Most conventional wisdom on why networked people find it hard to exit said network is the network effects, which is amplified by being known by your real name and identity to the other network members/nodes.
Seeing as Reddit has a pseudonymous identification system, I wonder to what extent that deflates the exit resistance force. Reputation (say karma or community level creds) may keep people in exploitative networks but I am not well versed in these things to make informed conclusions.
Identity on reddit is tied more strongly to community affiliation than the individual. Identifiable names seems to reserved for the rare few who make their mark on the community in some exemplary way.
Usually what’s happened on the site is people don’t leave the site itself en masse. They leave subreddits or community leaders. They follow the collective they think they’re attached to on to another subreddit. It always seemed to me like a cheap psychological trick by building a large wall around the smaller walls to keep people confined forever.
Most conventional wisdom on why networked people find it hard to exit said network is the network effects, which is amplified by being known by your real name and identity to the other network members/nodes. Seeing as Reddit has a pseudonymous identification system, I wonder to what extent that deflates the exit resistance force. Reputation (say karma or community level creds) may keep people in exploitative networks but I am not well versed in these things to make informed conclusions.
Identity on reddit is tied more strongly to community affiliation than the individual. Identifiable names seems to reserved for the rare few who make their mark on the community in some exemplary way.
Usually what’s happened on the site is people don’t leave the site itself en masse. They leave subreddits or community leaders. They follow the collective they think they’re attached to on to another subreddit. It always seemed to me like a cheap psychological trick by building a large wall around the smaller walls to keep people confined forever.
Interesting point. Never saw it from that perspective.