Yet somehow the quality of the discussion/information is better in reddit and even moreso in heavily moderated subreddits such as r/askhistory or you know... simply on here.
Even on 4chan, amusingly, the best boards are the ones ruled most strictly.
Even on 4chan, amusingly, the best boards are the ones ruled most strictly.
If you want mindless brain candy, to giggle at absurdity, or revel in the filth that is humanity - then the larger boards on reddit, and /b/, and /r9k/ are the place to be, and in that context, are better.
If you want curated debate and discussion, then more moderated boards and places like hn are where to go, and would be called better in this case.
I would say that the discussion quality is better on more heavily moderated boards, but the exposure to varied topics is definitely stifled. The flip side of heavier moderation is that it is much easier for dissenting opinions to be stifled. And even if it's not intentional, or not even occurring, knowing that there is heavy moderation will always lead a very vocal minority of users to claim discrimination and censorship.
It's harder to avoid being just an echo chamber, too.