Good Vibes: First Impressions of Snapzu

I've just arrived from reddit (from the Snapzu invite thread, in fact) and I'm really enjoying it here. I do wonder what will happen as the community expands and diversifies — will using invites to stagger growth and an XP/reputation system to incentivize good behavior be enough to prevent this place from becoming a mess like reddit? Probably not, but I don't think it will be nearly as bad.

Much can be learned from successful communities around the web (successful in that they're orderly and productive). What makes them work? I thought perhaps a smaller, more personal user base could mean something, and I certainly think it helps, but there should also be growth. Also important is the subject matter and the type of people it attracts, but there are vile communities built around good things and fantastic ones built around bad things (though that's subjective). So what makes the difference?

One thing the good communities have in common is solid leadership. There are clear, meaningful rules, and administrators/moderators enforce them dutifully. In addition, much depends on the users following through and embodying the type of culture they want to be a part of. I think that's incredibly effective, as most people will act how everyone else is acting. Fostering the right mindset from the get-go is much easier than trying to fix things later.

reddit has many problems, and I'm sure this place will reveal its own in time, but I think the completely anonymous nature of reddit is one of its downfalls. Just imagine how things would be if everyone were anonymous in real life. Already, I feel the need to act responsibly here while also feeling safe behind my anonymous username. I think it's a good system.

Obviously, people are people and human nature will have its way. There will always be people who aren't nice, or have differing opinions, not to mention spammers and trolls. I think that's unavoidable, but I'm hopeful that Snapzu will not deteriorate into a cesspit.

These are just some thoughts. Let me know what you guys think makes a good community and why you like Snapzu!

P.S. I tried out a few different alternatives: Voat is a bit of an eyesore and annoying to navigate, Hubski is actually pretty nice but a little too free-form for me, and the others were just not very usable. I haven't seen any mention of MetaFilter, however, which is a nice place.