When it first popped up I made an account and took a look. I liked the 'free speech' and 'all are welcome' sales pitch. But at the time it was mostly vacant, and I didn't really like the layout.
I've gone back a couple times to have a quick look, and it's getting ugly. Maybe I'm not setting up my account or preferences or something, but when I logged in and clicked on 'categories' then 'philosophy' and got a page full of images with memes and other empty content. When I clicked on 'science' I got a page filled with discussions about gender or climate change, and nothing else.
Did I accidentally put gab into voat-mode?
Also, it just doesn't have a community feel. More like being in the midst of a mob. There's no compartmentalization, it's all one big group rather than a union of smaller groups.
I don't get it.
What's the appeal, or what am I doing wrong?
I agree and I thought that was what Gab was going to be ... but it doesn't appear to have worked. I've never had a Twitter account, but when I signed up to Gab, I expected that. It does appear many platforms and businesses now are snubbing the people who use them and coming up with their own rules, generally falling in line with a leftist agenda. It's really none of their business ... if it's legal, why should anyone care. Instead they try to force their own views on all once they have a virtual monopoly.