Max Read on how the Internet Got Infested With Garbage
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Oddlots Podcast. I'm Jill Weisenthal.
And I'm Tracy Alloway.
Tracy, you don't use Twitter like quite as much as I do still.
No, I kind of I don't know what happened. I guess I just went off Twitter. You know what platform I'm on quite a lot and it doesn't help me in any way in terms of Oddlots in my career, but I really like Reddit now.
I know I see you actually Tracy doesn't like that I sometimes notice what she's browsing, but I I I respect that you're
Joe is constantly looking over my shoulder and whenever I start like shopping online for five minutes, you start talking about the furniture that I'm buying. Well, it's really nice.
It's really I'm always it's it's because it looks really good. But I still am completely addicted to Twitter and I don't really know why because Yeah, why? I don't know. This is like a question for therapy for a long time. Cause like I know it's gotten really bad and I don't even I don't know, I like to be there. I like to post words and the short form is a good medium for me. It feels like sometimes I see interesting things. We still source a lot of guests from Twitter, if we're being honest. And we still discover like experts. They're still there, but like it's objectively gotten way worse. And I don't even think it's just a Elon Musk thing, by the way.
Well, here's the thing. Like, this is the key difference in my mind between Reddit right now and a bunch of other social media platforms. Twitter is now run by this like insane algo, right? That just pushes stuff at you. And sometimes it's really random. TikTok is the same thing. Reddit, at least you can still curate your feeds relatively easily. But even with Reddit, obviously, since the IPO, there's pressure to boost revenues. And we're seeing like more algo-driven stuff, a lot more AI-generated content. Like bots have always been a problem, but I feel like it might be starting to get worse.
You know what platform is really good? What? Discord.
Oh yes.
In fact, listeners should check out Discord.gg slash oddlots because twenty-four-seven in there there is a well-curated world of fellow listeners who are interested in all the same things, talking in a very generally polite and adult way about important news in finance, markets, economics, tech, automotive, semiconductors, all those things that we like. And actually today we're gonna chat with he's not just a Discord member, but sometimes he uh chat. Chats in there and he has opinions on the internet.
That sounds great. The perfect guess.
The perfect guest.
Why did the internet shift from trusted news sites to algorithm‑driven feeds?
We have the perfect guest to talk about why so much of the internet has essentially turned to complete garbage, filled with slop, AI generated nonsense, completely made up news, stuff like that. We're gonna be speaking with uh Max Reed, Odlots Discord lurker, but more importantly, the uh author and sole proprietor of the excellent Reed Max substack, one of the few sub stacks that I actually pay money for. So, Max, thank you for coming on Odlots. I'm so excited to be here. you for being a part of the Discord. I it's fine that you
don't post much, but we appreciate that you lurk. I mean, I'm trying to put all of my words in a monetizable format, which is why I have the have the newsletter.
Fair enough. So one thing I'm always curious about when people are like internet or culture correspondents, how did you get into that realm?
So I got my start in journalism at Gawker, the media gossip website that no longer exists.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–3:07
2
Why did the internet shift from trusted news sites to algorithm‑driven feeds?
3:07–9:10
3
How do Reddit’s curation tools differ from Twitter’s algorithmic timeline?
9:10–14:34
4
What led Max Reed to become a media correspondent and start his Substack?
14:34–18:07
5
How did Facebook’s audience‑boosting model change the content of sites like Gawker?
18:07–25:30
6
What is “TikTok‑ization” and how is it reshaping all social platforms?
25:30–38:49
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Odd Lots
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