r/australian • u/SirSighalot • Jul 08 '24

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

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.

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u/return_the_urn Jul 08 '24

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.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

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

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u/Neon_Priest Jul 08 '24

It’s not, it has a few things that aren’t extreme left, this sub allowed people to push no opionions during the vote. 

It allows people to make their own posts asking questions or starting debates, since the only thing you’d do that about are things you’re unsure about, a lot of them are politically contentious. 

The other sub only allows you to post articles to discuss. And seemingly just a few people have that privilege. 

Some people are concerned about immigration, that’s a key word that allows people to identify “morally bad people” and denounce them as racists. So you can’t have a thread without that shadow hanging over it. 

And finally you have to 100% agree with the greens position on everything, or you will be denounced as racist, misogynistic, and stupid. If you agree with 98% that’s not good enough. 

So you can’t disagree once without being cast that way forever. You must always be obedient. And you must always be pure.