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As soon as a viable alternative pops up that doesn't seem tailor made for racists, I'm there. So far every competitor I've seen pop up seems to think Reddit's b

As soon as a viable alternative pops up that doesn't seem tailor made for racists, I'm there. So far every competitor I've seen pop up seems to think Reddit's biggest problem is their (rather weak) stance against hate speech and user harassment, and not all the actual problems being discussed here.

chipotle_coyote 8y ago
There was an attempt a few years ago to do just this. Remember Imzy? If the answer is "no," you're probably not alone; it shut down after only two years of operation. They didn't have any of the problems that we're discussing here, as far as I remember. (Personally, I suspect its extremely weird and confusing UX design was at least part of what did it in; I found its navigation so baffling I gave up pretty quickly.)
- Guest10928391 8y ago
  If I remember right, you couldn't see any content on Imzy without creating an account. I assume that instantly turned away over 90% of the users. Then, their design was extremely childish, and it looked like a safe place for kids, rather than a site for adults to socialize. I think they did a really poor job at understanding the market, and I'm not surprised they failed. https://i.imgur.com/9uzaciS.png https://i.imgur.com/9uzaciS.png
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - spiralx 8y ago
    How are you going to get any traction when after losing 90% of your visitors to that home page's design you lose 99% of the remainder because nobody is going to join for content that may or may not exist, let alone be interesting. That level of disincentivisation ensures that the site's user base will consist of 90% employees of the site, 5% their friends who signed up and never logged in again, and 5% of randoms that love having a captive audience... until it dies.
qgsrw3fd 8y ago
What part of reddit makes it tailor made for racists? The fact that pictures of members of the KKK appear when you sign up, or the fact that when you're writing a comment you're suggested to include as many racial expletives as possible?
- hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
  I think you misunderstood babypuncher's comment (I did too on first reading). It's not that reddit itself is racist, but all of the reddit alternatives that have popped up ARE super racist (Voat anyone?) because they are a backlash against reddit's attempt to tamp down on overt hate speech.
anitil 8y ago
There's a great video by Folding Ideas which talks about the issues with secondary services (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3snVCRo_bI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3snVCRo_bI - this is in the context of video platforms) One big 'bootstrapping' problem is that the first to adopt a new platform are the people who are _too toxic_ for the original.
- hinkley 8y ago
  “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world...”
OpenBSD-supreme 8y ago
>username: babypuncher >complains about racists You sure are a ball of hilariously backward priorities! Racists are people too, and just like pedophiles on the darknet, racists on opennet forums act as a canary. When political policy trumps liberty, the racists get the gas and act as a warning flag that freedom of thought and civil discussion is in jeopardy. Moderation should minimally kill spam, and maximally kill prima facie uncivil behavior (of which civilly expressing the idea that blacks are inferior or jews control the banking system are not uncivil behaviors, whereas "fvck you nxgger!" is). The internet used to be an open space where squelching even ugly, factually wrong, and unpopular expression was anathema, then one day the political became personal online and into the trash this golden rule went.

chipotle_coyote 8y ago

There was an attempt a few years ago to do just this. Remember Imzy? If the answer is "no," you're probably not alone; it shut down after only two years of operation. They didn't have any of the problems that we're discussing here, as far as I remember. (Personally, I suspect its extremely weird and confusing UX design was at least part of what did it in; I found its navigation so baffling I gave up pretty quickly.)

Guest10928391 8y ago
If I remember right, you couldn't see any content on Imzy without creating an account. I assume that instantly turned away over 90% of the users. Then, their design was extremely childish, and it looked like a safe place for kids, rather than a site for adults to socialize. I think they did a really poor job at understanding the market, and I'm not surprised they failed. https://i.imgur.com/9uzaciS.png https://i.imgur.com/9uzaciS.png
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- spiralx 8y ago
  How are you going to get any traction when after losing 90% of your visitors to that home page's design you lose 99% of the remainder because nobody is going to join for content that may or may not exist, let alone be interesting. That level of disincentivisation ensures that the site's user base will consist of 90% employees of the site, 5% their friends who signed up and never logged in again, and 5% of randoms that love having a captive audience... until it dies.

qgsrw3fd 8y ago

What part of reddit makes it tailor made for racists? The fact that pictures of members of the KKK appear when you sign up, or the fact that when you're writing a comment you're suggested to include as many racial expletives as possible?

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
I think you misunderstood babypuncher's comment (I did too on first reading). It's not that reddit itself is racist, but all of the reddit alternatives that have popped up ARE super racist (Voat anyone?) because they are a backlash against reddit's attempt to tamp down on overt hate speech.

anitil 8y ago

There's a great video by Folding Ideas which talks about the issues with secondary services (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3snVCRo_bI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3snVCRo_bI - this is in the context of video platforms) One big 'bootstrapping' problem is that the first to adopt a new platform are the people who are _too toxic_ for the original.

hinkley 8y ago
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world...”

OpenBSD-supreme 8y ago

>username: babypuncher >complains about racists You sure are a ball of hilariously backward priorities! Racists are people too, and just like pedophiles on the darknet, racists on opennet forums act as a canary. When political policy trumps liberty, the racists get the gas and act as a warning flag that freedom of thought and civil discussion is in jeopardy. Moderation should minimally kill spam, and maximally kill prima facie uncivil behavior (of which civilly expressing the idea that blacks are inferior or jews control the banking system are not uncivil behaviors, whereas "fvck you nxgger!" is). The internet used to be an open space where squelching even ugly, factually wrong, and unpopular expression was anathema, then one day the political became personal online and into the trash this golden rule went.