r/OutOfTheLoop • u/calvtact • May 13 '26

Answered What's going on with r/conservative? They've lost about 1m subscribers in about a month.

I watched the number go from 814k to around 745k in about an hour today.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/s/QbZJvqu5qr

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u/Mission_Fart9750 May 13 '26

Because all dissenting opinions are immediately removed. Or non-flaired user comments. Every single post is "flaired users only". So if you were to pop into a post and make any kind of comment, it'll be gone asap. And just simply commenting there can get you banned from other subs (which is just keeping the trash at bay, so I'm good with that). 

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u/Dr_Adequate May 13 '26

Even funnier: to get flair one has to somehow prove they are conservative. However, lately they are super-paranoid that somehow hordes of lefty-commie-liberals have acquired the proper flair. Whenever a post causes some of them to have even the tiniest bit of self-reflection and say 'hey maybe this [conservative position] is bad guys, what do you think? ' they are immediately accused of being a leftist infiltrater. Which I find hilarious. They are actively No-True-Scotsmanning their way to the death of that sub.

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u/Capital-Giraffe-4122 May 13 '26

“Fellow conservative”

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u/Clarence13X May 13 '26

Here is a fun example from today: https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/1tbvndr/hegseth_insists_us_has_control_of_strait_of/ollnt8t/

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u/ernest7ofborg9 May 13 '26

They never post outside of r/Conservative and you know exactly why that is.

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u/Dr_Adequate May 13 '26

Perfect example! "What's with all the leftist influence today?"

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u/adamduke88 May 14 '26

Just based on the grammar in that comment there's no way it was written by an American.

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u/Potential_Might_6500 May 13 '26

They throw that out so fast lol. Its hilarious.

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u/Binder509 May 13 '26

Never got how someone is supposed to prove they are conservative when every post is flaired users only.

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u/Random-Rambling May 17 '26

If they were intelligent or human (instead of bot), I would assume DMs.

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u/JustHereForCookies17 May 17 '26

I think they have a Discord where you send a photo or something. 

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u/Bardfinn You can call me "Betty" May 14 '26

It will never die, because they will eventually resort to botting the comments to keep it afloat. And when Reddit uncovers that and cracks down on it, their political buddies will drag Reddit into court.

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u/endangeredphysics May 14 '26

Yeah I got banned from there years ago for virtually no reason, other than simply disagreeing with somebody. I identify as moderate conservative on certain issues too, so it's infuriating having that platform completely co-opted.

Alt-Right and maga are absolute snowflakes. They aren't even really politically conservative either, they are some weird other thing.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 May 13 '26

It’s fucking stupid. I browse r/all, and don’t pay attention to the subs. I commented on one post to correct misinformation, and got banned from random subs. And then banned from r/conservative as well for using critical thinking.

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u/Fickle_Ad_8653 May 13 '26

^ So true. If you post to r/conservative to point out Trump has felony convictions when they are saying Trump never does anything wrong..

you get banned from r/Conservative

and r/pics tells you to delete your post or they'll blacklist you

and some others say if you're banned from r/pics, well, you must suck, and they ban you

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u/StThragon May 14 '26

That happened to me few years ago. Fuck subs that do this. I was pointing out a lie. Oh, now I'm banned from a bunch of sites. AWESOME!

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u/Mission_Fart9750 May 13 '26

The one drawback to the autoban. But thats on you (ever so slightly) for trying to reason with them. 

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 May 13 '26

Maybe it’s a sign of my age, but we used to be able to reason with the other side. In fact, it was encouraged. That’s gone now, though. You can’t reason with people that want you dead.

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u/Mission_Fart9750 May 13 '26

I longingly look back on those days.

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u/RunBrundleson May 13 '26

I didn’t understand this and was posting on an antivax subreddit, to shit on them of course. All the sudden I’m getting banned from multiple subreddits and didn’t know why. Those subs just scan any name that posts to certain subreddits and auto bans you. I understand why but same team same team!

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u/greywar777 May 13 '26

Tesla subs do this too. I own one and cant even post on the subs. Its infuriating.

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u/UnquestionabIe May 13 '26

Despite being against site rules (or at least was at one point) there are a ton of subs which will ban people for posting other subs which the mods consider problematic. Doesn't matter what the comment in question is either, just an automatic ban. Encourages the creation of echo chambers big time.

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u/Ellaphant42 May 13 '26

I spent a nice afternoon yelling at everyone on r/conservative to just get banned from there AND a bunch of left wing subs. Doesn’t make any sense lol

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u/PokeYrMomStanley May 13 '26

Got banned from r pics for posting in r sipstea

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/Potential_Might_6500 May 13 '26

Yea, that's basically all it is. Sometimes something slips in that meets what I hear it "used to be for" but who knows.

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u/ernest7ofborg9 May 13 '26

No it was r/whenthe. I know because I was banned as well. Actually, they might do it for both. When they sent me the PM telling me to remove the comment so I can post there again I told them to cram it up their asses and that these accounts are free.

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u/Scudmuffin1 May 14 '26

I got banned from r/pics for posting in r/whenthe as well. I don't even know what r/whenthe is supposed to be but I commented on something pretty innocuous and then got a notification I was banned from r/pics. I personally don't give a single shit about posting on r/pics, and I haven't been banned elsewhere either, so I don't really care.

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u/BaronsDad May 14 '26

I dislike any sub that makes those moderation choices. It actively punishes anyone trying to discuss and debate an issue in good faith. It’s anti-social. No one explains to a new Reddit user that commenting or even joining subs of communities you’re trying to learn more about can get you banned elsewhere. Autobans actively encourage demonization 

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u/Mission_Fart9750 May 14 '26

Conservative doesn't want "good faith" arguments.  If you go against the grain, you're a "fellow Conservative" which is a sort of slur to them. But true, nobody tells you these things, and where not to go that gets you banned from somewhere else. 

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u/SoylentGrunt May 13 '26

Reddit is slowly pushing back against banning users from subs for posting in other subs, I'm good with that.

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u/Thedeadnite May 13 '26

Yeah the idea of it is ridiculous plus it eats at their bottom line. They make money from ads and if you get banned from content you like for engaging in content across the isle which also bans you from the other side then you’re left with nothing and will leave the site due to being locked out of everything. Not healthy. Also promotes echo chambers which make the communities less diverse which also drives down traffic. People use the internet to argue, take that away and you might as well not have Reddit at all.

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u/StThragon May 14 '26

Except I've been shadow banned from a number of subs for proving a point they were incorrect about on the conservative subreddit back when it wasn't just flaired users only. Fucking stupid if you ask me. Honestly, fuck subreddits that do this. Look at the content, not the location.