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c/ask-anything•anderson.piperanderson.piper•1mo ago

Noticed a weird shift on Reddit where every thread turns into someone humblebragging about their niche hobby knowledge

Was scrolling r/AskAnything last Tuesday and saw 4 straight posts where people were flexing super specific expertise instead of actually asking stuff, when did this place turn into a contest for who can sound the smartest?
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3 Comments
mary_west
mary_west1mo ago
Gets exhausting real fast" - I get that, but honestly I kinda like it. Those super specific answers are usually the best ones on here. Like yesterday someone asked about old house foundations and a guy who restores civil war era buildings chimed in. Learned more in 3 paragraphs than googling for an hour. Yeah some folks are showing off but the info is still solid.
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sage308
sage3081mo ago
@keith900 yeah I feel you on that. What worked for me was just replying directly to those super specific people and asking follow ups. Like one time a dude was bragging about knowing every detail of vintage pinball machine repairs and I asked him what the hardest fix was. Ended up getting like a 4 paragraph reply that was genuinely interesting. The showoffs usually calm down if you treat their knowledge like it's useful instead of just letting them flex into the void.
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keith900
keith9001mo ago
Is it just me or does that get exhausting real fast?
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