I can't really answer the first few questions, seeing as I'm one of the new users from the recent reddit "flood". I have to admit I was a bit worried and curious about this focus. Turns out I actually ended up liking it. To me, it makes the site feel like a closer community, of which people are sharing information with each other, as they would IRL. Reddit didn't have this user focus, and everyone on the site just kind of became a reddity "entity". And there's a running joke on there about this too. That's certainly what I thought when I got here, since that's how it was introduced to me (from the reddit post). However, it quickly became apparent that isn't the case. And honestly, I think the people who will keep that opinion will probably leave after a little bit of trying out the site. From what I noticed, there are two different types of redditors. The first, like myself, use reddit for news and discussion of news. That and just as a general forum for discussion of current or introduced topics. Much like how #askhubski is here. These users will probably find hubski to be exactly what they are looking for. The second type of redditor is the type that likes memes, pun threads, pics, videos, etc and is there for media consumption. Granted, that's what I used reddit for for a long time, but I forced myself to gradually drift away from that type of usage. Which is why I like hubski, that nonsense isn't here. The users that do like that type of content are looking for the social acceptance and approval that reddit focuses on. Hubski doesn't focus on that either. So naturally, I think that "wrong" new users isn't really going to be a problem. Sure, they'll come check out the site and see what it's about. But I'm willing to guess that they'll get bored and leave. Reddit is much more active and fast paced compared to Hubski. It's two entirely different attitudes toward the same idea. So really, I think it's not a big problem. But this is coming from someone who's only been here for a day or so.6. How do we attend to keeping this a person-oriented third place? Many, many people in that thread complained about the focus on persons and relationships on our site.
but I certainly don't want redditors to think this is simply "reddit with more content and less pictures", because we're a lot more than that.
I am nodding vigorously at the first half of your post. Like I actually know your username just based on being on this site for a while. Not from RES tagging or from you being a "power-user", but from the way you've posted content and the discussions we've had. I think that's the strongest part of this website.