SaidIt should be seen as an intellectual platform, not as a social media site.

submitted by Aureus from self.whatever

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[–]Nemesis 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I agree. Saidit is an opportunity to build something from the ground up, a way to connect and organize without having to compete with massive overly broad subs that produce a great deal of noise but nothing of actual substance.
I feel most subs here are dead precisely because they fail to do as you suggest. Subs aren't self-sustaining until they gain a critical mass of active users that post enough original content to attract new users. Building this core takes constant posting, crossposting to draw in users from outside of the silo, and ways to engage members consistently (flair, discussions, evolving memes etc.). IP2 has lived where so many other refugee subsaidits have died precisely because they doggedly shitposted through the long climb to ~1000 users, where organic momentum took over and pulled in people from other communities. Here as you note, it doesn't take many votes to reach front page, no easier place or time to build a community that could actually foster discussion. I think the ideal intellectual platform would have to be a new, moderated subsaidit, because most of the active subs are the ancient, broad subs from opening (whatever, quotes, etc.) that are precisely what they were meant to be, dumping grounds for low effort posts.

[–]Aureus[S] 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Great observations. I disagree on making a new sub though, unless that sub starts with a core of dedicated users already committed to posting quality content on it. I've seen too many subs that have been around for years with one very committed person and no one else.

IMO a better solution would simply be changing the culture, so that the default subs become havens for more thoughtful discussion. Getting activity is the hardest part, and these defaults already have activity. What do you think?

[–]Nemesis 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I agree that cultural change would be ideal, I'm just not sure how to get there. I've been following saidit for a long time, and I've always admired that elevated discussion and debate are in the core culture of the website, and even the voting system. But I've also noticed that many people come here looking for a place to post memes/blogs too edgy or right-of-center for social media or reddit. Many don't seem interested in discussion so much as safe harbor and some kind of confirmation that they aren't alone in a world gone mad. I've read many of your comments about activism, I think you have a real knack for this, do you have any ideas about how to shift saidit from a meme dump into actual discussion? Can this be done as individual users throwing out DMs and threads into the fray, or would this need some support from mods/admins?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ban the memes for all i care. That shit is so braindead. Can anyone actually think of a meme they have ever seen which you felt was really worthwhile? Memes are extremely similar to downvotes in my perspective in the sense that they're lazy as hell. If there's something worthwhile you want to say in a meme, it can be said in a normal format as well. Memes will attract the biggest demographic which is the childen... also the demographic which makes Reddit feel like such a daycare.

[–]Aureus[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Many don't seem interested in discussion so much as safe harbor and some kind of confirmation that they aren't alone in a world gone mad.

I completely understand the desire for a safe harbor. I just think that once that need has been sated, people should move on to more intellectually nourishing discussions. I don't see the point to reposting bad news here when you can just turn on the TV. This should be the platform to think up constructive solutions.

I think the admins are on board with this conception of saidit, but it would need to be done with individual users. I really think the way to do it would be to reach out and get interested individuals to host quality discussions together. These discussions would attract other people, and the ball would start rolling from there.

Maybe do something like have everyone make a quality text thread every day, and they could PM others they trust and ask them to comment on the thread. That's a basic idea but it would be a start