This is going to be an important thread. We need to talk about YouTube, and private media operations in generalThis thread was prompted by YouTube’s shadow ban of my new video, but that’s really just a minor inconvenience. The whole story involves YouTube, the DHS, and the CIA— JT Chapman (@_SecondThought) November 28, 2020
I feel like the platforms like Voat et al. actually achieved their purpose, namely as platforms where the type of people who typically get banned on reddit/YT/Facebook/etc. gravitate. Most of them being chuds is a feature, not a bug.
While some of these websites (like Gab or Ruqqus) were designed from the get-go to be as vile as possible, I get the impression that a good number of these founders were naive libertarians who ended up biting off more than they could chew. People who thought "Reddit used to be good when there weren't as many rules."
While the operators of Voat don't seem to care very much about the shit on their site, I see the platform largely as a victim of circumstance. Gamergate spun out of hand, Reddit had to take action, and Voat popped up at the right time and place to absorb the refugees. The culture wasn't set by any explicit actions of the operators, but by inaction dictated by a naive understanding of the world.
This might be a charitable reading of events though.
While some of these websites (like Gab or Ruqqus) were designed from the get-go to be as vile as possible, I get the impression that a good number of these founders were naive libertarians who ended up biting off more than they could chew. People who thought “Reddit used to be good when there weren’t as many rules.”
Can't remember where I read this, but there's a quote that neatly sums it up along the lines of: If you start a community in the middle of nowhere, and your only rule is 'no witch burnings', you end up with two principled libertarians and fifty million witches.
I feel like the platforms like Voat et al. actually achieved their purpose, namely as platforms where the type of people who typically get banned on reddit/YT/Facebook/etc. gravitate. Most of them being chuds is a feature, not a bug.
While some of these websites (like Gab or Ruqqus) were designed from the get-go to be as vile as possible, I get the impression that a good number of these founders were naive libertarians who ended up biting off more than they could chew. People who thought "Reddit used to be good when there weren't as many rules."
While the operators of Voat don't seem to care very much about the shit on their site, I see the platform largely as a victim of circumstance. Gamergate spun out of hand, Reddit had to take action, and Voat popped up at the right time and place to absorb the refugees. The culture wasn't set by any explicit actions of the operators, but by inaction dictated by a naive understanding of the world.
This might be a charitable reading of events though.
Can't remember where I read this, but there's a quote that neatly sums it up along the lines of: If you start a community in the middle of nowhere, and your only rule is 'no witch burnings', you end up with two principled libertarians and fifty million witches.