuplicateDestroyer InstantPeopleSearch ContextModBot modqueue-nuke floodassistant comment-nuke mod-mentions flairassistant auto-modmail toolboxnotesxfer interactive-workflow admin-tattler ChromaticHammer bingo-post automod-sync modmail-userinfo discord-relay modlog-archive AssistantBOT anti-evil erase-user staydownremoved comment-rinse ban-purge title-rinse queue-pruner ai-banning-automation subguard read-the-rules ignorit-app modmailassistant user-flair-bot trendingtattler manipulation-pi videosbot subscriber-count

Edit 2: For making this post on r/self and r/theoryofreddit (which ended up getting removed and this post only remains) the moderator u/kezika has banned me on r/nottheonion for simply making this post, not even making a post there or commenting. Just a warning to anyone who wants to speak up online. And yes I have posted in r/nottheonion but that was a while ago and NOT today and the ban happened today over my disagreement with their comments on these posts and their apparent witch hunt against my opinions. We are allowed to have different opinions man, we are all entitled to them. But silencing me for having one that is different from yours is censorship. If anyone needs proof please DM me I took screenshots before they deleted some of their comments here and on the other subreddits.

If the moderators of this subreddit have an issue with my post please let me know and I will remove, I do not want to break any rules.

Holy shit.

I started seeing more and more users use it to remove the posts that they don't like.

For users, all they have to do is just report post to the sub mods and the post get removed. Regardless if it was actually against the rules or not.

As far as I know, mods cannot ban users from submitting reports, unless there is an option I don't know.

Anyway, thought this is an interesting thing to share about the way Reddit works.

Edit: I got info from someone that the number of needed reports is 2.

starting in late March 2026, there will be a new limit of 5 high-traffic communities per moderator. Only communities with greater than 100k weekly visitors count toward this limit, and there are no limits on communities under that amount.

For those who are impacted (less than 0.1% of active mods), we’re rolling out in several phases over 6 months to ensure mods have sufficient time to prepare. We notified all impacted moderators last month, and you can also check your status anytime here.

More details in the thread.

We could also consider policies around this on an instance level. I don't think it's that big of a problem yet, and "X communities with >Y users" might not be the best metric for us, but it's worth discussing

Edit: Oops, it is /r/Tennessee, not /r/ProgressiveHQ

I found Lemmy thanks to a guy on reddit wich answered to my comment. I said that we leftists generally lacked a place where we could express some opinions without te fear of being banned. infact Reddit moderation (both admins and mods) suck and doing their "job" and there are instances of people being banned just for saying something completely normal or just some bugs. I am still active on Reddit but would like to make the Lemmy community grow so mabye it can become and actual alternative.

Sorry for any disturb, bye :3

P.S.

Ban evasion control is stupid and I fucking hate permabans, since they are so common for the minimal stuff.

My account has been banned by reddit for a most absurd reason.

First, I recieved warnings text of which said they were auto generated. Since auto generated content is least reliable, I ignored them.

Second, the warnings were themself irrational. Social media always has a share button. If a post is supposed to remain private, either it should be mentioned on top of it or shall be posted in a private community. Posts I shared were on public pages and I did not claim copy right. In fact, details of model and photo studio were explicitly visible.

Now I'm very very disappointed by Reddit. What sort of naive policy is it. I had an account with 10K karma. Had made some original posts with 100s if likes n shares. I want my reddit account back. I don't want to make a new one. I want my original account un-banned. Kindly guide me how may I proceed??

This was the weirdest thing I've seen today. These are only the ones I've spotted.

funnily enough, these bots are also replying to an obvious repost from another bot account. It's at the top right now! Beautiful

https://www.reddit.com/r/goodnews/comments/1p8dt2a/_/

tipping points:

1. consuming so much AI content has led to me able to see subtle patterns
2. They're all saying "exactly" and saying the same thing"
3. their usernames are similar, flower/nature related, two words, no profile pictures
4. All of their profiles have the exact same format of comments with the agreement, summary
5. and they all have porn on their profile. oh

edit: tf?

All moderators resigned

Meme Source.

Meme Source.

Article post in the Technology subreddit.

Anarchy Chess Meme.

Happened a couple of weeks ago, but all API access has to go through a manual review process and seems like they're rejecting personal 3rd party use. The only way you can use the API now is if you create a game or mod tool that "lives on reddit".

The people that create access tokens to use third party apps won't be considered a "responsible use" for the API, right?

Correct and this hasn't changed since we made our updates back in 2023. The goal is to enable developers to build great products for users and mods, powered by Reddit on Reddit.

tl;dr: r/AmITheAsshole?

So I'm a Reddit refugee late by two years. Before all, I'm from somewhere you'll need VPNs to access the real Internet, and people aren't familiar with how Reddit works.

I got permabanned in an anime subreddit for calling out someone straightly said "the manga is f***ing disgusting" bc fanservices. My language is at worse "I hope you're satisfied rubbing your uncivilizedness into [manga author]'s face" and my ban reason was "mean language & hate".

Well it was just a ban in one singular sub and smaller subs for same anime exists. But my deadass didn't think through and rage-deleted my 3y-old Reddit account, planning to "start again" before learning how Reddit treats newcomers, alt accounts and VPN users the hard way.

Now I have created some alts and all got either banned or shadowbanned for "ban evasion ", or may had smth to do with me using VPNs. Ofc I had to use an alt account now since I can't retreat to my old one. I can't even browse Reddit without logging in bc "blocked by network security".

I admit it's my fault rage-deleting my account recklessly; I admit it's not Reddit's fault they had to prevent spam and ban-evasion; but do I really deserved this?

Having turned my sub-wide ban into a Reddit-wide ban and learnt my lesson, I'm now here in Lemmy.

It all started on Tuesday, when a moderator for r/JoeRogan wrote that “all political posts are now banned on r/JoeRogan.”

“Today we are making the decision to ban all political posts indefinitely,” the explanation read. “After careful consideration, internal discussion and tons of external feedback we have collectively decided that r/joerogan is not the place for politics anymore.”

That post was not received well. One contributor wrote, “Every reddit mod is a hall monitor dork, change my mind. Youre banning the topic he talks about the most. You guys are hypocrites and anti free speech. If you cant mod effectively then go paint your warhammer figurines and let someone else do it.”

They deleted their account, so maybe they're here?

Last update: https://old.reddit.com/r/epoxyhotdog/comments/y3p3ix/2_year_update/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj0XC2aHxrM

Rogan's conspiracy-minded audience blame mods of covering up for Rogan's guests, including Trump, who are named in the Epstein files.

Did anyone else here noticed?

No matter the subject or your opinion, there's always people down voting you.

I don't care about up/down votes but we can't deny that's a way to know the acceptance of your thoughts by the community.

I tried to make some posts absolute neutral, just asking simple things to see if people discuss and interact which each other and me, I just got down voted out of nowhere.

Right now I'm seeing the karma count fighting going up and down, some people just down vote out of nowhere without any possible logic explanation.

Did anyone figure out what's up with those people?

Discussing on Reddit feels like a fight to know who has the best opinion of all, you just aren't allowed to think different or they'll down vote you to hell.