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refer to this post for all the info and links: original megathread link
THINGS WE KNOW
(updated and condensed)
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the admins @atko and @puttitout and the slimg devs (@technician90 and @crispykat) dissapeared a little over a month ago.
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atko (sort-of) returned a little less than two weeks ago (as did technician90), and
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atko has been asked repeatedly what's going on in all venues, from pms to front page posts to comment pings where puttitout is, yet
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atko has said exactly nothing regarding puttitout's whereabouts. also, there's been no response to various requests for greater transparency, nor really any dev-related discussion from the admins since their dissapearance. generally, there has been a great silence.
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puttitout is still missing, - there is only heresay - HOWEVER
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he upvoated ONE submission earlier today, and there has been no proven other communication with him. sadly i never screencapped his page before the voat, so at best there's activity, otherwise it's still NUTHIN outta putt :(
-- in any case, we are very concerned this is a purposeful silence,
leading us to believe there IS A CHANCE that there has been a gag order placed on our admins, (as the current warrant canary lacks information on the half-dozen other types of gag orders, there's a chance a non fisa/NS letter gag has been placed, and, alas, even with a fully formed deadmanswitched canary, warrant canaries aren't legally set in stone yet)
thus
we directly ask @atko and @puttitout: what in goat's teeth is going on? what's going on regarding voat finances, employees, this "transparency," the state of and future of voat, the canary being full of holes - and we want timestamps on pictures of you two goats! - but most importantly, what's goin' on with your absence and your silence?! is this just what you consider "hands-off"?
until they respond, defcon 3 goats! be ready to go, we're at heightened awareness:
"hey @puttitout and @atko what's going on?!" "why won't you answer, @atko and @puttitout?" "are you in mitch hedburg's trunk rite now, search party of voat? @atko and @puttitout"
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Alias_Unknown ago
Alright,
puts on the tin foil hat
Conspiracy theory time.
Hecho has been inactive for quite some time now. One of the last things he posted was that the feds were in to him.
What if his activity on Voat is being used as part of the investigation/court case?
This really doesn't explain the majority of the other goings on. But some of those may also be simple coincidences.
But if there is some sort of investigation regarding Voat. I propose that this would be the best case scenario.
@Atko, I think you would really put a large portion of the communities fears to rest, if you gave some insight into what's been going on lately.
SaneGoatiSwear ago
occam's razor is in your court. that theory + they went on vacation. simple enough and fits the whole bill. they're staying silent during an ongoing investigation they're party to, by a gag order.
still leaves out what's the larger picture re: voat's future, why they won't say where putt is.
Alias_Unknown ago
It seems like certain aspects are being blown out of proportion.
I am very taken aback by Atko's silence. In my experience he's been very chatty and forthcoming with details in regards to transparency.
Perhaps they're simply burnt out on the shit pile that Voat has become.
SaneGoatiSwear ago
i'm trying my best to stick to the facts in this one. the last post was v/conspiracy so it was made to fit. this is v/whatever, and comes from exactly where you express: a reaction to the silence.
if they're burnt out, let's all talk about it, right? 8D
Alias_Unknown ago
I've been watching your posts over the last few days, and aside from some of the outlandish theories in the conspiracy post. I definitely agree that something is up.
As far as talking about it. What's the point? It's the vast community of Voat itself that's the problem.
This place couldn't go a single day without posting some thing about muslims, Jews or black people. Certain individuals would likely implode if that were the case.
Voat has strayed quite far from what I assume Atko had initially planned. Hell, the difference is abundantly clear from when I joined. Did you know that Atko initially forbid hate speech? He eventually changed his mind, but I can't help but wonder if he regrets that decision. I personally would feel very conflicted if I ran a website that called for my death multiple times an hour for simply being Muslim.
The niche subject subs are struggling to survive by nothing more than the mods perseverance. The vast majority of them have fallen to abandonment because the community isn't interested in niche stuff. They just want a platform to soapbox their hatred.
Sorry, I kind of went off on a tangent there.
LlamaMan ago
You hit the nail on the head with this post man, I hope people stop downvoating you for having a different opinion than them because it is extremely well thought out. You have a great point and I'd really like to see the circle jerk start to fall off. While I agree with the viewpoints it is literally all I see when I come here unless I put effort in to going to other subvs.
I think Voat has an issue with the way it is coded though. For example if you subscribe to any subverse you will see mainly that subverses posts on the front page if you aren't subd to anything else. Subbing shouldn't cause so much of an effect imo because if I sub to one sub, unless I sub to 10 more at the same time with equal viewing I'm only going to see juicetown.
Rant.
Alias_Unknown ago
Thank you, it's something that I've been kicking around in my head for a few days now.
I'm not surprised at the downvotes. Every time someone goes against the circle jerk or calls out the hate subs, that's always the result. I think that's another factor that's killing vote. Simple lack of discussion. Three people didn't like what I said, but didn't spend the time to express their reasons why.
As far as subbing goes, I exclusively browse all/new. So subscribing is more along the lines of blocking. Which I reserve for low effort content subs that seem to just want to be edgy. Naziniggas and hitlerwasright was two subs from just today that I ended up blocking for those reasons.
I think a major issue is the vote farming aspect. Why submit to a long dead sub, some OC of legit content, only to receive 1-3 upvotes.
When you can simple submit a post to niggers that says "DOE hate niggers?" and receive hundreds of upvotes?
The algorithm may be at fault. But I think the community itself is more so. I don't see Voat as a sustainable platform because it's main draw is hatred.
Personally I refer to Voat as "a forum board I frequent". Because I don't want to be associated with the awfulness that is rightfully perceived with this place.
Voat has some really cool moments, but over all that's just how it is.
A few years ago I was balls deep into reddit and constantly recommending it to my friends.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this train of thought. But I don't see Voat lasting for more than a year from now at its current state.
Free speech doesn't mean you have to squat down and shit all over everything.
LlamaMan ago
I hear ya. While I'm very much okay with hate sub's and I'm very much a part of them the discussion shouldn't dominate Voat. It currently does. I think the main reason is people who come here generally stick to reddit and fat people hate or nigger on Voat making it a pit of shit.
I'd much prefer to see Voaters. The only time I ever use reddit is when I'm curious about a game, so I'll go to /r/titanfall for example. Otherwise I'm here or on forums. Everyone else seems to get there anger out on Voat then go to reddit. Fuck that. Reddit is a totally paid for shill site and it drives me nuts, just yesterday my friend showed me this "homeward bound" scene on /r/movies.... The top comment was "definitely somethig to rewatch, so many good scenes" and there was a comment replying to that showing where to buy it.... People are so dumb. Ranting again.