I have been lurking for over 4 yeas and active over 2. Back in the day Reddit was more discussion based, less trolls, less memes, more libertarian, and less spam. Number 1 comments were usually thought out, valid, and relevant. Now they are mostly memes and jokes. There was more talk about programming and the internet and less "IAMA blah blab blup", "look at what my SO made me", "here is my dog" 4chan was 4chan and Reddit was Reddit, now the differance is minimal. If you go to /b/ Friday night, odds are on Saturday 20% of the front page will not be new to you. It was a little more logical, patient, honest, and all together more mature. tl'dr it was college now it's high school