Comment by neilv | Hacker News Reader

Comment by neilv | Hacker News Reader

Funny: maybe it's my ad blocker, but if go to https://old.reddit.com/r/StallmanWasRight/ (old-school Reddit UI), the right sidebar says:

> "With software there are only two possibilities: either the users control the program or the program controls the users. If the program controls the users, and the developer controls the program, then the program is an instrument of unjust power. " -- Richard M Stallman

> Essential reading [...] People with similar ideas: [...] Vaguely related: [...]

> Rules:

> 1. Memes and shitposts allowed only on Mondays

> 2. Try to flair your posts

> 3. WWRMSD?

But if I go to https://www.reddit.com/r/StallmanWasRight/ (new-style Reddit UI), the right sidebar says:

> Stallman was Right

> Nobody listens to him. But he was right all along.*

> r/StallmanWasRight Rules

> 1 Memes only on Mondays

> 2 no-spam-brigading

Is the first UI for hackers, and the second one for mindless doomscrolling?

Two different systems; on the mod side there are two different UIs (one to set each) as well. Yeah it's weird.

I'd guess nobody sat down and said "Here's the target demographic profile for the new UI, so let's rework our messaging, people!" It's just a funny accident of maintenance over time that the result looks like that.

Each subreddit's mod team gets to style the subreddit (within some limitations). There's presumably a separate set of style rules for the main and "old" sites; and the latter is legacy that most mods (and most users) have not even thought about for years. (Probably most current users have joined the site after the switch and never seen the "old" domain. I'm honestly surprised it still works at all.)

Pretty much. And that seems to reflect changing sentiment of the mods over time (e.g., no information, no inspiration, no trying to emulate, only emoting).

But what I thought was funny was, if you didn't know that, it would look like the two "experiences" were tailored separately: OG redditors get the constructive messaging in the spirit of RMS's mission, but modern social media redditors get the modern social media simplified passive consumption.

It is funny.

I suppose it's a consequence of the current mods having been immersed in that modern social media environment for longer.

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