3 years at Digg, 8 years at Reddit, today at Snapzu
Digg was amazing back in 2003-2004. Then it became obvious that there was collusion and rigging of the system.
Reddit back then (around 2007) was all text. Imgur didn't exist. Subreddits numbered in the tens. Memes weren't a thing. There was discussion. Thoughtful, insightful, polite discussion. Over the years, memes took over. It seemed like the facebook crowd rolled in, the median age dropped a decade, and older users started acting decades more childish. Then it grew too big for anyone to handle. It became the place where people acted like they were trying to be on 4chan but without the...may I say "quality" of "humour" that 4chan offers. Then the admins had to step in, and kept stepping in it, and betraying the moderators who ran the site for them.
I like a smaller site that doesn't garner national media attention - one that doesn't create stories, but creates context and discussion around what's happening in the world. It seems Snapzu might be that place.
I tried Voat.co for a while but that's not what I'm looking for. I don't want a reddit clone, I want a reddit improvement. And I don't want a site where people go because they got censored on Reddit. I want a site where people go because Reddit users aren't self-censored enough!
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Sounds like you've come to the right place. Welcome!
Nice intro :)
Welcome aboard, this seems like the place you search for, everytime people describe the original reddit, i feel that this may be like the original reddit, but members nowadays already have the experience what reddit become so hopefully the same mistake won't happen here :)
I'm right there with you. Used digg for several years then bailed due to the story rigging. Moved to Reddit over 8 years agoo. Initially I used the main subs until they became unusable for me and split out into a small set of subreddits. Eventually most of those became "infected" with memes and the like. The poor leadership choice at Reddit and the obvious move to make it purchasable had me on a lookout for replacements. The great mod revolt of 2015 bubbled up several alternatives and Snapzu appears to be the closest to my liking.
Welcome! I agree, and came here for almost the exact same reasons. It seems like many of the people who choose to frequent these parts have the same values in mind, and it makes for a great community.
Yeah, I'm a SQL Server database administrator and I frequent /r/sqlserver on Reddit (even though it's not nearly as good as stack or sqlservercentral) ... well just today I posted a link to (what I thought was) interesting new SQL 2016 features and the post got deleted. I mean, come on. It's on topic and it's something informative, yet it was still censored.
Well, I'm the owner of /t/sqlserver here now :)
I think your last paragraph sums up my perspective entirely. My history is not nearly as experienced as yours because I started with Digg around 2005-2006 just looking for interesting posts and entertainment. I was always afraid to post any comments, as I could tell from the beginning it had to be funny to get any attention. Then the Digg redesign sent the first major exodus to Reddit.
Reddit showed a lot of promise and even felt more community-focused when I first got there. But it didn't take long for the tasteless jokes and memes to take over the comments section. I stuck with it because of the specialized discussion threads provided by subreddits, but found that the commentary slowly lost its intellectual nature as meaningful statements were generally downvoted out of view.
Then the recent events took place, which opened up /r/redditalternatives. That's how I came here, where it feels like we can actually talk openly and respectfully again. What's more, Reddit has hired one of its original creators to replace Ellen Pao, which seems to be drawing people back to the site. The general sentiment seems to be that there's no more need for any Reddit alternatives. While, I wish them all the best, I'm going to stay here. Hopefully the tides are turning back just enough to help preserve the community-focused nature found here at Snapzu before its size got too big to maintain.
Looking forward to an insightful future here at Snapzu!
I found Snapzu through /r/redditalternatives as well. I think the timing actually worked out well. All the die-hard anti-censorship FPH folks are over at Voat, since that was THE reddit alternative earlier this week.
I'm hoping Snapzu might end up being like the reddit of old, where the population was generally nerdier, more technical, and intellectual.
I think people like you and me have been open to a reddit alternative for a long time, and it's this recent series of events that's pushed us to actually find one and go there.
I see exactly where all your points are coming from. Cats took over Reddit.
Welcome to Snapzu
So how long until we become Catzu?
Wouldn't be much a zu if there was only cats ;)
Just settled in myself!
Nice name grab!
Your last paragraph was extremely well put. :)
I hope you had a microphone to drop after you finished writing that.
* sigh *
You can tell you've been on reddit too long when you expect this first reply to be an animated gif of someone dropping a mic.
Well I am sticking to snapzu for the long haul. I love this site and I hope you do too! It's a lot of fun and the community is better than anything i've ever experience on the web before.
Digg, Pownce, Twitter, Reddit, Snapzu. Smaller site is good, as it stays more community driven and less front-page incentive rigged on the large sites.
Welcome! My story is very similar, and I've enjoyed my stay in here. I can't agree more with the last sentence.
I agree with you, and hope this community can become a place of more thoughtful debate than reddit. I think we should aspire to be more open to everyone's opinion, and stay away from being like the reddit hivemind. I'm brand new here, but I'm exited to be here already!
Welcome! I've been over at Reddit for 4 years, so definitely not as long as you. I have seen it change a lot though in 4 years.
Just wondering though, how many users were on Digg when everyone jumped ship?
Social media and news sharing were still much less mainstream than they are now, but Digg was THE big link sharing site. I don't have any numbers...wait a sec..thanks wikipedia:
2010 was when the big exodus from Digg happened and quickly put Reddit on top, where it kept growing to where it is now.
In browsing snapzu today i came across the announcement about Ellen Pao leaving reddit. She may have resigned but the site will not change. The hive-mind of reddit can do great things like raising money for people in need and participating in the largest ever gift exchange, spreading happiness and generosity to many people. However, they can also be horrible people who will say and do the most heinous things behind the mask of anonymity. Many have already forgotten the horrible things that Ellen Pao and her husband have done (false lawsuits and ponzi schemes) and some out of the loop mouth breathers are actually wishing her well in her future endeavors. The rally to boycott the site today (july 10th) has died and been all but forgotten. The rally that was supposed to not just be about Victoria and santa and cancer guy, but also about the horrible way the site has been run and the big changes that would potentially destroy the community. I made the mistake of checking the front page. Not one mention of the no reddit day rally or anything. Just 4 karmawhores trying to capitalize on the news of her resignation and a bunch of the same old crap. Original and informative content is frequently downvoted or scrolled past while waves of the same tired jokes and memes get reposted to the ever drooling delight of the neckbeard army. It has been speculated by many that the board of directors used Ellen Pao as a shill to do all the dirty work and make the unfavorable decisions and changes to the site so that it will be ripe for purchase or other monetization. All of this will be forgotten by the goldfish like memory of the community since they believe their stand was actually victorious in causing her resignation. Gold is being purchased by the truckload and I'm sure the site is getting traffic that could rival that of superbowl sunday. It's like a play by play of a public relations 101 course. Dangle a carrot in front of the rabbit while you skin him from behind. I could have made the effort to post this rant on reddit but the truth is i just don't care anymore. This post would have dwindled away in r/new only to be downvoted for the sake of someone else's repost advancement to the front page. I'm done with that site and i look foward to watching it burn to the ground from my comfy new seat here at snapzu.
Excellent commentary. I agree with other tribe members regarding your last paragraph. It's exactly why some of us are here.
Welcome!
I agree with you and hope for the best about snapzu, but let's be realistic : sooner or later snapzu will be overrun by the same exact people that took over reddit and digg.