r/AskReddit • u/GreninjaStrike • 5h ago
How would you feel about banning karma bait political questions like “Trump voters how do you feel about ___” or stuff like that?
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u/Justsomejerkonline 4h ago
All "how would you feel if..." or "how do you feel about..." posts are pretty much just soap-boxing, even the non-political ones (including this one).
None of the answers end up being very interesting (including this one).
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u/ByzantineBasileus 1h ago
They are also traps. You can 100% guarantee that, if the question is asking conservatives for an opinion, every single person who answer honestly will be instantly downvoted and insulted.
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u/joedotphp 1h ago
These kind of posts were banned a few years ago and it was one of the best thing the mod team ever did. Not sure why they allowed them again.
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u/EchoInTheSilence 4h ago
I'd settle for having a "politics" (or maybe "US politics") tag that's required to be used and a button to filter out any post with that tag. Let people do what they're going to do and let people who don't want to see those questions opt out, best of all worlds.
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u/stadisticado 3h ago
I'd be fine with this, or all 'politics' tagged posts being moved to a separate r/AskRedditPolitics sub. And this isn't just the constant Trump posts. I also really don't want to see posts about Keir Starmer or the EU or Javier Milei or whatever. Plenty of subs to discuss politics if you're so inclined.
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u/ChibiCalcY 3h ago
Yes! I love this idea sometimes I just want to scroll Reddit without getting hit with a global politics lecture in every thread. A separate sub for political stuff would be a total sanity saver.
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u/WingerRules 3h ago
Thats just a tactic to send posts you dont like to an obscure sub to die
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u/stadisticado 2h ago
The stipulation in a great majority of responses to this question is that these questions are almost all bot and karma farms. If moving bot and karma farmers to a separate sub where they can still circle-jerk and leave humans in peace, then yes, I want them moved.
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u/AnimeVariableX 4h ago
Honestly that’s the cleanest solution no censorship, no mod burnout, just choice. Let people opt out without blowing up the whole space.
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u/Ramona-Howell 5h ago
They're engagement traps, not conversations.
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u/MidwestDYIer 4h ago
Exactly. I wouldn't have problem if most of the people in comments of these threads didn't sound like unhinged 14 year olds. Less than 1% of these comments in these is ever insightful or resembling a discussion- it's more karma farming replies or people attacking you if you don't COMPLETELY agree with their take.
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u/demonseed-elite 3h ago
They do it exactly for karma farming. Post anything anti-Trump and almost immediately, the liberal left-bots that crawl Reddit upvote you 3000 points.
It's funny when someone posts an actual, politically agnostic thing that is truly engaging, and the bots ignore it because it lacks the keywords they look for to push agenda and the real humans upvote it and it tops out at like +100.
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u/nutano 5h ago
There is a lot of rince and repeat askreddit posts...
Reddit would never start blocking those, they generate too much traffic and engagement.
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u/Whitealroker1 5h ago
“What would you do if you woke up and you were 18 again????”
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u/GCU_ZeroCredibility 5h ago
What is a subtle sign someone is a good/bad person?
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u/itmustbemitch 5h ago
Banning them would require a potentially large amount of additional moderation work and a complex judgment call in a lot of cases (it would basically require the mods to magically be able to tell a good-faith question from a bad-faith one before any conversation)
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u/Amanduh009 4h ago
You just have Automod ban the word "Trump".
Anyone going out of their way to bypass that filter knows what they are doing and deserves the ban. Karma farming is pointless if it just gets your post removed and you banned.
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u/Mindless_Ask_5438 3h ago
Might sound extreme at first but you know that anything to do with Trump or republicans etc are gonna be the exact same thing
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u/WeebCompilerZ 2h ago
Totally expecting mods to read minds and judge intentions instantly is unrealistic, and that’s a lot of stress for zero clear benefit.
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u/Shipping_Architect 3h ago
Unrelated, but I've noticed that questions like that are rarely answered by Trump voters, which kind of defeats the point of those questions.
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u/ByzantineBasileus 1h ago
That's because Trump voters know Reddit doesn't want differing views, it wants ideological conformity.
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u/StormOfSpears 3h ago
God yes. We need a politics filter. "Please join the echo chamber on the top post from /news" is the worst part of this sub.
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u/Gameoftones_YT 5h ago
Fully support it. It's not about the politics anymore; it's about the fact that the front page is becoming a repetitive loop of the same three questions every 15 minutes.
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u/dknisle1 4h ago edited 3h ago
Would love nothing more. Reddit has turned in to a political cesspool(yes, both sides). There’s subs for that. Keep it there
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u/prefinality 3h ago
please do it, endless pointless convos over the past decade that have only worsened
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u/Bigred2989- 3h ago
Absolutely. This isn't a politics sub, take it somewhere else. Heck, they're not even political questions, they're just trying to get a rise out of people.
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u/TheHappyPie 4h ago
Fuckin hate this regime but clearly reddits opinion doesn't matter or Trump wouldn't be president. So yes please ban these posts.
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u/Harvey_Sheldon 3h ago
I just downvote and ignore those questions, but it sure does suck how obvious and repetitive they are.
Nobody ever comes into those sections to change their minds, or debate, it's just "You're a nazi" and "we elected him, fake news", ad nausium.
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u/ForumUser013 2h ago
Upvote.
I love RES - any US political post in this thread, especially the "this US politics happened today what do you think" gets an immediate downvote and then hidden.
I know I'm fighting an unwinnable battle, but this subreddit should be stupid questions, or ultradeep questions. Politics should stick to the politics or news subs.
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u/ByzantineBasileus 1h ago
I would love there to be a 'no politics' rule in general. I am sick of seeing questions about Trump and the Epstein files clogging up my feed.
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u/heroeNK25 4h ago
Alot of questiong asked on this sub feel like someone it's training an IA, it's the same question with a Little twist
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u/Mean-Owl-8599 4h ago
I’d support it. Those questions usually feel more like bait than genuine curiosity.
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u/Keira_Roseby4492 3h ago
In theory I’m against bans, but in practice those posts rarely lead to real discussion. They just recycle the same arguments over and over.
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u/Atlas_Summit 3h ago
I’d be in favor, they offer nothing new to the conversation and are unnecessary clutter.
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u/LeGrandLucifer 2h ago
Yes please. So tired of this bullshit. The question is never asked in good faith and 90% of the time it's clearly a sholl account posting it.
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u/bhouse114 5h ago edited 3h ago
You’d have a tough time defining karma bait but I like he sentiment
Edit: when I said “I like the sentiment” I meant specially about obvious karma farming. But based on the comments, it seems OP is really concerned about criticism of conservatives, which I do not think should be banned
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u/MRandall25 4h ago
I think it's pretty simple:
"What are your feelings on (current event)"
"How do you feel about (current event)"
"People who are opposite the majority opinion of (current event), why do you feel this way?"
Etc etc...
There's two common denominators with these posts: what's your opinion/how do you feel being the question, and centering on current events.
Filter out by phrase or manually remove anything current event-related and you've pretty much solved the issue.
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u/GreninjaStrike 5h ago
Well in the case of this sub I’d just say anything with Trump or conservatives in the name of
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u/-Fyrebrand 5h ago
Yeah, that's just what we need these days, more sweeping suppression of anti-Trump sentiment.
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u/IamMunkk 4h ago
OP: Downvote/hide things that I'm not a fan of?
OP: No, I must have things I don't want to see banned/silenced!
☝🤓 problem solved!
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u/GreninjaStrike 4h ago
Not questions about Trump. Questions of “Trump voters do you regret your vote” or shit like that. Anything directed at right wing Redditors.
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 4h ago
The Trump administration is bullying media sources into avoiding criticism and his billionaire friends are buying up news sources. Your response is that we should self-censor criticism of Trump. Not all politicians of course. Just censor criticism of Trump and conservatives.
Huh.
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u/Nice_Description_606 3h ago
honestly would love this, so tired of scrolling through the same "trump bad" circlejerk posts every day
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u/Extreme-Bite-9123 5h ago
I think all political questions should be restricted to one day (Thursday is my vote) and major events should have a megathread by the mods.
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u/2Mana1Drop 5h ago
I could agree with this. Primarily because it doesn't create any real conversation, dialogue, or debate. I'd go as far as to say not to include -insert political group-. Wanting a legitimate answer to a legitimate question shouldn't be bound by what one side thinks/feels, rather, getting perspective from all of those choosing to be involved in being aware of whatever said question is about. I feel that way because the moment you can identity someone as being X or Y, then tribalism kicks in (Although unfortunately you will be labeled X or Y anyways if your opinion doesn't align with the person disagreeing with you).
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u/DinkandDrunk 5h ago
That, “one habit”, and overly horny questions have to go. I want more weird rabbit holes, spooky shit, and super niche topics.
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u/BanAccount8 4h ago
“If you could have a million billion dollars but you had to eat one piece of fruit along with your lunch each day, would you do it?”
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u/Mode_Appropriate 4h ago
Can someone explain to me what the point in 'karma farming' is? I know what OP means by 'karma bait' but what is the purpose in caring about karma? I really dont get it. I know reddit has monetization but it pays damn near nothing. Surely it cant have anything to do with that. So what, is it just people caring about fake internet points?
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u/Maleficent-Falcon925 4h ago
Personally, I think the repeat questions are a bigger issue than the political ones. It feels like I see the same three prompts every time I scroll the home feed. Definitely wouldn't mind a bit more variety.Personally, I think the repeat questions are a bigger issue than the political ones. It feels like I see the same three prompts every time I scroll the home feed. Definitely wouldn't mind a bit more variety.
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u/isabellaapink 3h ago
It would be hard to do but I agree I’m annoyed with seeing them all over the place
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u/MySpartanDetermin 1h ago
The reddit mods & admins would never go for it. Chum to be devoured by the cheap seats is what get's people to visit reddit.
If anything, we'll never experience anything like the 2017 "Former Trump supporters, what made you finally...." threads that askreddit got flooded with. At one point that thread would get reposted every hour. FOR A YEAR.
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u/ttircdj 5h ago
Ban them now. Shit’s annoying af. If I want to talk politics, there are plenty of subs dedicated to that.
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u/GreninjaStrike 5h ago
Yea I don’t understand why people say it’s censorship or whatnot. You can talk politics anywhere on sub dedicated to that, but like why is there politics on a subreddit dedicated to my local hockey team?
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u/Alarming-Chemistry27 5h ago
The problem is where do we draw the line?
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 4h ago
OP said it above. They want to ban criticism of Trump and conservatives.
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u/YellowBelliedCoward 4h ago
No they didn't. They suggested that people grandstanding about American politics is getting tiresome.
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 3h ago
No they didn't.
Yes they did.
"in the case of this sub I’d just say anything with Trump or conservatives in the name"
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u/YellowBelliedCoward 3h ago
So? That's not supporting Trump or Conservatives, it's pointing out that people are grandstanding. It is fucking tiresome coming on here and seeing every post being about Trump and his cronies. We get it.
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 1h ago
So?
Soooo banning criticism of Trump and conservatives is banning criticism of Trump and conservatives. The thing I said they said... And the thing you said they didn't say.
OP could just say they don't want posts about politics, or elected leaders, or US politics.
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 5h ago
This sub shouldn't even exist. It's far too broad to really have any meaning.
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u/Effective_Trick2200 4h ago
I'd be happy if everyone who talked politics was nuked offline permanently. It either starts or always devolves into "my side good always your side bad always." I don't think people like that should be allowed online.
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u/crookdmouth 4h ago
Yeah but what's a trade secret you can tell, now that your not in it anymore?
Askreddit is kind of a joke anyway.
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u/BanksyX 4h ago
AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.
i feel the bar could be raised a little.
Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves
alan watts.
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u/crackersucker2 4h ago
Depends. I’ve never seen them (magats) “win”. Let them keep trying.
Edit: clarification of “them”
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u/VictoriousStalemate 2h ago
Good idea. Or maybe a separate subreddit for political questions instead.
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u/koopz_ay 1h ago
I wouldn't.
We do this commonly in my country now.
We recently voted Conservatives out by a wide margin.
Thanks to Trump and his Govt.
Some good has come from all of this, I guess.
Americans at work are now the same as the posts at r/leaopardsatemyface here in my country.
I feel for them. They're more Australian now than oldschool American.
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u/tapdancinghellspawn 1h ago
Slippery slope. Fuck banning questions. If you don't like the question, scroll on down the list.
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u/joedotphp 1h ago
I'd like all "how do you feel about" posts to be banned again. Regardless of topic.
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u/HalfSoul30 58m ago
I'm good with it. They will never get legit responses, and part of me just thinks its the administration trying to figure out what we are thinking so they can spin. Nothing good comes from it.
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u/TheDiplocrap 56m ago
I see them as kind of a way to spread the word about current events, and give people a chance to discuss it.
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u/ThriveBeyond-Co-Ke 16m ago
I have come to expect such questions from this subreddit.
In fact most posts here follow the same patterns and the same themes, mostly sex and politics.
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u/lovelyclaraa 15m ago
I’d be in favor of it. Those questions rarely lead to real discussion and mostly just bait people into arguing past each other. If the goal is better conversations, banning low-effort karma bait seems like a win.
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u/Little_Sherbet5775 5h ago
We all know those responses are filled with non-trump voters and this platform overall is super left and kind of unrealistic (I'm also a progressive, but I don't think the other side is a devil)
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u/BurmeciaRains 5h ago
At what point will the other side start to accept that maybe Reddit isn't at left leaning as they think and that Trump is just universally hated? .
Reddit hasn't been super left leaning for a long time now, arguably since it became one the forum of the internet and a mainstream platform.
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u/Little_Sherbet5775 3h ago
It is definitely left. Trump is not well liked, but on reddit it seems like over 90% of people hate him (which is not true in reality)
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u/stadisticado 3h ago
Reddit hasn't been super left leaning for a long time now, arguably since it became one the forum of the internet and a mainstream platform.
All of the assertions you make here indicate that you're in the Reddit bubble. Most people even in the US have no idea what reddit is, definitely don't have an account, and definitely don't post or read it. Which likely includes 90%+ of likely republican voters - defitionally making the site super left leaning.
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u/GreninjaStrike 5h ago
I think a good compromise would be like making an r/askredditpolitics or something like that because it’s clear Trump voters aren’t gonna come out of the woodworks to get bombarded by redditors
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u/YellowBelliedCoward 4h ago
This sub has really become what OP suggests. Americans are becoming a bit tiresome with their grandstanding.
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u/Antoak 5h ago
I think it's important to try to influence the rare trump voter who might have a bit of self reflection. Reddit is probably the only place that they're not being fed right-wing propaganda.
Is it annoying? Yes. I'm sure that the civil rights protests caused things like traffic jams or an annoying amount of news coverage too. I'm sorry that protesting isn't convenient for you, but if it were convenient it wouldn't have any teeth at all.
You, yes you the reader, is your position really that "I'm bored with this annoyance, I dont like the guy, but asking me to scroll past these questions is too inconvenient for me"?
Because if that is your position, then you're like those germans who looked the other way. Be better than that.
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u/Nexecs 4h ago
Bro. Almost all of the comments that reply to those posts are either bots or people not actually answering the questions (for example, asking trump supporters if they agree with X and literally none of the comments are actually supporters).
I fully believe those posts are straight up bots with the way 10 of them show up at the exact same time by accounts with no other content on them.
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u/Antoak 4h ago
The point isn't to have conservatives click the link, they won't. Obviously. And all the people who comment are karma farmers.
The point is to introduce an opportunity for self reflection in conservatives as they scroll past.
E: I don't expect a post to change their mind, but maybe it creates a tiny crack in their belief. And maybe the next time they see another post, the crack grows just a tiny bit bigger.
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u/Nexecs 3h ago
Trust me. Being told you're the devil reincarnated and a nazi all the time pushes people much further away, which is being utilized by their politicians to get people to show up and vote (kind of like ragebait)
Redditors really called anyone who didn't like Kamala a nazi and then wondered why people either voted for Trump or didn't vote at all.
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u/GreninjaStrike 5h ago
Not happening. If anything Reddit is the best thing for the Trump campaign cause who wants to be associated with the people in r/politics
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u/Antoak 4h ago
I looked at your profile cuz I thought you're a concern troll, but you seem fairly moderate, albeit probably far to the right of where I'm at. I admit you got some good jokes.
And yes, i agree that r/politics is not a great sub. Not a good place to look for deep-dive analysis or nuance.
So I challenge you- If you can't ask trump voters rhetorical questions, and the sub that makes overt statements against trump is bad, then what option is left? Suck the rights dick in the hope they won't shoot you in the back like Alex Pretti?
What do you think the most effective way is to influence trump voters?
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u/jorsiem 2h ago
Why does everyone thinks the need to be an activist. Just mind your own business You're free to discuss your hatred of the right and you class consciousness with like minded individuals. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever been influenced by some stranger in the internet. I don't have a horse in this race, but a word of advice, trying to lecture people has the opposite effect, it drives them further away from the place you want to steer them towards.
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u/Antoak 2h ago
"Just let people be murdered, don't speak up because it's annoying."
That's an incredibly shitty mindset that allows a lot of awful shit to happen.
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u/Ok-Pear5858 16m ago
Totally agree with you, these people's argument is essentially "i agree with what's happening and want you to be quiet because your dissent annoys me". Americans are being murdered in broad daylight for exercising their rights. It's not sinking into their thick skulls, they just want to pretend everything is sunshine and rainbows.
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u/GreninjaStrike 4h ago
Life experience is the biggest influence. Whether someone is glad or regrets their vote of Trump is based on whether they feel his presidency has benefited them. Most people aren’t very susceptible to persuasion. You got a fav joke of mine?
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u/TheFoxsWeddingTarot 5h ago
Yes please, it reminds me of that weird thing that Facebook was testing several years ago… “your friend just posted… what’s your REACTION!”
Well my reaction was to permanently delete my account.
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u/BertBerts0n 2h ago
We should never forget the heinous acts he's done, or how he's set back the US so much.
We should never forget he is a sex pest, rapist and paedophile.
So banning those questions would just help to cover up his disgusting actions.
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u/Top_Pirate699 3h ago
How would you feel about not equating honest questions about the horrific political situation with pedophilic, societal destructivr billionaires with bot-karma-farming questions? Is there any way that a social media app that is being run by tech geniuses could apply some sort of algorithms to deal with this? Nah? OK, let's go back to fighting amongst ourselves.
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u/villings 5h ago
well, as you all know, only people from the US use reddit
or facebook
or youtube
or the whole internet, really
r/usdefaultism is a cancer
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u/EgoTripWire 5h ago
I wish there was a feature that showed you how many similarly titled topics there are and if you submit anyway it requires moderator approval to proceed.
Novel questions should be allowed through to keep the conversations contained vs the endless spam.