It's been more than 10 years since this was written and I'd like an honest reassessment from the author. Reddit is a much different place than it was in 2009. In fact, I think Reddit's voting system is precisely why we see so much manipulation on that platform. It's very easy for activists, advertisers, and political partisans to push an artificial consensus using downvotes. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to share my thoughts on Reddit but then stopped because I knew I'd be heavily downvoted for going against the grain.