3 ms·

Yikes, hadn't seen that one. That really is too bad, I hope this attitude doesn't permeate the company, because the platform is gaining steam.

tptacek 8y ago
No, it isn't. It's floundering, because it is a site that caters to white supremacists, with an aspirational sideline in catering to normal people. Among people who have any name recognition for Gab whatsoever, simply having a Gab account with your name on it is a pretty icky social signal to be sending. In practice, what I see as I regularly check up and screenshot it is a whole lot of bot content punctuated by an occasional neo-Nazi post. I don't even think the white supremacists are all that invested in it. Maybe the ICO will work out for them.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  > In practice, what I see as I regularly check up and screenshot it is a whole lot of bot content punctuated by an occasional neo-Nazi post. I don't even think the white supremacists are all that invested in it. For what it's worth, I think that's just the effect of the default feed. If you actually follow anyone it completely changes. If what you're saying about the bots is true, maybe I don't see them so much as a result of a sort of WoT effect by follows. I certainly find the default feeds grody, but after adding "jq" and a few others to my muted words list, it's worth looking at some of the feeds for the occasional hidden gem. I will say, the space is not rich and diverse like Twitter used to be (yet). I honestly really liked the Twitter crowd, but it seems like conversation on Twitter is dying; I shuttered my account a while back, and if Gab doesn't grow a broader base I don't really know what there will be to take its place. Minds doesn't look too bad, but it seems to suffer from a (milder, potentially thanks to the influx of desperate refugees of Facebook in Vietnam) form of the same disease: being populated largely by untouchables (some so vile they cost you job prospects by mere proximity). > simply having a Gab account with your name on it is a pretty icky social signal to be sending. Yeah, I have it on good authority that merely having a Gab profile has cost me a job offer, which is why I closed it a few months ago. Reopened it today because if I die tomorrow I'd like to go with my spine intact.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    Why would any part of your identity or self-worth come from maintaining an account on a dying white supremacist message board? Reconsider.
    - microcolonel 8y ago
      I disagree with the idea that merely having an account on said website should imply that I am immoral. I know of a number of good, honest people who have Gab accounts, and I don't want to live under the control of the bigots who would judge me that shallowly (in much the same way allowing myself to be cowed by other bigots would be wrong).
      - pvg 8y ago
        So you've got 'fine people on both sides' and 'they're the real bigots'. If you think these are somehow substantive or convincing rejoinders, you should probably re-think that. Mostly they just make you sound like a Nazi online.
        tptacek 8y ago
        ... or, at least, someone who fits most people's mental model of the kind of person who maintains a Gab account.

tptacek 8y ago

No, it isn't. It's floundering, because it is a site that caters to white supremacists, with an aspirational sideline in catering to normal people. Among people who have any name recognition for Gab whatsoever, simply having a Gab account with your name on it is a pretty icky social signal to be sending. In practice, what I see as I regularly check up and screenshot it is a whole lot of bot content punctuated by an occasional neo-Nazi post. I don't even think the white supremacists are all that invested in it. Maybe the ICO will work out for them.

microcolonel 8y ago
> In practice, what I see as I regularly check up and screenshot it is a whole lot of bot content punctuated by an occasional neo-Nazi post. I don't even think the white supremacists are all that invested in it. For what it's worth, I think that's just the effect of the default feed. If you actually follow anyone it completely changes. If what you're saying about the bots is true, maybe I don't see them so much as a result of a sort of WoT effect by follows. I certainly find the default feeds grody, but after adding "jq" and a few others to my muted words list, it's worth looking at some of the feeds for the occasional hidden gem. I will say, the space is not rich and diverse like Twitter used to be (yet). I honestly really liked the Twitter crowd, but it seems like conversation on Twitter is dying; I shuttered my account a while back, and if Gab doesn't grow a broader base I don't really know what there will be to take its place. Minds doesn't look too bad, but it seems to suffer from a (milder, potentially thanks to the influx of desperate refugees of Facebook in Vietnam) form of the same disease: being populated largely by untouchables (some so vile they cost you job prospects by mere proximity). > simply having a Gab account with your name on it is a pretty icky social signal to be sending. Yeah, I have it on good authority that merely having a Gab profile has cost me a job offer, which is why I closed it a few months ago. Reopened it today because if I die tomorrow I'd like to go with my spine intact.
- tptacek 8y ago
  Why would any part of your identity or self-worth come from maintaining an account on a dying white supremacist message board? Reconsider.
  - microcolonel 8y ago
    I disagree with the idea that merely having an account on said website should imply that I am immoral. I know of a number of good, honest people who have Gab accounts, and I don't want to live under the control of the bigots who would judge me that shallowly (in much the same way allowing myself to be cowed by other bigots would be wrong).
    - pvg 8y ago
      So you've got 'fine people on both sides' and 'they're the real bigots'. If you think these are somehow substantive or convincing rejoinders, you should probably re-think that. Mostly they just make you sound like a Nazi online.
      - tptacek 8y ago
        ... or, at least, someone who fits most people's mental model of the kind of person who maintains a Gab account.