I began using reddit in 2017. I never really realized there had been a decline in quality until I recently ended up on some threads from 2017ish. I think some of it had to do with the change from a very desktop-oriented, forum-style page, to a dumbed-down mobile-friendly experience. The emphasis is now heavy on pictures, videos, instant messaging, avatars, online status, shiny award bling, infinite scrolling, etc. Reddit may not have intended it, but I feel like their target age demographic is much lower now. I'm shocked at how many regular users are still in high school or even middle school. I'd guess the kids are the ones repeating the funny jokes en masse. They're just kids being kids, but it gets old sometimes.

That's why I left the Always sunny in Philadelphia subreddit. I joined to talk about the show but Every.single.comment. is a joke or line from the show. Almost no one would engage in an actual discussion or conversation.

Lots of bots accounts there to farm karma.

Does lemmy.world have any unfederated instances? I was preferring the freedom of chosing to block communities myself but I started running into some very toxic posts that make me feel like I took a wrong turn and I'm gonna get stabbed in a dark alley lol! I'd rather stick to the friendly, positive and useful posts. I would rather avoid that aspect of Reddit here.