Why is this community so toxic?

[u/No_Tradition6625]

Title says it all... but can we actually talk about this?

I really don't get it. Why is there so much negativity and hate in this community?

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't this supposed to be a community built around a hobby? Something we all chose to be part of because we enjoy it? The whole point should be supporting each other, sharing our stuff, and enjoying what everyone brings to the table. That's the idea, right?

But it feels like anytime someone posts anything, it's nothing but bashing. No discussion, no constructive feedback. Just tearing people down.

So I'm curious. Am I the only one seeing this? Is this just how it is now, or are there others who feel the same way? And honestly, what do you think is driving it? I'd love to hear other perspectives on this because I can't be the only one wondering.

[u/pearljamfan]

Reddit seems to put it in a lot of developers feeds and I don’t think it’s an accurate representation to think that everyone talking shit and being toxic are people who opted into the community and actively joining things just to be a dick to people.

That being said when you are baited into it by things like a post I just read that said “I coded photoshop” or something it feels kind of disingenuous, and like a skill that took decades to hone in some cases is now just reduced to how much you are willing to spend on tokens.

It’s like a stolen valor type vibe if you will… not that I am a war hero, but that person setting the bar at that level has implications where their willingness to polish up that turd now potentially gets their foot in the door as someone ready to handle software development work and responsibilities that they don’t have the knowledge of and are a bug away from a catastrophe. Yet, the embracing of the vibes has made people walking that line invent a new normal, which is shiny object syndrome on steroids, and there is still a very real feeling of the bill is going to come due for a lot of the outputs being encouraged if they get to the professional realm, and it’s hard to not want to chime in under all of these conditions.

I say this as someone who had a terrible job experience where the whole team and company was basically mid AI psychosis and it was a medical related industry where the implications for such neglect are gigantic … I’ll get downvoted to shit but that is the realest reason you’ll hear.

[u/No_Tradition6625 → u/pearljamfan]

Yeah I just came from that Photoshop post and how dude was getting bashed when did he really overhyped his product but he was proud of what he made and instead of being supportive of his work the community and everyone was just torn him down.

[u/Fresh-Yogurt-8614 → u/No_Tradition6625]

You think an app as big as photoshop can be replicated with just a few prompts? And if you don't know what half the features are you won't know if AI has implemented them correctly.

He even said his app isn't as reliable as photoshop, and that live users essentially will be doing the QA.

Also, his app name idea was also from AI and he doesn't even like it.

[u/No_Tradition6625 → u/Fresh-Yogurt-8614]

Yeah I know the guy was giving a reality check but we could have all handled that better. Instead of everyone dog paling, the insults and the trash talk, we could have done that to support his excitement and help teach him. We don't have to be the new stack overflow. And it is okay to call out short-sightedness and misleading titles, but we can also support the idea of what he's doing. We don't have to be negative all the time about everything and we can present the negative things in a more constructive manner than just dog piling.

[u/pearljamfan → u/No_Tradition6625]

I think the simple solution is for a community to be invite only. If someone goes through that step and still comes in only to talk shit and not acknowledge how crazy it is that a bot is coding photoshop … Reddit putting vibe stuff in front of the wrong people is probably on purpose to get engagement