We have a place where we can freely discuss events in the world and share our thoughts on them without fear of censorship.
Think of how rare that is. Most countries censor ideas that aren't PC because of "hate speech". Most websites censor their communities to appease spineless advertisers. Most companies crush their employees into milquetoast discourse under the iron fist of worthless HR "diversity" rules. Politicians push silent acceptance of every bit of insanity down our throats in the name of "safe spaces".
Yet Voat is different. You can speak your mind freely here, without fear of censorship or retribution. Remember how valuable that is and cherish it.
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[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
[–] MyDrunkAccount 3 points 7 points 10 points (+10|-3) ago
Because it's the natural progression of any kind of organization to either grow or stagnate. Voat is very much a hive-mind, but most people don't see it because they fit in. You still get downvoated to hell and ridiculed for not thinking along the hive-mind narrative; it's not exactly censorship, but sane people don't willingly invite abuse onto themselves for long, so after a while they leave and the hive-mind gets stronger, develops less dissenting ideas, and develops a dogma of sorts. Once that happens, it's not a free-speech platform anymore...it's just another mediocre blogging site.
[–] Goater 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Coming from webboards, digg, reddit, etc, I can say from personal experience that Voat is the least hive-minded community I've found so far (aside from professional ones).
I've had better diverse topic discourse here than anywhere else on the web at anytime except pre-2009 Reddit, OP is right, we are lucky.
Sane people don't consider downvotes abuse, they just laugh at the petty individuals who downvoted a viewpoint, although if you're talking facts and get it wrong and someone can prove it, well the downvote is there for a reason.
As an e.g. the same users will post and comment on Trump, even though they are ardent supporters,call him out on policy promises unmet. This did not happen during the last administration, it was just crickets from DNC voters. The range of viewpoints on Voat of Trump compared to Reddit on Trump is a great example of how diverse the community is here.
[–] Stoned 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
No. If you make a good argument and support your points most people here will have a rational discussion. Sure sometimes they will call your ideas stupid or disagree but I've never had an issue discussing opinions that go against the general consensus of the community here.
[–] Tzitzimitl ago (edited ago)
is it really hivemind to downvote concern trolling and irrational opinions?
like the most frequent types of "voat is going to shit" comments are coming from karmawhores or their sockpuppets that got kicked in the face by putt
[–] Sir_Ocaz ago
That's why something like /v/whatever is a great idea. A completely blank slate where you can discuss everything you want, even though, yeah, even that becomes shit and the safest shitty ideas will be deemed offensive.