It does take long term into account, but only for itself, never for the others.

Rational agents can take long-term into account, so if people on Reddit watching it all burn & fall apart before their eyes are choosing to ignore that, are they "fully" rational agents then?

In any case, they might be correct in staying, IF we only only allow looking ahead like a month or so in time - b/c inertia is a real thing. Even then, for some of us it is no longer worth it, while for others it is.

Also, why would upvoting a comment such as "^THIS 1000%" constitute a long-term style of rational acting? It adds nothing to the discussion, so when all "discussion" becomes replaced by such, which float to the top b/c of the large number of upvotes (& maybe awards, etc.), then "real" content such that people might actually come to Reddit - like via a Google search for a specific query - get buried below them? If that is "rational", then it seems short-sighted to me.

Or in opposition to rational, there is maybe "emotional", so that you have a feeling and want to express it, and you see something that expresses that, so you "like" it further, in addition to liking / upvoting the original comment - without considering the long-term ramifications.

Yes but it’s clear that the admins were making it more social media-based.

True - many were resisting that, but it was happening, truth.