Reddit vs. TikTok
TikTok and Reddit: A Comparison
As one of those Gen Z whippersnappers, I've had a lot of experience with a lot of different social media since I was just eleven years old. OG Facebook? I was there. iFunny? I was there. Tumblr? I was there. So in my post today, I will compare and contrast two modern social media giants- Reddit and TikTok. I like the former, and am not the biggest fan of the latter, but I will still try to be even between them both.
The Good: To start, Reddit is a social media giant that's been around since 2006 and has changed a lot since then. It's essentially a forum with hundreds of thousands of subforums, or "subreddits." They've got almost everything you can think of, from the usual memes and politics to the most obscure things neither you or I would ever know about. If I'm having a problem with my computer, I can haphazardly search on Google for "PC shuts off with blinking light 3 times reddit," and some guy from 2011 who had the same problem as me will have advice on how to fix it. I can read interesting articles about climate change, or linguistics. Or, if I'm curious about what's happening in Denver, I can find that subreddit and see what's what. You get the point I'm trying to make here. Reddit has everything and I can find so much content easily.
How Many Subreddits Are There?
The Bad: However, there are many downsides to Reddit. Firstly, there's the upvote/downvote system. Essentially, users vote on content they like which boosts its popularity. An upvote increases a post or comment's popularity, while a downvote decreases it. This isn't a system that's very unique to the site, but the problem is that downvoted comments end up being hidden or removed. This fosters an echo chamber where if someone says something that doesn't adhere to whatever narrative there is, it is removed. Major political and news subreddits end up being predominantly left leaning because of this. Even if I do agree with those politics for the most part, I can't shake the idea that Reddit is a massive echo chamber where dissenting opinions are shot down. There's also the very true stereotype of Reddit moderators being power hungry and removing content simply because they don't agree with it, but not necessarily because it broke any rules. However, as I mentioned before, there's a huge diversity of communities with different rules, different moderators, etc. I stick to what I know I enjoy and try not to mess with news or politics, but the site definitely has a lot of people with major issues.
An interesting Reddit post discussing the echo chamber phenomenon, with interesting points made back and forth: How did Reddit become an echochamber?
TikTok
The Bad: TikTok on the other hand, I was never a fan of. Do any of you readers remember that time people were doing the "Benadryl Challenge," where people would take ridiculous amounts of it and have horrifying hallucinogenic experiences that would scar them for the rest of their lives? Children were doing this, and TikTok should have nipped it in the bud before people started frying their brains with allergy medication. I've seen and heard of so many flat out dumb things, scandals, and thoroughly jacked up things on TikTok. It doesn't seem like the site has any real active moderation. Even then, you can't type words like "die" without triggering a filter or being shadowbanned. Furthermore, I've heard of a lot of controversy about TikTok contributing to body dysmorphia, primarily in women, as well as cyberbullying, bigotry, and whatever else. I don't care much about the data collection controversy- it's just the kind of world we live in. I don't see what people on a different continent have to gain by studying my browsing habits.
The Good: However, TikTok can be really funny. I've definitely seen a lot of hilarious things come out of that site, whether they're fully thought out spectacles of comedy or dumb Gen Z humor that makes me laugh because of how random it is. It's not like it's the worst place on the internet by any means. There are some kids out there who have made some really creative things. TikTok also sort of filled the void that Vine left when it was shut down, with short videos being the main format.
In Conclusion
To summarize, Reddit has a lot of content, some good, some bad. I can look at very specific things I know I'll enjoy, but there are definitely places on that site that are good to avoid. TikTok on the other hand seems to have a problem with moderating the garbage people churn out, but it can be funny sometimes and as I said, still isn't the worst place on the internet. It is worth noting that while both platforms are social media, they are still very different, but I still prefer one over the other.
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