Ugh, I feel like your comment is almost depressing. So much negativity. As one of the recent new members, I feel like I should be super careful now what I submit to not eventually scrape off the flair of the veterans here and get scolded by them :/ I mean at one point you were new too, and what would you have thought upon reading such a comment by the veterans back then? Also, I was one of the bad guys who called hubski young, even though knowing it's been around for more than 6 months. Nowadays there are communities that are more than 10 years old, so of course hubski is still young. A year for a community is nothing, it's always about the perspective. Regarding restrictions for new users: It may solve an issue or two and maybe it should be tested. Personally, I wouldn't mind not being able to share links and only be able to comment, since that's what I like doing most anyway.
There was a time, call it '92 to 2000, when it was considered the newbiest, most assholish thing in the world to join a new forum and start posting without lurking for a month or more first. Then AOL happened and the world became HEY GUISE WATS NEW HERE. Diaspora (RIP) gave everyone a #newhere tag when they started up their accounts. You followed it until you figured out how to unfollow it. Note that I don't blame the new blood for flooding the fuck out of #askhubski because there's no search, features were curtailed and you had no idea what the hell else to do. But I think it's an important lesson for insomniasexx and thenewgreen and mk and the rest of the posse that I'm forgetting that Hubski needs a failSAFE mode, not a failFRIVOLOUS mode. You should have been put in a nice, friendly, nerfed-out, training-wheels place where you can explore, poke around, figure shit out and NOT upset what was already here.As one of the recent new members, I feel like I should be super careful now what I submit to not eventually scrape off the flair of the veterans here and get scolded by them :/
I still thing it's wrong to join any community before spending some time lurking. I spent a good week or so reading through Hubski posts before I did anything "real" with it. I did the same when I joined Reddit or any other community I've been a part of. I'll even do it when I find a new subreddit that I like. I think it's important to understand the community that you want to become part of. You have to test the water to make sure you actually like it. If you do like it, you like it for what it is. Jumping in and disturbing the water will change the nature of the community that you wanted to become part of.
Thanks for the little bit of background info and history, I wasn't aware of everything you mentioned. And yes, as I agreed with the other comment, some restrictions for new users wouldn't be too crazy in my eyes, maybe there will be a solution acceptable for all.
I wouldn't even see them as restrictions - after all, if you're smart enough to figure out how to disable them, they aren't restrictions. Just as most video games don't throw you into expert mode on day 1, Hubski (and Reddit) ought to set you up in such a way that you don't piss people off on day 1. It's a fight I've had with the admins since Alexis was actually doing work: why the fuck do you have default subreddits at all? The answer, of course, is "because traffic." Since Hubski doesn't think like that, we've more of a chance.
Oh yes, when I talked about restrictions I meant things like "no posting until you get a badge with comments" or something like that. Something like those default settings which you have to find out yourself would be perfect, although I couldn't come up spontaneously with ideas how to realize them.
And just to add to what kleinbl00 said: we're always open to suggestions on how to make the site better. "Because traffic" will never hold water around here (although, of course we want more traffic, just the right kind of traffic). If in the future you have any ideas, feel free to let us know. Some people use the #bugski tag, even though that was set up for actual bugs. I wonder if we should have like #suggestionbox or something. That might work.
I wonder if we should have like #suggestionbox or something. That might work.
-Good idea.
I realize that my comment is negative. It is also honest. It is not my job to be yanyone's cheerleader. I am not on Hubski so I can smile, pretend I think things are going great, and make everyone feel like a warm fuzzy bunny. I am on Hubski to think and to talk. If I can't be honest about how I feel about Hubski while on Hubski, what's the damn point? I admit at the bottom of my post that there are new users that look like they might be good here. I admit at the top of it that it's negative. I am aware that I am being a pessimist in this situation. Hubski has been around for nearly three years, natch. Yes, it's relatively young compared to, let's say, 4chan, but I think users are confusing "new to me" with "new in general." You're not a bad guy. It's just an annoying choice of semantics. I am inviting you, and anyone else, to defy my expectations. I know that I need to sit back and wait and see how it's going and I am trying very hard to do so. I know that once upon a time I was a new user at this website and yes, I did even come in on a wave of users (I think). Before that I was a new user at Reddit; I came over at the fall of Digg. My username is not picked by chance or whimsy. This also means that when I came over to Reddit, I saw tons of comments like this. It made me curious as to what the site was like beforehand, and, as I expect will be the case here, I loved what I saw, became a member of the community, and thought it was great. It was only over the course of three years at Reddit that I began to be able to see the decline of the community. You have to be here beforehand to see the impact. And what's also true is that when you are there beforehand, you are probably going to be resistant to change, even if that change eventually turns to be for the better. My perspective is biased, flawed, and I acknowledge these things. I'm generally a pessimist and I've also seen the way this goes for other websites. Moreover, as a person and as a contributer to this website, my perspective is valued (admittedly, probably only by some) precisely because it is biased and flawed. That is the nature of having a personality. Don't be careful. Don't mind me. I would ask that you try to use this site with respect but then I come across like I am taking this website far too seriously: it is only a website, after all. I think the most valuable thing to remember when using Hubski is that the whole point of Hubski is fostering intelligent, thoughful discussion. That's what the two of us are doing right here and now. In that way, it's great. Don't take my comments personally. They are just my thoughts and they're not aimed at anyone in particular. As for Kafke, I've got my eye on you. You seem pretty cool. And zonk, I'll keep an eye out for you and see what you're doing as well. Please. Defy my expectations. I'm just often used to people merely living up to them.
And that is why you are one of three people I follow. Reddit started failing when the knuckledraggers in /b/ discovered they could get points for sharing f7u12 cartoons in /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu. They emigrated en masse. Most of the shit on Reddit is directly related to awkward teens and tweens herping and derping about poop and rejection in amongst the defaults. The Digg thing was a lot more seamless than most people really want to believe; it wasn't an erroneous data point at all.It is not my job to be yanyone's cheerleader. I am not on Hubski so I can smile, pretend I think things are going great, and make everyone feel like a warm fuzzy bunny. I am on Hubski to think and to talk. If I can't be honest about how I feel about Hubski while on Hubski, what's the damn point?
Before that I was a new user at Reddit; I came over at the fall of Digg.
Well, that's a refreshingly honest and open self-analysis. And it relativises the other post quite a bit. The first post just even made me afraid to post stuff under a new, not well established tag like for example #ps4 or #playstation, even though I'd love to play with some people here once it's released. Because what if the veterans are no gamers and don't like the r/gaming subreddit and fear it becomes the same here? And your comment had quite a few shares, so what if the majority agrees here with you?! As you pointed out, everything here seems to be more 'personal' and things are more tied to your nickname, because of your followers etc., so you have to be extra careful not to get into fights or contradict with the old guard and their vision or image of hubski they have. But as I said, your comment put it into another light and made some things sound less harsh ;) And I'm pretty sure I'm aware of the major differences between this website here and reddit, at least the very basics and that's why I commented here in 2 days probably more than on reddit in 2 months. So don't be afraid of new things, young users can bring refreshing new content that still resembles the spirit of the 'old' hubski!
I wouldn't be afraid to post, especially appropriately under tags. I - and everyone else - can always unfollow or mute a tag. Honestly, if you tag things, I think that's better. I'd rather mute a tag than a user. P.S. zonk - in re-read, you clearly read my entire super-huge-long text post about my opinions and biases, and I appreciate that. That's honestly the kind of user I'd like to see here. And thank you for the discussion. I'm glad my second reply tempered your worries a bit. I've been cranky because I haven't been able to get on Hubski, frankly.