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Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

Dumb question but what is the reddit front page? Isn't it customized for everyone depending on what you're subscribed to? Or are there a ton of users that never log in?

It seems like you wouldn't get much value out of reddit if you just view the front page without logging in?

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Reddit has a default frontpage for people who don't have accounts. I lurked for years and was just fine without actually creating an account. :)

Isn't the default page mostly cat pictures and jokes? I tried viewing it logged out one time and I couldn't figure out who would like that?

That is what the OP is about, they have since altered their algorithms to avoid pure cat pictures and jokes by inflating the value of certain sub reddits.

For many people, reddit is merely a source of internet junk food. They go there for cheap, quick hits of mindless amusement.

See also: buzzfeed, 9gag, imgur, funnyjunk, etc.

I wish so hard I could filter out the junk posts. Just give me something to read, a good article, a debate.

Log in, unsubscribe from all the default front-page subreddits, and put together your own mix based on stuff you're interested in. The Reddit I read by doing this is a pretty genteel and sensible place.

r/all right now has 4/25 threads from the funny subreddit

no cat pictures, 2 gifs of dogs being cute

I check r/all because it's the breadth focused zeitgeist of the internet. Whether the comments are right or wrong doesn't matter. Once you can fix a point on popular sentiment you can interpret how it will ripple through more "prestigious" forums.

They changed the default subreddits a while back, and also have done work to make sure no particular theme (such as funny pictures) outweighs the others.

reddit has been around since at least '07. I remember visiting the default front page back then and it was mostly developer-specific stuff.

A lot has changed.

The default front page is also the default set of reddits you're assigned when you create a new account. There is tremendous inertia there so the "front page" is still a useful concept.

Also, there's /r/all, which tends to closely mirror the front-page since non-default subreddits rarely climb in /r/all

The author defines the term "default front page" with an annotation:

"In other words, assuming you’re not logged in. I don’t have any supporting info, but I’d imagine that a large chunk of reddit’s traffic comes from logged out users."

Todd was using the default front page, which consists of these subreddits: http://www.reddit.com/r/defaults/comments/24zz8z/list_of_def...

yeah, not a dumb question - there are a ton of not logged in 'casuals' who just come by to consume consume consume whatever frontpage throws up

related recent reddit blog post about the 'defaults', changing them etc...which was not without controversy of course but ...

http://www.redditblog.com/2014/05/whats-that-lassie-old-defa...

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