I discovered Hubski after being shadow banned from reddit a little over a month ago. As is typical, perhaps always the case, there were no warnings and there was no explanation given.
I love the reddit community (with a few exceptions) but I hate the admins and their opaque, arbitrarily enforced rules. Is anyone else in the same position? If so, do any of you have any ideas how this site or another could grow to duplicate all the positive features of reddit but with reasonable, clearly defined rules and accountable admins?
I find your way of introducing yourself humorous. I tend bar and every once in a while someone comes in and announces they just got banned by some other bar and they are here to give us a try out. I'd say that 95% of the time we would all be happier if we just told these people to get the hell out. I don't know why people feel compelled to announce they are here because at a very similar place didn't want them. I guess it isn't as bad as the girl who told us that she had lawsuits against two other bars in the neighborhood on her 1st and last visit to our bar. That being said, welcome to Hubski. I don't know of anyone getting banned, it's more structured to marginalize bad citizens than actually out right banning them.
I guess it is a little like talking about your previous breakups on the first date, isn't it.
We don't perrmaban. We just send b_b to work some magic and turn your penis into a darling baby buffalo.
Hello all, I'm new here too and would love to hear all about having my penis turned into a baby buffalo. I'm not sure which one I would play with more, but it would be pretty close. That thing is adorable....the buffalo, not my baby penis....shit, I mean the baby buffalo is adorable, not my penis.
Ha. Hahahahahahahaha. That really lightened my mood up. cgod, thank you for confirming that I haven't been taking crazy pills the last couple of days. Of course though, by speaking your mind like that it's makes you a bad and unwelcoming person. Duh.I guess it isn't as bad as the girl who told us that she had lawsuits against two other bars in the neighborhood on her 1st and last visit to our bar.
I actually came here from Hacker News rather than Reddit, for similar reasons. I wasn't banned, but HN does arbitrarily ban people. I left because the culture there is asinine, and unapologetically corporate (they ban people for saying things against YC-funded companies). I really like that Hubski doesn't have downvotes. I feel like a lack of downvotes makes the community much more amiable, and disincentivises trolls. I've largely replaced HN with Lobste.rs and Hubski. Lobsters has more tech news; Hubski has more general news, and an incredible, intelligent community. Seriously, I've never been a part of a community as educated, rational, intelligent, curious, and generally not mean-spirited. You guys are awesome.
I recently left HN as well. I've never seen Lobste.rs and it seems like a really great place for tech news. Thanks for the recommendation!
>I've never been a part of a community as educated, rational, intelligent, curious, and generally not mean-spirited. I see people say this a lot but I get the impression it just means they agree with everything that is said and what is said is usually main-stream liberal ideology.
On the contrary, one of the reasons I'm fond of the community is the rational debates. Hubski is predominantly socially liberal because the educated demographic is statistically socially liberal. It's not, however, predominantly fiscally liberal. There are quite a few fiscal conservatives here. I participate in a number of websites and communities that are socially liberal, but not rational or intelligent. For example, Imgur is socially liberal, probably because they attract the young and international demographics. But I would hardly call the community educated, intelligent, or rational. Nothing against them; it's a great place for visual entertainment, just not intellectual discussion.it just means they agree with everything that is said
usually main-stream liberal ideology
That's debatable, to be honest. Disagreements can occur a lot on Hubski, but they occur calmy, courteously, and I would say with both parties taking something away from it. Slap fights aren't really a thing here, and people usually give thorough, reflective responses to conversations. Unless you mean the sentence you quoted is said about communities in general, in which case this is possibly true.
What do you mean by YC-funded? Haven't heard that abbreviation before.
Y Combinator is an American seed accelerator, started in March 2005. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two three-month programs per year. In exchange, they take an average of about 6% of the company's equity.
They helped launch reddit, DropBox, and Airbnb, and this site is based off of the Hacker News source code.
As someone who mods a mid-to-large size subreddit on Reddit, I think a lot of you don't have a clue what it's really like. The volume of work is immense: from the spamming to the whinging. There simply isn't time to be "corrupt" even if the average mod was minded to be, which they're not. Hubski is partly great because it's still relatively small and tight knit. I don't doubt that as it grows in popularity it will start to see some of the same issues that Reddit (and pretty much every other online community has). If you come here with an attitude about "nazi admins" and "corrupt mods" I don't predict you'll do very well here. This isn't a place for chips-on-shoulders. It's a positive place, and a far more mature place than much of Reddit.
God damn, all the whining about Reddit Corrupt shills is pretty hilarious. In reference to your comment, it always reminds me of this comic about Reddit mods: Edit: That being said, welcome newcomers! If you stick around, you'll like it here. I'd even say I've made a few friends while I've been here. And if you like posting your own content without getting castrated, then you're gonna love it here! :D
That comic is hilarious, do you have a source for it or is it just a one-time comic by an unknown creator?
I was worried you were going to link to the "Two Inches and Fluffy" thing with insomniasexx that we've already agreed on never speaking of ever again.
Do mods have the power to shadow ban? If not, my problem is not with them (you) but with the admins (i.e. paid staff rather than volunteers). In any case whether it is admins only or mods and admins given this power, regardless of how non-corrupt an individual may be, shadow banning is a corrupt practice. True, I should have spoken out about it before it affected me and I regret not doing that. I hope there is not a similar sneaky, underhanded rule in effect here.
The philosophy of Hubski is to let users control their own experience, by following users and tags. Also, there are mechanisms to avoid users you may find distasteful (ignore, mute, hush, for example; see the primer page for details). With these mechanisms, it has never been necessary to ban anyone thus far (and shadowbanning doesn't currently exist here).
1. Nope. No power to shadow ban or remove it. Nor are we ever informed that it has happened, nor why. Usually a user complains that they can't see their stuff, we check, and give them some links to approach the admins 2. Most shadow bans seem to be via algorithm (not human action). And admin do appear to fix erroneous instances. So not really "corrupt" etc there either. Bear in kind that admins have also created a special sub for help/info on shadow banning, where the shadow banned can still post and be seen.
I feel like Hubski is the island from Lost and all the survivors crash landed here from reddit.
or were they already here....?
I feel like you just need to look in the right places on Reddit. The Front Page is obviously hellish. I'm subbed to /r/shittyaskscience, /r/ShowerThoughts, /r/notinteresting, /r/picturesofiansleeping, and /r/AskReddit. I obviously don't take it seriously, and use Reddit to "vent my inner troll." The only subreddit I comment in with a somewhat-serious manner is /r/AskReddit.
I came over from Reddit a while ago and still use both sites. Hubski doesn't aim to exemplify what Reddit does while dispelling what it doesn't do well. Hubski aims to do what Hubski does well and to build off of that, not to merely become some spin-off that happens to have it's own set of rules. I'd say that mk is a pretty accountable admin and cares a lot about this place and the people that use it.
Well said. I look forward to this community growing into something even more awesome than it already is.Hubski aims to do what Hubski does well and to build off of that, not to merely become some spin-off that happens to have it's own set of rules.
To be clear, I did ask how "this site or another" could become the new, improved Reddit. Possibly, there is another site out there that exemplifies what I'm looking for, or maybe is yet to be created. Either way, I'd like to hear from others who are interested in such a thing. I don't know about mk or any other admins here but I will assume that they are decent people until proven otherwise. For that matter, it is possible that there are decent people among the Reddit admins, but due to the cowardly, anonymous nature of the sneak attack that is the shadow ban, there is no way to tell them apart from the scumbags.I'd say that mk is a pretty accountable admin and cares a lot about this place and the people that use it.
I'm aware of that, but I didn't say "no there are none anywhere that can't be that version of Reddit that you seek". I addressed your question with relation to Hubski and not with relation to any other site because I'm not personally aware of anything that is like what you're looking for. But then again you didn't really specify anything outside of "Reddit, but rules that make sense" so who knows. I'm not really sure what you would propose for Reddit to do with regards to shadowbanning. With however huge their user base is at this point it would be in my estimation a mammoth amount of effort to handle things on a case by case basis. Not that I agree with the shadow ban, but you're looking at that or a lot more admins/more moderator privileges.
I guess what I miss most about Reddit is having one place with so many different communities dedicated to a particular topic, ideal, or hobby. I could always find an article or discussion that caught my interest on any given day. Hubski does seem to have the potential for that, though it still has relatively few topics and still fewer which are updated regularly. I know I can do more to help with the last part and plan to post more here in the future. I guess I could create new tags, too but I want to see more activity on current subjects first. Also, there are the "gone wild" and similar subs. I never posted to those, and rarely commented on them, and I know I can still look at them as much as before but I'd prefer not to give Reddit the page hits. I know there are plenty of other similar pictures easily found in any image search and I'm just about as likely to meet any of those women IRL as any of the "gone wild" girls, so I guess it's not a real loss, except in some intangible way that I can't explain.But then again you didn't really specify anything outside of "Reddit, but rules that make sense"
I'm a sort of reddit expat. I'm kind of sick of reddit; the level of discourse is shamefully low and it's popularity and size make it a great target for corporate and NSA shenanigans. Much more than that the level of discourse I've encountered at reddit is pitifully low. I'm on this self-improvement trip and trying really hard to restrict my online interactions to those that feed my mind, rather than feed from it. It'd be really nice to have more intelligent conversations with people who actually accept logic, reason and empirical data.
My theory is that the following scheme leads to fragmentation as size scales up. The structure of future hubski will look more like twitter than reddit. Also following people rather than issues make one remember they are people.
It's a different kind of fragmentation, catered to you without having dissociated communities. Tags circumvent a circlejerk.
Following my recent shadowbanning on Reddit after getting a post up on the Greenwald slides detailing opinion manipulation on the internet, I think I'm going to be sticking around here. Mind it seems I was shadowbanned for asking for upvotes, honestly I was afraid the downvote brigades would bring it down.
Not banned, just looking for something uncensored and lacking the ridiculous amount of corporate and military propaganda that has completely overcome the site. Recently I noticed that my votes do not toggle an orange or blue arrow, and when using RES I see the vote has the opposite effect next to the OP's name with no limit on how many votes it gives. IE: I click the downvote next to a ridiculously sensationalized post, no arrow "lights up," and the poster gets a 1 next to their username. I can click the downvote button repeatedly and the score continues going up. The upvote has the opposite effect also. Anyone else have this happen?
Nah I've never had that happen to me before, that's odd. I have had it happen where it looks like RES is giving me the opposite effect of my vote though.IE: I click the downvote next to a ridiculously sensationalized post, no arrow "lights up," and the poster gets a 1 next to their username. I can click the downvote button repeatedly and the score continues going up. The upvote has the opposite effect also. Anyone else have this happen?
I heard about Hubski from /r/TheRedPill, a subreddit which I browse every now and then. I really didn't like the slut-shaming they'd constantly do but liked them for being honest about how men need to better themselves and why approaching women isn't as easy as 'just being a nice guy.' I agree. Fuck the admins. They're the reason I'm seriously thinking about just deleting my Reddit account.
Welcome Outset, glad you found us. While there are some similarities to the place whence you came, Hubski has a number of differences. I suggest checking out the primer page to discover some of these differences. Also, feel free to PM me with any questions. See ya around.
Not an exile, but I was linked here from a Reddit post and it looked interesting. I'm pretty disappointed in the Reddit mods, though it didn't affect me too much--I've tailored my main page to mostly academic/philosophical/discussion related material to filter out all the racism and asshattery that plagues the front page. There's still a surprising amount of good material there if you know where to look, but I feel like the large communities are just worthless. I'm hoping JakobVirgil's comment about this scheme leading to fragmentation at larger scales is true. The biggest problem with reddit is that once a community reaches a certain size, it almost invariably loses quality as its content is diluted by garbage. A couple subreddits such as /r/askscience and /r/askhistorians avoided this by moderating heavily, but when you moderate news subreddits heavily you get extremely biased filters on your information. Anyway, I dig the setup and the users seem pretty friendly. I hope an app comes out so I can waste more time here.
No app yet, but there is a mobile version: http://hubski.com/m/pub?id=123245
If someone ever does make an app. Alienblue has to be the model it is so superior to the android ones. Also I think the dark theme on this site is gorgeous so could that be included.
I wish I had millions of dollars to donate as I know how hard it must be to get an app off the ground because someone would maybe make an amazing android one and immediately someone would ask for ios.. Then I know I want to use this site on my ipad, so an ipad friendly one would be needed. Lot of work
So...get going, I expect it on my desk by Monday
Corrupt mods? Maybe every once in a while something actually corrupt happens but dude. As istara stated it's an immense amount of work to be a default of main sub or of any large sub. My roommate is a mod of r/music and they have to get through things fast or else all the modmail and other things will completely bog them down. Especially if they have other subs. Just look at the mods to subscribers ratio, it's going to be a very, very small number and then factor in that these people are volunteers. People overreact to the modding on Reddit way too much.
Corruption does not necessarily imply a conspiracy. Corruption can occur from simple mismanagement. There are incidents of mod-corruption on reddit, as you admit, but the heart of matter is that many people are sick of wallowing through the garbage on reddit to find quality discourse.
Not exactly an exile, but the quality of content in Reddit has decreased with time.
I just jumped ship, after today I expect others to follow. It's ironic that a large portion of reddit's base came from the digg implosion, then reddit decided to pull a digg. This time I kept my username for continuity.
I also decided to keep my username, not that anyone recognizes me but it's nice to have some continuity.
For whatever reason, I don't believe reddit is the open platform it was at one time. I think its targeted heavily by organisations, the identity of whom we can reasonably make assumptions on, who have a vested and declared interest in stopping free discussion. There has been an increasing trend towards censorship so it's value has decreased dramatically to me. I like to read and talk about what I want, not what some shadowy and corrupt organisation wants.
I was a reddit lurker. I already feel comfortable being a hubski poster.
Not exactly an exile, but I had been there (Reddit) off and on for about three years and I noticed (as someone else ITT has said) that there was a low amount of interaction between people there. The only moderately successful post I made was This and it's an NSFW thread from /r/askreddit, but that's the only time I have ever seen any kind of moderate response to anything. I think I might repost that question here and see what it generates response wise... Anyway that's my piece on the matter, I'll be enjoying my time here. * EDIT: I'm happy to see Markdown works... (The only thing I'm good at using)
I don't exactly delight in my typicality, but yes, I was linked here from a reddit comment listed by user "flyonawall" elsewhere on this page. We're tired of the same sexual innuendos, obscure reddit culture references, and generally immature user base. After cruising around hubski for a couple of hours, I have seen some very thoughtful discussions and a genuinely positive atmosphere. Reddit still has it's place in content generation, and my own subreddit subscriptions will still see some action from me, but I'm looking forward to watching how the differing infrastructure of hubski plays into how the site evolves, and actively contributing to this community. :)
I just discovered Hubski through that comment people mentioned here. I've been searching for a decent alternative for a while now. I'd been a member of reddit for 8 years now and disgusted by what it's turned into. I mostly read it out of habit. My only concern with Hubski is that by the comments here, it's not the people who are sick of the witchhunts talking about mods censorship who are coming over, but the ones who think mods are NSA agents censoring posts. Those are the exact people I'm trying to get away from. They're the ones who came to Reddit with no understanding at all as to how the site works, and then pitch a fit because of it.
Stick around for a week or so. The noobs will leave and the ones who stick around transform into thoughtful people pretty quickly. It happens every influx. Something about Hubski either encourages people change or only keeps the good people interested for a sustained amount if time. Magic.
I have not been shadow banned but I am moving away from reddit because the subs are just too heavily and arbitraily moderated by unaccountable mods and the users are ignored.
How much more time do we have left ? Before another corporate entity takes over this website ? We are fleeing like Quarians of the galaxy and leaving the Krogans, Hoomins and Turians behind, while the Reapers overtake them one by one. If I had the power and intelligence of Aaron Schwartz, I would choose to take a stand on Reddit and fight off the Reapers there and now and put an end to this invisible invasion. Alas, Reapers were too powerful and struck first, ending Aaron before the revolution can begin. "Where there is power, there will always be corruption", This website is merely the same reddit minus the presence of Reaper oppression. So long as there can be a ban of ANY kind, it CAN and WILL BE abused sooner or later.
you should join the Sci-Fi club: http://hubski.com/pub?id=136499 ;)
I came here because of this comment and link Love reddit for the most part, I have tailored my front page to filter out the crap and find things that interest me, however I realize there are still filters that I am not aware about that keep me from getting all the information, or just one side of things. Hoping this site will keep me more informed.
I'm a longtime redditor, and a moderator of 4million+ subscribers, combined. I'm not an exile, I love Reddit, and I won't be leaving. Today's just been stupid. The reactions of people are amazingly retarded.
I think you don't understand the importance of the change because you are a moderator of default subs. The changes don't really affect those, but the smaller subs, where the upvote to downvote ratio did count and those subs that used it for voting purposes.
I just jumped ship, I'm using this site and Fark to fill the void reddit left. It's actually a really nice change of pace. Fuck reddit.
I'm the same. just trying to meet new people.
We've been at it for a while now. Welcome! Nice to meet you and JesterofBabylon. If you have any questions about Hubski, let me know. See you around!