During the past 24 hours we have witnessed a large influx of new users. Current stats show that Voat has been visited by 168,213 people in the last 24 hours alone, making 9,571,200 requests and burning through 117 GB of bandwidth. We are currently running at 300% our normal volume. You can see the spike very clearly here.
Because of this, we were forced to scale up our hardware to accommodate the new users, but this will incur significant costs which we won’t be able to cover without your help. Voat gets money primarily from your donations and ad-sales, but ad-sales have so far been unable to cover the expenses. In the past 24 hours, we have received $1,085 in donations and ad-orders through our store http://store.voat.co, and $180 through bitcoin. This is amazing and we sincerely thank you for every dollar you contribute to keep Voat online, but our past experience shows that donations and ads combined can no longer cover Voat hosting fees.
Voat also has a major flaw: we have no fulltime staff. Voat is currently managed by two people who have full time jobs “on the side”, which makes things very complicated. Voat needs fulltime staff to monitor the servers, respond to support and abuse emails, process donations and keep the wheels turning. With donations alone, this has not been possible so far, resulting in poor site performance and user experience.
We have all witnessed in one way or another how a website which takes on investors can slowly degrade and become outright unusable. Given our commitment to Freedom of Speech, we have to be very careful about who we partner with. Because of this, we have rejected several offers from investors who we believe would not be compatible with Voat’s core philosophy. For the record, we have had investment offers from all over the world during the past 2 years, many of which we were either too busy to entertain or too concerned with underlying motives of the parties involved.
So, what do we do?
We want to keep Voat alive. We want to be able to work full time on what we love and do best. We don’t want to change what Voat stands for or Voat’s core principles, and thus we need your help. If you have contacts or relationships with potential investors who also believe in and support our Freedom of Speech commitment, please let us know and please let them know that we need their help.
Until we have a permanent solution, we need you to donate, buy ads and merchandise (to be announced soon). Every bit helps.
Edit 1: typos
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SockGuy ago
If you need designer socks for your merchandise to sell hit me up. I am a sock manufacture.
Arotaes_Forgehammer ago
Goddammit now I want Voat socks
guinness2 ago
I would buy that if sold through the official Voat shop.
repoman ago
How can we be sure you didn't put your junk in the socks before selling them?
Also, do you sell socks roughly the size a toddler would wear?
SockGuy ago
For real ? Their has been over 250,000 textile jobs lost in nc after clinton. My company was established in 1939 by my grand father. I am a Vet. And why am I responding to this troll @repoman
ShineShooter ago
Email Putt, we can all be wearing cozy goat gear by the new year!
TedShield ago
With all that sock money I hope you have donated too.
ShinyVoater ago
Just make sure they're made in the USA.
PuttItOut ago
I dig this and we are looking to have the community to be involved in our merch effort. If you are serious please email us as I'd love to discuss this with you.
SockGuy ago
I am very serious. Made in the USA. 600 pair minimum per style. Price will range around 3.00 per pair usually under.
8_billion_eaters ago
Why not just provide a P.O. box address so we could send money orders made out to Voat?
MtnPatriot ago
If you need help, you need to allow people who want to help you do so. I agree, give us more options, cause some of us are not going to bitcoin.
eyeofeve ago
I would do this.I too am keen to donate to the site but am concerned about privacy, and bitcoin is beyond my poor brains ability to comprehend,I struggle with normal bankiing at the best of times.
DeplorablyDeplored ago
Going to second this because bitcoin and such is a hassle for me. Wouldn't mind having this as an option.
Ivegotredditcancer ago
Can I have something sewn on them? I'd like my voat socks to say Gary.
reeperpill ago
Do you offer light wool socks?
SockGuy ago
Yes I do.
pollard ago
cashmere comes from goats
SockGuy ago
Cashmere fibers are in essence serrated. So every time you apply pressure the touching fibers cut like a knife against each other. Socks are worn the quickest in textiles, since they are constantly rubbing. Cashmere socks wear out exponentially faster than other fibers.
SockGuy ago
I can make any sock you want so long as you purchase the minimum required. Minimums are usually set by fabric content.
TremorAcePV ago
Dude, I love what you're doing. I realize you of course have this as a business, but I love how open to what a social platform can do.
Keep it up :D
EnochGenesis ago
name checks out.
lbruiser ago
I would buy Voat socks. Just a simple upvoat, downvoat button on the ankle.
If you have a store front, you could sell them and donate a percentage of profit to the site. Id by a few pairs easy.
SockGuy ago
We have an extreamly small store front. Vast majority of buyers are elder buying diabetic or compression socks.
sinjinsmythe ago
Socks, tshirts please!
Zednix ago
I would buy a sock with a goat on it
SockGuy ago
Putting a goat on it would be no problem.