Discussion platform comparison

Reddit vs Facebook

Summary

There are no discussion platforms that satisfy me, but I’m currently using Facebook more.

Major pros from Facebook

Member filters. To know members from your city or members that are your friend.

Major pros from both

Update December 2019: Reddit is now hidding all content behind a login (source). So it’s not open, nor archivable, nor indexed anymore.

Open. No account is required if you just want to read.

Archivable. Can be archived on the wayback machine.

Indexed. Search engines can give you the results.

Wiki. To share some common knowledge.

Note: But I prefer the wiki from Reddit.

Major cons from both

Data extraction. You can’t (easily) download all your data (AFAICT).

Attention control. Not enough control on types of notifications.

Major con from Reddit

Closing posts. People can’t comment or vote on posts after 6 months.

Incomplete

Search. Facebook has many search options to find a specific post. But it’s easier to get an overview of Reddit posts as you can see the list of their titles, and order them in various ways.

Unsure

Real-name. Reddit doesn’t have a "real-name" policy.

Infinite scroll. Reddit doesn’t have an infinite scroll.

Minor pros

Reaction. The various reactions on Facebook is interesting. The downvoting on Reddit improve the quality of its posts.

Attention control. Reddit has less advertising (I think). Reddit has the possibility for admins to not have to approve members for a subreddit.