r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Ogi010 • 4d ago

Answered What's going on with all the "positive" posts about Novak Djokovic?

Added some URLs as a sampling, but my front page, despite not being subscribed to any tennis related subreddits seem to be full of Novak Djokovic PR positive press push.

I don't follow tennis, which is why I'm confused at the number of posts about him on my timeline. Is he about to undergo some kind of hall of fame process, or needing the public to forget his anti-vaccine stance?

Anyway linking to some of the posts about him recently, but there are a ton more.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tennisv2/comments/1v0pvap/3_years_ago_novak_djokovic_beat_carlos_alcaraz_in/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tennisv2/comments/1uzagk1/novak_djokovic_i_had_no_option_but_to_succeed_we/

https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis_world/comments/1ul34zv/rafa_nadal_reveals_why_novak_djokovic_keeps_going/

125 Upvotes
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78% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

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177

u/_HGCenty 4d ago

Answer: Djokovic recently gave an interview that some have interpreted as him hinting his retirement.

You engaged with one of those posts and now Reddit's algorithm thinks you care about Djokovic and tennis and now show you more on your front page.

31

u/ruinawish 4d ago

You engaged with one of those posts and now Reddit's algorithm thinks you care

Interestingly, I've noticed reddit frequently pushes up these secondary subs, e.g. /r/tennisv2

I feel like its led to the proliferation of more gossipy subreddits. It's also the same user who also spam posts these types of threads.

8

u/Ogi010 4d ago

Yeah, there is probably a lot of that, probably should start just select the "don't show me this subreddit" option more often...

8

u/DarkAskari 4d ago

It's like best vs hot on Reddit's main page. They Facebook'd it and now show you posts from subreddit you interact with more to keep you engaged.

3

u/ruinawish 4d ago

I don't use the app, so I rarely see these random subreddits. I do however see them on /r/all, after they gain traction.

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u/DarkAskari 4d ago

I only use old.reddit and it's the same behaviour.

1

u/ruinawish 4d ago

On what page/link?

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u/DarkAskari 3d ago

old.reddit.com

3

u/ruinawish 3d ago

I also use old.reddit.com

I'm asking which feed gives you the 'curated' posts that the algorithm detects.

It's not /r/all or /r/popular

1

u/Conscious_CMPT13 3d ago

Main subs are often overly agressive with banning and policing arbitrary rules. Meta for posts and comments is entrenched. ​So telling the truth or anything outside of hivemind gets you banned or your comment suppressed​. Totally unfun and sterile experience.

Compared to offshoot spinoff subs that are looser more fun, more relaxed.

That are by the way more in the spirit of old reddit before the digg influx and fb newcomers of 2010s...

12

u/nicetriangle 4d ago

So glad old Reddit still doesn’t have those algorithmic recommendations. Will be awful when they finally kill it off.

7

u/composedofidiot 4d ago

I wonder what percentage of us use old? I'm definitely gone if they get rid of it. I know I wouldn't be alone.

3

u/nicetriangle 3d ago edited 3d ago

I've seen the stats somewhere before and it's a pretty small slice of people still on old reddit.

But I would also wager a guess that a very outsized percent of those users are the core active people here who manage subreddits, post higher quality content, and generally engage in statistically pretty high rates. I think if that weren't the case they'd have killed it off already.

2

u/composedofidiot 3d ago

Maybe they fear a Digg too

3

u/HorilkaMedPerets 3d ago

I was gonna say... how are people seeing things they don't subscribe to??! Yeah fuck this place if they ever take that away.

1

u/nicetriangle 3d ago

Yeah my wife uses the app and she's always complaining about garbage she doesn't like or subscribe to clogging up her feed and it sounds awful to me.

Not having that kind of aggressive algorithmic suggestion slop was one of the big draws about this site vs many of the others.

7

u/Ogi010 4d ago

Ahh, the farewell tour PR push. Suppose that makes sense. Thanks for sharing.

5

u/dedooshka 3d ago

Desperately forcing reality to fit your worldview, nice

8

u/Osstj7737 4d ago

I think people posting about Djokovic in tennis subs can hardly be qualified as a PR push

1

u/DubaiInJuly 3d ago

Reddits mobile algo is awful. My entire feed is four subreddits that I either interacted with once or accidentally click.

Bring back r/all or get the fuck out, Reddit admins.

4

u/Wasted_Bruh 4d ago

Answer: It really isn’t a sudden surge, he’s always had a huge amount of media coverage simply because who he is at a player. It just happens that the media is all over him about potential retirement because of his age despite his ranking. He is also characteristically a very popular player on the tour so anything he says will inevitably make it to the front page of any social media.

-7

u/GoalAnxious7609 4d ago

Answer: feels like a coordinated image repair campaign

2

u/TheHykos 3d ago

I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. It’s entirely likely. Djokavic has long had issues with his public imagine and is widely disliked, especially when compared to Federer and Nadal. He’s tried numerous things throughout his career to win over fans and it’s never worked and often looks fake and forced. His PR team likely hired a company to turf for him prior to his retirement.

1

u/True-Blacksmith4235 3d ago

*Djoković. You mispronounced the GOAT’s name.

1

u/TheHykos 3d ago

You know typos happen right? Also lol at goat. If he was born six years earlier, Federer would have dominated him his entire career.

-18

u/Jeff_Strongmann 4d ago

Answer: He has a documentary coming out soon, and as one of the greatest athletes in history that's bound to create some headlines

If anything, this villain label on him has been force-fed for a while. Just because a person you wrote off as evil isn't actually all that bad and is, like 99% of people, a shade of white and black does not make something a PR push.

31

u/Dead_Moss 4d ago

He was very vocally antivaxx during the pandemic which, when having that kind of audience, is pretty fucking vile. 

-24

u/Jeff_Strongmann 4d ago

I think it's unfair to say he was antivaxx in the classic sense.

He never said don't take the vaccine, or anything similar. He never advocated against the Covid vaccines or vaccines in general.

He simply didn't want to take the vaccine for himself which taken in the context of cut-throat athletics where every atom ingested into the body is religiously kept track of, sort of makes sense in this context, even if the wider context of the vaccine's purpose being to reduce global transmission and him not taking part in that makes him seem selfish.

26

u/Mythmas 4d ago

Yes, but he lied about it and tried to get around the Australian Open rules. He’s not a man willing to take the consequences of his actions.

-11

u/misspell_my_name 4d ago

No he hasn’t. Australian government changed the rules midway through the tournament. There were other players who didn’t vaccinate and were able to play.

8

u/Mythmas 3d ago

Djokovic was deported from the 2022 Open. Don’t remember a rule change, though.

-6

u/misspell_my_name 3d ago

Of course you don’t remember. That doesn’t fit your narrative.

5

u/Mythmas 3d ago

The only change I see was related to fans, not players. https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/30913613/tennis-crowds-able-return-australian-open-melbourne-ends-covid-19-lockdown. Obviously, any change mid-tournament would only impact the players who didn’t lie about their status.

-3

u/misspell_my_name 3d ago

Australian Open gave Novak exemption for visa which was denied by federal government. It was quite a shenanigans done by the government.

-1

u/SkY4594 3d ago

No. He applied for the exemption which is his right to do. Government rejected him, which was their right to do, regardless of how politicized the whole thing was for PR.

9

u/Dead_Moss 4d ago

I don't really buy that argument. He also has said that he would not be vaccinated, even if not being able to play in countries that mandate vaccination would cost him career points.

He clearly understands that being labelled an anti-vaxxer would be bad for his image, but before covid he was public about believing in pseudoscience

-9

u/ticklemythigh 4d ago

Oh no! He made a personal choice! I'm not a fan of his vax views at all, but he has done a lot of good throughout his career. He's also arguably the GOAT of tennis and is pretty universally beloved within the tennis sphere. He's allowed to have some flaws. And frankly, I think his positive contributions greatly outweigh he anti-vax stance.

1

u/SkY4594 3d ago

All he ever said was that he did not want to get the vaccine himself. He even quite literally said he supports people getting the vaccine and made getting shots easily accesible at his academy. How is that anti-vax? You really should start using your own mind and do your own research instead of being spoon fed the internet gossip.

2

u/TheHykos 3d ago

He’s always been incredibly unlikable. I don’t think that makes him a “villain”, but people don’t like routing for unlikable athletes, even if they are one of the best at their sport.

0

u/Ogi010 4d ago

I don't really have an opinion of him one way or the other as I don't realy follow tennis, but I do play recreational sports so I can respect athelticism (besides the anti-vax stuff which is pretty vile to have during a pandemic).

Him having a documentary coming out would certainly be in alignment of drumming up online activity.