I find so many people here are rather down to earth and level headed, which is strange because online is where the bitter hang out at.

37 comments

  1. I like talking about the weird chicken or lamb spedies that exist only in Binghamton New York and nowhere else. I like being asked about them.

  2. Idk man depends on who you’re talking to. Why waste time being bitter though?

  3. Not to brag, but we have a good mod team. A willingness to kick troublemakers helps a lot.

  4. Americans are cool. That is why. One of our greatest global contributions was that we invented being cool.

  7. I think part of it is the self-selecting nature of participating in a sub dedicated to answering the type of questions it gets. If you’re too histrionic you probably won’t stick around.

  8. The age of people on this subreddit might also be a shift higher than on most other subs

  10. Americans are stereotyped as stupid, chauvinistic hyper nationalist douchebags, so those amongst the silent majority who use reddit will come here, knowing foreigners will ask the normal questions to give them proper answers from normal Americans, who are decent, level headed, people like anybody else.

  12. I think the average age here is older (and if I remember from the surveys, there is some evidence to substantiate that). Most here seem to be in their late 20s/30s whereas the default subs seem to have a lot more teenagers.

  13. Personally, I subscribe to the school of thought that all of you are just a figment of my imagination that gets reset every time I blink. So arguing with you would be like arguing with myself, which isn’t cool.

  14. Generally people are trying to inform, both about the questions, and the overall opinion on Americans. We don’t want to argue since it would only confuse you, and make us all look bad.

  15. The average age of active members here seems to be older than most of the other ask subs. Also, when this sub gets political rage bait posts that derail the conversation before anyone has a chance to comment, I’ve noticed there are enough people here who are quick to call the post out for the bs before the rage can really get started, and those kind of posts get downvoted instead of being able to use for karma farming on this sub.

  16. I attribute most of this to good moderation, but if I had to guess I’d say the average age here is also skewed a bit higher than on the big subs which may contribute to said levelheadedness.

  17. This is a safe place for us. No politics or religion or gender just somewhere to chat

  18. I must take the opportunity to say that if I have to chose a subreddit to represent Americans to a foreigner, I would absolutely choose r/AskanAmerican.

    This community is not just level headed, but it also has a healthy dose of optimism and benevolent patriotism that both contribute to the overall positivity and friendly atmosphere. For a subreddit that is dedicated to American opinions, this subreddit doesn’t seem to attract toxic doomers or aggressive jingoists, and it welcomes moderate participants, which, at least in my experience are a more accurate representation of members of the American society outside of the internet.

    The mod team does a good job, and people here self moderate to maintain community standards. This sub is more balanced, and does not promote any views that lie further down either side of the spectrum; less polarization and ideological rigidity mean less toxicity. And like I mentioned before, people here like to be Americans, so there is a lot less negativity and self victimization. Jerks are unwelcome, and those that wish to troll or farm karma with low effort comments cannot succeed here, so they either move on, reduced to obscurity, or banned.

  22. 1) We all kinda agreed, when we’re writing on something called “Ask An American” to at least try to answer the questions. People who act like everything’s a personal imposition on their time don’t tend to post for long.

    2) I kind of assume a lot of stuff gets moderated out.

  23. I think part of it is that the format of the sub doesn’t lend itself to edgy, snarky memes, which disinterests trolly edgelords

  24. I’m subbed here for all the answers people have listed to this question. I’m an American myself and it’s really nice to find a corner of Reddit (and the internet in general) that isn’t oversimplified anti-USA circlejerking lol.

  25. Ehhh it depends on the day of the week. Have had a lot of negative interactions on here

  26. I think the nature of the forum helps. Most of us here like our country and are here to help others enjoy it. Why get worked up over that?

    Having an older aged group helps. People here will have lived and seen more. And we’re old enough to see bullshit questions for what they are and call them out. Grapp had a question the other day that was purposely antagonistic, and instead of people getting worked up we all called it for what it was.

    And I do think most of our mods do a great job, except for that one. Horrible.

    Lastly, why join a group only to be bitter. Life is too short. We live in a great country filled with amazing people.

  27. I think when you’re talking to someone in the context of asking them a question, they’re typically more calm than most other contexts. For example, if you look at a post on any political sub, then it’s going to be people who are upset about whatever news story they’re looking at and commenting about how upset they are (typically in a less polite way). But if you *ask* someone a political question, they typically do their best to explain their perspective instead of getting upset at you immediately. And though those conversations can still quickly devolve into arguing in some cases, I think since this sub is all about representing America when answering questions, so people typically want to be on their best behavior here to not represent their home poorly.

  28. Because we’re Americans and we get enough shit for it in real life.

    Also, to us, being an asshole to people you’re not friends with and calling it banter just means you’re an asshole.

  29. Because many of the users here are significantly more likely to go out and interact with people more often than just getting their worldview from the Internet, at least when comparing the tone of comments here to many other subs. And meeting people in real life goes a long way in helping you realize that being level-headed is a much better way of talking to real people, rather than being toxic towards anonymous online users.

  30. This sub is kinda a circlejerk at times, especially when it comes to things like race.

    Like I get that it shouldn’t be a screaming match, but sometimes it feels like any discussion of race/ethnicity, even in a neutral sense, is shunned upon. It’s like any discussion of race beyond the “it’s a melting pot” cliche somehow contradicts the patriotism in this sub.

    Also foreign posters here should be treated better. A lot of the time, they will ask questions in good faith, and get dogpiled and downvoted. Like they’re asking questions for a reason, of course they are going to be a bit ignorant at times.

  32. I imagine a lot of the worst actors get banned. Which is definitely a rarity, people get away with calling you all kinds of things elsewhere.

  33. I think because people generally come here to seek an understanding, not to reinforce their preconceived notions in the echo chambers that are most politically motivated subreddits

  34. Granted, some people also understand the joy of being petty by remaining calm whilst someone is losing their proverbial shit. That, or a lot of us just turn on our “customer service voice” out of habit from work.

  36. People know it’s heavily populated by Americans who want to talk about America. So it’s not the usual circlejerk where they can just come in and say “Amerikkkan Healthcare amirite?!?!” and collect tummy rubs.

    The people who come here to ask questions are level-headed, so the answers they get are too.

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