I mean, this is useful for textbook information, sure. But when I’m trying to solve a niche technical problem, trying to fix a mod for a game, looking for a specific guide I’ve followed before etc, my local library/ ChatGPT is completely useless. Whereas Reddit has like a 99% chance of someone having the exact same issue I’m having, posting about it, then editing the post with “nvm I fixed it” (/s).
Some of these solutions are so specific that the chances of finding them elsewhere are slim, especially for older issues where Google’s algorithm has been pointing the the same reddit post for over a decade. No one else bothers making a new post because it’s already been answered on Reddit. Now that post with the information is gone, and the only solution we can get is “Deleted by a script. Fuck Spez!”
From my experience, those same answers I find all over the rest of the web.
Just because it’s what everyone’s parent Google was feeding people with, doesn’t mean that it was the only solution or the best solution. And it certainly doesn’t mean that I’m fucking harming anyone
I don’t think people are under the impression that literal harm is being done. “more harm than good” is just a saying. “more inconveniencing the general public rather than damaging the financials of the corporate entity” doesn’t roll of the tongue as nicely.
Personally I think the mass Exodus of content creators was enough of a nail in the coffin. People removing their previously posted content feels more of a symbolic " fuck you" to Reddit than anything else; I still have to visit the page to see it’s been removed, so I don’t know how much is being done. This is just my opinion though, and it’s not my content to police, so people will do what they feel is right. It just sucks seeing a comment that almost certainly would’ve fixed my problem, and not finding it anywhere else, and that comment has been removed. I’m sure eventually the information will pop up elsewhere, but until then people are gonna bitch about it, me included.
