Banned from More Than Ten Social Media Sites, I Decided to Create My Own

Banned from More Than Ten Social Media Sites, I Decided to Create My Own(cheapskatesguide.org)

3 points by davesailer 4 years ago | 6 comments

paulpauper 4 years ago |

Perhaps the most significant problem of many that I have seen regarding my own participation in social media is that none of the large platforms seem to want me. In most cases, this is because I insist on posting links to articles on the Cheapskate's Guide.

you just answered your own problem.

Anyone can create their own social media site, but good luck creating the users, too.

rektide 4 years ago | |

I'd be interested to get more specifics on the bans. I'd expect that the author simply ran into anti-bot countermeasures. The word "insist" makes me think they might not have taken it gracefully- I know I definitely can be heated & zealous when I feel wronged, and don't always respond well. Not that all these sites even offer good ways to respond, which is a rather acursed aspect of this freshly mechanized era.

> good luck creating the users, too.

The post itself has this to say:

> I am not concerned with the number of users that a new site would draw, because I see value in small social media sites. As sites grow, Dunbar's number quickly makes real communities difficult. On giant sites like Reddit, the only real communities exist on small subforums. Small sites can produce worthwhile communities that large sites simply cannot--at least, not unless they artificially divide themselves into smaller groups of users.

I think thats sensible. It's somewhat at odds with the idea of posting yourself around, but we do need to be somewhere inbetween. We may want a small community, but we still need some means to get the word out. How online-centric communities can organically & healthily grow is a very real question, particularly when so much activity has subsumed & been folded into the very large sites.

I do hope we make gains, that more actual curators start to emerge in the world. Part of what was so exciting & thrilling about https://del.icio.us was finding people who were well tapped in, people who found good stuff. Surfing other people's feeds was excelllent. Today, the only site I know with a similar role is https://are.na , which is excellent & delightful.

bediger4000 4 years ago |

> My involvement started as a way of publicizing the Cheapskate's Guide.

Well, sir, there's your problem right there. No social media site likes to have advertisers externalize the advertisers' costs to the social media site. Users don't like to see ads, they'll maybe tolerate ads that are relevant, but ads that the advertiser thinks are relevant, and the users don't? Well, those draw complaints.

Does Reddit "shadow ban" anyone? I thought that the phrase "shadow ban" was just the Qanon computer illiterates complaining about how everyone ignored their crazy rantings.

paulpauper 4 years ago | |

Yah reddit does shadowban when they detect automated spammy activity. Such as creating a lot of accounts with the same IP. Shadowbans are different from bans done by admins.

cato_the_elder 4 years ago | |

> Does Reddit "shadow ban" anyone? I thought that the phrase "shadow ban" was just the Qanon computer illiterates complaining about how everyone ignored their crazy rantings.

Sorry, but this is extremely ignorant. Even HN does some shadow banning.

bediger4000 4 years ago | | |

I'm grateful for the correction. Thanks!