I have similar memories of early voat. I lurked a little before the first exodus. There wasn't an established order, that I saw, but it was a small community of 'builders'. The one common trait.
I would argue that the first couple migrations were also at least partially builder motivated.
I agree that influxes don't have to be destructive. It depends on the newcomers ability to integrate and/or play well with others.
It really seems to mirror real-life immigration.
I love the highly diverse nature of a place like Vancouver. But it only works because the common thread among all this diversity is the desire to get along, and tolerate.
Historically we never had a race based ghetto that divided us, like in the south. We didn't really have black people at all, in the west. Islam was also never represented in a significant number.
We did have people from just about everywhere else on the planet.
It seems that most cultures are capable of getting along fine. There are a few cultures that seem to have problems with everyone, even their own.
True on the internet, and in reality, I guess.
I think the appeal of the realm of foxes for me is that single TOS statement. It addresses what was wrong with Goatland. Though total freedom to say or do anything is a good concept, there does need to be limits. Narrowly drawn, but none the less, limits. And though it's not really formally forbidden, I do enjoy the non-political atmosphere here. The couple of times I accidentally went on a political rant myself, I regretted it. I like it here as it is - LOL.
I would agree that the TOS has probably helped us bypass a lot of things that would be difficult to handle from an admin point of view, it has been a positive thing. The real issue is not allowing or disallowing things prohibited by the TOS, it's that the users who would appear here if we did not have the TOS would have no interest in any topics that were not strictly political - in general, obviously. From a user perspective, that sort of thing limits the range of content, and from an admin perspective it means you need to constantly babysit the userbase because they're trying to rip each other's throats out constantly.
Ironically, yes.
Though I would add that Voat never really had any sort of established order or feel to it, at least that's what I felt during the short time I browsed it before the first major Reddit influx. It's hard to say if the same thing applies here as I've been a part of it since the beginning, so I don't really have an outsider perspective, but I'd probably say it does.
I don't think influxes are the issue. We have discussed inviting certain Reddit communities here in the past that are politically neutral and focused around a form of content like PC gaming, for example. If we ever had a politically charged influx appearing on Phuks, I would probably be in favour of turning on invite only.