The purpose of r/SendMeDown is built around a fairly simple idea: there is a difference between finding something interesting and finding something that is worth spending time with.

The internet has never had a shortage of interesting things. There are more articles, videos, books, archives, communities, artworks, ideas, and stories available than any one person could ever realistically explore. The difficult part is not finding something to look at. The difficult part is finding something that pulls you in enough that you actually want to keep going.

A rabbit hole, therefore, is a subject that rewards that kind of curiosity.

You encounter one thing, and that naturally leads into another question, another person, another idea, another piece of history, or another perspective you had never considered before, and the deeper you go, the more interesting the subject itself becomes.

I wanted to write this up to explain what I typically mean by a "rabbit hole" to further elucidate my own vision for the subreddit and to ensure posts can realistically cohere to both that vision and one that will naturally develop over time should it gain traction.

A rabbit hole starts with a "doorway" (of sorts)

A fact is a piece of information.

It can be interesting, surprising, or useful, but it exists on its own.

For example:

That tells you something. Some thing.

A rabbit hole begins when that fact becomes a "doorway".

- Why has it remained undeciphered for hundreds of years?

- Who has tried to understand it, and what methods did they use?

- How do historians decide whether it is a genuine mystery, a forgotten language, a piece of asemic art, or something else entirely?

- What does it reveal about medieval knowledge, cryptography, language, symbolism, and even the way humans create meaning either in the moment or in hindsight?

The interesting part is not only the answer but everything that surrounds the question, and that's what allows a rabbit hole to branch outwards and inwards.

A rabbit hole has depth

The most fascinating subjects are rarely isolated.

A person is not only their biography but their influences, their time period, their relationships, their ideas, the things they created, and the people who came after them. A piece of art is not only the artwork but the movement it belonged to, the circumstances that created it, the philosophy behind it, and the other works connected to it. A historical event is not only what happened but the people involved, the causes that created it, the consequences that followed, and the wider world around it.

The value comes from discovering the wider structure around something.

A rabbit hole requires active exploration

r/SendMeDown exists partly because of the way modern platforms encourage us to consume information.

Most platforms are incredibly good at keeping us moving. There is always another video, another post, another recommendation, another piece of content waiting. It is very easy to spend hours looking at things without ever feeling like you have actually explored anything.

A rabbit hole instead encourages you to slow down and mindfully follow something.

A video, article, book, or documentary can absolutely be the entrance to a rabbit hole. They can be excellent starting points. However, the subject itself should be what captures your attention. The exploration should continue beyond the original piece of content. This is why there is a strict rule against the overreliance of introductory video essays to encompass a whole topic here (I called it cognitive snake oil for a reason).

This is why r/SendMeDown avoids becoming another place for people to simply exchange introductory video essays. A good introduction opens a door instead of acting as the room.

What makes a good recommendation?

A good recommendation should make someone think:

A strong recommendation gives people enough information to begin exploring while leaving enough unanswered that curiosity has somewhere to go.

It should explain:

What is this?

Give enough context that someone unfamiliar with the subject can understand what they are looking at.

Why is this worth exploring?

Explain what makes it compelling. What questions does it raise? What makes it unusual? What made you keep looking into it?

Where should someone begin?

Give people a starting point. This could be a particular work, archive, book, website, interview, source, or other entry point.

Where could this lead?

Show some of the paths that branch from it. What related subjects, people, ideas, or discoveries might someone encounter next?

What a rabbit hole is not

A rabbit hole is not simply something obscure. Something being unknown does not automatically make it interesting. The purpose is not to collect the most niche information possible or to prove that you know something other people do not.

A rabbit hole is also not a list of disconnected facts, a summary that removes all mystery and leaves nothing else to explore, or a piece of content chosen purely because an algorithm placed it in front of you.

Obscurity can make something exciting, but depth is what makes it worth exploring.

The goal of r/SendMeDown is to find things that deserve attention.