I came across this submission posted by my great pal Theo (actually I wouldn't trust him around sharp objects, but that's just me) and it was such a clickbate title! I was expecting him roast me for posting poetry to Voat.
I was ready to laugh.
I didn't laugh. It wasn't funny, it was concern fagging about my credibility, mental state, and casting doubt about Voat and who we partnered with. I hate clickbate.
If you filter down the list of demands you get to the important stuff. This is some of it. I've said this before, and will one last time.
Why would anyone invest in Voat?
- They believe Free Speech is important
- They see a lot of potential in Voat
They aren't selling ads, so obviously they are selling us out.
- Voat data has never been shared with anyone, and will remain this way.
How is Voat ever going to make money?
We realized years ago that advertising was a dead end. At best it would possibly cover hosting costs. It is sad in a way, because we could get some advertising, but we can't expect Voat to change. If I said "Hey guys, we can get some advertisement money if we clean up the defaults a bit," how would that end? Basically we can't advertise here because of the content. It's that bad.
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We have a new feature set coming out soon that will allow Voat to generate revenue in fun and different ways. We are going to move in this direction and build out revenue capability on top of it.
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Additionally, while developing some prototype features, we realized that we could use the software for a different purpose, potentially opening up an entirely new market separate from Voat (no Voat wouldn't change). So we are working to this end too.
Who is The Angel?
I'm not saying, because it's unimportant. I have controlling interest in Voat. The Angel is a silent partner and does not get involved with the running of Voat. Maybe they should because it takes a ton of time and they might be better than me. ;)
Short of it is:
If you don't trust me you should leave Voat, it's what I did with Reddit. That's honestly my best advice.
What I didn't do when I left Reddit was make a bunch of destructive posts about how much I didn't trust them. You know, to go along with that builder/destroyer theme we have going.
Another sticky? Who is this power mod!?
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4saken ago
Whether we trust you or not, we must all remember it's a gamble when you go online. What it boils down to is if it is worth the risk to be able to enjoy a freedom that has been granted to us in the most important document written in the history of man.
I was here yesterday, I am here today, I will be here tomorrow, as long as the site is reachable. Thanks for all the hard work and selfless hours you have spent operating this last bastion of freedom on the open internet.