Edit:
I'm simply blown away with you goats. I was expecting a somber farewell in this thread but instead you've done the exact opposite; pulled off a rally at the bottom of the 9th. On a personal note, and this may seem sentimental, but you have given me a new hope for Voat at very dark time for me.
All I can say now is: Let's do this! I think your message is clear. We have a ton of work to do, a short window in which to do it, and I fully understand I can't do it alone. We will need all hands on deck if Voat is to have any chance at survival.
I will post the plans I have for Voat as well as a status update on your contributions by Monday.
P.S. Old goats, be nice to the new kids. ;)
Original Post
As I sit here about to write one of the most difficult announcements yet, I was just reminded that my account is one month shy of three years old. Nearly three years ago I came here from Reddit when the vote counts disappeared and I felt I could no longer trust what I saw. Nearly three years ago I met @Atko and started contributing code because I believed in him, his mission, and what he was doing. So much has happened during these last three years.
I know a lot of you are new, but Voat has been through a wild ride, and never at any point was it an easy one. My memories are bittersweet when it comes to Voat. I’ve sacrificed the best years of my life for Voat, I’ve lost my business partner whom I miss a lot, I’ve lost people in my life, I’ve given up golf which was my passion, and even with all this I still believe in Voat. I still see the dire need for Free Speech in this world, I fear a world without it, and I still will do anything I can to continue providing it.
But alas, I am powerless to keep Voat running without financial support. As of right now Voat has no solid commitments. Voat has always needed a financial partner whom had balls of steel and backing deep enough to give Voat the capabilities to run as an actual business (being able to hire staff and set itself apart from its competitors), not just a one man show. Potential investors have one or the other of these traits, but we have yet to find one with both. In this day and age, this is Voat’s unicorn.
In the past Voat has been lucky enough to be part of special programs designed for startup companies which gave us free licensing on various products and significantly reduced hosting costs. These programs have since expired and we are now paying full costs. Last month was our first non-discounted month on Azure and the usage was $6,600.90 USD. Donations, ads, and merchandise only put a dent in this and this is the primary reason why we have not launched another merchandise run. And begging for donations was always something we hated doing.
I’m writing this announcement to prepare this community, and the Voat family, for the possibility of a closure. I’m not certain on timing and I have too much invested in this place to give up just yet, so I cannot provide any timelines. In the meantime, I will soon be scaling back all Voat’s servers by at least 50%. I will also turn off some features that are resource intensive.
Voat needs funding. Without it, Voat will be no more.
Voat needs an Angel
Canary
https://voat.co/v/announcements/1330806
view the rest of the comments →
Michael_Obama ago
Pretty ironic considering what's been implemented and who it has benefited.
Not being ungrateful but this doesn't match reality.
Where did the initial funding come from? That is an interesting question.
9138736? ago
I've debunked these points before and I'm tired of humouring you. These times are too trying for me to bother with your nonsense. You've benefited enough from Voat to spend thousands hours spreading disinformation to slander its name and the admins' goals, and yet not a single of your countless accounts has donated a penny.
You have the time, but not the dime, despite the use you've taken from Voat.
Grifter42 ago
You debunk points like an extremely constipated man shits: Poorly.
You give half-measure answers, and the leadership here are the kings of half measures.
9139061? ago
This is your line and you stick to it, regardless of what logical and rational explanations are handed your way.
It is not my ability to explain and debunk, but your willingness to accept reality that is so poor.
Grifter42 ago
Why should Voat have to deal with someone who has already posted child pornography on the site, and is a known pedophile? I don't give a fuck if there wasn't a rule against it at the time, it's common sense. Any sensible person would have banned him long ago. And Beatle conspiring to have him flood my inbox with CP is something that should warrant a ban too. It's a federal fuckin' crime to conspire to distribute child pornography, and could get the site itself in serious hot water.
9139307? ago
Obviously my explanations are not the formal explanations but there are legal and reputational concerns Voat must contend with. CP is removed, but until we had in the rules that users posting CP would be banned entirely, it might not be in Voat's best interests publicity-wise to do so. That of course has changed, it is not in the rules, and if, now, someone were to post CP we have the codified statement to act on it in the way you'd desire. Why so concerned with the failings of then when we have the state of Voat now to hold a torch to?
Grifter42 ago
Because I don't think you folks are acting in good faith. I think you're being intellectually dishonest.
"Not in Voat's best interests publicity-wise"?
You've gotta be fucking kidding me. It's not in Voat's best interest to ban someone for posting child pornography?
Don't act like I'm fucking stupid, PS.
9139643? ago
hecho has come out in this thread to say that "conspiring to post CP" was in fact a "conspiring to post gay porn" so you don't even have ground to stand on with this.
Grifter42 ago
You know he had posted CP before, you know he's a pedophile, and you know what they were threatening to do.
I'm not a fucking idiot, PS.
9139843? ago
I know he's harassed many subverses, like /v/offgridders with porn before, but I'm not certain it was CP. I won't deny that it may have happened though, but I won't confirm that it has either as I do not know.
He has admitted to being a pedophile in the past but I don't think that's grounds for banning an account. Voat is concerned with the content posted here, not its users disgusting and immoral personal lives.
I don't think you're an idiot, I just think you're pressing an issue without paying heed to the state of affairs, to the actual information Putt has access to and how he has reacted to it.
Michael_Obama ago
You haven't debunked anything.
What have i gained? We lost many good users because of the bullshit the admins let happen. This site is unrecognizable from a year ago, just go look at archives. And I've never slandered anyone, I just want to know facts.
I use reddit too and i wouldn't give them a dime. The reality is I've contemplated every possible situation behind the motivations of voat, and after what I have experienced, giving them money would be like giving money to someone who hates you. None of the shit that is wrong with Voat is my fault. I'm just a loud mouth.
9139125? ago
Every spam post you've made has been 50%+ false and insupportable claims, often in reference to Putt. I call that slander in an effort to drive people away.
Dubious. You fail to understand Occam's Razor and claim to understand every possible motivation.
Voat's admins have had extremely finite amounts of time each day to do a great deal of work for a userbase incapable or unwilling to support it financially, despite Voat's -- Voat's -- dedication to freedom of speech from the beginning. There ability to pursue ideal solutions for every non-ideal feature you find and exploit is extremely limited. So they have slapped on quick CCP-related restrictions as temporary solutions while the've contended with higher priorities, like ensuring Voat remains usable (free of spam and brigaders) and now and then attempts at securing more funding from the userbase. They had start-up support, but like all avenues of support of that nature, time has run out.
There was never any selling out to venture capitalists with agendas, no canary death or FISA requests, no mysterious manipulation of anything from behind the scenes. Putt -- and not too long ago, Atko -- worked hard to do what he could with what time he had, and now the only tangible support he had financially is gone. It's that simple.
Michael_Obama ago
Referencing shady things taking place isn't slander. Admins silence is just deafening.
and as for the rest of your comment, I don't believe for a second the admins just own a site and have no idea what goes on here. That's a lame argument to sell too. Admins know exactly what is going on and let it occur.
9139268? ago
I'm not saying that off or shady things aren't happening, and I'm not saying that, if they are, the admins haven't known. What I'm saying is the time and energy required to properly handle whatever might be going on is not available, as Putt must concern himself with other things primarily.
But I've said all this before.
Michael_Obama ago
The admins know, and if you want me to believe they are lazy and have other things going on.. instead of running one of the most controversial websites on the internet.. then you are nuts.
9139341? ago
I didn't say lazy, I said (and have been saying) that the admins (right now just Putt since Atko left) have full-time jobs and lives to lead outside of Voat, personal responsibilities, and with what little time is left to Voat after that must be spent wisely.
Michael_Obama ago
and they leave the site to be ran by pieces of shit who ruined it. So where am i supposed to feel sympathy in this equation?
PuttItOut ago
Fuck you Sane, unlike your little army, others have donated and contributed.
LORD_SPARTACUS_1488 ago
Sane was right. Spartacus was right.
"If you don't use Linux, you will suffer" and that's exactly what has happened. You deserve it, and I'm going to be running scripts to waste a bit of your bandwidth because I hate you, your shitty site and your promotion of this "Voating Model". Dumbass.
You must have foreseen this increase in cost. That's how Microshekel works. Dumbass. People's pathetic donations will not cover all of the MS tax, and they will waste their money like the retards they are. Not to mention, I would not donate even if this site was the best in the world, since it would just go directly into Microshekel's pocket.
Also, never forget that I fucked up all your chats from 1 computer with a shitty network connection :-) I bet the technical problem isn't even fixed, you just banned everyone with <100 CCP.
All Hail Lord Spartacus
oiseaulibre ago
Putt, people say I'm a part of this "sane group" too. We're not a group, the chat restrictions, the spammer, and the people who pushed for restrictions have just pissed the people in chat off time and time again. I've donated a small amount when I came here, turned my adblocker off from the first day that you and atko said there would be ads, and I bought a shirt and sticker the first time you guys sold merch. Now that I have seen this post I will be donating again sometime soon, because although I complain, I do love it here. However, what the hell is with this comment? You know MYG isn't sane. I have a lot of times given you the benefit of the doubt and defended you when people would talk shit about you being "corrupt". But what hell? Is this a witch hunt? Is everyone who criticizes you SaneGoat?
Rename the site Salem.co.
ExpertShitposter ago
Sane group faggot detected. He sees website data and probably knows more than anyone who is or isn't sane. And myg7 was sane.
oiseaulibre ago
MYG isn't Sane. They're two completely different personalities. None us have talked to Sane in a long time. He's gone dormant.
There also is no "Sane group". I don't know if you remember the /v/TIL fiasco, but I was one of the most vocal anti-sane users during that time. I had a couple posts about him hit the front page and created /v/CCSAT to make fun of him.
9139877? ago
Nice to have finally confirmation of this being Sane's alt. (Not that this was hard to know just from guessing.)
234234242 ago
this is completely unprofessional.
https:// discord.gg/Ye7by
Grifter42 ago
Let me just butt in for a moment...
Fuck you, Putt. You know what Beatle and SBBH are doing to this site, and you did nothing. I PMed you about how Beatle was trying to get Hecho to flood my inbox with CP, and you did nothing. You are the king of half-measures, and a fucking ineffectual leader.
Get them to pay the fuckin' server bills, because I ain't giving you a dime.
9139899? ago
Users from SBBH have donated multiple times. Have you not seen the ads in the sidebar?
Strangely enough, I don't see you have donated?
SarMegahhikkitha ago
Thank you for your patronage, kind benefactor Soros. Can your next ad, instead of attracting people to join SRS, be about how everyone who disagrees with SRS is a SaneGoat alt? I'm really worried now that Amalek can't be used as a scapegoat.
ExpertShitposter ago
Shutup Jew.
heygeorge ago
Yes, on the money again! That's more-or-less what another SBBH ad does.
GivenUp ago
This. This is why I've bought from every merch sale. I love this site because I can count on candid free speech from all users, including the creator.
PutItOut, please keep fighting the good fight.
Michael_Obama ago
First off you know I'm not Sane. I find it weird you would suggest that. Secondly, I have asked for ways to donate outside of bitcoin seeing as in i don't trust it. It doesn't make any sense, I've even offered to buy gift cards and send you the information via PM.
I wanted to contribute until I experienced the harassment many others have which results in genuine users being censored. You let them (you know) run wild on this site and brigade daily and fuck with people. 2 years since i made my first account @MightyYetGentle and I've seen too much occur to feel sympathy.
It has been fun at times though.
Grifter42 ago
Calling everyone Sane is a standard SBBH tactic, and it isn't much of a surprise that Putt is using such tactics.
heygeorge ago
"everyone"
Maybe that's how it seems from your perspective.
From my perspective, it's nearly always the same few assclowns spouting retarded shit.
Grifter42 ago
Sane has no fucking grammatical structure, and a lack of charisma that does the movement a disservice. But his message, presented by a more logical and charismatic leader makes sense.
Why should we trust Spez types, like Putt?
heygeorge ago
Does sane only type like that? Untrue. His premeditated posts & comments often have a very different grammar & syntax. I have spoken to zim many times in many different contexts.
99% of sanei's "message" is agitating bullshit, and when things don't go his way in a discussion, he nukes it, turns to insults, or adds you to zis "list" and threatens that he's building a file on you (while showing evidence of it).
Q: How chilling is that to free speech?
A: Incredibly
If you'd like to know why you get called sane, read my response to ois.
Grifter42 ago
You think that calling everyone who disagrees with you as fake sane isn't a chilling effect?
heygeorge ago
Compared to threatening doxxing and posting archived comments and making lists of names and actions? Not even close. Do you think that's remotely close? If so, it sounds a bit... Ummmmmm... I don't know how to put this... Sanei.
Grifter42 ago
Fuck you, prick.
Call everyone who disagrees with you Sane.
Personally, I think this donation drive is a scam, but you're SBBH, so you'll downvote brigade me for anything that isn't the official narrative.
heygeorge ago
I can't help but notice that, similarly to sane, you have little/no acumen at acknowledging another's fair point and instead dive into the sea of baseless drivel.
I'm going to just take a moment to sympathize with how tough your real life situation must be in order for you to behave this way.
Grifter42 ago
Lol. Drink bleach, you fuckin' SBBH faggot.
oiseaulibre ago
Calling people you don't like "Sane" is voat's version of a witch hunt.
heygeorge ago
Call it what you like, but let me put it to you this way:
When others accuse you of being sanei, it's either because you're acting like a jackass or spouting out retarded shit as fact.
Perhaps Putts is doing the same to Tranny_Puss.
You are so often disingenuous that, to me, your opinion carries little weight.
In my better moments I think of you as a misguided young person.
Odd to see you down here, responding to me instead of Grifter. Oh, right, your chatroom.
oiseaulibre ago
I didn't find this comment because of chat. I comment earlier in this thread.
I think it's more trolling than being disingenuous. This all started when the
fire nation attacked.chat was attacked. I have many serious conversations on voat. Not many with SBBH though.Edit: I didn't downvoat you btw. That was probably grifter.
heygeorge ago
You don't magically get a comment reply just because you're further up the thread. ;)
Maybe you think it's more trolling, or whatever, but when that's all you show to someone, I don't know what you expect in return.
Not an edit: You and grifter and all your sanei buddies are in an offsite chat coordinating your efforts. Jus sayin'.
Now I'm trolling. Am I trolling? Yeah.
oiseaulibre ago
I've been out of the chat for about the last 45 minutes. I when I was there we weren't coordinating anything. I was arguing with a Keynesian retard the whole time.
You better not be a silversurfers alt. He calls Sane "Sani"...very similar...very suspicious...
heygeorge ago
Lol! While we're trolling, I just read grifter's fucking awful metaphor about constipation. Milennials fuckin' suck.
oiseaulibre ago
Where?
heygeorge ago
I think it's in response to Peace Seeker somewhere down at the bottom here.
oiseaulibre ago
https://voat.co/v/announcements/1866053/9138853/10#9138853
I think the awfulness makes it funny. Kinda like an anti-joke.
heygeorge ago
I agree in the sense that it is remarkable.
Grifter42 ago
Exactly. It's their version of calling someone a Nazi, because calling someone a nazi doesn't work on those who know the truth about the lies of the Jews.
Ozzsanity ago
Gee whiz I was able to donate not using bitcoin, it was really easy. Like most of the loud ones at this place you don't help out at all. You just bleat.
Michael_Obama ago
Why would I help people who have fucked with me without remorse? Do you know how badly i would love to believe the admins mean what they say? And how did you donate?
0011011000111001 ago
LOL!
I was thinking the exact same thing.