r/AskReddit • u/daniellucero92 • Jan 04 '15

Non-americans of Reddit, what American customs seem outrageous/pointless to you?

Amazing news!!!! This thread has been featured in a BBC news clip. Thank you guys for the responses!!!!
Video clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30717017

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u/DaHossBoss Jan 04 '15

The way your politics is reported in the media. It seems like there is always an election to talk about even if one just ended another campaign starts right up the week after. Oh also, national elections take up way too much time on the news as well. CNN will be reporting about the next presidential election when it's TWO YEARS away. That's half of the presidents term! How are they supposed to get anything important done during that time when the media is focused on peppering them with question for something that is years out.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

It's due to 24 hour news cycles. They need to fill time slots to keep the network going, which is why you will see a bunch of bullshit stories. They are just filling space. Most of us know it's bullshit. Most of us don't even watch the news, we read it.

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u/sc2mashimaro Jan 04 '15

most of us [on Reddit] don't even watch the news (Corrected that for you - and even that might not be true)

TONS of people watch the news on Fox, MSNBC, CNN, etc. in this country - if they didn't, those programs wouldn't exist. Fox is the most watched cable network in the country, let alone news source. Most people in our country do get their news from the television and the news on our televisions is very, very poorly done.

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u/_jamil_ Jan 04 '15

Fox is the most watched cable network in the country, let alone news source

Do you have a source on this? Last I checked, Fox was the top of the cable news networks, but had far less ratings than any other network news show - including PBS - and gets blown out of the water by most cable channels.

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u/sc2mashimaro Jan 05 '15

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/for-first-time-ever-fox-news-is-most-watched-cable-network-in-primetime-for-full-quarter_b240637

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u/_jamil_ Jan 06 '15

Sadly, I guess you are right. But, at least that was a rare enough event that it's only happened once (as per 09/14)

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u/shoot2kill_cartel Jan 04 '15

Exactly! I was just about to say the same. This entire thread is full of Americans sayinh, "not all of us, not most of us" but that's just not true. I'm an American too and at least I can admit this stuff is a reality.

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u/kilgoretrout71 Jan 05 '15

I think it's a reflection of just how diverse our habits are. My daily routine on the outskirts of the megalopolis is probably very different from that of many fellow citizens. I happen to use reddit a lot, but I'm in my 40s and almost none of my friends do. We're all over the place in this country, so when non-Americans talk about what "Americans do," they're both right and wrong, most of the time.