Over the years I have used Reddit for search, comments and the general algorithm of the website. When you compare all the social media algorithm, Reddit's one is the best balanced one.
You find all kinds of gems and the answers to questions are still surfacing on the top of the search result, even after years. This is the reason when the AI companies started scraping off the Internet, they scrapped all of Reddit. The reason is simple, people were already searching for the questions with the tag Reddit to get their answers on the Reddit thread.
Imagine a bunch of individuals giving you raw answers to questions - you know it's no hold's bar because Reddit works on the anonymous principle. You don't put your real you on Reddit.
Since, most of the Reddit was and is still text based, you get the least dopamine seeking, and conversation seeking users.
So, you knew when things get talked or at the top of the Reddit, it's the most genuine case at least when compared to the other social media platforms.
But and there is always a but, all platforms have this and Reddit is no exception.
Primary Users
No matter what you might say, the truth is simple, Reddit like many other social media platforms is dominated by US users because initially they launched in the US. So, yes there are sub-reddit for different things but you can see the US centric thing happening more in Reddit.
For example, the sub-reddit news is for US news and then there is world news for the rest of the world.
So, if you open the Reddit and sort by the Top post or trending ones, most of the times it is central to US. Even when you ask questions which seems neutral like which is the best movie of this decade? All the top answers would be US movies and the other countries movies would be downvoted because the ignorant US users haven't seen those movies.
This pattern gets repeated often. For example, if you post a concept of mathematics in mathematics sub-reddit, your post will get downvoted if those concepts aren't in the US textbooks. Yes, this happened to me. Their dumbness becomes the standard for the consensus.
You have no choice but to be content with this feeling of outsider in every sub-reddit, unless you go to a specific region based sub-reddit.
Repeated Experience of Bias
This is a personal experience of mine and many others that whenever we submit anything to Reddit, once it gains traction - the MODS, typically who are from US sees that the post is from non-US and dared to posted on seemingly US dominated sub-reddit, so they remove your post.
After you appeal, they try to find vague reason and engage in verbal spat and accuse of anything so as to justify their stance. You are left to argue and prove your innocence.
But this is not court and no fair trail, you are lost and your post gets deleted.
Somehow if you can convince and the heart of the evil MODS take a turn of heart, by the time your post is up again, you have lost the traction and it's buried deep inside the stream of post.
Alas, it's as good as it's deleted. This happens repeatedly and many of post which provided value, broke no rules and got traction - was taken down by MODS or restricted. And for a few which got reinstated, the damage was already done.
What You Should Do?
Frankly, this is how life works. Some things are fair and otherwise largely unfair. The sad part is that as a non-US person, you will be subjected to far more bias than the US person because early internet was dominated by the US people.
Slowly things are changing but not by a lot. The best thing to do is live with it and enjoy the good parts of it.
The Inevitable Change
Until a new platform emerges which takes over like TikTok, which forces all other platform to conform the same vertical video thing.
In this process, they all lose their unique edge to capture the attention of the people. Even LinkedIn and Reddit have vertical videos now, so the platforms pivot from their core to compete and stay relevant. But all things ends, times change and new things come along.
It's part of the nature and similarly internet keeps changing a lot. Remember Orkut, MySpace - all the current platforms will either die completely or be stripped of their identity to stay relevant, which is as good as dying.
Hoping for the platforms to stay but the bias and dark unfair things to die. If not, a better platform or a different one will always emerge.
What's your favourite social media platform?