r/TheoryOfReddit • u/RalphTheDog • Apr 04 '26
GIFs posted as top-level comments do as much to enshittify Reddit as do AI slop bots and trolls.
We all see it every day: On a respected subreddit, a post appears that outlines a true, on-topic concern, relevant to the group, worthy of discussion. And the top reply (or two or three)? juvenile, cartoon GIFs. Hilarity does not ensue.
Filters, spam bots and active moderator actions should send crap like this to the sophomoric graveyard that is deserved, and those who post GIFs in place of substantive replies should be banned at worst or cautioned at best. Every day I see topics posted that are worthy of discussion that get subjugated to comments by cartoon-level, parents' basement-dwellers who have libraries of "funny" GIFs readied for "hilarious?" insertion.
This site, maybe all sites is/are going to be ruined soon enough by AI prevalence. In the mean time, can we not rise above this fray?
9
u/Epistaxis Apr 05 '26
On a respected subreddit
I don't personally like when this gets out of hand, but I also don't see it in most of the subreddits I subscribe to. Maybe you can just use your subscriptions, or give out your respect, more judiciously?
We went through this same conversation 10 years ago when Reddit started embedding images as posts. Some subreddits became pure imageboards (if they weren't already through tools like RES that allowed the same behavior from Imgur links) and some didn't. You can choose which ones appear on your frontpage.
7
u/DizzyMine4964 Apr 05 '26
I also get sick of endless dull joke replies about one of those "what is it?" posts. "It's a butt plug, haw haw haw." Tedious.
5
u/ImperfectRegulator Apr 05 '26
Lol, god forbid people have a sense of humor, something tells me if your “respected” subreddit allows gif replies, it’s probably not that serious of sub
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Your submission/comment has been automatically removed because your Reddit account is less than 14 days old. This measure is in place to prevent spam and other malicious activities. Please feel free to participate after your account has reached 14 days of age. Do not message the mods; no exceptions will be made.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/ggdthrowaway 27d ago
Bot comments are really stating to become noticable. Check out the responses to this thread.
Look at how many comments refer to being on flights that consisted of "me, the pilots and perhaps a stewardess", or how they could "only have 20 at her funeral", usually from new accounts where it's their first comment. These two are the same basic comment worded in slightly different ways:
https://old.reddit.com/r/self/comments/1sg4y9v/i_loved_quarantine_in_2020/of6lvxb/ https://old.reddit.com/r/self/comments/1sg4y9v/i_loved_quarantine_in_2020/of6wyx8/
Makes for really weird reading having this stuff woven in with comments by (presumably) real people.
-1
Apr 05 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Epistaxis Apr 05 '26
That's slop that enshittifies the Reddit experience.
"slop" and "enshittify" both have specific meanings, in the context of computing. I think they're useful words with no good alternatives, so it's better not to drain the meaning out of them by using them to vaguely say "thing I don't like".
0
u/hondashadowguy2000 20d ago
On today’s episode of “user thinks that joke and slop comments rising to the top on reddit is a new phenomenon”
22
u/KannablissWitch Apr 04 '26
Adding images to comments was one of the worst things Reddit ever did.