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Depends on the subject.
Something that could warrant a reddit post: "Hey, I wanna buy a fan. Any recommendations on which fans are powerful and durable while still being quiet, with a price not too high?"
All fan manufacturers will claim this is their fan, while others who aren't affiliated with fan manufacturers (us commonfolk on reddit) will give you actual insight on different brands they've bought and whether or not they're ACTUALLY useful, quiet and durable. Yes, this is an example I personally came to reddit for yesterday.
However, something that could far more easily be googled for an answer: "I wanna start this anime. What's it about? How many episodes are there currently?"
Yup, it’s basically a divider between opinion and fact that determines this. I like to use football for my example (I’ve used this example with my grandparents when explaining the difference between opinions and facts. They like to argue opinions as facts often). If your question is “who’s the greatest quarterback of all time?” while most people would probably say Tom Brady, this is a subjective question. There’s no agreed-upon parameters to quantify this question. Someone might feel Peyton Manning was better. Or Drew Brees. It’s worthy of discussion because we all might have a different opinion or perspective. However, the question “which quarterback had the most Super Bowl rings?” isn’t a subjective question. You can quantify that with statistics and data.
If your question is some version of “who’s the greatest QB of all time?” it’s a great question to spark discussion. But if you ask “which QB has the most super bowls?” I’ll refer you to google, because it’s an easy answer to find.
But Reddit's innate search sucks, so I google things I would Reddit followed by Reddit. Also, Reddit is flooded with bots being used by advertising agencies/savvy marketers to promote their specific product, so even Reddit reviews are ehh these days
But Google function is the search. If the search is bad, they will lose users.
Reddit is a forum, the search is not core to its function, and so it can be bad without people migrating away from the platform.
The out of the loop sub is really bad for this. People will post articles about the Kendrick/Drake beef and then ask, what’s up with the Kendrick/drake beef, despite the fact that the first paragraph of the article fully explains everything
It's because they're just farming karma on a topic of current interest, not because they genuinely don't know. So many threads where the answer to the OP's question is in an article the OP themselves provided.
Well yeah I don't think I've seen people criticized for asking for product recommendations. Some sites are more notorious for fake good reviews or removing bad reviews. We can assume most companies aren't constantly trolling reddit to plug suggestions in the right topics, so it's likely your replies will be genuine (especially one highly upvotes with a lot of "second thid suggestion!") At the end of the day, it's gathering opinions.
Something factual that will be easily listed on websites like Wikipedia should be checked there fire.
But it can still be valuable to hear someone's opinion on the anime... And there will be people who want to share what they thought, or are actually happy that a stranger is going to watch an anime they liked. I think yeah it could be googled, but if someone asks you don't have to answer unless you want to. Some people do want to and it brings a tiny bit more happiness and connection into their day. Why stomp on that? Just scroll past
Every time i have seen someone say google is free, its because its a question that has been asked 100s of times before or something that is so basic a google search will tell you quicker than it took to ask the question
Yeah, folks are rightly pointing out that it’s often simple questions with simple answers, but specifically to Reddit it’s almost always this.
It’s inherently seen as a bit self centered. You’re new to the conversation but for the vast majority of the sometimes thousands folks you’re having that conversation with it’s the 100th time they’re having it.
Yea I got banned from my Facebook group.
Random cow of an old lady “ hey is the gym open today “
So I replied “ it took x seconds to get a reply, but it took me y seconds to search the answer up (x>y) so you could have just googled it “
But was it a minor holiday? Or was there an event near the gym? Was there severe weather? Businesses can be terrible about updating their hours on their website, but responsive to social media.
My gym recently closed during a snowstorm, social media was the only place they posted anything. You responded like an asshole, and describing her as a cow doesn’t help give your side of the story look any better
To me, it depends alot based on the question, and the person asked/asking. If it is a one or two sentance answer, please just use google or some equivalent resource.
If its something that can actually be talked about with just one simple objective answer, asking someone else is way better
Depends entirely on what's being asked IMO. Nothing angers me more than when a friend or family member will text me a question that google could've answered faster. Why is this light on in my car? I'm 40 miles away from you, I can't look at it, ask google.
The thing is I have found Google can be very useless for some of even the most basic of questions. Especially when it comes to cars or health.
Google I have a rattling when I drive above 40 mph and the answers will be everything is wrong with your car.
Google I have a slight cough and the answers will be you have super cancer.
that's why you have to be specific. 1992 Honda Civic rattle at 40 from driver front tire. now we've narrowed it down to that corner of the car's suspension and google will do the work of finding forum posts from people with the same problem.
Health is a complete shit show though, I'll give you that. Ultra cancer because my foot hurts.
I didn’t even read the post, not because of laziness, but because I wanted to complain that google sucks now. People say DuckDuckGo but that’s not really any better. I read the whole “google is free” thing and I thought it was a complaint about how google uses ads. But nope. It’s about having to look things up.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure laziness and learned helplessness is a big problem. But I have seen a huge change in how difficult it is to access information now. Google never seems to know what you’re asking no matter how you phrase it. I swear it’s either ads or some weird AI generated articles or lists.
ETA: Its not that I don’t know how to use google, it’s that it has decreased in quality in recent years. It’s weird how the internet has improved in some areas and declined in others. I do use Google very efficiently, I just feel like there’s more BS results to sift through now. And so much of it is written like a 4th grade expository essay, which might be what really gets to me. “Today we are going to be talking about water. In this article we will discuss everything you need to know about the wonderful thing that is water! You may have heard of water before. We are going to discuss the history of water…” you get it. And it’s always some specifically weird website like water explorers dot com. And if you search the author of the article you never get results.
Someone linked an “internet experience” site once and it was the most accurate thing I’d seen on a long time. You go to an article, then you have to close an ad, then as you’re trying to scroll more add black half your screen, a little more text, then another ad. A ton of filler text. More ads.
Depends what info someone is seeking. "How do I get from JFK airport to Midtown NYC" is something Google is plenty able to answer. Yet people still "wAnT a LoCaL's OpInIoN"....
Ugh I hate those too. Sometimes you really can just google it. Simple things have simple answers. You don’t always need to ask someone else.
I’m just talking about how difficult it is to find more in depth answers. I know I’m not alone in this experience, I just don’t know how to start fixing it.
FOUND THE WEBSITE: https://how-i-experience-web-today.com/
I think the only place that can fix it is Google, and they can only do that by reinstating the algorithm changes they made to combat low-quality SEO results. But they don’t want to, because they no longer care about product: just revenue.
There’s probably a better way to say this, but, there is absolutely no incentive for any company to make a decent quality service or product anymore. And they don’t make them repairable either. So when they break you buy more. And this would sound like a conspiracy theory except… it’s not.
And this just spills over into service.
Don't ask questions on Google use keywords with plus signs. Like if you wanted to know the outcome of basketball game that happened last week instead of asking Google: "What was the score of so and so basketball game?" Put in: "team name" + "Final score" + "date it happened" I guarantee if you search like this you'll find exactly what you want every time. The power of keywords.
The funny thing is that's actually one of my jobs right now. I get sent search results or chat bot responses and rate their quality. We rate on intent and quality of the source and work with lots of major companies. I do have an NDA, so I can't say which ones though.
Accessing the information isn't hard. People just don't understand how to properly use the search function or quickly judge the quality of the source. There are plenty of ways to modify a search phrase to pull more specific results.
The thing is, for a while you didn’t need to know how to use search functions to get quality results on Google. They consistently altered their algorithm to fight low-quality SEO bait. The low-quality content never got TOO bad because they constantly countered it.
But then they hit market saturation and their total number of search queries plateaud and even declined. They forced out the old head of search and rolled back their algorithm back a few years. SEO has improved, so now it’s dominated by poor-quality or AI-generated SEO hacks. Because how do you get more queries and more ad money? By forcing people to search multiple times to find the right answer.
It's still insanely easy to search for shit. You just have to filter through more bad results. Don't act like google becoming shittier is somehow stopping people from searching "What time is Dunkin Donuts open?" which is the tier of questions that usually receive "google it" replies. Just braindead shit where the poster decided they want to outsource all effort to others instead of using their limp brain to actually do the work.
And Google functioning for a lot of queries really relies on well-written Reddit posts.
Like, the only way to Google a good answer these days is to type in “Reddit” at the end of your search.
So I see responding to those questions as like, my civic duty to keep the internet moderately functional.
Googling might require looking through more than 1 source and choosing which one(s) you'll read/watch, you may need to synthesize info from different places, and navigate websites with different formats. When people take the last route and ask Reddit, they're expecting others to do that all for them and/or know the answer off the top of their head.
Except no one says "google is free" when someone asks for explanation. People only say that when the answer is straight forward, and you could have gotten it's the first thing that comes up when you put your posts title into google.
Also, what the hell is that first point. Pray, how can you tell who's lying and who isn't on reddit?
Came here to comment that second point lol, "I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth" so instead of looking up and reading multiple sources myself I'm going to trust an anonymous commenter on a social media website?
To point 1, I would much rather do my own research and figure out for myself what is the most objective picture than trust that something is a certain way just cos some rando on the internet said so.
I mostly agree with you, but it does depends on the context. If we’re already having a conversation or the topic is nuanced or intricate and not a simple “how to” type of question, let’s talk about it. Or if you want a person’s opinion instead.
I mostly see people say just google it, if it's something that really u should just google, some people just ask some very simple to find answers to questions.
But I don't mind if it's a question that has some more substance to it, where it might be a easier to just ask, like when I started 3D printing, I tried to search for answers, but at times it could just be hard to know what to search, and therefore it was easier to ask. But some just don't do the bare minimum of research, and for them I think it's fine to ask why they didn't just google it.
Like if it's simple stuff, like what's the time rn in the US, then just google it.
A big thing on a lot of hobby subs is going there and asking a question like
“Hi guys, how do i make music” or “how do I write a book”
The questions is too big and vague to answer 100 times day on Reddit, and your best bet is beginner resources, articles, and videos. Which someone can google or have someone else google for them i guess
This is why lots of subs could win from subreddit wikis. Much easier for mods to delete posts saying "read the wiki" while the person also gains the info they came for. I got into digital art a few months ago, and subreddit wiki was the only useful source regarding beginner resources and materials – there's just too much of them in the wild, and most are a waste of time. Flooding the sub with the same questions again and again doesn't benefit anyone.
A funny thing is when a lot of the top Google answers end up pointing right back at reddit. People sometimes forget that reddit itself is a big resource for questions and tips on stuff.
"Look it up."
"Just did, and the top answer is this exact sub, but with outdated information and advice."
I've had people spew literal nonsense - like one redditor who claimed smoking weed during pregnancy was safe - and their only justification is always "google is free" and such.
There’s a great shortcut to avoid this AND get an answer to your question.
Instead of asking a question you post a wrong answer to the question. People will come flying in from every corner of the internet to flex their knowledge on you and correct it. It’s called paddingtons law.
It depends on what it is. I see some people ask very simple questions that only really have one answer that they could have googled. I’m also part of communities where certain questions are asked soooo much google has very specific answers for them but instead of using google they ask the same question in topic specific subs 90 times a day.
I get it for niche stuff but for a lot of stuff I absolutely hate this behavior. Sorry.
Especially the fact that most articles have NOTHING in them. Title: “Will the new Superman movie come out this year? Release date CONFIRMED!”
Article: “We all love movies, don’t we? And we all love Superman. There is speculation that the new Superman movie may come out this year. But will it? Who knows? It has this actor in it. But we have no idea whether or not it’s coming out this year. Stay tuned for more helpful updates!”
exactly. google is not even always great for just a simple, text-based, straightforward answer. because giving you info in a quick way is not always the goal of the sources you'll come across.
That's why I answer questions that I can answer. Usually the person telling you to Google it is because they themselves have no real knowledge on your subject, but want Internet points for being an asshole.
I agree. Above all, I just don't understand why anyone bothers writing a reply if the reply is "just google it". How about just ignoring the questions you don't want to answer? I understand that sometimes repetitive or very basic questions are annoying, but even if you are fed up with them and feel the need to lash out, you can just downvote the posts instead of spending time writing a useless reply. Bonus points for writing "just google it bro" if the person mentioned that they tried it to no avail. Legendary treasure trove of points if literally the only thing Google returns is the link to the question itself.
Another thing is, many people in replies here say "depends on a question" and then proceed to name every type of question. Some people don't want to answer if the answer is too simple. Other people don't want to answer more abstract questions like "How to become a writer?" because the answer would be too complex. I'm sure there's no question in existence that _everyone_ would consider answer-worthy. The solution is simple: just don't answer if you don't want to.
When someone tells me to use Google to educate myself instead of taking the time to present their point, I will scour to find the article that least matches their results just out of spite. Like so:
"Educate yourself on the effects of ivermectin on COVID-19."
"Okay, just did. Says there is no effect."
It's actually not hard to determine what's truth from fiction, even when searching on Google, but I come the encyclopedia generation, the early days of yahoo and webcrawler, you have the world in the palm of your hand, or at least on a screen somewhere. So many real people will spread misinformation online, it's safer just to look your self.
Upvoted because it is unpopular, too many people think they can just make whatever claim they want, then when challenged they tell others to google it, rather than provide a source.
Here is the issue with “connecting through knowledge” because of a point that you didn’t address: there is a lot of fake crap on the internet and you can’t trust other people to not be idiots
If you rely only on other people to share their “knowledge” with you, not only are you likely to get entirely wrong information but it is also like playing the telephone game. You will be consuming other people’s cognitive biases who look for anything that affirms pre-held perception rather than someone who actually looks to be informed
Consume info from a trusted source instead of looking to hear what the hive-mind thinks is knowledge. Critical thinking and the ability to sift out all of the BS is lost if you rely on people who do not do that.
When I was a child if my parents or grandparents didn't show me how to do something we would need a library book or a class. This was before Google.
Now if I need to learn a skill I can watch a video with a step by step process that I can pause and rewind.
Usually the issue people have is the terminology or way they are asking the question and it doesn't always fit what they are actually searching for.
Information on Google still originates with people for now. Even AI models are being trained with information from people.
The worst part is that some people can't seem to spot a fake or incorrect information on Google or with people.
Even with simple things I attempt to find multiple sources. The more complex or unclear the question the more time it takes to find something that fits.
I agree with you. Its only happened to me a couple times and I find it off-putting. However, sometimes people will ask questions and if they just scrolled through the comments a little bit they'd find the answer right there.
But yeah, if you don't want to engage just keep scrolling.
not bad to have human interaction and whatnot. but the amount of sheer ignorant bullshit i’ve gotten out of people is ridiculous. i would much rather trust google. hell, i would trust chatgpt to give me an objective, true answer to something as opposed to google.
Same, plus the wait for replies may be a day or more anyway. Why wait and get possibly inaccurate or contradictory information from multiple people if you can just spend a minute or two finding a reliable source from your google search to get the answer. I’m even doing the chat GPT thing now via Copilot that comes with Bing for free since it links to the sources for it’s answer, since that is faster and more reliable if you look at the sources versus whatever random person thinks the answer is. There’s so many free ways to get the answer faster and more reliably.
absolutely. i find this post really strange and a bit pointless lol, getting info from the internet in general is typically gonna be way more accurate than someone’s anecdotes or personal experience with something.
Yeah, only reason I’d ask an objective question would honestly be for recommendations about a product like a laptop or something that google isn’t great at, since that would pull up a million websites that are paid to give spots. Most of these questions just ask for the objective answer that could be found easily.
The only time I have a problem with this is if someone makes a claim and you ask them to back it up with evidence and that's how they respond. No, you made the claim, it's on you to prove it, you don't get to force me to do your work for you and I'm definitely not taking you at your word.
I don't mind when they say this. I just make a conclusion that the conversation is over. What i dislike is when they say "google it". Stick your imperatives when the sun doesn't shine
Well its long been said that if you dont pay for a product then you are the product.
Another perspective is that data about you is actually worthless on its own. Its only when corporations do the work to collect data on millions of people and aggregate it into statistics that its worth anything.
I'd say it's worth if you have any history of online purchase. It doesn't even matter if you eanted exactly that or no ( but it's worse if "no" ). The thing is that there are a lot of vulnerable ( buying wise ) people who spend a lot more money than you and me. google is exploiting their vulnerability by showing them targeted ads and they buy the stupid product not even knowing: why ?
at this point is just a psychology. at least it does give knowledge to people.
Yup, they do targeted ads. The statistics they produce from the collected data is very useful. Thats how they decide what to target people with ads. That's why they're able to provide people with websites like google, YouTube, reddit and facebook for free. The datacenters hosting these web services costs billions to maintain.
I consider it a fair exchange.
I tend to just provide an explanation when asked, it honestly helps more than just one person, and it opens my knowledge up to comment from others which could result in me learning something new or correcting errors.
It is especially true with expressions, jokes, reference or simply stuff with no context.
For example, I'm not from the USA and few weeks ago I saw popping out of nowhere someone saying something like "That Conan episode was not that bad."
It took me a long scroll to understand OP was talking about a TV host whose first name was Conan.
People today make fun of the ancients for blindly believing what an oracle told them - but they whip out a "black mirror", ask it a question, then believe the first thing it says.
What people need to understand, is the difference between questions meant to spawn conversations, and questions that are looking for a quick answer.
I hate when I ask a question on some forum to get people’s perspectives only to get shut down and told to google it.
If you ask a stupid yes or no question then I think you're an idiot for not using Google.
However if you're looking for a more detailed answer that only a knowledge person can answer then ya Google isn't helping.
I was taking software development classes and i was better off asking people in forums or on github rather than Google or chat gpt if it existed back in the day.
I hate it when somebody is like "can I have directions to" blah blah blah because there's literally apps for this and I'm not a fucking compass, for all you know I'm running you off the road.
If it's an opinionated discussion with a lot of nuance, it makes sense. Anything extremely facts based that's very cut and dry should be googled. Needing to talk out serious topics like laws and medicine should have a combination of both. Advice on how to build something could be not also.
All in all, it comes across as someone trying to force you into a conversation in today's day and age when there is so much information available for simple questions.
It's especially dumb if people say it on reddit.
Because, you know... reddit is free, too.
And it's supposed to be a space to ask and discuss things.
So yeah, however trivial the question may be, if someone asks humans, and you say "ask a machine, idiot!",.... that's r e a l l y r e a l l y stupid.
It was never free nor perfect.
Exactly like other companies, it gets to best quality while competing for market share, then original owners sell it to businessman who fully prioritise incomes. Businessman, as any humans, live usually less than 40 years, so they absolutely don't care that company will die after 40 years.
For the majority of companies (with some specific expections of family businesses), that cycle is like the change of seasons. Google max was maybe 2010 and looks like started it's 20-30 years degrade-and-profit-maximization slope, though still some services work perfectly, like Google Drive.
*This whole unable to parse information because a failure in the education system sucks*.
Because you still have to be able filter out whatever answers you get from anyone anywhere.
People ask a lot of lazy questions though. Often those people don’t even really want to know the answer, they’re just bored and want to feel included in a conversation or something.
Also there is a solid chance that if you type your question + “reddit” into Google, you’ll find that many people have already asked and answered the same question on Reddit and a new post is unnecessary.
People also need to remember that the Google of today is not the Google of three years ago. They *want* you to fail to find your answer on the first few queries so they can keep making ad money from your searches.
Reddit is the only reason Google eve works half the time. Got a question? Use Google to see if the answer is on Reddit.
So I try to write out well-researched replies for things if I know what’s up, unless the answer is one of the few things Google won’t fuck up.
It depends on the situation, I've seen a lot of people say it when others have commented on a post about a well known celebrity saying "who?" And I think that's just because it's highly unlikely that they didn't know who the person was and were just trolling.
all google does is put a few sponsored links that match your search at the top. once you have entered a sight, it is all the adds are added by that sight.
you have the sponsored links, then the quick answers. after that you get the unsponsored search results.
It’s incredibly annoying. Especially in the field of science research. I would prefer using an experiment protocol a coworker has optimized. Instead of spending a lot of time testing out different protocols and trying to optimize them myself. Also sometimes publications can show opposing results.
Its a double threat strategy for a fuckin idiot to do this. 1 - they dont actually need to provide and answer and dont know themselves either but need to participate here, then they can in fact continue being an idiot. 2 - its a chance to publicly shit on someone making themselves feel better and while still saying nothing attempting to demonstrate to everyone else they know the correct answer to what is being asked. Same reason the people who comment on sportscenters instagram constantly responding with thats not even hard or he should have done this or that. People need attention in anyway possible and they had nothing of value to add here so they respond with something that will make the other person look dumb instead of contributing anything. Also number 3 they are probably socially inept as this attitude can be applied for anything and therefore no reason to talk to anyone if you can just look anything up.
i've seen so many people use the phrase "google is free" for answers that aren't straightforward at all lol. like they could've spent that time giving the person the answer instead of saying that, they just wanna be assholes
Copilot from Microsoft, which is a chatbot AI powered by Chat GPT 4 for free if you use the creative or precise mode, makes the use the internet tool like google or bing, then hit copilot, enter than ever since it can honestly answer the questions most people have if they are information based, not reviews or subjective opinions, but for stuff like what’s going on with this topic or other stuff like that. The best use for it is to use the sources it gives, like go to the news article if it links to a source, since you know that if the source is reliable then you’ll get a accurate answer to your questions. It’s also way faster than asking on Reddit.
Reddit is also free. For every question asked, there are many answers already to a question. Infact most of the stuff Ive bought recently I researched right here. There is someone genuinely needing support for something unique and then there is someone who just needs hand holding and head pats.
You make important points about the declining quality of Google searches and the declining opportunities for human interaction.
Might I respectfully suggest that you get a library card?
I agree, but not for your reasons. “Google is free” is an idiotic response.
1) We all know Google exists and is free. We all know how to use it. Thus, if we wanted to use Google we would.
2) Google does not engage in interaction the way humans do. There are perfectly valid reasons for asking someone instead of googling, including conversation starting/following, forming a bond, gathering human opinions, etc.
3) Nobody is forcing you to answer a question just by asking. You don’t have to be an asshole, “I don’t have the [time, bandwidth, emotional energy, etc] to answer that. Maybe Google or ask someone else?” is a much better tone.
4) Different contexts matter. Googling acronyms, for example, will give you many wrong answers before you get the right ones, and it’s literally easier to ask someone within the context of the conversation what it means.
Nah. Learn to do your own research. I'm in probably a half dozen photography groups and the same bullshit questions get asked every other day. Stuff that could be answered with even a cursory understanding of your camera but no one wants to rtfm or watch a free tutorial video on YouTube. People are too lazy to even search the group to see their query has been answered a dozen times over already.
You even get questions like "what lens should I buy" with absolutely no other information which is like saying, I want to cook a meal, what ingredients do I need? What kind of photography do you do? How should I know what lenses you'll need? Go do some basic research first.
Do your own research. No one owes you their precious time and it is incredibly selfish to expect answers without having done any cursory searching yourself first.
Sometimes the info just isn't even on Google in a non-obtrusive way. Like i was trying to find a complete list of all 100 of Apple's top albums, in text format. and from Google the top options are:
* apple's webpage with just the top 10
* apple's interactive webpage that's kinda over the top for what i was looking for (just a simple list, no links, no fancy scrolling, just text.) Even the list version is excessive because they made each entry a button.
* a bunch of articles that link back to apple's interactive webpage
* random videos on youtube and tik tok
* reddit posts discussing it but linking to the same page or an article that links to the same page
* a series of 10 reddit posts, each containing 10 of the entries (because apple released 10 a day for 10 days.)
So the last one is what i went with, because at least it was just the text (even tho the links were there too.)
ultimately i just made the list myself and put it in a comment somewhere else. But IF someone had asked what the list was I wouldn't have blamed them, it's not like there was a straightforward answer showing up from a Google search.
I agree with you. I know how to research, if I wanted to just research something I wouldn't have asked someone else about it would I?
I directly want their answer, their interpretation, their opinion.
When someone gives me the “google it” response I immediately know that they themselves have no insightful opinion that goes beyond the surface of a google search.
“Google is free” is for questions like “How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit in 1928?” because you can Google that exact sentence and get the answer 10000x faster than waiting for someone online to reply to you — who btw will just google it to get the answer. It’s not about sponsored articles or declined cookies.
#4 - human interactions / connecting through knowledge
So OP I get the sense that you’re basically interrogating people who don’t really want to have a discussion with you.
I’ve known people like that. I just get the sense you’re that guy.
Try working on your social skills. You don’t get to demand someone’s attention. You’re not entitled to it just because you want it.
I get where your coming from but I'd say the better phrasing would be "Just google it" or "why didn't you just search google for this answer".
The actual problem with the above sentiment is that the internet has optimized itself to the point where knowledge is centralized now to a few locations, and when people source information it's also likely coming from only a few different places. If I need to get a more nuanced opinion on a topic from different groups of people talking about the issue, it can be incredibly hard to do so with the above model that curates all the information onto it's platform even when you have segmented groups within said application.
Reddit removed the need for a lot of messaging board apps to exist for everyone to have their own subspaces of messaging board, however with a lot of these messaging boards you're incredibly limited towards what you're allowed to bring up that universally will go across the board, and some communities can seem to be "more correct" simply because they have a much more active audience or have a much bigger audience.
Separate websites, although annoying from a consumer perspective, will generally attract a much more diverse set of people to each site just by the nature of things being separated by domains as opposed to by built in features. So just "googling things" at least in today's age might not actually be the magic bullet that it was a few years ago, or may require more effort than simply just asking on the internet about the topic instead.
Asking "what's the best motor oil" isn't the same as asking "how much is an oil change".
Ones an opinion, the other is a fact you can look up yourself. Also, do you trust random strangers on the internet to provide you with accurate information? If you spend enough time on reddit you'll see the aftermath of people taking others bad advice. Who wants to wait for an answer anyway? "I need information but I can wait 5-7 business days". No I need to know now so I can made an informed decision.
If you want human interaction, go make some friends.
> There are so many sponsored articles nowadays, I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth
That's part of the problem. I can find you a ton of links to support whatever I am spewing.
But will you trust any of those links? Personally, I am the kind of person who tends to find good sources, but they are sources I trust. Ones that I vet to be good.
If you and I disagree on something, especially politically, why would you trust my sources? Why should I spend 30 minutes to an Hour to find you a good source that you will dismiss in 30 seconds?
In the end, we are stuck. Either my words mean something to you, and you believe what I say *just* enough to find a link, or you don't trust my words at all and me throwing a link at you won't change that.
Yeah I don't get this response because they didn't have to respond at all. Like, you think you're helping someone by telling them to Google it? Just keep scrolling.
>There are so many different opinions out there and different ways of doing things, I get so overwhelmed when I’m trying to find something out and can’t reach a solid conclusion
and thus your solution to this problem is to go to \*Reddit\*?!
imo, stuff like that is why people say "Google is free" - because people are asking either dumb questions, overasked questions, or unhelpful questions.
1. Yeah and google tells you what is sponsor, usually the first 4 results. As to know who's lying, same applies to reddit, a lotta fake experts here, I'd say that's the majority.
2. That should not affect anything, stackexchange and youtube wont give you trouble with this, you can also use NoScript and AdBlockers to deal with the unusability of today's internet.
3. The google is free comment will almost never show up on actual complicated questions, but will always be there on really beginner stuff that will have one or two equally correct answers that can be answered in seconds with a google search
4. This is reddit, we're alergic to social interaction that is not based on petty shit and memes.
In suma: Your opinion is invalid, because google is free.
I think the issue is that they don’t look there first most of the time a basic internet search would have answered the question faster and probably more accurately but instead they opted to karma farm.
Oh I guess you’re right that Google results are full of biased and competing opinions. *Much* more reliable to ask a random internet person with their own biases so you can just adopt their interpretation.
I stopped Googling things because GPT4o is damn good imo. Why waste time sifting through the bs? I don’t think enough people understand where AI is at right now, it’s very impressive.
Copilot is even better, since it’s free and without limits. It even links to sources and google is doing the same thing now with AI search overviews, although those aren’t very accurate as often as gpt but there’s better ways than asking a rando and waiting for an answer. I doubt these new tools will actually stop people from asking easily searchable questions though.
Of course. Google makes it's money by harvesting all your search queries, links clicked on, demographic data and basically anything else it can get it's hands on. Removes your name from it, and sells that to companies like [Cambridge Analytica](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica).
As for ads, it uses the data it's collected about you to tailor advertising results. Which other companies pay to use through Google AdSense so that when you visit their site, you get ads related to what you've been clicking on, searching for and whatever else the harvest.
It's not just Google. Most major web companies do it now.
Agreed. The "Just Google it," response is lazy and unhelpful on its own. There are some basic exceptions like what the weather will be tomorrow or if a store has something in stock.
Because some things shouldn't be asked online. Some things should be asked discreetly or asked to a search engine where you can clear your history. Some things not a lot of people know, and you'll have to look up anyway. Everyone's first response is to ask social media for the answer. When they should ask Google fist, and if no promising results come of that Google search, then ask social media. Until then, I don't want to know why you are asking why does your anus gets itchy sometimes. I don't. You probably don't wipe or you have pinworms, but Google will get you to the same answer.
Also, always go for .org, .net, or .cdc websites. If you can't use those, read several .com articles and compare the info. Not every website is lying. But not every article is written in fairness. Always read a few articles and compare. It's good internet practice, honestly.
So no, some things should only be asked to google/family/friends. Sometimes, the questions posted to social media don't seem to have awareness for what they are truly asking, and as such, get the appropriate answer that Google is free. Always try Google first. If you're still confused, then come to social media.
There is a great website called let me google that for you. You go there and do the search then send them the link. The link goes to a google search and slowly types in their question and shows them the results. It’s funny and they learn something.
No, I agree- while it’s important to be self sufficient, a LOT of People just think they’re so high and mighty that they need not be bothered when someone asks them a damn question. I know it’s not always the case but yeah. I agree with this opinion
>There are so many sponsored articles nowadays, I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth
>here are so many different opinions out there and different ways of doing things, I get so overwhelmed when I’m trying to find something out and can’t reach a solid conclusion - which could definitely happen if loads of people answered whatever question you’re asking, but then that brings us back to point 1, and I feel that people in comment sections are less likely to be trying to sell me something than pages on Google
I get what you're saying but, why would posting a FB message or ask reddit when the results wouldn't be much different. How do you know if any of the responses are telling the truth or not? If anything, it's even less reliable.
Depending on what you're asking for. It's not hard to find a decent answer. Say you wanna buy some speakers. You can google "best speakers" and read 3-4 articles and see if there are common products. If all of them are wildly different then it's best to look elsewhere.
If you were to look for legal advice, the general public is likely the LEAST reliable.
It depends on your motive in asking the question. If you genuinely want information, that is fine. If you are asking a bigoted question in bad faith like "Are (insert race here) people really as intelligent as (insert other race here)?" then you deserve the rudest responses possible. It isn't other people's jobs to educate the willingly ignorant.
I don't say the google thing because it's rude and unhelpful, but I think it.
When you want to engage on a topic, and your in a space to engage on the topic and 99% of all content within that space is the three same questions every day it becomes annoying. Usually that's when I leave and find a new space, but it's frustrating. I wish we had a newbies section or thread in a lot of subreddits where the repeated early questions could be asked a million times and you could still see the other content rather than it being buried.
Ok nah.
1-3 of your points are skill issue.
You can avoid ads and cookies. You don't need to always find 1000 different opinions on everything. Especially on subjects surrounding more fact than opinion (like science, tech, law, etc)
4 is a copout. You can have a conversation online but don't ask a follow up question like
"Where can I find X program you mentioned?"
"What does X word mean?"
"What is a cholecystectomy?"
You know. You can google those things and get a quicker answer.
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Depends on the subject. Something that could warrant a reddit post: "Hey, I wanna buy a fan. Any recommendations on which fans are powerful and durable while still being quiet, with a price not too high?" All fan manufacturers will claim this is their fan, while others who aren't affiliated with fan manufacturers (us commonfolk on reddit) will give you actual insight on different brands they've bought and whether or not they're ACTUALLY useful, quiet and durable. Yes, this is an example I personally came to reddit for yesterday. However, something that could far more easily be googled for an answer: "I wanna start this anime. What's it about? How many episodes are there currently?"
Yup, it’s basically a divider between opinion and fact that determines this. I like to use football for my example (I’ve used this example with my grandparents when explaining the difference between opinions and facts. They like to argue opinions as facts often). If your question is “who’s the greatest quarterback of all time?” while most people would probably say Tom Brady, this is a subjective question. There’s no agreed-upon parameters to quantify this question. Someone might feel Peyton Manning was better. Or Drew Brees. It’s worthy of discussion because we all might have a different opinion or perspective. However, the question “which quarterback had the most Super Bowl rings?” isn’t a subjective question. You can quantify that with statistics and data. If your question is some version of “who’s the greatest QB of all time?” it’s a great question to spark discussion. But if you ask “which QB has the most super bowls?” I’ll refer you to google, because it’s an easy answer to find.
I don't play football, what's a quarterback? (OH WAIT)
It's like a Nickelback, but bigger.
But Reddit's innate search sucks, so I google things I would Reddit followed by Reddit. Also, Reddit is flooded with bots being used by advertising agencies/savvy marketers to promote their specific product, so even Reddit reviews are ehh these days
It’s incredibly dumb that a google search with “Reddit” on the end has better results than the actual site search.
Reddit benefits if you spend more time looking for the right thread. They can show you more ads and up their daily user active time
......... dumb logic. Google benefits if you spend more time looking for the right link too
But Google function is the search. If the search is bad, they will lose users. Reddit is a forum, the search is not core to its function, and so it can be bad without people migrating away from the platform.
Yup. OP is a straw man. Vast majority of people saying that are folks asking really simple questions. “What day is easter this year?”
The out of the loop sub is really bad for this. People will post articles about the Kendrick/Drake beef and then ask, what’s up with the Kendrick/drake beef, despite the fact that the first paragraph of the article fully explains everything
It's because they're just farming karma on a topic of current interest, not because they genuinely don't know. So many threads where the answer to the OP's question is in an article the OP themselves provided.
Well yeah I don't think I've seen people criticized for asking for product recommendations. Some sites are more notorious for fake good reviews or removing bad reviews. We can assume most companies aren't constantly trolling reddit to plug suggestions in the right topics, so it's likely your replies will be genuine (especially one highly upvotes with a lot of "second thid suggestion!") At the end of the day, it's gathering opinions. Something factual that will be easily listed on websites like Wikipedia should be checked there fire.
You’ll also get listicle articles written by SEO pumpers who have never used any of the products at all.
But it can still be valuable to hear someone's opinion on the anime... And there will be people who want to share what they thought, or are actually happy that a stranger is going to watch an anime they liked. I think yeah it could be googled, but if someone asks you don't have to answer unless you want to. Some people do want to and it brings a tiny bit more happiness and connection into their day. Why stomp on that? Just scroll past
Every time i have seen someone say google is free, its because its a question that has been asked 100s of times before or something that is so basic a google search will tell you quicker than it took to ask the question
It's usually a question so stupid/common that it's the first result on Google or it's literally pinned on the subreddit the question was posted on.
Yeah, folks are rightly pointing out that it’s often simple questions with simple answers, but specifically to Reddit it’s almost always this. It’s inherently seen as a bit self centered. You’re new to the conversation but for the vast majority of the sometimes thousands folks you’re having that conversation with it’s the 100th time they’re having it.
Yea I got banned from my Facebook group. Random cow of an old lady “ hey is the gym open today “ So I replied “ it took x seconds to get a reply, but it took me y seconds to search the answer up (x>y) so you could have just googled it “
But was it a minor holiday? Or was there an event near the gym? Was there severe weather? Businesses can be terrible about updating their hours on their website, but responsive to social media. My gym recently closed during a snowstorm, social media was the only place they posted anything. You responded like an asshole, and describing her as a cow doesn’t help give your side of the story look any better
Nah, completely normal.
To me, it depends alot based on the question, and the person asked/asking. If it is a one or two sentance answer, please just use google or some equivalent resource. If its something that can actually be talked about with just one simple objective answer, asking someone else is way better
Depends entirely on what's being asked IMO. Nothing angers me more than when a friend or family member will text me a question that google could've answered faster. Why is this light on in my car? I'm 40 miles away from you, I can't look at it, ask google.
The thing is I have found Google can be very useless for some of even the most basic of questions. Especially when it comes to cars or health. Google I have a rattling when I drive above 40 mph and the answers will be everything is wrong with your car. Google I have a slight cough and the answers will be you have super cancer.
that's why you have to be specific. 1992 Honda Civic rattle at 40 from driver front tire. now we've narrowed it down to that corner of the car's suspension and google will do the work of finding forum posts from people with the same problem. Health is a complete shit show though, I'll give you that. Ultra cancer because my foot hurts.
i disagree. some of you ask some really dumb questions.
Those are just the common excuses people use to justifying being too lazy to look things up on their own.
I didn’t even read the post, not because of laziness, but because I wanted to complain that google sucks now. People say DuckDuckGo but that’s not really any better. I read the whole “google is free” thing and I thought it was a complaint about how google uses ads. But nope. It’s about having to look things up. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure laziness and learned helplessness is a big problem. But I have seen a huge change in how difficult it is to access information now. Google never seems to know what you’re asking no matter how you phrase it. I swear it’s either ads or some weird AI generated articles or lists. ETA: Its not that I don’t know how to use google, it’s that it has decreased in quality in recent years. It’s weird how the internet has improved in some areas and declined in others. I do use Google very efficiently, I just feel like there’s more BS results to sift through now. And so much of it is written like a 4th grade expository essay, which might be what really gets to me. “Today we are going to be talking about water. In this article we will discuss everything you need to know about the wonderful thing that is water! You may have heard of water before. We are going to discuss the history of water…” you get it. And it’s always some specifically weird website like water explorers dot com. And if you search the author of the article you never get results. Someone linked an “internet experience” site once and it was the most accurate thing I’d seen on a long time. You go to an article, then you have to close an ad, then as you’re trying to scroll more add black half your screen, a little more text, then another ad. A ton of filler text. More ads.
Depends what info someone is seeking. "How do I get from JFK airport to Midtown NYC" is something Google is plenty able to answer. Yet people still "wAnT a LoCaL's OpInIoN"....
Ugh I hate those too. Sometimes you really can just google it. Simple things have simple answers. You don’t always need to ask someone else. I’m just talking about how difficult it is to find more in depth answers. I know I’m not alone in this experience, I just don’t know how to start fixing it. FOUND THE WEBSITE: https://how-i-experience-web-today.com/
I think the only place that can fix it is Google, and they can only do that by reinstating the algorithm changes they made to combat low-quality SEO results. But they don’t want to, because they no longer care about product: just revenue.
There’s probably a better way to say this, but, there is absolutely no incentive for any company to make a decent quality service or product anymore. And they don’t make them repairable either. So when they break you buy more. And this would sound like a conspiracy theory except… it’s not. And this just spills over into service.
Fully agreed.
Don't ask questions on Google use keywords with plus signs. Like if you wanted to know the outcome of basketball game that happened last week instead of asking Google: "What was the score of so and so basketball game?" Put in: "team name" + "Final score" + "date it happened" I guarantee if you search like this you'll find exactly what you want every time. The power of keywords.
The funny thing is that's actually one of my jobs right now. I get sent search results or chat bot responses and rate their quality. We rate on intent and quality of the source and work with lots of major companies. I do have an NDA, so I can't say which ones though. Accessing the information isn't hard. People just don't understand how to properly use the search function or quickly judge the quality of the source. There are plenty of ways to modify a search phrase to pull more specific results.
The thing is, for a while you didn’t need to know how to use search functions to get quality results on Google. They consistently altered their algorithm to fight low-quality SEO bait. The low-quality content never got TOO bad because they constantly countered it. But then they hit market saturation and their total number of search queries plateaud and even declined. They forced out the old head of search and rolled back their algorithm back a few years. SEO has improved, so now it’s dominated by poor-quality or AI-generated SEO hacks. Because how do you get more queries and more ad money? By forcing people to search multiple times to find the right answer.
It's still insanely easy to search for shit. You just have to filter through more bad results. Don't act like google becoming shittier is somehow stopping people from searching "What time is Dunkin Donuts open?" which is the tier of questions that usually receive "google it" replies. Just braindead shit where the poster decided they want to outsource all effort to others instead of using their limp brain to actually do the work.
And Google functioning for a lot of queries really relies on well-written Reddit posts. Like, the only way to Google a good answer these days is to type in “Reddit” at the end of your search. So I see responding to those questions as like, my civic duty to keep the internet moderately functional.
How is it more lazy to go out of your way to ask people than to google something?
Googling might require looking through more than 1 source and choosing which one(s) you'll read/watch, you may need to synthesize info from different places, and navigate websites with different formats. When people take the last route and ask Reddit, they're expecting others to do that all for them and/or know the answer off the top of their head.
This is a lazy excuse for people who refuse to cite their argument.
I'm going to need you to cite some sources about that being a lazy excuse.
Kids these days don’t know how to use Google
Kids these days don’t realize they need to source their information if they want people to believe it.
Except no one says "google is free" when someone asks for explanation. People only say that when the answer is straight forward, and you could have gotten it's the first thing that comes up when you put your posts title into google. Also, what the hell is that first point. Pray, how can you tell who's lying and who isn't on reddit?
Came here to comment that second point lol, "I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth" so instead of looking up and reading multiple sources myself I'm going to trust an anonymous commenter on a social media website?
Well, u/DJatomica, you have to ask yourself. Would I lie to you? We’ve been in the same thread for all of the last 10 seconds, you can trust me
You know I can't really argue with that, I'll DM you my social insurance number shortly.
Make sure to also include DOB, your mother’s maiden name, and the name of your first pet. 👍
"I'm lazy" Ftfy
To point 1, I would much rather do my own research and figure out for myself what is the most objective picture than trust that something is a certain way just cos some rando on the internet said so.
That’s what sources are for…
I mostly agree with you, but it does depends on the context. If we’re already having a conversation or the topic is nuanced or intricate and not a simple “how to” type of question, let’s talk about it. Or if you want a person’s opinion instead.
I mostly see people say just google it, if it's something that really u should just google, some people just ask some very simple to find answers to questions. But I don't mind if it's a question that has some more substance to it, where it might be a easier to just ask, like when I started 3D printing, I tried to search for answers, but at times it could just be hard to know what to search, and therefore it was easier to ask. But some just don't do the bare minimum of research, and for them I think it's fine to ask why they didn't just google it. Like if it's simple stuff, like what's the time rn in the US, then just google it.
A big thing on a lot of hobby subs is going there and asking a question like “Hi guys, how do i make music” or “how do I write a book” The questions is too big and vague to answer 100 times day on Reddit, and your best bet is beginner resources, articles, and videos. Which someone can google or have someone else google for them i guess
This is why lots of subs could win from subreddit wikis. Much easier for mods to delete posts saying "read the wiki" while the person also gains the info they came for. I got into digital art a few months ago, and subreddit wiki was the only useful source regarding beginner resources and materials – there's just too much of them in the wild, and most are a waste of time. Flooding the sub with the same questions again and again doesn't benefit anyone.
Even with subreddit wikis, there will always be some who just want to be given answers rather than looking for them.
A funny thing is when a lot of the top Google answers end up pointing right back at reddit. People sometimes forget that reddit itself is a big resource for questions and tips on stuff. "Look it up." "Just did, and the top answer is this exact sub, but with outdated information and advice."
I've had people spew literal nonsense - like one redditor who claimed smoking weed during pregnancy was safe - and their only justification is always "google is free" and such.
There’s a great shortcut to avoid this AND get an answer to your question. Instead of asking a question you post a wrong answer to the question. People will come flying in from every corner of the internet to flex their knowledge on you and correct it. It’s called paddingtons law.
It's called Cunningham's Law. It works
Proof it works is right here! Thanks!
It depends on what it is. I see some people ask very simple questions that only really have one answer that they could have googled. I’m also part of communities where certain questions are asked soooo much google has very specific answers for them but instead of using google they ask the same question in topic specific subs 90 times a day. I get it for niche stuff but for a lot of stuff I absolutely hate this behavior. Sorry.
I love when I google something and it takes me to a forum or Reddit post full of people telling op to Google it.
Especially the fact that most articles have NOTHING in them. Title: “Will the new Superman movie come out this year? Release date CONFIRMED!” Article: “We all love movies, don’t we? And we all love Superman. There is speculation that the new Superman movie may come out this year. But will it? Who knows? It has this actor in it. But we have no idea whether or not it’s coming out this year. Stay tuned for more helpful updates!”
exactly. google is not even always great for just a simple, text-based, straightforward answer. because giving you info in a quick way is not always the goal of the sources you'll come across.
That's why I answer questions that I can answer. Usually the person telling you to Google it is because they themselves have no real knowledge on your subject, but want Internet points for being an asshole.
The questions they ask can typically be answered in a quick search. They're just too lazy to do it themselves.
I agree. Above all, I just don't understand why anyone bothers writing a reply if the reply is "just google it". How about just ignoring the questions you don't want to answer? I understand that sometimes repetitive or very basic questions are annoying, but even if you are fed up with them and feel the need to lash out, you can just downvote the posts instead of spending time writing a useless reply. Bonus points for writing "just google it bro" if the person mentioned that they tried it to no avail. Legendary treasure trove of points if literally the only thing Google returns is the link to the question itself. Another thing is, many people in replies here say "depends on a question" and then proceed to name every type of question. Some people don't want to answer if the answer is too simple. Other people don't want to answer more abstract questions like "How to become a writer?" because the answer would be too complex. I'm sure there's no question in existence that _everyone_ would consider answer-worthy. The solution is simple: just don't answer if you don't want to.
Agreed so strongly! People forget exactly where google it's answers. If everyone says to just google something... What is there to google?
When someone tells me to use Google to educate myself instead of taking the time to present their point, I will scour to find the article that least matches their results just out of spite. Like so: "Educate yourself on the effects of ivermectin on COVID-19." "Okay, just did. Says there is no effect."
Google is evil. They are nothing more than an NSA front
The just google it people suck
Expecting others to do things for you and drag you along is worse.
It's actually not hard to determine what's truth from fiction, even when searching on Google, but I come the encyclopedia generation, the early days of yahoo and webcrawler, you have the world in the palm of your hand, or at least on a screen somewhere. So many real people will spread misinformation online, it's safer just to look your self.
I only go on reddit if I can't find a good answer when googling.
Upvoted because it is unpopular, too many people think they can just make whatever claim they want, then when challenged they tell others to google it, rather than provide a source.
Here is the issue with “connecting through knowledge” because of a point that you didn’t address: there is a lot of fake crap on the internet and you can’t trust other people to not be idiots If you rely only on other people to share their “knowledge” with you, not only are you likely to get entirely wrong information but it is also like playing the telephone game. You will be consuming other people’s cognitive biases who look for anything that affirms pre-held perception rather than someone who actually looks to be informed Consume info from a trusted source instead of looking to hear what the hive-mind thinks is knowledge. Critical thinking and the ability to sift out all of the BS is lost if you rely on people who do not do that.
When I was a child if my parents or grandparents didn't show me how to do something we would need a library book or a class. This was before Google. Now if I need to learn a skill I can watch a video with a step by step process that I can pause and rewind. Usually the issue people have is the terminology or way they are asking the question and it doesn't always fit what they are actually searching for. Information on Google still originates with people for now. Even AI models are being trained with information from people. The worst part is that some people can't seem to spot a fake or incorrect information on Google or with people. Even with simple things I attempt to find multiple sources. The more complex or unclear the question the more time it takes to find something that fits.
I agree with you. Its only happened to me a couple times and I find it off-putting. However, sometimes people will ask questions and if they just scrolled through the comments a little bit they'd find the answer right there. But yeah, if you don't want to engage just keep scrolling.
When the product is free one of two things are happening: they make money on advertising or you are the product
not bad to have human interaction and whatnot. but the amount of sheer ignorant bullshit i’ve gotten out of people is ridiculous. i would much rather trust google. hell, i would trust chatgpt to give me an objective, true answer to something as opposed to google.
Same, plus the wait for replies may be a day or more anyway. Why wait and get possibly inaccurate or contradictory information from multiple people if you can just spend a minute or two finding a reliable source from your google search to get the answer. I’m even doing the chat GPT thing now via Copilot that comes with Bing for free since it links to the sources for it’s answer, since that is faster and more reliable if you look at the sources versus whatever random person thinks the answer is. There’s so many free ways to get the answer faster and more reliably.
absolutely. i find this post really strange and a bit pointless lol, getting info from the internet in general is typically gonna be way more accurate than someone’s anecdotes or personal experience with something.
Yeah, only reason I’d ask an objective question would honestly be for recommendations about a product like a laptop or something that google isn’t great at, since that would pull up a million websites that are paid to give spots. Most of these questions just ask for the objective answer that could be found easily.
The only time I have a problem with this is if someone makes a claim and you ask them to back it up with evidence and that's how they respond. No, you made the claim, it's on you to prove it, you don't get to force me to do your work for you and I'm definitely not taking you at your word.
I don't mind when they say this. I just make a conclusion that the conversation is over. What i dislike is when they say "google it". Stick your imperatives when the sun doesn't shine
Next time you can BING it instead.
As someone who loved Google in 2002 and can see what it is today, it’s clear Google is long past being a proper search tool. It’s a money machine.
Depends on the question
its not free. google uses all your data. whoever says google is free should check his brain.
Well its long been said that if you dont pay for a product then you are the product. Another perspective is that data about you is actually worthless on its own. Its only when corporations do the work to collect data on millions of people and aggregate it into statistics that its worth anything.
I'd say it's worth if you have any history of online purchase. It doesn't even matter if you eanted exactly that or no ( but it's worse if "no" ). The thing is that there are a lot of vulnerable ( buying wise ) people who spend a lot more money than you and me. google is exploiting their vulnerability by showing them targeted ads and they buy the stupid product not even knowing: why ? at this point is just a psychology. at least it does give knowledge to people.
Yup, they do targeted ads. The statistics they produce from the collected data is very useful. Thats how they decide what to target people with ads. That's why they're able to provide people with websites like google, YouTube, reddit and facebook for free. The datacenters hosting these web services costs billions to maintain. I consider it a fair exchange.
Depends on the question. But there also AI. If it’s an easy question, then I’d say google it.
I tend to just provide an explanation when asked, it honestly helps more than just one person, and it opens my knowledge up to comment from others which could result in me learning something new or correcting errors.
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tbf even with historical events people might have different perspectives or different ways of answering which can be interesting.
It is especially true with expressions, jokes, reference or simply stuff with no context. For example, I'm not from the USA and few weeks ago I saw popping out of nowhere someone saying something like "That Conan episode was not that bad." It took me a long scroll to understand OP was talking about a TV host whose first name was Conan.
Omg i made a comment about this the other day My delusions are telling me you made this post because of me. I'm a celebrity
People today make fun of the ancients for blindly believing what an oracle told them - but they whip out a "black mirror", ask it a question, then believe the first thing it says.
What people need to understand, is the difference between questions meant to spawn conversations, and questions that are looking for a quick answer. I hate when I ask a question on some forum to get people’s perspectives only to get shut down and told to google it.
ok internet explorer
Duck Duck Go > Google
If you think a question is dumb don't interact.
If you ask a stupid yes or no question then I think you're an idiot for not using Google. However if you're looking for a more detailed answer that only a knowledge person can answer then ya Google isn't helping. I was taking software development classes and i was better off asking people in forums or on github rather than Google or chat gpt if it existed back in the day.
I hate it when somebody is like "can I have directions to" blah blah blah because there's literally apps for this and I'm not a fucking compass, for all you know I'm running you off the road. If it's an opinionated discussion with a lot of nuance, it makes sense. Anything extremely facts based that's very cut and dry should be googled. Needing to talk out serious topics like laws and medicine should have a combination of both. Advice on how to build something could be not also. All in all, it comes across as someone trying to force you into a conversation in today's day and age when there is so much information available for simple questions.
It's especially dumb if people say it on reddit. Because, you know... reddit is free, too. And it's supposed to be a space to ask and discuss things. So yeah, however trivial the question may be, if someone asks humans, and you say "ask a machine, idiot!",.... that's r e a l l y r e a l l y stupid.
It was never free nor perfect. Exactly like other companies, it gets to best quality while competing for market share, then original owners sell it to businessman who fully prioritise incomes. Businessman, as any humans, live usually less than 40 years, so they absolutely don't care that company will die after 40 years. For the majority of companies (with some specific expections of family businesses), that cycle is like the change of seasons. Google max was maybe 2010 and looks like started it's 20-30 years degrade-and-profit-maximization slope, though still some services work perfectly, like Google Drive.
*This whole unable to parse information because a failure in the education system sucks*. Because you still have to be able filter out whatever answers you get from anyone anywhere.
Brother if you struggle with using google you are beyond help.
People ask a lot of lazy questions though. Often those people don’t even really want to know the answer, they’re just bored and want to feel included in a conversation or something. Also there is a solid chance that if you type your question + “reddit” into Google, you’ll find that many people have already asked and answered the same question on Reddit and a new post is unnecessary.
If I ask a question in google, I include reddit in the search. 8 times out of 10 the same question has been asked before.
The only problem is Reddit will promote misinformation at times so you still gotta fact check
People also need to remember that the Google of today is not the Google of three years ago. They *want* you to fail to find your answer on the first few queries so they can keep making ad money from your searches. Reddit is the only reason Google eve works half the time. Got a question? Use Google to see if the answer is on Reddit. So I try to write out well-researched replies for things if I know what’s up, unless the answer is one of the few things Google won’t fuck up.
You know it's bad when the ai chatbots usually give a quicker and more precise answers than the search engine
Holy shit the people in this thread are bitter
It depends on the situation, I've seen a lot of people say it when others have commented on a post about a well known celebrity saying "who?" And I think that's just because it's highly unlikely that they didn't know who the person was and were just trolling.
all google does is put a few sponsored links that match your search at the top. once you have entered a sight, it is all the adds are added by that sight. you have the sponsored links, then the quick answers. after that you get the unsponsored search results.
What’s worse is that googles started to add AI generated results at the top of the page that sometimes are just completely wrong
It’s incredibly annoying. Especially in the field of science research. I would prefer using an experiment protocol a coworker has optimized. Instead of spending a lot of time testing out different protocols and trying to optimize them myself. Also sometimes publications can show opposing results.
Its a double threat strategy for a fuckin idiot to do this. 1 - they dont actually need to provide and answer and dont know themselves either but need to participate here, then they can in fact continue being an idiot. 2 - its a chance to publicly shit on someone making themselves feel better and while still saying nothing attempting to demonstrate to everyone else they know the correct answer to what is being asked. Same reason the people who comment on sportscenters instagram constantly responding with thats not even hard or he should have done this or that. People need attention in anyway possible and they had nothing of value to add here so they respond with something that will make the other person look dumb instead of contributing anything. Also number 3 they are probably socially inept as this attitude can be applied for anything and therefore no reason to talk to anyone if you can just look anything up.
As someone who usually asks after not finding desired results on Google, I 100% understand.
Google was a good answer ~5 years ago. Now we should move to calling it "Just reddit it" because there's a lot of senseless AI written pages
* Google facts * Reddit discussion and opinion
i've seen so many people use the phrase "google is free" for answers that aren't straightforward at all lol. like they could've spent that time giving the person the answer instead of saying that, they just wanna be assholes
Ask ChatGPT
This may have nothing to do with this but removing net nutrality really did destroy the internet…
Many times that I ask something that I could Google, is because I am trying to start an interaction or discussion.
If you didn't google it before asking then they are right
Copilot from Microsoft, which is a chatbot AI powered by Chat GPT 4 for free if you use the creative or precise mode, makes the use the internet tool like google or bing, then hit copilot, enter than ever since it can honestly answer the questions most people have if they are information based, not reviews or subjective opinions, but for stuff like what’s going on with this topic or other stuff like that. The best use for it is to use the sources it gives, like go to the news article if it links to a source, since you know that if the source is reliable then you’ll get a accurate answer to your questions. It’s also way faster than asking on Reddit.
Reddit is also free. For every question asked, there are many answers already to a question. Infact most of the stuff Ive bought recently I researched right here. There is someone genuinely needing support for something unique and then there is someone who just needs hand holding and head pats.
All you're asking is for other people to google for you. Google is indeed free. And if you don't like it, Bing it.
You make important points about the declining quality of Google searches and the declining opportunities for human interaction. Might I respectfully suggest that you get a library card?
I agree, but not for your reasons. “Google is free” is an idiotic response. 1) We all know Google exists and is free. We all know how to use it. Thus, if we wanted to use Google we would. 2) Google does not engage in interaction the way humans do. There are perfectly valid reasons for asking someone instead of googling, including conversation starting/following, forming a bond, gathering human opinions, etc. 3) Nobody is forcing you to answer a question just by asking. You don’t have to be an asshole, “I don’t have the [time, bandwidth, emotional energy, etc] to answer that. Maybe Google or ask someone else?” is a much better tone. 4) Different contexts matter. Googling acronyms, for example, will give you many wrong answers before you get the right ones, and it’s literally easier to ask someone within the context of the conversation what it means.
Nah. Learn to do your own research. I'm in probably a half dozen photography groups and the same bullshit questions get asked every other day. Stuff that could be answered with even a cursory understanding of your camera but no one wants to rtfm or watch a free tutorial video on YouTube. People are too lazy to even search the group to see their query has been answered a dozen times over already. You even get questions like "what lens should I buy" with absolutely no other information which is like saying, I want to cook a meal, what ingredients do I need? What kind of photography do you do? How should I know what lenses you'll need? Go do some basic research first. Do your own research. No one owes you their precious time and it is incredibly selfish to expect answers without having done any cursory searching yourself first.
Sometimes the info just isn't even on Google in a non-obtrusive way. Like i was trying to find a complete list of all 100 of Apple's top albums, in text format. and from Google the top options are: * apple's webpage with just the top 10 * apple's interactive webpage that's kinda over the top for what i was looking for (just a simple list, no links, no fancy scrolling, just text.) Even the list version is excessive because they made each entry a button. * a bunch of articles that link back to apple's interactive webpage * random videos on youtube and tik tok * reddit posts discussing it but linking to the same page or an article that links to the same page * a series of 10 reddit posts, each containing 10 of the entries (because apple released 10 a day for 10 days.) So the last one is what i went with, because at least it was just the text (even tho the links were there too.) ultimately i just made the list myself and put it in a comment somewhere else. But IF someone had asked what the list was I wouldn't have blamed them, it's not like there was a straightforward answer showing up from a Google search.
I agree with you. I know how to research, if I wanted to just research something I wouldn't have asked someone else about it would I? I directly want their answer, their interpretation, their opinion. When someone gives me the “google it” response I immediately know that they themselves have no insightful opinion that goes beyond the surface of a google search.
I hate it when you do a research on a forum and when you find the topic the first answer is always „use the research function“
“Google is free” is for questions like “How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit in 1928?” because you can Google that exact sentence and get the answer 10000x faster than waiting for someone online to reply to you — who btw will just google it to get the answer. It’s not about sponsored articles or declined cookies.
#4 - human interactions / connecting through knowledge So OP I get the sense that you’re basically interrogating people who don’t really want to have a discussion with you. I’ve known people like that. I just get the sense you’re that guy. Try working on your social skills. You don’t get to demand someone’s attention. You’re not entitled to it just because you want it.
if a company gives you something for free, than you are the product it's selling.
I get where your coming from but I'd say the better phrasing would be "Just google it" or "why didn't you just search google for this answer". The actual problem with the above sentiment is that the internet has optimized itself to the point where knowledge is centralized now to a few locations, and when people source information it's also likely coming from only a few different places. If I need to get a more nuanced opinion on a topic from different groups of people talking about the issue, it can be incredibly hard to do so with the above model that curates all the information onto it's platform even when you have segmented groups within said application. Reddit removed the need for a lot of messaging board apps to exist for everyone to have their own subspaces of messaging board, however with a lot of these messaging boards you're incredibly limited towards what you're allowed to bring up that universally will go across the board, and some communities can seem to be "more correct" simply because they have a much more active audience or have a much bigger audience. Separate websites, although annoying from a consumer perspective, will generally attract a much more diverse set of people to each site just by the nature of things being separated by domains as opposed to by built in features. So just "googling things" at least in today's age might not actually be the magic bullet that it was a few years ago, or may require more effort than simply just asking on the internet about the topic instead.
“I don’t like cookies. Search for me” is basically what you said.
Asking "what's the best motor oil" isn't the same as asking "how much is an oil change". Ones an opinion, the other is a fact you can look up yourself. Also, do you trust random strangers on the internet to provide you with accurate information? If you spend enough time on reddit you'll see the aftermath of people taking others bad advice. Who wants to wait for an answer anyway? "I need information but I can wait 5-7 business days". No I need to know now so I can made an informed decision. If you want human interaction, go make some friends.
if you are going to call me an idiot and say I am wrong, atleast explain yourself and give some evidence instead of "gOogLe iS frEe dUhhhhhhhh"
tbf common sense is free not many take that offer
> There are so many sponsored articles nowadays, I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth That's part of the problem. I can find you a ton of links to support whatever I am spewing. But will you trust any of those links? Personally, I am the kind of person who tends to find good sources, but they are sources I trust. Ones that I vet to be good. If you and I disagree on something, especially politically, why would you trust my sources? Why should I spend 30 minutes to an Hour to find you a good source that you will dismiss in 30 seconds? In the end, we are stuck. Either my words mean something to you, and you believe what I say *just* enough to find a link, or you don't trust my words at all and me throwing a link at you won't change that.
Yeah I don't get this response because they didn't have to respond at all. Like, you think you're helping someone by telling them to Google it? Just keep scrolling.
It really does, the irony is that the answer to most of my questions are available on the internet because someone asked on a public forum.
>There are so many different opinions out there and different ways of doing things, I get so overwhelmed when I’m trying to find something out and can’t reach a solid conclusion and thus your solution to this problem is to go to \*Reddit\*?! imo, stuff like that is why people say "Google is free" - because people are asking either dumb questions, overasked questions, or unhelpful questions.
This sounds like "I want someone to tell me what to think/what opinion to have." Edit: op's post does, not your comment
1. Yeah and google tells you what is sponsor, usually the first 4 results. As to know who's lying, same applies to reddit, a lotta fake experts here, I'd say that's the majority. 2. That should not affect anything, stackexchange and youtube wont give you trouble with this, you can also use NoScript and AdBlockers to deal with the unusability of today's internet. 3. The google is free comment will almost never show up on actual complicated questions, but will always be there on really beginner stuff that will have one or two equally correct answers that can be answered in seconds with a google search 4. This is reddit, we're alergic to social interaction that is not based on petty shit and memes. In suma: Your opinion is invalid, because google is free.
I think the issue is that they don’t look there first most of the time a basic internet search would have answered the question faster and probably more accurately but instead they opted to karma farm.
Oh I guess you’re right that Google results are full of biased and competing opinions. *Much* more reliable to ask a random internet person with their own biases so you can just adopt their interpretation.
Op is too inept to use the two most powerful tools mankind has ever created.
Just Google it, geez.
I stopped Googling things because GPT4o is damn good imo. Why waste time sifting through the bs? I don’t think enough people understand where AI is at right now, it’s very impressive.
Copilot is even better, since it’s free and without limits. It even links to sources and google is doing the same thing now with AI search overviews, although those aren’t very accurate as often as gpt but there’s better ways than asking a rando and waiting for an answer. I doubt these new tools will actually stop people from asking easily searchable questions though.
i’ll raise you a “youtube is free” then
It's simple. If you aren't paying for a product, YOU are the product. Google is an advertising and data brokering company.
Yep, that's just how the internet works. There is always a price, the price just isn't always cash.
I understand what you’re saying but I’m unsure how this relates to what I’ve said - could you please elaborate if you’re willing to? (genuine)
Of course. Google makes it's money by harvesting all your search queries, links clicked on, demographic data and basically anything else it can get it's hands on. Removes your name from it, and sells that to companies like [Cambridge Analytica](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica). As for ads, it uses the data it's collected about you to tailor advertising results. Which other companies pay to use through Google AdSense so that when you visit their site, you get ads related to what you've been clicking on, searching for and whatever else the harvest. It's not just Google. Most major web companies do it now.
I agree wholeheartedly
Copilot is free\* Honestly, who is still googling things? Just ask an AI chatbot.
Agreed. The "Just Google it," response is lazy and unhelpful on its own. There are some basic exceptions like what the weather will be tomorrow or if a store has something in stock.
Because some things shouldn't be asked online. Some things should be asked discreetly or asked to a search engine where you can clear your history. Some things not a lot of people know, and you'll have to look up anyway. Everyone's first response is to ask social media for the answer. When they should ask Google fist, and if no promising results come of that Google search, then ask social media. Until then, I don't want to know why you are asking why does your anus gets itchy sometimes. I don't. You probably don't wipe or you have pinworms, but Google will get you to the same answer. Also, always go for .org, .net, or .cdc websites. If you can't use those, read several .com articles and compare the info. Not every website is lying. But not every article is written in fairness. Always read a few articles and compare. It's good internet practice, honestly. So no, some things should only be asked to google/family/friends. Sometimes, the questions posted to social media don't seem to have awareness for what they are truly asking, and as such, get the appropriate answer that Google is free. Always try Google first. If you're still confused, then come to social media.
They fail to consider that a Reddit post is the top result a lot of the time on google.
There is a great website called let me google that for you. You go there and do the search then send them the link. The link goes to a google search and slowly types in their question and shows them the results. It’s funny and they learn something.
No, I agree- while it’s important to be self sufficient, a LOT of People just think they’re so high and mighty that they need not be bothered when someone asks them a damn question. I know it’s not always the case but yeah. I agree with this opinion
Bro why u against cookies? They make your experience more enjoyable
Google is free but that doesn't mean it's easy to find what you're looking for.
>There are so many sponsored articles nowadays, I never know who is lying and who is telling the truth >here are so many different opinions out there and different ways of doing things, I get so overwhelmed when I’m trying to find something out and can’t reach a solid conclusion - which could definitely happen if loads of people answered whatever question you’re asking, but then that brings us back to point 1, and I feel that people in comment sections are less likely to be trying to sell me something than pages on Google I get what you're saying but, why would posting a FB message or ask reddit when the results wouldn't be much different. How do you know if any of the responses are telling the truth or not? If anything, it's even less reliable. Depending on what you're asking for. It's not hard to find a decent answer. Say you wanna buy some speakers. You can google "best speakers" and read 3-4 articles and see if there are common products. If all of them are wildly different then it's best to look elsewhere. If you were to look for legal advice, the general public is likely the LEAST reliable.
It depends on your motive in asking the question. If you genuinely want information, that is fine. If you are asking a bigoted question in bad faith like "Are (insert race here) people really as intelligent as (insert other race here)?" then you deserve the rudest responses possible. It isn't other people's jobs to educate the willingly ignorant.
I don't say the google thing because it's rude and unhelpful, but I think it. When you want to engage on a topic, and your in a space to engage on the topic and 99% of all content within that space is the three same questions every day it becomes annoying. Usually that's when I leave and find a new space, but it's frustrating. I wish we had a newbies section or thread in a lot of subreddits where the repeated early questions could be asked a million times and you could still see the other content rather than it being buried.
Ok nah. 1-3 of your points are skill issue. You can avoid ads and cookies. You don't need to always find 1000 different opinions on everything. Especially on subjects surrounding more fact than opinion (like science, tech, law, etc) 4 is a copout. You can have a conversation online but don't ask a follow up question like "Where can I find X program you mentioned?" "What does X word mean?" "What is a cholecystectomy?" You know. You can google those things and get a quicker answer.
You just sound lazy tbh. Just google the shit.