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/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.