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 think it's just another one of those places that attracts a certain type of user because of the free speech thing. It is unfortunate but there does seem to be a crossover between people very interested in free speech on the internet and people who consistently post shit content.
Maybe that is not the correct way of putting it though. There are plenty of people who want the internet to be a free and open place, but I'm talking about those highly politically focused places like Voat where everyone just seems to group together because people will either remove their content or completely disagree with them on other sites. I suppose once a place like that springs up and attracts more people, they just feed off each other.