Those who have followed r/politics for the past year have noticed an almost Fox News-ish attack on Hillary's character, with very few posts discussing her policies and record in any positive light. Trump seemed to get a free ride. His gaffes, blatant racism, and hateful ignorance seemed to be brushed off as irrelevant because r/politics already declared an information war against Hillary.

I would classify an information war as a snowball that focuses on a one-sided impassioned stance that feeds on itself. You would see the same anti-Hillary article posted 10 times from 10 different sources and upvoted to the top 10. Any sort of rational dispute or non-opinion article was immediately brigaded by both pro-Sanders and pro-Trump supporters.

The combination of fervent Sanders supporters (I was a Sanders supporter, but I wasn't hardcore) and the 3-week old shill accounts, effectively drowned out any opposition voice. Not only that, but it turned away most moderate/independent users who had their voices drowned out.

Why r/politics devolved:

Anti-Hillary rhetoric was already cultivated for years prior to the election, i.e Benghazi and emails. These were largely brushed off by r/politics until they had a reason to whip them out: Sanders entering the race. As impassioned Millennials do, they will get ideologically and emotionally invested in their own perspective. Suddenly, the attack news on Hillary that was cultivated for years seemed like juicy low-hanging fruit. It's very easy to hop on a train that is finally going to your destination.

r/politics/new upvoters are disproportionately impassioned liberals or ardent supports of a candidate or particular perspective. Casual redditors do not browse r/new and upvote/downvote.. that requires way too much time and effort. We maybe read a few articles in the top 10 from our subreddits or just browse the front page, but casual redditors do not determine what news makes it from submission to front page. If you were neutral or just passively supported Hillary, you did not stay up all night on r/politics/new and downvote/upvote/comment.

Anger and frustration at the status quo made Sanders seem like the savior. This anger made things personal. When Millennials get personally invested in something, even just donating a dollar, then they start adopting the mentality of: my way or the highway. Millennials also hate losing - we never lose, right? We get participation trophies, even if we are last place - and we always get told how special we are. Though we are not pure ideologues, we do love to sit in ideological echo chambers and hear how right and noble we are. Sanders represented more than just a political movement, he represented empowerment and an outlet for frustration.

And, of course, you have the brigading from shill accounts and fervent Trump supporters who tend to be the loudest. With the moderates driven out, conspiracy/anger/absolutism takes center stage.

The Rebirth of r/politics

With the closing of r/s4p, the Trump Russia gaffes, the Khans, and the very successful DNC, the moderates and independents (I would say: reasonable voices) are starting to come back to r/politics. The fervent Sanders supports are getting less and less angry as reality sets in, making it less likely for them to assist in /r/politics/new brigading.

Millennials are actually not that stubborn (I am one too). Apathy is our worst enemy. When we are apathetic, we go with the flow: "Reddit says Hillary is untrustworthy? Well, I guess I think Hillary is untrustworthy." After the DNC, I see much of that apathy transforming into political activism either for Hillary or against Trump. Suddenly, the reality of a Trump presidency overshadows the personal grudges against a tilted democratic primary that favored Hillary.

Making Things Better