DoubleChecks

What was claimed

Research shows that the entire website of Reddit has become more negative over time. Moreover, the longer a given community exists, the more negative it becomes — and the longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes

Our verdict

Accurate

Reports on a 2026 PNAS study by Jackson, Mao and colleagues state that analysis of over 2 billion comments across 2,150 Reddit communities found that Reddit as a whole has become more negative over time. Science news coverage and summaries of the paper explicitly highlight this site-wide trend.

All 3 AI systems agree15 sources citedChecked Aug 22, 2026

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Key findings

Moreover, the longer a given community exists, the more negative it becomes — and the longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes.

Verified91%
All 4 AIs agree

Research shows that the entire website of Reddit has become more negative over time.

Verified93%
All 3 AIs agree

The longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes

Verified95%
1 AI checked

Verified against 15 sources

courses.cs.washington.edufrontiersin.orgphys.orgconv.newsreddit.comarxiv.orgerman.substack.comreddit.comarxiv.orgsciety-labs.elifesciences.orgthisweekinsciencenews.compsychoftech.substack.comojs.aaai.orgmarginalrevolution.comhive.news

Detailed Analysis

The claims accurately summarize findings from a recent large-scale study of Reddit comments. Multiple independent descriptions of the study confirm that negativity increases at the site-wide, community, and thread levels over time.

Why this verdict

  • The claims accurately summarize findings from a recent large-scale study of Reddit comments.
  • Multiple independent descriptions of the study confirm that negativity increases at the site-wide, community, and thread levels over time.

Claims checked

Research shows that the entire website of Reddit has become more negative over time.

Verified93%
Reports on a 2026 PNAS study by Jackson, Mao and colleagues state that analysis of over 2 billion comments across 2,150 Reddit communities found that Reddit as a whole has become more negative over time. Science news coverage and summaries of the paper explicitly highlight this site-wide trend.

Moreover, the longer a given community exists, the more negative it becomes — and the longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes.

Verified93%
Descriptions of the same 2026 study note that individual Reddit communities systematically become more negative as they age and that comments posted later in threads are more negative than earlier ones. Popular science write-ups and summaries of the paper emphasize both the community-level and thread-level increase in negativity over time.

What other AI think

All three claims in the statement are directly supported by peer-reviewed research published in PNAS in June 2026. The statement accurately reflects the findings of a large-scale study analyzing over 2 billion Reddit comments. The claims are logically consistent and properly hedged with "research shows."

Why this verdict

  • All three claims in the statement are directly supported by peer-reviewed research published in PNAS in June 2026.
  • The statement accurately reflects the findings of a large-scale study analyzing over 2 billion Reddit comments.
  • The claims are logically consistent and properly hedged with "research shows."

Claims checked

The entire website of Reddit has become more negative over time

Verified95%
Directly confirmed by PNAS study analyzing 2+ billion comments from 2,150 Reddit communities. The Harvard Gazette article cites this finding explicitly.

The longer a given community exists, the more negative it becomes

Verified95%
Explicitly stated in both the PNAS paper and Harvard Gazette article as a key finding of the research on Reddit communities over time.

The longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes

Verified95%
Confirmed by the PNAS study and Harvard Gazette article, which state that threads become more negative over time as users seek semantic differentiation.
Recent peer-reviewed research analyzed roughly 2.05 billion Reddit comments across 2,150 subreddits and reported that comments and communities trend toward more negative language over time. The study also found that longer-lived communities and longer comment threads show increasing negativity, driven in part by semantic differentiation (users seeking to stand out with more negative, unique language).

Why this verdict

  • Recent peer-reviewed research analyzed roughly 2.05 billion Reddit comments across 2,150 subreddits and reported that comments and communities trend toward more negative language over time.
  • The study also found that longer-lived communities and longer comment threads show increasing negativity, driven in part by semantic differentiation (users seeking to stand out with more negative, unique language).

Claims checked

The longer a given community exists, the more negative it becomes.

Verified88%
The study finds community histories show increasing negativity as communities age, consistent with the paper's longitudinal analyses.

The longer a comment thread continues, the more negative the thread becomes.

Verified88%
The paper reports that comments become more negative within threads as they progress, supporting the claim about thread-length and negativity.

The entire website of Reddit has become more negative over time.

Verified90%
A recent PNAS paper analyzing ~2.05 billion comments from 2,150 subreddits reports an overall shift toward more negative language on Reddit over time.

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