The kids are grown, now what?: To Reddit or NOT to Reddit

If you post links on Reddit, my advice is DON'T. The people who run the site and the different subreddits are all insane. Apparently we are all part of some money making spam conspiracy. When the reality is that I like to cook and I like to share my friend's recipes. I will continue to cook but will no longer share anything on Reddit.

Check out the comments on the link I posted to a Rice Pudding Recipe:

[–]Miss_Bee 1 point 9 days ago

[–]crunchyfrugalista[F] 2 points 40 minutes ago

[–]Grandma_Juice[F] 2 points 19 minutes ago

[–]mglawler[S] -4 points 9 days ago

[–]DonDriver 7 points 9 days ago

[–]DiggDejected -1 points 8 days ago*

This is part of an organized effort on the part of a quite a few bloggers to spam their sites. They only post from a few sites and only comment on each others posts.

I have spent some time gathering their information. Please note this is only the tip of the iceberg.

{I have removed the list of web sites. Needless to say not one of the sites on this list is a spam site.}

I will continue to update my information over time and I will continue to post it.

*UPDATE(1): They are all connected through StumbleUpon. With this example you can see many familiar names.

*UPDATE(2): This is endless. Every few pages I find a new connection to the ring. At this point I am inclined to think it is some sort of work-at-home and paid to game Reddit. Some accounts are active Reddit users while maintaining this spam. I have seen a couple of Reddit Gold users even. Other users seem to have abandoned or are not active much with the spam. I found activity on StumbleUpon, as mentioned above, but I have not been able to search for other online connections - I have been consumed with this seemingly endless rabbit hole of soccer-moms and the unemployed confined to their basements. (The only difference between the latter and me - I'm not getting paid to use Reddit.) At this point I think it is time to search for the service they are subscribed to. There is such a large number involved on Reddit, I could continually search for and find them until I am old and grey.

*UPDATE(3): That was easy! The website http://moneysavvymichelle.com is the ringleader. If you click through it takes you to the page with all of the payment options and other information.

[–]DonDriver 1 point 8 days ago

[–]young_derp 3 points 9 hours ago

[–]DiggDejected 1 point 3 hours ago*

The webpage linked clearly shows Michelle is charging people to join a "service" to promote blogs by gaming social media. What she is doing, and all those involved, is against Reddit's TOS.

If you girlfriend was a part of that, she deserves to be banned. If it was a mistake, I apologize, but this comment is not the way to rectify the situation.

You are a vile pestilence to reddit.

I am a vile pestilence to Reddit because I turned in a spam-ring?

Continue to harass us and I will have you banned.

Good luck with that.

*EDIT: If your girlfriend is an innocent in this, her situation is a perfect example of why blog-rings are harmful. Michelle's ring of spam harms the credibility of bloggers posting to Reddit. Clearly this Michelle character is shady and her stink rubs off on all who come in contact with her. There is a link between her and all of those bloggers. There is a pattern of up-voting and commenting on each others posts to increase their visibility. This is her business model. She gets bloggers to pay her to join this ring and then gets them to do all of the work. Every name on that list has some connection to this ring and the taint left by Michelle.

The last thing Reddit needs is a descent into the mire that plagued Digg (hence my name, by the way). People gaming the system hurts the legitimacy of the system and those within the system. If people like Michelle did not game the system users, like your girlfriend, if she is not a part of the ring, would have a better experience.

I am responsible for the food preparation in my household. I am not a trained cook and I know my food is mediocre at best. Baking is magic to me. I came looking for ways to improve the meals I feed my family and would benefit greatly from passionate cooks. Any benefit that comes from Reddit is diminished by illegitimate users with no care for food, but seek only to promote their blogs through deceit.

Spammers are the pestilence. I am simply a by product of said disease, like white blood cells. That will make me a sack of pus eventually, but I am alright with that.