37

So as we all know, voat.co went down a couple days ago. I haven't seen a comprehensive write-up on the situation yet, so I'm putting this out there.

voat.co now presents a 503 error:

The server is currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary overloading or maintenance of the server. The implication is that this is a temporary condition which will be alleviated after some delay. If known, the length of the delay MAY be indicated in a Retry-After header. If no Retry-After is given, the client SHOULD handle the response as it would for a 500 response.

By this, we know that Voat is not gone for good. It is not the end. All the Stormfags will still have their board.

Some Voat users went to /r/Voat in confusion, but their thread was mysteriously deleted. All of the most current posts on /r/Voat seem to be about how Voat sucks.

Voat is still accessible at the old beta preview site, which is currently has the largest congregation of Voat users. Using this site, Atko has confirmed that Voat is not being abandoned. EDIT: It has been pointed out that Atko has not necessarily confirmed that Voat is OK. His exact words were

I don't have any info on what happened. At this point, everything is possible, but there is also a good chance that Putt is simply enjoying a golfing trip somewhere in airplane mode and that everything will be back to normal in a few days.

Currently the front page of the site consists of some /pol/ tier memes, despair about Voat, and some shit about raiding Phuks.

Let's talk about the raids.

Kevdude made a post to /v/ProtectVoat, stating that Phuks "could use some Nazi content," and saying that the userbase is composed of "faggots who attack Voat" and "cancer mods." Seeing as the point of ProtectVoat was to keep Voat from being phukked by SRS, this is a rather strange thing for him to do.

For all coming from Voat(and take this with a grain of salt as I am not an admin):

Phuks is more or less a free speech site. It's somewhat reminiscent of Voat in the early days, before Reddit banned CT. Opinions are not censored, and we encourage open discussion. HOWEVER:

There is a difference between open discussion and merely being a cunt. This is not Stormfront, and you will be expected to be civil(remember /v/thedinnertable?). The hosting provider for Phuks does have some rules on content(no inciting violence, etc.) and the TOS is enforced. If you have a problem with that, Voat is expected to be up at some point, and you can happily return to your shittier /pol/.

If you're chill, welcome aboard.

So as we all know, voat.co went down a couple days ago. I haven't seen a comprehensive write-up on the situation yet, so I'm putting this out there. voat.co now presents a [503 error](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html): >The server is currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary overloading or maintenance of the server. The implication is that this is a temporary condition which will be alleviated after some delay. If known, the length of the delay MAY be indicated in a Retry-After header. If no Retry-After is given, the client SHOULD handle the response as it would for a 500 response. By this, we know that Voat is not gone for good. It is not the end. All the Stormfags will still have their board. Some Voat users went to /r/Voat in confusion, but their thread was [mysteriously deleted](https://www.reddit.com/r/Voat/comments/8daj5v/whats_going_on_with_voat/). All of the most current posts on /r/Voat seem to be about how Voat sucks. Voat is still accessible at [the old beta preview site](https://preview.voat.co), which is currently has the largest congregation of Voat users. Using this site, Atko [has confirmed](https://preview.voat.co/v/whatever/2137800) that Voat is not being abandoned. EDIT: It has been pointed out that Atko has not necessarily confirmed that Voat is OK. His exact words were >I don't have any info on what happened. At this point, everything is possible, but there is also a good chance that Putt is simply enjoying a golfing trip somewhere in airplane mode and that everything will be back to normal in a few days. Currently the front page of the site consists of [some /pol/ tier memes](https://preview.voat.co/v/whatever/2137800), [despair about Voat](https://preview.voat.co/v/whatever/2137890</a>">https://preview.voat.co/v/whatever/2137890), and some shit about raiding Phuks. Let's talk about the raids. Kevdude made [a post](https://preview.voat.co/v/whatever/2137793) to /v/ProtectVoat, stating that Phuks "could use some Nazi content," and saying that the userbase is composed of "faggots who attack Voat" and "cancer mods." Seeing as the point of ProtectVoat was to keep Voat from being phukked by SRS, this is a rather strange thing for him to do. For all coming from Voat(and take this with a grain of salt as I am not an admin): Phuks is more or less a free speech site. It's somewhat reminiscent of Voat in the early days, before Reddit banned CT. Opinions are not censored, and we encourage open discussion. HOWEVER: There is a difference between open discussion and merely [being a cunt](https://imgoat.com/uploads/97da629b09/106311.png). This is not Stormfront, and you will be expected to be civil(remember /v/thedinnertable?). The hosting provider for Phuks does have some rules on content(no inciting violence, etc.) and the TOS is enforced. If you have a problem with that, Voat is expected to be up at some point, and you can happily return to your shittier /pol/. If you're chill, welcome aboard.

89 comments

[–] [Deleted] 12 points (+12|-0)

(i'll steal your take this with a grain of salt as I am not an admin to say)

phuks isn't really a voat alternative, its a reddit alternative. like voat was before voat became more of a chan alternative. any new users who expect this site to conform to their desires should probably rethink their position in the universe.

[–] Lord--Gaben [OP] 11 points (+11|-0)

Exactly this. Phuks is where the chill portion of Voat went(we came from a text based gaming sub for fucks sake). Most of us came to Voat before CT got banned, and were never big on those people.

[–] pembo210 6 points (+6|-0)

we came from a text based gaming sub for fucks sake

good chuckle, so true

Well, I'm glad I found you all, then. While the conversations are sometimes good, Voat can be a little more than vitriolic.

[–] ninjajunkie 8 points (+8|-0)

But I went to voat hoping for a reddit alt. I believe in free speech to much to ever go back to reddit. Voat's great if you can tolerate the noise, but this place seems really chill, the type of place I was looking for all along. Might just stay regardless what happens, if you guys don't mind.

[–] [Deleted] 0 points (+0|-0)

there's no rules saying you can't use both, just a handful of militant users that might badger you.

[–] weezkitty 1 points (+1|-0)

. like voat was before voat became more of a chan alternative.

But Voat is NOT a chan board. The views may be similar, but the site format is still undeniably based on Reddit.

[–] [Deleted] 0 points (+0|-0)

e-werd is sorta right but the degree to which mods were removed makes for a significant change in the basic use of the site. its as much a chan as it is a reddit clone now in my opinion.

[–] Schreiber 0 points (+0|-0)

Not really. Look, the front page of phuk is literally all talking about voat and most of the posters were voaters.

The userbase is totally lacking here. No offense, but this place seems dead af. Just look at s/gaming and compare it with voat's gaming subverse.

What I like about voat is that, while it is filled with hate, it is also a nice political news dump from conservatives point of view, where people can freely discuss about it. Something that you can't really do on reddit because both the company and most of the mods are die hard leftists. This place is not that, and I doubt it will ever be that. People just don't seem to talk about politics here.

[–] LockeProposal 4 points (+4|-0)

People just don't seem to talk about politics here.\

Takes deep breath of fresh air.

[–] [Deleted] 1 points (+1|-0)

its the same as back in the day on voat when reddit was first banning subs. literally every post was about reddit and it got annoying, like this has. we certainly don't have many users and who knows if we ever will really have more but this site has a good community. one i like much more than voat.

i am strongly of the opinion that voat should exist and continue as a conservative media hub but i can't use it because i am unwilling to abandon my opinions for the voat hivemind and if i offer an alternate opinion, i don't care to here about how i should kill myself with my idf buddies or some shit, i want a reasonable conversation. that is something you can get here, its just not something that happens everyday because, again, small user base. we pretty well know each others' positions and we're not going to beat our heads against the wall trying to unify everybody's ideology. every now and then, though, i do get a new perspective, see a new solution.

[–] [Deleted] 9 points (+9|-0)

When the dust all clears and voat has its hivemind playground back I'm staying here.

[–] TheTrigger 4 points (+4|-0) Edited

Honestly? I'm 75% of the same opinion as you. Everything just seems a lot more relaxed, over here. If it does come back up, I'll probably pop back in to voat, every now and then, simply because of the sheer amount of content, relative to phuks. I've curated my list of subscribed subs pretty heavily, and mainly stick to the news and discussion subs, anyway. But my most active days are most definitely behind me.

That being said, on a relative tangent and addressing OP: kevdude's been pretty shitty, for a while now. A few of us are of the opinion that he sold his account for sweet shekels; that someone bought it specifically to stir the pot, in the wrong kind of way. Everything that guy's done, in recent history, has been detrimental, in some way or another. Which means: if he's talking shit about Phuks, then it's a +1 for this site, IMHO. All that guy does, now, is cause drama and scare away people of lesser-thicked skin. Honestly, screw him. He burnt any good opinion that I had of him, a long time ago.

EDIT:

There is a difference between open discussion and merely being a cunt. This is not Stormfront, and you will be expected to be civil(remember /v/thedinnertable?).

This is why I plan on staying.

The hosting provider for Phuks does have some rules on content(no inciting violence, etc.) and the TOS is enforced.

This makes me a little less comfortable, but we'll see how it plays out. It might just be all in my head.

Voat is expected to be up at some point, and you can happily return to your shittier /pol/.

Alright: no. Have you even been to /pol/, lately (either one of them)? Voat is to wagyu steaks as the chans are to meat-glue steaks. There's no comparison. At least voat had other content besides, "FUCKTHEKIKESRACEWARNOW".

[–] jobes 2 points (+2|-0)

kevdude's been pretty shitty, for a while now. A few of us are of the opinion that he sold his account for sweet shekels; that someone bought it specifically to stir the pot

As someone that was on his bad side for literally years, he was like that for a long time. I could never take PV seriously because he lacked any ability to accept criticism. I haven't been back to Voat in ~18 months, but this seems just like his posting habits. He lost some of us a bogeymen and maybe just lashed out at the rest of the community.

[–] [Deleted] 0 points (+0|-0)

Nowadays voat has very little content other that that. Call it their immune system if you will. I think they have an autoimmune disease.

[–] Dismal_Swamp 8 points (+8|-0)

A bunch of goats have made it over to the preview.voat.co site. Thanks for posting the link to it and update so the wild goats can find out where to go. Consider yourself an internet goat herder.

[–] AlkaiserSoze 8 points (+8|-0)

I am torn. On one hand, I do appreciate unfiltered speech as it is a sign that no opinions shall be silenced (aside from truly illegal content). As a proponent of free speech, I appreciate that. On the other hand, I seriously enjoy real discussion and less shitposting/circlejerking, of which Voat has a great deal of, sadly.

At this moment, I am of the mind that this is not a better or worse place than Voat. Merely different in slight ways. Granted, I could be wrong. I prefer observation to hearsay, however, so we shall see.

I would argue that opinions are silenced more on Voat due to the hivemind mentality than they could ever be on Phuks. I've known the admins of this site from MP and IRC, and I have no reason to believe that polite and civil discussion will ever be censored on this site.

[–] AlkaiserSoze 6 points (+6|-0)

I am forced to agree with you on that. In some ways the hivemind on Voat was a little worse than on Reddit although both were horrible at their worst yet manageable at their best. I suppose it came down to who was participating in the conversations. While I agree with some of the mainstream views of Voat users, I did not need to hear it repeated hour after hour, often overshadowing interesting threads and preventing others from forming.

Now, I understand that the frequent use of racial slurs was a canary to show that censorship was not being applied in the standard way, it was also distracting to some users. It also gave new users a poor initial view of the userbase, preventing new ideas and discussions from forming. Truly, there is a difference between censorship and not being a dick. One can encourage discussion while the other will silence it. I feel this concept is lost on many people who were too busy being caught up in red pills and canary shouting. While I am sure there are some who would accuse me of "safe spacing", I merely want discussion, not to soundproof myself from an ideological perspective.

[–] Schreiber 0 points (+0|-0)

In some ways the hivemind on Voat was a little worse than on Reddit

You can ignore them and still post on Voat just fine. I don't have the same ideology as Voat's hivemind (I mean most of them are edgy anti-semite white supremacist neonazi spamming PoC genocide) but I can still accumulate 3000+ ccp in several months posting something that doesn't align with the hivemind.

Theoretically if they are shutting down different views I would be downvoat brigaded to oblivion already.

[–] registereduser 5 points (+5|-0)

I would argue that opinions are silenced more on Voat due to the hivemind mentality

This is correct with voats heavy peer censorship via downvoat, which are very often used to effectively ban users.

I don't know what sort of banning if any has happened on phuks, but I know I've been allowed to voice unpopular opinions unlike on voat.

[–] E-werd 3 points (+3|-0)

If memory serves, the only real banning that happened was that period where we were getting spam. It was advertisement sort of stuff, never actual content.

[–] Kal 5 points (+5|-0)

I could use a break from all the drama, politics, and 4d mental gymnastics. Being chill and decent to each other seems like a breath of fresh air. Some of those guys on voat truly act like posting there is their job with life and death consequences.

While I appreciate people wanting to make the world a better place, watching them cheer when some Muslim maniac runs over 20 people gets to be a bit much.

At this moment, I am of the mind that this is not a better or worse place than Voat. Merely different in slight ways.

That is an excellent way to put it. We are not trying to be 'better' than Voat, just different.
Nobody has to pick a side. Hybrid Goat-Foxes do exist and are welcome.

The only people not welcome are those that feel the need to attack opposing views, or feel brigading is a valid way to express themselves.

[–] COFfeebreak 4 points (+4|-0)

Hybrid Goat-Foxes

I'm so glad you chose that than another description. ;)

[–] E-werd 2 points (+2|-0) Edited

I'm more of an Alien-Phukker, myself.

EDIT: I do admittedly touch the Goat every now and again, too.

[–] Slagiatt 0 points (+0|-0)

Dont know if i wantthat to be a goat with sharp teeth and a fluffy tail, or a foxwith hooves and horns.

[–] Justintoxicated 3 points (+3|-0)

I am torn. On one hand, I do appreciate unfiltered speech as it is a sign that no opinions shall be silenced (aside from truly illegal content). As a proponent of free speech, I appreciate that. On the other hand, I seriously enjoy real discussion and less shitposting/circlejerking, of which Voat has a great deal of, sadly.

Opinions aren't generally silenced here, basically if you can state your opinion/argument in a civil way, a way where most people can tell you've actually put thought into your opinion, it's completely welcomed here. We just don't want the full blown-autistic short bus of shouting many areas of Voat turned into, you know the subs where you wonder "who left the megaphone cabinet unlocked when the special kids were visiting". Most of the people I've seen come over so far can conduct themselves like civil human beings so I doubt there will be a lot of "mod drama".

[–] AlkaiserSoze 3 points (+3|-0)

you know the subs where you wonder "who left the megaphone cabinet unlocked when the special kids were visiting"

Yeah, I can understand that. To be honest, when I get to those posts, I tend to lightly breeze over it. There are a lot of excellent posts on Voat and some thought provoking discussion to be had. However, constantly having to try to recognize the difference between an excited poster, a shill, a troll, and a 16 year old edgelord is sometimes a bit weary on the soul.

[–] Justintoxicated 4 points (+4|-0)

The early days were good though, when people were just glad to be on a site where they could talk freely and build fun subs. I think when all witch hunts started and raiding of subs it just lowered the bar.

[–] jobes 8 points (+8|-0)

the userbase is composed of "faggots who attack Voat" and "cancer mods."

We never attacked Voat, some of us just pestered PV and only PV. It's been at least 18 months since I've been back to Voat. Kevdude holds quite the grudge

[–] OeeThaGreat 6 points (+6|-0)

I am very irritated by the post by kevdude and the behavior of voaters towards phuks. Every time a new influx of users would join Voat, they would behave like idiots and act as we had to.conform to their ways and us goats would call them out and remind them that proper assimilation into the community requires following our rules. Now, Voat is down and those Jack asses are coming here and behaving exactly like those idiot refugees. It's stupid, childish, and it shows what kevdude,.and others real intentions are.

[–] ThinWhiteDuke 5 points (+5|-0)

Assuming we keep the clientele decent, would the Phukkers who have been here a while like to see the place grow substantially, to where some of the specialty subs have more content?

I don't see the site ever being on level with reddit, mostly because of the name, but I'd love a community the size of Voat's without all the morons raving about Jews in every single thread.

[–] E-werd 4 points (+4|-0)

Man, I made the same argument with the name. I was overruled.

I'd love to see some more content, for sure. Or at least higher quality. The best we've got at the moment, imo, is the stuff @LockeProposal does. He's a champion.

[–] E-werd 3 points (+3|-0)

EDIT: That's not to say we have shit-tier content, but what I meant was that I'll take quality over quantity.

[–] LockeProposal 1 points (+1|-0) Edited

Not the first nice thing I've read about myself today. Awfully flattered, and I'm posting an extra submission to /s/HistoryAnecdotes for you guys <3

(should be up in a couple minutes)


Edit: Done!

Personally, I like having the tight-knit community where everyone knows each other, but I'd also like to see more content. I think currently the best thing for specialty subs is for their mods to be consistent in posting content(e.g. /s/HistoryAnecdotes).

[–] LockeProposal 1 points (+1|-0) Edited

I'll be posting an extra one this morning in thanks for the mention <3


Edit: Done!

[–] smallpond 2 points (+2|-0)

I also think the name is bad, but I've come to appreciate it in a strange way. Perhaps users here stay for the community/content in spite of the name.

Feelings about that are mixed.
I don't think anyone is opposed to growth, but being small does have benefits.
I think most of us would be happy with growth, just apprehensive about where the community goes.

With slow growth, new users acclimate to the existing culture. But with rapid growth sometimes there can be conflict or displacement.
I was wary at first, but am impressed with those that have stayed.

I'm not a spokesperson though, I just act like it. :)

[–] PhusNewFag 3 points (+3|-0) Edited

Using this site, Atko has confirmed that Voat is not being abandoned.

He said that "I don't have any info on what happened. At this point, everything is possible" - this does not exclude the possibility that voat is abandoned.

There is a difference between open discussion and merely being a cunt. This is not Stormfront, and you will be expected to be civil(remember /v/thedinnertable?).

What if you have an open discussion with someone whom you consider to be or act like a cunt?

Is it allowed to have civil and polite discussions about controversial subjects, like heritability of IQ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ) and trans-racial adoption studies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Transracial_Adoption_Study)?

I've read the TOS, it states that "Posting content of any kind that incites discrimination, hate or violence towards one person or a group of people because of their belonging to a race, religion or nation is strictly prohibited.".

Now, to discuss these things would not be inciting violence, "hate" is subjective but I don't think it qualifies to stating facts in a neutral manner. (though some may attribute that as an intention, which cannot be proven) and "discrimination" is vague, is it discriminatory to state discriminatory facts?

[–] smallpond 4 points (+4|-0)

Really, there are some very non-civil discussions that take place occasionally, and they are tolerated. But I think everyone, including users having those discussions would rather not waste any more time than necessary on them.

Is it allowed to have civil and polite discussions about controversial subjects, and trans-racial adoption studies?

Again: I am not an admin, but to my knowledge that is completely allowed.

"discrimination" is vague, is it discriminatory to state discriminatory facts?

It is against the TOS to incite discrimination, e.g. "We should keep blacks out of our schools"

[–] PhuksNewfag 3 points (+3|-0)

If that's indeed the case I might end up liking this place more than voat.

[–] E-werd 2 points (+2|-0)

Those examples you mentioned, if brought up like you just did, would be well received. Will people agree? Who knows, but that's not the point.

What won't be well received? A post as follows:

Title: Blacks are dumb and that can't be changed

Body: [meme]

Because that's not a discussion, that's just... dumb.

[–] Kal 3 points (+3|-0)

This place needs a 'protectphuks' to ward off protectvoat asses from taking over this place. I am somewhat convinced they are the reason voat is down at the moment. Am I the only one that saw how hard kevdude was being hammered over censorship the moment it went down?

[–] E-werd 6 points (+6|-0)

I get the sentiment, but we don’t need that. We need a user base that isn’t afraid to stand up for its values and an active mod/admin team. If this thread is any indication then I think we will be just fine.

[–] heraldic_beast 5 points (+5|-0)

anon schooled him rhetorically and he deleted all his comments and insisted anon give up his username so he could get a downvote brigade.

[–] watcher 2 points (+2|-0)

I don't believe for a second that PuttItOut simply hasn't realized voat is down. Server alerts and shit, if he's "on vacation" and ignoring severe alerts for days then voat's already done for, if not now then soon.

[–] 88Chan 1 points (+4|-3)

FYI in the later years of ProtectVoat, SoapBoxBanhammer was its raiding arm. I've seen SBBH users cozying up to your admins in chat already. Lordbeetlejuice and ADHDferret are both SBBH and ProtectVoat. They are probably here on Kevdude's behest.

I honestly can't take anymore of their shitshow. You guys have been warned.

[–] pembo210 7 points (+7|-0)

Please do not threaten our users. We have been open and answered every question thrown at us. We didn't ask for 150 new people to show up and start messing with us. We are trying the best we can. We offered on numerous occasions to help setup sites and freely give away years worth of our code development so anyone can run their own site.

[–] 88Chan 2 points (+2|-0)

Please do not threaten our users

Show me where I threatened someone. I warned you about Kevdude and his lackeys. If you want to read something else in my words, good luck.

[–] pembo210 4 points (+4|-0)

I'm not saying you did. I actually just got told off by another admin that my reply didnt really fit your comment.

So I want to apologize about that. I did not intend to blame your for anything or imply you did an action or said something that you clearly didn't.

I'm a little on edge. We've had dozens of people threaten to do stuff to us over the last two days. I was out of line.

[–] AlkaiserSoze 6 points (+6|-0)

Hmm. I did see ADHDferret having some disagreements about the decision to raid Phuks. Specifically, he was against doing it (citing that they didn't like it when SRS raided Voat). I would wager that this is either a finely layered move or a sincere motion by ferret. Either way, I just want to chill for a while and I know a few other Voaters feel the same.

[–] 88Chan 0 points (+0|-0)

Ferret was a PV mod. I don't believe anything they say. Everyone else can make their own minds up, just felt I needed to warn people about SBBH.

[–] Nadeshda 4 points (+6|-2)

You know I read somewhere that Phukkers don’t like people acting like a dick you sure push the envelope on this matter.

Why are you so hostile to Voaters? I agree there are some weird ones there but I have also had the opportunity to meet very cool people.

What is your motive acting like an ass to goats and how does this help Phuks to grow and not be a dick about it?

Honest questions here mate...

[–] smallpond 0 points (+0|-0)

What makes you think they're a phukker rather than a goat?

[–] Nadeshda 1 points (+1|-0) Edited

Geez I don’t know now, I think phukkers used to be goats anyway... hard to say. Now I don’t know where the context button is either.

Flip a coin

Your call... :D

[–] Boukert 0 points (+0|-0)

you are adressing an 8 hour old account that came over in the same wave as yourself. so not really a "phukker" yet, more a "phuks pup". You will find most of the phuks oldtimers surprisingly laid back and helpful.

[–] Nadeshda 1 points (+1|-0)

Awesome news, still learning the ropes, thanks for that :)

I think I know your name from Voat boukert?

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