More
20

I have been thinking about community growth and how the voat fracture has split several communities apart.

Compared to Reddit the userbase at voat was small. To grow a non political sub on voat took work and dedication. It really takes one to two very active and motivated mods to get a sub going and stay going. It’s extremely easy to get burnt out. Over the years the majority of communities on voat have disbanded and have tried to replicate their subs on several platforms. Non have really matched the spark that was voat in its prime (IMO).

I’m curious about how the future of poal and phuks relationship will work and how that relationship will effect community growth.

Phuks seems content on small growth with little to no advertising on other sites were Poal seems the opposite, very eager to gain users and growth. Voat got its growth from Reddit fucking up and Poal was created because Voat is fucking up. Seems fucking up is the growth strategy here.

There’s a lot of cross posts on all three sites. Does this hinder community growth?

Just running “whatever” thoughts I had this morning.

Happy Friday Phukers.

I have been thinking about community growth and how the voat fracture has split several communities apart. Compared to Reddit the userbase at voat was small. To grow a non political sub on voat took work and dedication. It really takes one to two very active and motivated mods to get a sub going and stay going. It’s extremely easy to get burnt out. Over the years the majority of communities on voat have disbanded and have tried to replicate their subs on several platforms. Non have really matched the spark that was voat in its prime (IMO). I’m curious about how the future of poal and phuks relationship will work and how that relationship will effect community growth. Phuks seems content on small growth with little to no advertising on other sites were Poal seems the opposite, very eager to gain users and growth. Voat got its growth from Reddit fucking up and Poal was created because Voat is fucking up. Seems fucking up is the growth strategy here. There’s a lot of cross posts on all three sites. Does this hinder community growth? Just running “whatever” thoughts I had this morning. Happy Friday Phukers.

52 comments

[–] Owlchemy 7 points (+7|-0)

Having been posting on Phuks before the 'days of darkness' that chased many away, I think the philosophy of both is similar, but also very different. Just as when I posted to Voat, I posted here, and now it's the same for me between Phuks, Poal, and a smaller site Voten.co. Hell, I just enjoy reading rather than watching TV, so I share stuff I read for fun. Being retired, I have the time, many don't ... but I digress.

History: Poal is actually a recent spinoff of Phuks. The Phuks admins, to their credit, offered those who had a problem with Phuks TOS and wished to flee Voat the opportunity to use their code to create Poal, with a slightly modified TOS. The admins here worked closely with PMMEYOUR_BOOBS2 to develop and get Poal going. Kudos to Phuks for their willingness to share and help. So anyway, IMHO this leads to two separate, but similar forums. One, Phuks, doesn't permit (from TOS) "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." ... the other, Poal, has removed this TOS to the best of my knowledge. So a clear choice is given users of either or both.

Again, in my opinion, it was the overboard hate crap that was running down Voat as time went on. Years ago when I started there it was easy to avoid, but in the later days it seemed to take over and it was difficult to ignore because there was so much. So if I have a personal preference, it's Phuks, because of this. But like many, I'd like Poal to succeed, too, and I'll post there until it takes that same dive down. I fully agree with freedom to say what you please, I really do, but given the choice, I'll take the civil over the wild west.

These are simply my thoughts ... do they make sense?

[–] Hitchens [OP] 5 points (+5|-0)

I really do, but given the choice, I'll take the civil over the wild west.

Do you consider Poal to be an extension of that Wild West? To me, Poal is gaining the users I actually tried to avoid on voat.

[–] Owlchemy 6 points (+6|-0)

Maybe wild west is a bit harsh ... but my feeling too. Yet it's too early to tell, so I'll give it a chance. I do have the feeling it will devolve as Voat did though, which is why I prefer Phuks, if I had to choose one. The TOS here may limit speech slightly ... but even the US Constitution recognizes there are legitimate limits and lines that shouldn't be crossed. Voat's downfall is not imposing any limits, which may lead to the same for Poal.

[–] TheTrigger 2 points (+2|-0)

Voat's downfall is not imposing any limits

This, unfortunately, is a lesson that is showing to be hard-learnt. Although, those limits don't have to be overbearing. For example, enforcing sub rules, should be taken more seriously, to avoid cancerous run-off from spilling over. Making sure people have all the tools for self-censorship, would be a goal to keep in mind. As well as maybe sanitizing the front page. Leave "NSFW" topics hidden, unless you specifically log in and tick a, "show NSFW content" option.

I'd say to put all this effort in to allowing "hateful" content, while quarantining it from the "main" content, because a lot of those people would most likely still partake and contribute to other, unrelated, parts of the site. This is what, IMHO, allows the chans to keep going and remain so popular. You can go to /pol/ and talk all day about "the JQ" and "niggers". But none of that flies in any other spot, like /wg/ or /fit/; even though there's most-definitely overlap in the user base. But be strict about maintaining boundaries, so that everyone has a place where they can spend time— unperturbed by other factions.
[–] pmyb2 2 points (+2|-0)

I think the limit is where your “speech” ie votes are used to silence others. Brigading I think is what really happened to voat I’m going to try and prevent it from happening to poal. Not saying I will succeed for sure but I’ll give it my best shot.
[–] Hitchens [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

Voat's downfall is not imposing any limits, which may lead to the same for Poal.

Very much agree with your sentiments. Putts hands off approach to managing was not what voat needed.

[–] E-werd 4 points (+4|-0)

But like many, I'd like Poal to succeed, too, and I'll post there until it takes that same dive down.

I think this is inevitable. I feel that true 100% free speech, as it's seen at Voat, is incompatible with civility in the long run. The ironic part is that it's not even truly free, it's mob rule and you will be effectively silenced if your voice doesn't fit in the narrative.
[–] PMYA 3 points (+3|-0)

Voten apparently gets more traffic than us. Is there less activity there?
[–] Owlchemy 3 points (+3|-0)

Very little activity on Voten. I only post there because I found it a good while back when searching for Voat alternatives and the guy who's coding it (Sully) is a great guy. So I try to help him by posting - LOL. But to answer your question, it's never really taken off. Very few post there, though I think it has a pretty decent user base.

©2016-2022 Phuks LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ToS | Privacy | Changelog | Canary | Donate | Bugs | License
Served by c7693d2284ae