Hi! Another reddit transplant here. Here's my stream of consciousness...
Hey all,
First, I love the site already. It feels modern and has a lot of great features. I'm curious though, what can Snapzu do, or what has it done already, to avoid the same problems reddit had?
I was originally a user of Digg. When the site imploded, I moved to reddit along with everyone else. Digg failed because it didn't listen to its community, and now reddit is dealing with the same thing. But this time, circumstances are a bit different. The majority of users are like goldfish. I myself checked reddit this morning only because I literally didn't know what to do with myself on the internet otherwise. I think a lot of people feel similarly. They're looking for a fix that cannot be provided elsewhere yet, and so we inevitably return to the dark master. The reddit userbase is pretty massive, ensuring a constant stream of new content. We've grown accustomed to content being delivered like an IV directly into our blood stream. We've gotten lazy. And addicted.
Reddit won't fail like Digg did. Even this latest and largest (no pun intended) controversy probably had an insignificant effect on reddit as a whole. They're still the biggest kid on the block. Which is both a blessing and a curse in my opinion.
We shouldn't be looking to just post original content on any reddit alternative. It's almost impossible to do. Cross-posts from reddit should be encouraged within reason.
Toxic communities are dangerous. They expose the site to the outside world in a negative way, and might even encourage more of that behavior. How do we solve for this? We're all about free speech, but witch-hunts and brigading can have real consequences. Where is the line drawn?
Anyway, sorry for all the text. Just thinking aloud at 8:30 AM. Good morning east coast!
Join the Discussion
Welcome to snapzu, it's great you're here /u/fivestarsoul! I think the goal @ snapzu is to take it one day at a time and just make sure you make the effort to contribute what you can. A small community has a lot of perks that a large one does not.. .For instance you don't feel like a shrimp in the ocean on here, it's a lot more personal where you feel you can actually drive positive change. I don't think anyone on here really cares about what reddit thinks, doesn't think, does do, doesn't do. I think people on here want something that is itself different from what's out there and people aren't too concerned about the rest.
Having said that... if take the time to post and comment a little you can get to know the system and then you will see how this place really works. I recommend checking out the "Prologue" PM that you should have received upon creating your profile, oh and most importantly, have a fun time on here dude!
I find that a lot of those who abandon reddit forever tend to do so pretty hastily. It's not like all of reddit is toxic or heavily mandated. You can always dig deeper into the calmer cleaner subreddits that still satisfy your interests minus the drama. So it's not like it's a sin to enjoy any of reddit anymore. Complete abandonment feels like throwing the baby out with the bathwater to me.
Unless what you've been enjoying from reddit is participating in or encouraging active harmful behaviour that causes negative externalities, in which case you're part of the problem.
I take my bits and pieces from reddit and Snapzu, along with several other platforms. They each have their strengths and unique perspectives that you can synthesise to form more encompassing perspectives on issues, along with their own original content/discussions to provide for a diverse range of flavours of entertainment.
So it's fine if you can't abandon reddit because you don't need to. Take what you can and want from it, and do the same for Snapzu. Or whatever platforms you find yourself involved in, even if it's just lurking.
Agreed that reddit can be a cesspool but it all depends on how you use it.
I totally know how you feel, I'm trying to switch away from my usual morning routine, I even closed reddit and then opened it up to see what's new. I only wish Snapzu had an android app. It would look amazing structured like G+, with the magazine layout. I love this site's aesthetics.