That's how I see it too, but I'm new here as well so maybe I haven't grown tired of all the questions yet. I do think it's a nice way to say hello, asking what other people think about a topic...
it's just new folks saying hello
That's how I see it too, but I'm new here as well so maybe I haven't grown tired of all the questions yet. I do think it's a nice way to say hello, asking what other people think about a topic that interests you... It shows you wish to be social and not just lecture about a topic.
Topics like this are just an easy way for people to start a discussion and get others to participate, since it's explicitly asking for each person's input, and there aren't "correct" answers....
Topics like this are just an easy way for people to start a discussion and get others to participate, since it's explicitly asking for each person's input, and there aren't "correct" answers.
It'll calm down before long, but if you're tired of them you can use the tag filters settings to filter out ask or ask.survey (it's easy to still look at those posts when you want to, they just won't show by default).
This isn't our first rodeo, and we have seen this exact same process play out time and time again after big invite waves. Give it a few weeks and it'll calm down as people get settled in, and used...
This isn't our first rodeo, and we have seen this exact same process play out time and time again after big invite waves. Give it a few weeks and it'll calm down as people get settled in, and used to the slightly higher standards here, guaranteed. But in order to help address the issue in the future, since it is a recurring friction point that occurs after every big wave, I do think creating a ~talk.casual would help. That would allow us to move the casual/friendly/getting-to-know-each-other (but not substantial) discussions there, and allow people who aren't interested in that kind of content to unsubscribe from the subgroup.
Maybe it’s just been so long since the last wave, but this one feels bigger and messier. Even worse, when someone gets called out/guidance/whatever for going against the site philosophy, I’m...
Maybe it’s just been so long since the last wave, but this one feels bigger and messier. Even worse, when someone gets called out/guidance/whatever for going against the site philosophy, I’m seeing a lot more other new users saying things along the lines of “no, don’t worry, you’re good” to OP.
Oh, it is. It absolutely is. Tildes has added nearly 8,000 new users in the past month: a 60% increase. That's the single biggest jump in Tildren ever, over the shortest timespan. That's because...
Maybe it’s just been so long since the last wave, but this one feels bigger and messier.
Oh, it is. It absolutely is. Tildes has added nearly 8,000 new users in the past month: a 60% increase. That's the single biggest jump in Tildren ever, over the shortest timespan.
I’m seeing a lot more other new users saying things along the lines of “no, don’t worry, you’re good” to OP.
That's because the newcomers outnumber the old-timers, so the old-timers' voices are getting lost in the crowd. As @trebory6 insightfully wrote: "a lot of these new users don't know or care about the philosophy of Tildes".
It's going to take time and effort to teach them how to be good Tildren.
EDIT: And this is why I've been making the point for years that Tildes needs to grow... BUT SLOWLY... so that old-timers always outnumber the newcomers, to help the newcomers acculturate.
That probably reflects the demographics here. Our userbase would still be heavily weighted towards people working in IT, or with an interest in computers - and these questions reflect their interests.
My paranoia kicked in when I saw the recent posts, "What email provider do you use?" "Which password manager do you use?" "Which online tools do you use to keep notes?"
That probably reflects the demographics here. Our userbase would still be heavily weighted towards people working in IT, or with an interest in computers - and these questions reflect their interests.
I'm actively having to fight the urge to troll by making a thread like "what is your mother's maiden name and does she still use it?" just something with enough plausible deniability. :P You are...
I'm actively having to fight the urge to troll by making a thread like "what is your mother's maiden name and does she still use it?" just something with enough plausible deniability. :P You are absolutely correct though, but the biggest problem here is the reliance on security questions (especially standardized ones) when afaik they are a bad idea.
Asking "What do you like?" is an easy low-effort way to post and get involved. It's a lot easier than finding some interesting link, like a video or article, and posting it here. It's also a way...
Asking "What do you like?" is an easy low-effort way to post and get involved. It's a lot easier than finding some interesting link, like a video or article, and posting it here.
It's also a way for new Tilders to feel like they're getting to know other Tildren, and for them to feel like they're introducing themselves to everyone.
I actually observed this behaviour in one subreddit I've been working on as a personal project for the past 6 years. My co-mod and I worked bloody hard for years, tracking down content to post in that subreddit, to build interest and engagement. Finally, about 3 to 4 years in, the subreddit reached the tipping point where people wanted to start making their own posts - and over 95% of their posts were questions, rather than content (it's now basically 100% questions, except for the occasional link I post). I didn't set out build a "ask" subreddit, but that's what I got.
Maybe that's just the way of social media these days. Maybe noone cares about actual content or information any more. Maybe it's all about asking questions and sharing opinions.
A couple of personal observations about posting on Tildes:
I posted a video here last week. Unfortunately, the title of the video I posted was phrased as a question - and every single comment was an answer to the titular question, rather than a response to the content of the video. That disillusioned me somewhat. I'll learn in future, not to post titles in the form of questions.
I recently found another video I felt like posting, about a YouTuber's favourite films in a certain sub-category that I like. However, I also felt the need to build engagement with the post by doing what a lot of YouTubers do: "Tell me about your favourite films in ABC category." Then I figured I didn't need the video at all, if I was going to lead with that sort of question: I could just post a topic with that question as its title. (Because I'd already observed, as above, that people wouldn't watch the video if I led with a question.) And then I figured I didn't want to be yet another person posting yet another "What films do you like?" topic... so I didn't post at all.
Oh... don't get attached to those names! There is no official name for the users of Tildes. Those are just my preferred names for us. There are lots of other alternatives, ranging from boring to...
Oh... don't get attached to those names! There is no official name for the users of Tildes. Those are just my preferred names for us. There are lots of other alternatives, ranging from boring to cringe-worthy. If you hang around long enough, you'll see them all.
"Tilder" is obvious. However, I can't claim credit for "Tildren": that was invented by @talklittle five years ago (here) and then again independently by @OculusArcana this month (here), which is where I learned it and liked it.
This is going to sound weird, but grey. I have grey eyes and I hated them for a long time, but now. I feel unique and I love how they look. And I wear lots of grey clothing to compliment them. I...
This is going to sound weird, but grey. I have grey eyes and I hated them for a long time, but now. I feel unique and I love how they look. And I wear lots of grey clothing to compliment them.
I just love the feel of grey too. It feels like a color that is comforting and calm and doesn’t stand out too much.
On the note of the subject: I don’t mind. I think it’s a great ice breaker and it’s fun to get to know your new internet friends.
It’s mine too. I’m always a little self conscious telling people that because I think they’ll think I’m boring. To me it’s the color of a sleepy overcast sky heavy with rain or the perfect color...
It’s mine too. I’m always a little self conscious telling people that because I think they’ll think I’m boring.
To me it’s the color of a sleepy overcast sky heavy with rain or the perfect color for a cozy sweater. (I live in a climate where those things are the exception so they stay special instead of becoming miserable). It’s the color of comfort to me too.
Yo grey does not get enough love. It is an amazing color. There can be so much variation as to what kind of grey (as with all colors) but because you're starting from something that's achromatic,...
Yo grey does not get enough love. It is an amazing color. There can be so much variation as to what kind of grey (as with all colors) but because you're starting from something that's achromatic, any bit of chroma that is added (a touch of yellow, or blue) can make those differences really noticeable. Also, because it's so neutral, it's the perfect color to compliment any other color! That's one of my favorite aspects about it.
Thanks! For the longest time I used to say a blue-based magenta because I wanted to be cool, but also like pink. and while I still really love pink, and magenta, I just really love grey and I...
Thanks! For the longest time I used to say a blue-based magenta because I wanted to be cool, but also like pink. and while I still really love pink, and magenta, I just really love grey and I always have.
That is because we got a huge influx of new users and they're still getting acquainted with the website and the people in it. Asking very general questions is a way to gage our general interests,...
Don’t answer that, I don’t actually care. But doesn’t it seem like a lot of topics on Tildes lately are similar in nature to this?
That is because we got a huge influx of new users and they're still getting acquainted with the website and the people in it. Asking very general questions is a way to gage our general interests, find peers, and integrate in the community.
It's not too much of a bother, and you can filter tags if you don't wanna see these posts.
The bar of entry has always been low. Almost everyone that asked for an invite got an invite, for years. There's just way more people wanting to enter. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I expect...
The bar of entry has always been low. Almost everyone that asked for an invite got an invite, for years. There's just way more people wanting to enter. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I expect those kinds of posts to naturally reduce with time.
Too late, it is purple! 🌈⭐ I think the issue here is more the default sorting that re-bumps threads when someone new replies in them. And these types of questions tend to regularly attract new...
Don’t answer that, I don’t actually care
Too late, it is purple! 🌈⭐
I joked before that the front page of Tildes seems like the Jonathan Frakes asking you questions meme, but it’s become an increasingly accurate description.
I think the issue here is more the default sorting that re-bumps threads when someone new replies in them. And these types of questions tend to regularly attract new answers of new people joining, since they are by their nature "timeless". And tildes is small, so they don't get buried within hours/minutes as on large social media platforms.
So as a combination of these, you keep seeing these threads re-appear. But you can change the sorting! Particularly in a place like tildes, new always needs more people browsing it as their primary sorting mode!
That's a good point. As you imply, articles and videos will drop off the front page, while question topics will keep getting bumped to the front page.
I think the issue here is more the default sorting that re-bumps threads when someone new replies in them. And these types of questions tend to regularly attract new answers of new people joining, since they are by their nature "timeless".
That's a good point.
As you imply, articles and videos will drop off the front page, while question topics will keep getting bumped to the front page.
I think maybe it’s to do with whether you consider tildes to be social media or a forum. With the former the goal is connection, and an easy and quick way to make connections is to identify...
I think maybe it’s to do with whether you consider tildes to be social media or a forum. With the former the goal is connection, and an easy and quick way to make connections is to identify commonalities through shared likes and dislikes. On forums the goal is more to discuss specific articles and topics, and for this you don’t need to have connected with someone broadly as you’re only looking at what they’re saying in this small instance.
I think with the whole reddit thing, a lot of people are feeling like the lost a community and they’re trying to reestablish a place for themselves online. So while many also don’t consider reddit to be social media, there are pockets of it which do fulfil that type of support and network, and I can understand people wanting to find that here too.
Dear Tildes, what was your mother's maiden name? Dear Tildes, do you remember the name of the street you lived on when you were 10 years old? Dear Tildes, what was the surname of your favourite...
Dear Tildes, what was your mother's maiden name?
Dear Tildes, do you remember the name of the street you lived on when you were 10 years old?
Dear Tildes, what was the surname of your favourite teacher?
A lot of us are basically refugees trying to make new friends in the camp/boat. It's probably a common reaction to making massive changes to your social circle. I actually appreciate it because it...
A lot of us are basically refugees trying to make new friends in the camp/boat. It's probably a common reaction to making massive changes to your social circle. I actually appreciate it because it gives newbies like me low-risk ways to interact while I gauge the expectations around here. It's like a forum tutorial.
My biggest gripe with those kinds of threads is that 83% of them don’t answer their own question in the post when asking for opinions! I kind of wonder if that is a product of the internet these...
My biggest gripe with those kinds of threads is that 83% of them don’t answer their own question in the post when asking for opinions!
I kind of wonder if that is a product of the internet these days; people don’t want to share their opinions unless they are in the consensus, for fear of being ridiculed or having the “wrong” opinion. For example, not to call anyone out specifically, someone asked our opinions on the second season of the Vinland Saga anime, but didn’t provide their own thoughts until prompted to by the replies.
Jonathan Frakes can't hurt you here with his stepping-over of chairs and inquisitive nature. I'm not participating in them not for any strange reasons, but because I'm self-conscious enough that I...
Any thoughts on why the community is evolving like this? Is it an organic response to the lack of groups?
Jonathan Frakes can't hurt you here with his stepping-over of chairs and inquisitive nature.
I'm not participating in them not for any strange reasons, but because I'm self-conscious enough that I don't want to open up in that way, sort of. It's not an issue to me that these threads exist, and I think it's a good thing, if different from how things used to be. We need activity, and we need positive interactions, both on this site and across the internet. I think it's great that people are trying to find ways to facilitate this, even if they're asking basic questions.
For anybody still unsure how to post or if they're doing the wrong thing, I have the following advice: I would stress as others have, one thing: Your participation is important after you've posted. This isn't AskReddit where you can get thousands of responses, make a reasonable effort to interact with people. Folks are trying to define what Tildes is and isn't, but it wouldn't be a forum (in the "public forum" sense) if it wasn't meant for open communication with others. Link aggregators are inherently social media platforms, they're there to share links and socialize with other users in relation to them. A lot of these basic posts are just people trying to engage with others, and bringing forward habits they learned elsewhere.
Example, and what I try to do: Make a topic, then leave a comment with your take on it. "What's your favorite color?" It's blue, and here's what I like. Post a video or (god forbid!!!) a picture? Why? Talk about it a bit. It doesn't have to be the deepest thing. Other places, like AskReddit, have a rule where you can't answer, but definitely do that here, because there's a reason you wanted to post it.
So. What's your favorite color, OP? I bet we're the same; I guess blue. It's the color of my birthstone and if you follow color theory, it mellows my not-mellowness. And I guess we're getting...
So. What's your favorite color, OP? I bet we're the same; I guess blue. It's the color of my birthstone and if you follow color theory, it mellows my not-mellowness.
And I guess we're getting topics like that because... People wanna know! Asking questions is a good conversation starter.
I knew exactly what that was without having to click on it. :) I was about to comment, if zoomers or gen alpha have memes: everything is moving so fast and zoomers already hate everything old and...
I knew exactly what that was without having to click on it. :)
I was about to comment, if zoomers or gen alpha have memes: everything is moving so fast and zoomers already hate everything old and predictable and ruthlessly parody everything to the extreme. But then again......I saw a gen alpha visit a "survey" site. Like, circa 1990s "what Blah are you?" type site
So....getting back onto this thread topic: people always find themselves interesting to talk about, and so asking strangers things is a fairly low risk project to get people to say hello to you. Even this thread is essentially a "does anyone else hate these ask threads" post.
We get threads like this with every wave, it's just new folks saying hello. If you filter out the 'ask' tags it's easy to avoid them.
That's how I see it too, but I'm new here as well so maybe I haven't grown tired of all the questions yet. I do think it's a nice way to say hello, asking what other people think about a topic that interests you... It shows you wish to be social and not just lecture about a topic.
Topics like this are just an easy way for people to start a discussion and get others to participate, since it's explicitly asking for each person's input, and there aren't "correct" answers.
It'll calm down before long, but if you're tired of them you can use the tag filters settings to filter out
askorask.survey(it's easy to still look at those posts when you want to, they just won't show by default).This isn't our first rodeo, and we have seen this exact same process play out time and time again after big invite waves. Give it a few weeks and it'll calm down as people get settled in, and used to the slightly higher standards here, guaranteed. But in order to help address the issue in the future, since it is a recurring friction point that occurs after every big wave, I do think creating a ~talk.casual would help. That would allow us to move the casual/friendly/getting-to-know-each-other (but not substantial) discussions there, and allow people who aren't interested in that kind of content to unsubscribe from the subgroup.
... and as the novelty wears off.
... and as some people realise that Tildes isn't quite the place they thought it would be, and drop off.
Maybe it’s just been so long since the last wave, but this one feels bigger and messier. Even worse, when someone gets called out/guidance/whatever for going against the site philosophy, I’m seeing a lot more other new users saying things along the lines of “no, don’t worry, you’re good” to OP.
Oh, it is. It absolutely is. Tildes has added nearly 8,000 new users in the past month: a 60% increase. That's the single biggest jump in Tildren ever, over the shortest timespan.
That's because the newcomers outnumber the old-timers, so the old-timers' voices are getting lost in the crowd. As @trebory6 insightfully wrote: "a lot of these new users don't know or care about the philosophy of Tildes".
It's going to take time and effort to teach them how to be good Tildren.
EDIT: And this is why I've been making the point for years that Tildes needs to grow... BUT SLOWLY... so that old-timers always outnumber the newcomers, to help the newcomers acculturate.
That probably reflects the demographics here. Our userbase would still be heavily weighted towards people working in IT, or with an interest in computers - and these questions reflect their interests.
I'm actively having to fight the urge to troll by making a thread like "what is your mother's maiden name and does she still use it?" just something with enough plausible deniability. :P You are absolutely correct though, but the biggest problem here is the reliance on security questions (especially standardized ones) when afaik they are a bad idea.
Asking "What do you like?" is an easy low-effort way to post and get involved. It's a lot easier than finding some interesting link, like a video or article, and posting it here.
It's also a way for new Tilders to feel like they're getting to know other Tildren, and for them to feel like they're introducing themselves to everyone.
I actually observed this behaviour in one subreddit I've been working on as a personal project for the past 6 years. My co-mod and I worked bloody hard for years, tracking down content to post in that subreddit, to build interest and engagement. Finally, about 3 to 4 years in, the subreddit reached the tipping point where people wanted to start making their own posts - and over 95% of their posts were questions, rather than content (it's now basically 100% questions, except for the occasional link I post). I didn't set out build a "ask" subreddit, but that's what I got.
Maybe that's just the way of social media these days. Maybe noone cares about actual content or information any more. Maybe it's all about asking questions and sharing opinions.
A couple of personal observations about posting on Tildes:
I posted a video here last week. Unfortunately, the title of the video I posted was phrased as a question - and every single comment was an answer to the titular question, rather than a response to the content of the video. That disillusioned me somewhat. I'll learn in future, not to post titles in the form of questions.
I recently found another video I felt like posting, about a YouTuber's favourite films in a certain sub-category that I like. However, I also felt the need to build engagement with the post by doing what a lot of YouTubers do: "Tell me about your favourite films in ABC category." Then I figured I didn't need the video at all, if I was going to lead with that sort of question: I could just post a topic with that question as its title. (Because I'd already observed, as above, that people wouldn't watch the video if I led with a question.) And then I figured I didn't want to be yet another person posting yet another "What films do you like?" topic... so I didn't post at all.
I'm a new Tilder and TIL the terms "Tilder" and "Tildren" from you. I'm really loving the latter :))
Oh... don't get attached to those names! There is no official name for the users of Tildes. Those are just my preferred names for us. There are lots of other alternatives, ranging from boring to cringe-worthy. If you hang around long enough, you'll see them all.
"Tilder" is obvious. However, I can't claim credit for "Tildren": that was invented by @talklittle five years ago (here) and then again independently by @OculusArcana this month (here), which is where I learned it and liked it.
Oohh thanks for the info! Ok, looking forward to seeing all the other alternatives :D
The Tildean people
This is going to sound weird, but grey. I have grey eyes and I hated them for a long time, but now. I feel unique and I love how they look. And I wear lots of grey clothing to compliment them.
I just love the feel of grey too. It feels like a color that is comforting and calm and doesn’t stand out too much.
On the note of the subject: I don’t mind. I think it’s a great ice breaker and it’s fun to get to know your new internet friends.
It’s mine too. I’m always a little self conscious telling people that because I think they’ll think I’m boring.
To me it’s the color of a sleepy overcast sky heavy with rain or the perfect color for a cozy sweater. (I live in a climate where those things are the exception so they stay special instead of becoming miserable). It’s the color of comfort to me too.
You're not boring at all! People really are judgmental, aren't they?
Yo grey does not get enough love. It is an amazing color. There can be so much variation as to what kind of grey (as with all colors) but because you're starting from something that's achromatic, any bit of chroma that is added (a touch of yellow, or blue) can make those differences really noticeable. Also, because it's so neutral, it's the perfect color to compliment any other color! That's one of my favorite aspects about it.
Thanks! For the longest time I used to say a blue-based magenta because I wanted to be cool, but also like pink. and while I still really love pink, and magenta, I just really love grey and I always have.
That is because we got a huge influx of new users and they're still getting acquainted with the website and the people in it. Asking very general questions is a way to gage our general interests, find peers, and integrate in the community.
It's not too much of a bother, and you can filter tags if you don't wanna see these posts.
I guess I like the color black :P
The bar of entry has always been low. Almost everyone that asked for an invite got an invite, for years. There's just way more people wanting to enter. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I expect those kinds of posts to naturally reduce with time.
Too late, it is purple! 🌈⭐
I think the issue here is more the default sorting that re-bumps threads when someone new replies in them. And these types of questions tend to regularly attract new answers of new people joining, since they are by their nature "timeless". And tildes is small, so they don't get buried within hours/minutes as on large social media platforms.
So as a combination of these, you keep seeing these threads re-appear. But you can change the sorting! Particularly in a place like tildes,
newalways needs more people browsing it as their primary sorting mode!That's a good point.
As you imply, articles and videos will drop off the front page, while question topics will keep getting bumped to the front page.
It's incredibly fascinating and I can't explain it so I will just let Tom Scott do it!
I think maybe it’s to do with whether you consider tildes to be social media or a forum. With the former the goal is connection, and an easy and quick way to make connections is to identify commonalities through shared likes and dislikes. On forums the goal is more to discuss specific articles and topics, and for this you don’t need to have connected with someone broadly as you’re only looking at what they’re saying in this small instance.
I think with the whole reddit thing, a lot of people are feeling like the lost a community and they’re trying to reestablish a place for themselves online. So while many also don’t consider reddit to be social media, there are pockets of it which do fulfil that type of support and network, and I can understand people wanting to find that here too.
Could be someone out there fishing for answers to forgotten password questions
Dear Tildes, what was your mother's maiden name?
Dear Tildes, do you remember the name of the street you lived on when you were 10 years old?
Dear Tildes, what was the surname of your favourite teacher?
Oh, I got these!
Swordfish, Swordfish, Swordfish
A lot of us are basically refugees trying to make new friends in the camp/boat. It's probably a common reaction to making massive changes to your social circle. I actually appreciate it because it gives newbies like me low-risk ways to interact while I gauge the expectations around here. It's like a forum tutorial.
My biggest gripe with those kinds of threads is that 83% of them don’t answer their own question in the post when asking for opinions!
I kind of wonder if that is a product of the internet these days; people don’t want to share their opinions unless they are in the consensus, for fear of being ridiculed or having the “wrong” opinion. For example, not to call anyone out specifically, someone asked our opinions on the second season of the Vinland Saga anime, but didn’t provide their own thoughts until prompted to by the replies.
Or it’s just an influx of new people.
Jonathan Frakes can't hurt you here with his stepping-over of chairs and inquisitive nature.
I'm not participating in them not for any strange reasons, but because I'm self-conscious enough that I don't want to open up in that way, sort of. It's not an issue to me that these threads exist, and I think it's a good thing, if different from how things used to be. We need activity, and we need positive interactions, both on this site and across the internet. I think it's great that people are trying to find ways to facilitate this, even if they're asking basic questions.
For anybody still unsure how to post or if they're doing the wrong thing, I have the following advice: I would stress as others have, one thing: Your participation is important after you've posted. This isn't AskReddit where you can get thousands of responses, make a reasonable effort to interact with people. Folks are trying to define what Tildes is and isn't, but it wouldn't be a forum (in the "public forum" sense) if it wasn't meant for open communication with others. Link aggregators are inherently social media platforms, they're there to share links and socialize with other users in relation to them. A lot of these basic posts are just people trying to engage with others, and bringing forward habits they learned elsewhere.
Example, and what I try to do: Make a topic, then leave a comment with your take on it. "What's your favorite color?" It's blue, and here's what I like. Post a video or (god forbid!!!) a picture? Why? Talk about it a bit. It doesn't have to be the deepest thing. Other places, like AskReddit, have a rule where you can't answer, but definitely do that here, because there's a reason you wanted to post it.
So. What's your favorite color, OP? I bet we're the same; I guess blue. It's the color of my birthstone and if you follow color theory, it mellows my not-mellowness.
And I guess we're getting topics like that because... People wanna know! Asking questions is a good conversation starter.
Green
Blue... no... aaaaaaaagh
I knew exactly what that was without having to click on it. :)
I was about to comment, if zoomers or gen alpha have memes: everything is moving so fast and zoomers already hate everything old and predictable and ruthlessly parody everything to the extreme. But then again......I saw a gen alpha visit a "survey" site. Like, circa 1990s "what Blah are you?" type site
So....getting back onto this thread topic: people always find themselves interesting to talk about, and so asking strangers things is a fairly low risk project to get people to say hello to you. Even this thread is essentially a "does anyone else hate these ask threads" post.
I never knew about that meme. Fucking hilarious!
Dark Crimson (as per Behr paints)