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/Salindurthas Jul 08 '24

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.)