I came from reddit and there was a sub there for casual conversation, where people were super friendly and always positive. So far it feels like this whole place is like that :D
I'm new too but this isn't my first rodeo, I've seen this from the Usenet days, back then it was called The Eternal September. Sorry to say, but this scenario isn't new, it's an old demon that has plagued humanity for a long time, but with the advent of the internet it's only become more evident and more quickly to develop. Everytime I've been with a community, whether it be a Usenet group, or forum, or Digg, or Reddit, once it becomes popular, it attracts new people that don't absorb the culture or share the same attitudes as the founding members. After a time, it gets worse and worse until, well, this happens.
Hopefully it won't befall this community or Voat or whatever new site takes the mantle of Reddit, but it almost always does in the end, people, sorry to say, just aren't very nice in large groups, you add money/politics/special interest into the equation as well, and it just makes it doubly terrible.
All I can say as a veteran of these downfalls, enjoy the ride, try your best to contribute good stuff, and if you must, find greener pastures and start again.
I created a voat account and a snapzu account a few weeks ago. It looks like they've already created a culture of what I didn't like on digg and reddit over there. But I've enjoyed my stay here a fair amount already.
I haven't given up on it yet, far from it, but I thought I'd start looking at other options anyway. The current reddit drama doesn't really affect me because I tend to stick to smaller subs, but in case things get worse I thought I'd start keeping an eye on some of the most promising alternative sites.
I came from reddit and there was a sub there for casual conversation, where people were super friendly and always positive. So far it feels like this whole place is like that :D
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Yes, the lounge is the place where you can say whatever you feel. There was a subreddit a long time ago on reddit called /r/reddit.com - http://www.redditblog.com/2011/10/saying-goodbye-to-old-friend-and.html
Which was pretty much the same. But that was ages ago, when Reddit had competent admins.