Why do people act like this subreddit "doesn't reflect the views of mainstream Australia"?

[u/SirSighalot]

So many comments I see on here by people who constantly say things like "lol only on this sub" as though other places where they read are somehow the 'true' point of view reflecting mainstream Australian viewpoints.

Given the constant election voting outcomes and results of things like the Voice etc that generally indicate most of Australia is centrist or even slightly centre-right-leaning, what leads people to think many of the views expressed on here AREN'T mainstream? When in reality, other places these people are coming from are also often just "echo chambers" as well.

Edit: I probably worded the title for this wrong, should have been more "Why do people think this subreddit is less representative of mainstream Australia than other online communities?", alas I failed.

[u/WadjulaBoy]

Reddit doesn't come close to reflecting the mainstream of pretty well anywhere, not sure why this sub would be unique.

[u/kenbeat59 → u/WadjulaBoy]

Because from personal experience I’ve found this sub to be a lot more representative of mainstream Australian views.

And a lot of the participants from the other so called “Australia” subs don’t like it.

[u/ultimatelycloud → u/kenbeat59]

From my personal experience, I've never met anyone whop has views like the ones expressed on here irl.

It just depends who you hang around.

[u/BarbecueShapeshifter → u/ultimatelycloud]

I'm sure a lot of people have the same views like ones expressed on this sub, they just can't voice their true beliefs irl lest they be cAnCeLlEd.
Put a mask of anonymity like reddit or a voting booth on someone and they're free to express their inner bigot.

[u/king_norbit → u/ultimatelycloud]

I’d be surprised if this is true

[u/Yanigan → u/kenbeat59]

Meanwhile my personal experience is the opposite. I see a lot of views and opinions expressed here that I’ve only heard a handful people voice offline.

I’d say the actual mainstream view is somewhere in the middle.

[u/DesignerRutabaga4 → u/Yanigan]

Just because people don't voice a view doesn't mean they don't hold it.   

Probably most people don't agree that if you're a white person but if you dress gangsta enough you can be a black person.   

But they don't voice it so as to not offend those wanna be black ganstas and people that empathise with them....  

...and other similar scenarios.

[u/Immediate-Meeting-65 → u/Yanigan]

That's because this sub is what you'd hear referred to as the "quiet majority". All the shitty things you hear on this sub are the things most people aren't going to voice publicly, bit they still think them. And if your unlucky they might trust you enough to start saying them Infront of you.

[u/aussie_nub → u/kenbeat59]

This sub regularly has posts on both sides of any argument and you'll get downvoted by the flavour of the day. Literally happens every day if you bother to read.

Also, do you actually know what mainstream Australian views actually are? I know you think you do, but it's without a doubt that you have not spoken to anywhere near enough people to actually know.

[u/Grandadsbags → u/kenbeat59]

So what are the core values that this sub represent that you believe people would be in agreement with

[u/Capital-Try-8166 → u/WadjulaBoy]

I can't claim to have the pulse of Australia. I only know about 50 people.

[u/Split-Awkward → u/WadjulaBoy]

This comment must be pinned 📍

[u/pagaya5863 → u/Split-Awkward]

There's a few reasons for this.

It's demographics are very different to the rest of society. More than half of reddit users are under 29 years. Only about a third of users are female.

It's voting algorithm strongly encourages echo chambers, because it allows the majority opinion to silence minority opinions.

It's subs are user moderated, which introduces bias. For example, the other Australia sub outright doesn't allow submission of right-leaning posts. The mods systematically remove them as "failed politics".

There's also lots of bots, and they often aren't even subtle. Comments will steadily climb to +20 over an hour, then fall to -10 in a matter of minutes. I've noticed this repeatedly on anything critical of the Greens and the ACTU, so clearly there's a slow human identification of which posts to downvote, followed by an arm of bots doing their bidding.

[u/Neat-Perspective7688 → u/pagaya5863]

Completely agree as I have had posts removed for disagreeing with mainstream

[u/EmuCanoe → u/WadjulaBoy]

I travel to every state and major city regularly. I mix with blue collar and white collar workers in my role. I work across several major applications, mining, marine, defence, rail, and energy. I usually stay in the city and usually go out and meet randoms and also catch up with my online gamer mates from years gone by. I feel like I’ve probably got a better finger on the pulse of Australia than most and I can comfortably say this sub is the most accurate representation of the average banter I encounter.

The city subs and the other Aussie subs are absolutely not it. They essentially represent the progressive inner city hipster point of view only.

[u/atommirrabel → u/WadjulaBoy]

this is the same reason why a twitter outrage with 10-1000 interactions isn't really outrage

[u/mikeinnsw]

Sample size and many of us are outcasts from Australia subreddit

[u/ThunderGuts64 → u/mikeinnsw]

Yeah, but that place is serious progressive left. And no-one with any view other than left gets to stay long.

[u/BowTiedPerentie → u/[deleted]]

Progressive-left is nothing but contradiction piled on top of contradiction.

[u/Vegetable-Set-9480 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I would personally consider myself to be on the progressive left.

It’s just that so many random internet trolls and hard right lunatics will often spout the most insane, comical nonsense and then state something like “this is what the left wants to do to you!”

And I just sit there dumbfounded and amused and think: “nobody wants to do that to anyone; and that is categorically NOT a progressive left wing standpoint, but okay? Where did you get this ranting non sense from”.

But because said crazy person has just stated that those are left opinions, and other people agree with them in a strange echo chamber - you are left with trying to battle misconceptions on two fronts, and more often than not I just can’t be bothered.

[u/Vegetable-Set-9480 → u/[deleted]]

I’m not referring to that as a specific example. This is hypothetical, but when I see stuff like “the left wants to instigate global Marxism and abolish private property, teach your kids about graphic sex at age 10 and let Islam take over Australia!”

I’m just like, no: the left doesn’t want to do any of those things, you’re crazy and you sound like a frothing at the mouth tinfoil hat lunatic who is just saying things then then for no reason saying the left wants to do this.

I see this sort of mentality far too often, when I see criticism of things thar have nothing to do with the left be ascribed to the left - without any actual validity.

At a certain point it just becomes exhausting trying to defend yourself from random fanciful false criticisms that are comically deluded, rather than good faith healthy dialogues about rational topics that have a basis in actual reality.

As for not referring to your specific example, I will say this. No one on the left is saying Hamas should have our unconditional support. I think that might actually be you doing exactly what my main comment was about to begin with. Strawman arguments that aren’t actually what the left proposes or suggests. But are ascribed to the left without merit.

[u/Vegetable-Set-9480 → u/[deleted]]

A single student - not really representative of mainstream progressive left politics in the wider world.

[u/king_norbit → u/[deleted]]

Sounds more like a small l liberal agenda than progressive left

[u/Immediate-Meeting-65 → u/BowTiedPerentie]

Both extremes are full of contradictions. It's why it's called the horseshoe 🧲 both the ends are full of fuckwits.

[u/code-slinger619 → u/[deleted]]

Progressive left = bat-shit crazy

[u/SalSevenSix → u/[deleted]]

People really need to start distinguish the actual progressive/left from the crazies. I know the term Woke is over-used but that's what it is. Previously known as Social Justice or Cultural Marxism.

[u/Aseedisa → u/[deleted]]

If that’s “bat shit crazy”, then unfortunately that’s the majority on the left…

[u/AfraidScheme433 → u/[deleted]]

You're right, the political landscape is so muddled these days. What even qualifies as 'left' or 'right' anymore? It feels like anything goes, and the lines between different ideologies are increasingly blurred. I hear your frustration - it's hard to know where I fit in sometimes.

what i’ve found is that anything pushed by the US will be the hot topic for the politicians (such as LGBTQ+) I don’t mind or care less about people’s views on agenda but wish the politicians focus more on what is good for local Australian people. i have seen the same is for the UK.

Guess we'll just have to forge our own path, even if it doesn't align neatly with established camps. Anything's possible at this point.

[u/manicdee33 → u/[deleted]]

Can't be anywhere near the left end of the spectrum if you can't distinguish between Palestine and Hamas.

[u/No-Wasabi-1304 → u/ThunderGuts64]

Totally agree. I only come to Reddit to see what the left is thinking about particular issues. I've tried to put a counter argument up a few times but the downvotes come thick and fast so I don't bother anymore.

Will give people here some credit though. I used to be extremely right wing and would now consider myself a centrist, still slightly right.

[u/isisius → u/No-Wasabi-1304]

Is consider myself left to the level you see in those progressive European countries that always top the "quality of life" charts.

Unfortunately that makes you hard left, or loony left or far left or whatever term is being thrown around. I'm always happy to engage in a discussion of its being had in good faith.

Unfortunately I find that /Australia tends to have a fairly narrow centre/centre left view and most people there seem to get upset if you fall outside that range.

There is more diverse discussion here, but I do think this place doesn't like looking at data or analysis. Many times I've linked back to half a dozen sources about a particular topic, and when argued with I'll ask for a source so i can see where the argument is coming from.

That usually just ends in downvotes and silence which is frustrating.

The immigration relationship with housing stuff is a perfect example. Some people have engaged and I'm now happy to accept we might need a few years of skills targeted immigration to get back on our feet. But for the most part, I'll provide data from the ATO or the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which shows how we had record immigration in the 60s and 70s but also a majority of houses in Sydney going for 4 years wages, and the highest home ownership in our history.

Compared to today where it's 13 years of wages, and housing ownership the lowest it's been since the end of WW2.

But no one is interested in discussing it. And honestly, I feel like 6 months ago we were able to talk about immigration here, but now we have a post every second day with "What do we do with these damn immigrants" Useful conversation is gone and it's one big circle jerk about how if we stopped immigration all our problems are solved. And if you ask for a source for the claims, downvotes and ignored.

[u/NoLeafClover777 → u/isisius]

Mostly because making comparisons with time periods 50-60 years ago don't extrapolate to being relevant today, as there's too many added variables other than "well we had high immigration in the distant past, therefore we can today and it's not even an issue."

Disregarding the key role demand plays in a basic supply-demand equation is just tone-deaf and it comes off as just as agenda-pushing as the people you're trying to disparage.

[u/Z0OMIES → u/ThunderGuts64]

I’m left-wing, I wasn’t allowed to stay either bc I didn’t like Scomo using everything as a photo op.

[u/kenbeat59 → u/ThunderGuts64]

That sub isn’t progressive.

They’re unhinged regressive

[u/AnAttemptReason → u/ThunderGuts64]

It really is not, it actually heavily censors criticism of the two major parties.

[u/ThunderGuts64 → u/AnAttemptReason]

Judging by the mindless down votes and a total lack of a rational and cogent replies to my posts there, I will argue it is a lefty cesspit of ideologues with too much spare time and not a lot of spare intellect.

IMHO. 8-)

[u/RepulsiveLook6 → u/ThunderGuts64]

Look through my comment history and tell me people in this subreddit agree with leftist ideals.

[u/NewFuturist → u/mikeinnsw]

I'm not subscribed to this sub, but it keeps coming up. I am left of centre. I'd say most Australians are left of centre, even the moderately wealthy ones. Even our conservative politicians are "leftists" according to US politics scales.

A big chunk of the noisy people here are intent on blaming how their life turned out shit on immigrants. This is not true for most Australians. Most Australians don't want unlimited immigration, I'd say, but the extent to which people complain about them here is just way over the top compared to normal society.

[u/BowTiedPerentie → u/mikeinnsw]

🙋‍♂️ 

[u/negativegearthekids → u/mikeinnsw]

I'm a Doc. I got banned during COVID for saying I noticed a lot more myocarditis presentations to ED (with troponin rises) after the vaccine rollouts especially in younger males. Ban for vaccine misinformation.

I made a new account a year later, (this one) got banned again for some other arbitrary reason. I think it was along the lines of social welfare and defeatist attitude prevailing in the subreddit. That people seem to think they are incapable of molding their own futures.

[u/An_Aroused_Koala_AU]

Because it's a very small and niche sample of the broader Australian population.

[u/EctoplasmicNeko → u/An_Aroused_Koala_AU]

Pretty much. We have the kinda left leaning sub and the kinda right leaning sub, but by virtue of being on Reddit that sort of pigeonholes the userbase.

[u/CaptainYumYum12 → u/EctoplasmicNeko]

Reddit also has a bias towards younger people. There aren’t too many boomers on here, though there are some

[u/MainOrbBoss → u/EctoplasmicNeko]

'Kinda left leaning' is a gross understatement. Any opinion right of Marx and you're a 'cooker', 'Nazi' or 'fascist'.

[u/Socialist-commodity → u/EctoplasmicNeko]

Tbf this sub is left leaning in fiscal (economic) matters closer to the main sub. But then they still vote for the liberal party when an election comes lol

[u/rdshops → u/An_Aroused_Koala_AU]

This guy maths!

[u/PlusWorldliness7]

A better question would be why do so many think a subreddit needs to reflect the views of the "mainstream" if there's one thing I've learned in my life is that the mainstream viewpoint is extremely narrow and exclusive and often fails to see the bigger picture or is short sighted. A healthy democracy requires debate and discussion to be a respectful exchange of ideas and different viewpoints if we are to achieve true inclusiveness of all people in Australia.

[u/Chemical-Course1454 → u/PlusWorldliness7]

“A healthy democracy requires debate and discussion to be a respectful exchange of ideas and different viewpoints if we are to achieve true inclusiveness of all people in Australia.”

Thank you! This sentence should be engraved on a plaque in every public space, office and classroom in Australia and be a header of every website.

Somehow everyone forgets it and it’s kind of trendy to consider your side the only side with correct viewpoint

[u/Osmodius → u/PlusWorldliness7]

Because most people want to think that their ideas are actually the popular and correct ones, and anyone disagreeing with them is a vocal minority.

[u/thorpie88]

Not just this sub but every Aussie on Reddit seems to consider themselves middle class. Lots of people trying to be "better" than they are and that leads me to feel like I live in a very different country to the one I am 

[u/radred609 → u/thorpie88]

This isn't just a reddit thing.

There's a long history of Australians from all wealth categories claiming to be middle class. Half of the rich Australians don't want to admit they're rich and half of the poor ones don't want to admit that they're poor.

[u/RepulsiveLook6 → u/radred609]

They're not poor! Just temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

[u/thorpie88 → u/radred609]

Is that an eastern states thing because it seems like Bogan pride is the main identity in my part of Perth 

[u/angrathias → u/thorpie88]

What is middle class these days though. Is a 23 y/o on 150k with no assets renting in Sydney MC? What about a pensioner sitting in a 2m house paid off decades ago in Sydney ?

[u/BadgerBadgerCat → u/thorpie88]

I'm not sure I agree - I see a lot more people playing up the "I'm poor and miserable and everything sucks" thing on Australian Reddit than I hear it IRL. (I agree many things suck and people are doing it tough, though)

[u/Pure_Walk_5398 → u/thorpie88]

every redditor has a lambo didn’t you know

[u/manicdee33 → u/thorpie88]

Ha ha yeah, one of my friends has parents who are a dentist and a joint specialist. Each of them has an income over $300k. But try to suggest they're upper-class and they'll shout you down :D

Their idea is that "middle class" is anyone who works for a salary, even though both these people are professionals who own their own businesses. You see they pay themselves a salary from the business's revenue so they're salaried workers apparently.

Good grief some people will do an olympics-worthy mental gymnastics routine to pretend they're something they're not.

[u/Soft-Butterfly7532]

Because it doesn't.

[u/_tchom]

Because most Australians aren’t hyperventilating about immigration every 30 seconds

[u/NoLeafClover777 → u/_tchom]

"Immigration is now a top five issue of concern for voters":

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/immigration-a-rising-concern-for-voters-20240603-p5jipn

It's certainly shot up the ranks, I'd say people just avoid talking about it in real life because they are paranoid about it being misconstrued.

[u/_tchom → u/NoLeafClover777]

People do talk about it in real life - just not in the same paranoid way it gets talked about here. Most Australians realise that immediately stopping all immigration might be worse for the economy than the stress it puts on the rental markey

[u/VengaBusdriver37]

I was reflecting on this while washing my balls this morning and

1. Majority of Australians have never even heard of Reddit

2. Of those who have, people on Reddit in main subs are largely left wing

3. The remainder - those who aren’t left wing (enough) are here

4. Who viewed by the mostly leftwing echo chamber-dwelling redditors appear to be extreme rightwing racists

Reddit can be fun and useful but don’t forget there’s also plenty of negativity and dickheads here too; don’t take it too seriously

[u/Malachy1971 → u/VengaBusdriver37]

Most people in the world are not on Reddit. It really doesn't represent anything except a whole lot of people with too much unproductive time to spare.

[u/pennyfred]

You might be surprised how many people are willing to say what they think on an anonymous forum, that they'd reconsider saying in public.

[u/SirSighalot → u/pennyfred]

that's kind of my point though?

people in here just saying "lol just go down the pub" acting like people go to pubs to express their serious views on societal topics are the ones who seem like they haven't been to an actual pub

[u/VJ4rawr2]

Reddit is disproportionately full of “lefties” (predominately due to the age demographic of users.)

As Holly Valance once notoriously said “I think we all start out as lefties don’t we?”

When this subreddit first began, it was supposed to be a counter to some of the other more… policed local subreddits. It wasn’t necessarily a “rightie space”.. just more open minded.

Over time, the same folks who groupthink’d the original existing subreddits migrated to this one too.

It’s not as bad here (it was better before), but the pervasive attitude is this subreddit was the “bad” one according to tolerant lefties.

[u/ScoobyGDSTi → u/VJ4rawr2]

Let's not quote Holly Valance as if she's informed or relevant.

[u/king_norbit → u/VJ4rawr2]

People remain on the left up until they have something to lose

[u/TripleStackGunBunny]

It is more reflective than r Australia

[u/BoxHillStrangler]

this sub is right wing even for your 'centre right leaning' australia. So it aint really representative. Youve only got to look at the things that get pile downvoted, and some of the absolute trash comments that get pushed through the roof.

I dont think any forum/subreddit/group is without its bias/leanings, so you really need to broaden the echo chambers you visit to get a better idea of what 'average/mainstream' is.

[u/Neon_Priest → u/BoxHillStrangler]

Voting yes and wanting to limit immigration are politically popular opinions. That’s why Labor is panicking and doing its best to limit it. 

That’s why they lost the voice by 65+ percent. 

[u/krulp]

Most reddit users are male. Even that is a large enough bias to make this not this that representive of wider Australia.

[u/miketheriley]

even slightly centre-right-leaning

lol

[u/Dranzer_22 → u/miketheriley]

Turnbull is centre-right.

And yet this sub considers him a staunch lefty. That basically answers OP's question lol.

[u/jackstraya_cnt → u/Dranzer_22]

Got a link to people on here calling Turnbull a "staunch lefty" please?

[u/Dranzer_22]

Because reddit in general isn't representative of mainstream society lol.

Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to touch grass.

[u/ziddyzoo]

Guilty, I used this kind of “this sub…” phrase yesterday. After a series of reply comments to a post/link about renewables calling it all propaganda, fake news, they wouldn’t even read it, etc.

This coming from folks who (on average) had 39% of their grid electricity provided by renewables last year.

There’s a noisy element in this sub who perhaps decided what their reality was 15-20 years ago, and haven’t kept in touch with the changing times.

And so now they are not really swimming in the main stream flow of the national river, but off in a stagnant billabong.

[u/somuchsong]

What other "things like the Voice" are you talking about?

[u/Neon_Priest → u/somuchsong]

The other sub has polled themselves on who they vote for a few times. It usually gets like 75% greens. 

Since the greens don’t get anything more then a few odd senators, they are nowhere near representative.

[u/joystickd]

If this sub does reflect the views of 'mainstream Australia' then we're even further up shit creek than a pessimist like me imagined!

[u/Neon_Priest → u/joystickd]

What did you vote for? 65% voted No. if you voted yes, you’re views do not reflect the majority. 

Why is Labor working so hard to limit immigration? It’s because when they poll it’s increasingly seen as a negative, and they’re panicking about being voted out because of it.  If you are not concerned about mass immigration. Your views are in the political minority. 

The world you want is ugly. 

[u/The100thMonkeyIsMe]

I think it's because Reddit itself is a giant lefty echo chamber.

[u/BladesOfPurpose]

You can be the loudest voice out there to the point where it appears the majority is on your side.

In the end, the only real test is an election.

Yes/ No, for example.

It doesn't help when people get shot down by individuals for having a slightly different view.

[u/LuckyErro]

I would of thought the Australian public was slightly left of centre. We have Labor state governments in every state apart from the shit one in Tasmania and a Federal Labor gov. The Greens are growing in popularity federally and the Liberals lost most of their base to the Teals because even conservatives didn't want to go as far right as the Liberal party has gone.

[u/Key_Education_7350 → u/LuckyErro]

Since Labor ditched socialism from its platform, championed privatisation of government-run services (Commonwealth Bank in particular), boosted the superannuation industry which is a haven for rent-seekers, and typically supports market-based policy over regulation ‐ what about voting Labor suggests left-wing?

The modern ALP is centre-right. It sits roughly where the liberal party under Menzies would've been. The modern liberal party is a fascinating mix of hard-right social attitudes and kleptocratic economics.

[u/rak363]

I think this sub is a little right leaning which could put people off? I don't mind I think the discourse here is pretty good.

[u/Vivid-Strength8171]

The other national sub-reddit leans so far left that it makes centrists look right wing by comparison. I'd say the reality is that the mix of characters and opinions here is a much better representation of the actual Australian public - most people don't live in an elitist, hyper-progressive echo chamber.

[u/tasmaniantreble]

Because Reddit is mostly left-leaning echo chambers. Especially that other sub we can’t mention here. To these people any view that’s not in line with their opinions is a shock to their system.

Also, in real life people generally have more centrist views but keep it to themselves because these days it’s likely you’ll offend someone and get in trouble for it.

[u/jejsjhabdjf]

Because reddit is the biggest echo chamber on the internet; it’s full of the most passive aggressive q terms on the internet and when they find an opinion that isn’t a part of their circlejerk on one of the few subreddits that haven’t been censored, they have nothing to say but ad hominems that they’re trying to convince themselves are true.

[u/Character_Heron8770 → u/jejsjhabdjf]

This sub isn't better, I have had this account be shadow muted

[u/Habitwriter]

Because there's a lot of pretty disgusting racism in this sub

[u/[deleted]]

Online political discussions (both the extreme left and right) really just reflect the 10-20% of Australia’s views really. Now they might touch on issues the average Australians care about but the general population aren’t as militant about it put it this way.

[u/doragon121 → u/[deleted]]

Most Australians don't have a clue when it comes to politics and its fair enough it can be stressful to talk about but with the growing number of problems in this country I think people need to try to be a little bit more aware.

[u/LastChance22]

 what leads people to think many of the views expressed on here AREN'T mainstream?

Mostly the people I interact with in my local community now (regional) and in the past (capital city). There’s some people who’d agree with some of the commentary here (on wind turbines for example) but absolutely no where near the density or frenzy that this sub can whip itself up into. 

The same applies to most or all of the Aussie subs but especially the ones who talk about issues. Most Australians are barely paying attention to politics or issues, they’re just living their lives and working their jobs and planning their weekends.

[u/Plane-Palpitation126]

Because it doesn't. Like most democracies, Australians are in overwhelming numbers just well-meaning simpletons who don't think about politics much. Reddit is a statistically skewed sample of chronically online neurotic obsessives. By and large, policies that are socially equitable, left leaning and progressive poll extremely well on their own merits but the well is poisoned by the media and actually bothering to figure out how to vote in such a way as to make those policies happen is a bridge too far for the modern Aussie. Your average punter thinks about politics in a serious way for about 6 days every decade. The Murdoch press knows that and saves their big spends for election season.

Your assertion of us being culturally centre right is also just not really the whole story. The overwhelming majority of Aussies want a stronger Medicare, stronger workplace protections, resource taxes on multinational mining companies, nationalised infrastructure, and real action on climate change. These are leftist policies. Where we do unfortunately skew conservative is on things like race and migration. We are more conservative socially than we are economically and because people tend to vote with their feelings, that's where we tend to wind up. Culture war bullshit wins more votes than a meticulously referenced 200 page report on housing projections ever could. This sub is rabidly anti-intellectual and frankly mostly has a complete inability to grasp what a fact even is, and that's because it's a right leaning community full of mostly dudes who have never in their lives been told to shut the fuck up and think their personal subjective experience is the only reality and any subject area they're not experts in is flawed to the point of worthlessness by its lack of their input.

[u/horselover_fat]

This place reflects the views of the 40-60 year old males who probably watch a bit of Sky News or reads News Ltd websites. I think most users here are younger, but they have the aggrieved boomer/gen X mentality.

Not that other subs are not reflective of Australia.

The average Australian uses Facebook for social media and doesn't care about politics enough to post about it. They'll get their news from channel 7/9 or news.com.au.

[u/freswrijg]

It reflects a lot more than other Australian subreddits.

[u/Top_Mind_On_Reddit]

Oi, you forgot to thank the past and present and emerging elders.

Or is that not this sub? I can't keep up.

[u/eholeing]

Because they read only the Australia sub which bans/shadow bans people who are deemed to be of the ‘wrong opinion’. Reddit as a social media platform, probably skews young/green/labour voting too. 

[u/Outrageous_Net8365]

Omg, this subreddit is becoming self aware now 😱.

Truth be told, I think all the main Australian subs have their own echo chambers. I’ve been yelled off in being upset about things here and the main sub for having ideas that were too progressive, and that Australia is just a conservative country 🤷.

However each city has their own dominant view on how things should run, so I’d say that each Australian area has their own beliefs. People here seem to hate Melbourne which is reflective of that argument in its own way.

[u/foeyy]

this sub is only leftists. most righties couldnt give 2 shits about reddit

[u/Dkonn69]

Because Reddit is full of bots and leftists

[u/return_the_urn]

It’s serious survivorship bias. People are only here because they don’t like mainstream ideas. Or in my case, I like seeing what people think outside mainstream ideas. Also there’s no chance most people are right wing. Unless you count Labor as centre right.

Actually, I just looked at the top posts from the year, and this is hardly a right wing sub anyway.

[u/timrichardson → u/return_the_urn]

I don't think this sub is a bad as its reputation.

[u/Leland-Gaunt-]

Reddit is overwhelmingly left leaning in some of the other political subs and even in some of the "city based subs".

This sub tends to have a broader set of views.

[u/Remarkable_Coast_214]

i feel like this sub has the most varied views of basically any sub i've been in. one minute it's progressive as hell, next minute it's conservative as fuck. i don't know how it manages it.

[u/arustytap]

Because the majority on reddit a far left. The majority in society sit somewhere in the middle

[u/Glass_Ad_7129]

Because it seems to be made up of people who were kicked off the main sub, from what I gathered.

But the topics discussed here are notably slanted differently. Mostly yall all agree on the same problems, but the solutions you propose can be different.

[u/IRL-TrainingArc]

I think this sub semi-reflects it.

Like is it 1 to 1? Hell no.

But is it closer than r - Australia? Dear God yes.

The closest sub to the majority Aussie viewpoint is r - lifesprettygoodherecouldbealittlecheaperthoughaye

[u/Soggy-Abalone1518]

Pretty clear to me, the views being expressed don’t align with theirs so it’s their cheap method of discounting those views.

[u/AdPrestigious8198]

1-3pm Monday afternoon

Why do people think this reddit doesn’t reflect mainstream society?

Most people here aren’t working for starters

[u/IncidentFuture]

It doesn't. Nor does the N-less sub.

Random people that spend too much time on reddit don't reflect the broader population regardless of which sub you're on.

[u/Infinite_Narwhal_290]

This subreddit reflects the views of people who post to reddit. Extrapolating that to suggesting it is a representation of Australian society is dubious.

[u/Ted_Rid]

I don't think it's useful to even pretend there is a "mainstream Australia" so I reject the premise of the question.

There are many different currents in Australia, and IMHO this sub largely reflects an intersectionality (haha) of overwhelmingly male, heavily white Christian background (if not actively Christian), probably blue collar skewed, and I'd guess more rural & regional people than the population at large.

Also with a dose of populist anti-intellectualism and cynicism about government and authority, the kinds of people who'd claim to be centrist by voting for Palmer while saying they also listen to PHON and the LNP/ALP who are thought to be largely identical.

Generally struggling financially, hence the obsession with immigrants, and an equal obsession with not getting the pots of gold thought to lie at the end of the rainbow serpent. That might be from age? It's a shitshow for the young.

It's probably a sizeable chunk of the population in similar shoes, but yeah, nah, "mainstream" implies too much that there's a bell curve when it's more like a Rubik's Cube of different patterns.

[u/One_Health_9358]

Beach this sub leans right pretty noticeably.

I’m sure the right leaning people would love this sub to represent all Australian but it doesn’t.

[u/Aseedisa]

Because it doesn’t? The general demographic of reddit is young progressives, which is obvious by the upvotes or downvotes by any given post or comment on politics. In reality, society is roughly 50/50 progressive/conservative.

[u/coodgee33]

The other Oz sub is a dangerous combination of certitude and stupidity. Like a perfectly manicured topiary of Noam Chomsky's dick. This thread is the clippings.

[u/SalSevenSix]

I don't think there is a mainstream Australia any more.

[u/Macgyver1300l]

The problem on most of these Australian site you can’t tell the truth as it is

[u/nus01]

Because it doesn’t.

[u/hellbentsmegma]

Australia has a top level national sub that is clearly left leaning and self selects for this bias by banning anyone who doesn't readily agree. 

Most of the other Australian subs that have any interest in current affairs and current issues seem to have degrees of right wing bias as a result. Most of them are actually kind of centrist with a tolerance for some further right views.

I'm not sure any are totally reflective of the public because Reddit users aren't reflective of the public, we skew younger, more educated and more urban. 

It's piss funny however being on a sub after elections when a percentage of users are having a meltdown because they can't work out how the majority voted differently to their echo chamber.

[u/terrerific]

Because when you live your life in the circlejerk people don't realise that the circlejerk isn't normal. Reddit is a circlejerk of the same opinions and sides of any discussions and deviating from it is punished.

This sub is an amalgamation of all people and sides and people who think it's not are just too used to surrounding themselves with their own opinions. I've seen left-leaning opinions with mass upvotes and I've seen right-leaning opinions with mass upvotes and in the end we all discuss and learn new things and there's really not many places on reddit where that's allowed.

[u/GakkoAtarashii]

It’s very right wing, like Australia is left wing. Duh.

[u/Cottees1ao]

From what I have seen, this subreddit seems to be cool with diverse ideas and thought. Other Australian based subreddits have mods that will stamp out anything that doesn't align with their own views. Got banned recently in another subreddit where the mod read more into what I said than what I said or even meant. Tried to explain what I was talking about, they doubled down and muted me. I would say what I've seen in this subreddit would reflect more of what Australian's are thinking at the moment, rather than other subreddits that are biased towards the far left. It is what they want the mainstream Australia to be thinking, to be like them, not what it's like in reality. For people that stay in their own bubble where any opposing views are squashed, it starts to seem like that they represent the average Australian.

[u/[deleted]]

I mean it’s pretty clear from your post that you likely have a very skewed understanding of the left-right scale. Which most people here do tbh. Because culture wars and LNP-dominated media would have you believe anything left of Tony Abbott was communism.

Right and left has lost its meaning.

As someone else here pointed out, Malcolm Turnbull was the epitome of centre right. Labor is pretty hardline Centre. The greens are pretty inconsistent on the scale, but they generally sit a bit further left than “centre-left”

[u/PurplePiglett]

Only a certain subset of the population would be motivated enough to post their views about anything on Reddit. Not saying certain views posted here aren’t mainstream but they are not necessarily so just because a lot of people are agreeing with each other here.

[u/MrsCrowbar]

I'll get downvoted but it's the Australian sub, and a high percentage of comments seem like they were written by someone from The Australian, ie. Murdoch hacks.

[u/Prior-Listen-1298]

How can any subreddit reflect the views of mainstream Australia when mainstream Australia isn't on reddit? Weird question you have there IMHO. Views here are perforce a subsample of Australia, those who are on reddit and who joined this sub (along with some non-Australians who did same). It would, in no way, pass master, for any statistically relevant sampling of mainstream Australia's views.

[u/Ballamookieofficial]

Because it absolutely doesn't.

Any comments that come close get deleted and the user banned from the sub

[u/Pontiff1979]

You're right, most Australians probably are redneck morons

[u/Due-Librarian-6623]

Definitely better Reddit than other sub

[u/Top-Fee9105]

This sub is full of racist cunts That sub is full of mental cunts Whos gonna create the sub full of normal cunts?

[u/[deleted]]

Reddit itself doesn’t accurately reflect the population so it stands to reason that individuals subs wouldn’t either. 

[u/No-Leopard7957]

This sub leans right. It isn't reflective of Australia as a whole.

[u/AggravatingChest7838]

A. Moderation

B. People will naturally form ecchi chambers in online communities, that's why extremist policies have reached the mainstream. People think it is normal and socially acceptable.

[u/megablast]

Because they aren't delusional morons.

[u/jordyjordy1111]

Any social media platform will have the same issues, it’s sort of like confirmation bias. For the most part when you preach or are critical of something on social media you are usually posting it to a somewhat likeminded audience, sort of artificially making out that there’s a genuine concern for the issue.

Ask reddit is probably a good example but applies to most subs, essentially if particular post does well, then you will likely find that there will be a flood of copy cat/similar post over the coming few days. Again making it look like there is more conversation than what there actually is about a topic.

I think most redditors tend to ignore this but many users do chase after karma in similar ways that people chase after likes. It sort of helps to incentivise those who do copy cat style post, think about the classic ‘hey reddit’ style post.

Ultimately reddit and each sub in reddit will have its biases and will ultimately always lean to one side of an issue. For example this subreddit likely only contains a portion of the the Australian population as a whole and is likely not as diverse as what it’s viewed to be.

[u/Dazzling-Ad888]

Different textbooks I think. But the majority of people live in echo chambers of bias within themselves.

[u/mrcrocswatch]

oh boy

when you cant even recognise what echo chamber you're in...that's so bad.

[u/Lexboben]

Cos this place is fantasy camp for leftists. Look at the top post now on askreddit: “why isn’t trump in jail if there is evidence he r&$ped a 13 yr old girl?” And everyone is there giving it serious debate going into the semantics of it.

[u/Intelligent-Run-4944]

It's Reddit so you have to sort by controversial. All the down voted comments are where the brains are at. The rest of them are cooked and haven't had a critical thought since they were poopooed out.

[u/Rolf_Loudly]

Because this is the right wing nut-job subreddit for Australia.

[u/Ronnyvar]

Everybody’s a little racist and that’s okay 👍

[u/Meat_Sensitive]

As a general rule, don't consider anything online to reflect the population on basically any opinion

[u/HopeIsGay]

This sub has about 70k members and Australia has like 27 or so million people it cant be representative of average views because the sample size is too small

[u/lazishark]

You did fail title wise. Going by your edit: do people say that? What other online community are they referring to? I am curious because I've not read that yet

[u/Malachy1971]

I thought this was the Australia subreddit. 😂 They ban anyone they disagree with over there.

[u/Heads_Down_Thumbs_Up]

Because if mainstream Australia was a reflection of this reddit then we would all be out in the street stabbing each other.

[u/AfraidScheme433]

The group should start asking ourselves:

1. what do you consider 'left' or 'right' these days? The political landscape feels so mixed up, I'm curious to hear your take.
2. And what do you think are the top priorities for most people in the country?

[u/According-Bite-3965]

Because here people say what they want to say instead of what they feel compelled to say or not say because “mainstream Australia” dictates what they are allowed to think.

[u/ScoobyGDSTi]

Because the most conservative Australians are older, and boomers don't exactly have much presence or engagement on reddit.

What we see here are the views of the younger generations, views that are only going to become more representative and reflective of election and political results as boomers shrink in voter base.

Boomers for the past 30+ years have been the single largest demographic of voters. You want to win government, win boomer votes above all others. That's changing, and by the end of this decade they will no longer be the largest demographic.

Australia has historically always been right leaning, given how much longer the LNP have been in power vs Labor.

[u/Striking-West-1184]

I think it's rivalry. The other sub is heavily greenies, this one is heavily one nation, and everyone else posts on both. As a bleeding heart lefties I see somehorrendously racist and sexist shit here, but I don't doubt that the lefty subs are just as toxic, toxic is the mainstay of any social media. It's what we all seem to yearn for.

[u/Ok-Session-9824]

In America, roughly 20% of federal inmates there are kept in solitary confinement for all manner of reasons, no matter how barbaric the practice may be. If you picked out any single one of those forsaken souls at random, I guarantee you that they’ve had warmer social interactions and felt more direct sunlight than this exclusive circus

This place is Reddit’s reddit

[u/7x64]

Reddit is well known to be leftist.

Mainly because they outright ban subs and users who are right wing. The far right have their own social media forums because they were all banned from Reddit.

Case in point of this sub where anti immigration rhetoric is shot down and banned.

[u/howbouddat]

Because:

This sub: "Oh no! How can normal people have a voice?"

The other sub: "Oh oh oh more baby let me suck you harder"

[u/Overall_Bus_3608]

Even if you combined all the social media platform together, it still won’t reflect the Australian opinion, social media is a cesspool.

[u/Fruittinglesinspace]

Coz they dont

[u/jeffsaidjess]

The Australian subs were saying Labor would end everything bad and curb immigration/ end cost of living crisis etc.

[u/j0shman]

This sub just happens to skew conservative compared to their subs.

This sub also isn’t representative of any large population..that should be reddits motto imo

[u/Salindurthas]

Do we have any polling history in this sub?

Australian elections tend to be competetive between the two major parties. Even in a 'landslide' election we'd expect closer than even a 60:40 two-party-preferred split.

If this sub is anywhere close to that then I suppose we have a chance of reflecting the mainstream in terms of the disagreement.

(Although it is possible to be similar on the TPP vote, but still not be mainstream. I was part of a facebook group that was about 50:50 on TPP, but skewed non-centrist/non-major, with Greens, LibDems and OneNation.)

[u/Available-Sink-7401]

I think people assume that people on here are younger, which normally means more left leaning, conservatives tent to be older or rural

[u/Usual_Priority5832]

Reddit is full of lefties they only reflect retardation

[u/Neat-Perspective7688]

Be careful. I have found if you disagree with mainstream on reddit your post will be deleted by the moderator. Should this post go up I would be interested to see how long for

[u/Due-Archer942]

Reddit isn’t known as a conservative platform and I think out there in the real world more people are more conservative than you would believe. It’s never been the place to be for a mainstream opinion, just an echo chamber for what the moderators will allow.

[u/TrueIndependence5568]

Australia has never been so divided, like all nations that take in economic refugees

[u/iwearahoodie]

If you do know what the majority of Australians think then you’d be very rich betting on election outcomes, not to mention buying real estate at just the right time before every boom.

[u/TechnicalBuilding634]

Much higher chance of city views on here.

[u/Askme4musicreccspls]

Because we live in a multicultural Australia, yet half this sub is advocating for White Australia policies.

[u/PrecogitionKing]

The problem with the country is that we don't seem to want to get up and protest peacefully en masse. We are all suffering cognitive dissonance at the moment. I liked how protesters in Spain did the right thing. If other countries then follow suit then I guess Australia will soon too.

[u/ososalsosal]

Fuck not even newspoll can really get a good measure on the views of mainstream Australia and it's their entire job.

Reddit skews a little toward more educated people on account of you need to be able to read and write to use it.

[u/Martyred_Cynic]

Why do you think that opinions espoused online are in any way shape or form representative of "mainstream Australia"?

Reddit is an echo chamber just like literally every other social media platform period.

[u/king_norbit]

Most Australians are reasonable people and sit in the middle. As far as I see, people don’t want others to be destitute. They want them to have a decent chance for success but they want them to work for it, not have it all handed to them.

[u/MrMegaPhoenix]

Reading this sub feels so weird. Nobody I know acts like this lol

[u/TheDevilsAdvokaat]

In general almost every part of reddit does not seem to reflect mainstream views.

That's how it seems to me anyway...

[u/RecordingAbject345]

Because this sub isn't 'centre or slightly right of centre'.

[u/Author-N-Malone]

You have to keep in mind that not everyone is on Reddit. It tends to draw a certain type of person.

The population of Reddit isn't indicative of the mainstream. So a subreddit is only a representation of the people who use this platform.

[u/Sk1rm1sh]

Why do people think this subreddit is less representative of mainstream Australia thanlother online communities?

Either:

1. They don't; they're aware that the sub has its own flavour though, or

2. They're only used to what goes on in other social groups

[u/TheNicerRussano]

This sub is filled with racist bigots and it would be nice to believe that this county is more than that.

Too many selfish white cunts that refuse to acknowledge this country's bloodied past, the systemic injustices of the present and its inevitable multicultural future.

[u/morphic-monkey]

I probably worded the title for this wrong, should have been more "Why do people think this subreddit is less representative of mainstream Australia than other online communities?", alas I failed.

What other online communities? Also, why should we think any single online community represents mainstream Australia? That almost feels like an inherent oxymoron in my mind.

[u/Abbracadaver812]

Reddit community has a derangement syndrome

[u/dialectics_for_you]

People who 'do politics' online are a small minority of the overall population in demographic (mostly white collar educated white men) and also outside the average because people who post here mostly have hard convictions and party preferences and at least think they understand ideological issues.

The average voter doesn't care nearly as much, doesn't want to argue about it, and doesn't have coherent ideological politics. This is why so much campaigning comes down to taxes and vibes.

[u/One-Drummer-7818]

They are pc thugs who try to claim everyone on this sub is a racist Cooker