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Comment by bolder88 | Hacker News Reader

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bolder88

You can make several generalisations about reddit users though.

They're likely anti-government, anti-corporation, ant-advertising, anti-mainstream.

They're likely left of centre politically.

They're not busy - that's why they spend time commenting on Reddit. More likely unemployed / students / etc.

They absolutely love to be outraged by something.

By definition, they are the sort of person who would comment on Reddit, which is a certain personality.

They're by no means a random sample of humanity thank god.

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These are not special reddit features, you can make generalizations about any group of people that isn't randomly chosen.

That doesn't mean that "the group of people in your office building" or "the group of people in your neighborhood / town / state / country" or "the group of people that you bowl with" or "the group of people in your extended family" are "hiveminds" though. That is like accusing this piece of granite (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Granite_Y...) of being gray.

In my experience, "hivemind" is just bullshit people talk about when they want a way of saying that they are better than other people, but can't bring themselves to commit such a crime against modesty forthright. You'll notice that it is never "reddit is a hivemind, and oh yeah, I totally agree with it." It is always "reddit is a hivemind, and I disagree with it"

The problem with any collection of people though, is popular opinion is rewarded, unpopular opinion is shot down.

That means people tend to go with the crowd - hivemind.

"That means people tend to go with the crowd - hivemind."

Or you know, standard social dynamics that have existed since our ancestors first figured out how to vocalize opinions. The very silly label you are giving it serves no purpose other than to vilify it for the sake of making yourself out to be superior.

Lots of people disagree with you, meaning you do not get to enjoy having lots of people agree with you, meaning that clearly they are all a bunch of Borg with no sense of individuality. Give me a break.

Yes it's nothing new, but the internet has vastly accelerated the phenomenon. If you post some idiotic comment, and 1,000 people agree with you, that's quite a powerful feedback loop.

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