I love Tildes
I hope this doesn't come off as glib, or sarcastic, or any of several other negative things that I tend to be in real life, but I truly like and enjoy this community. I love that it's full of people (and that could be the whole sentence right there!) who love it enough to want it not to change, and people who love it enough to want to see it improve. I love our conversations and our characters. I love the quirks.
Anyway, given the recent announcement, I've had a vibe that kinda feels like when you're at a family gathering where several members are ill-at-ease with each other and sometimes awkward, with simmering resentments over wounds old and new, but then someone shares news with the family that brings everyone together in a moment of almost-stunned silence. And after that moment, after some heartfelt words are shared and hugs are given, people kind of relax. They laugh together. They don't exactly forget their problems, but they aren't really thinking about them for just a night. They drink and reminisce.
Anyway, if that feeling describes at all how you're feeling, too, then this is a place for unabashed, unironic, caveat-free positivity about this place we sometimes call home. There are plenty of other things to discuss, of course. This isn't a "love it or leave" thread. Just a place to set aside negativity for a moment and just... commune with each other over our shared care for this space.
I love you all (yes, even you) and appreciate what we're building here every day.
Ok bye, back to lurking for me I couldn't resist, guess I'll lurk later
Lurker-99.9%-of-the-time here, and: ditto!
When the "big Internet" started becoming a nasty algorithmic melting pot, I turned towards its opposite -- forums, strange little chatrooms, neocities etc. And while I love niche interests and fringe culture, I missed the placidity of the non-enshittified aggregators. I like boring websites, places that weren't created in service to some hyper-specific interest or person. And Tildes is exactly that!
Posts around here cluster into a few broad categories:
End of list -- I love it! Like you say, @doors_cannot_stop_me (great username btw) -- these are the kind of things you'd hear at a dinner table. There's no bigger game behind the scenes, no fighting for views or likes or karma (that I'm aware of); it's just a bunch of people hanging out for no reason in particular, and nobody is trying to sell us anything.
I love Tildes. It's my personal lurker's paradise. I'm so glad I found this place.
back to ultra-lurking for me ;-] <3
Couldn't agree more! And re: my username, thanks! It amuses me given my career choices.
Tildes is literally the only community that I'm part of anymore. Mostly it's because it's just the best damn place on the internet I've found in terms of good people. I won't call it perfect where nothing offensive ever happens but that's life, you know? I don't need to be protected from everything bad.
<3 yall
Same same. As I delete data sucking apps, lock out predatory platforms and venture down the Graphene and Linux rabbit holes, I'm happy to have Tildes as a backstop for the kind of internet I'd like to participate in.
The community has helped me through some troubled times. I've gotten to know quite a few of you, and would like to keep meeting more. Like others, I love the close knit but vast nature of Tildes. It reminds me of a forum I was a part of decades ago. I'm still friends with many people from there, all this time later.
I don't know that I'll keep in touch with many people from here, but I know at least one of you will!
I have a few of those old forum contacts floating around as well. There's one that's particularly entertaining to me: Some guy I initially met on LiveJournal probably around 2001, and we've been randomly/unintentionally running into each other on assorted websites ever since. I've yet to encounter him on Tildes, lol, but I'm not ruling it out.
(If you're out there, pavel_lishin, I'm using a different username here but it's meeee!)
In the cliche "Asgard is a people" vein: more than the platform or its content, love you guys, and that includes other mostly lurking folks including Deimos, and folks who've moved away / are moving away from the site for personal reasons. Thanks for spending the time here with us, maybe even leaving a few words or links. Till we meet again.
Thanks for the positivity, doors_cannot_stop_me. There's always a need for more positivity and consideration.
Thank you! I always appreciate your calm and caring comments when they pop up. You're a good bean.
I've met some amazing people here, gotten support when I needed it, fascinating arguments when I've invited them, and been able to avoid most of the gross toxicity of modern social media. I'm ancient enough to have seen a few Eternal Septembers, and "Slow Social" happens to be just about right for me.
I'm deeply grateful for the technical and philosophical framework that Deimos, cfabbro, mycketforvirrad, and others have built and maintained. I'm not constantly looking over my metaphorical shoulder to figure out how I'm being surveiled, monetized, and manipulated. The people who gather here have been, on balance, kind, thoughtful, smart, emotionally mature, and willing to tolerate the rambling musings of an oddball like me.
/u/doors-cannot-stop-me, thanks for opening the door to let some light in!
The problem I always have with it is that every time I open Tildes, it seems like the same few posts with like three comments and seventeen votes are at the top. Then eventually I find a post from one or two days ago that somehow has a bunch of activity but somehow never when I checked Tildes so I feel like I miss a lot of the more interesting discussions (even though I know it's not as weird to comment a day or two late on Tildes as it is on reddit).
I've set my default sort to "All Activity" rather than "New", so I usually see what's getting comments even if it's an older post. I'll check "New" as a second step.
I'm not contributing that much these days, so it's not as critical for me as it might be for more active users.
Me too! I just open the site at really unlucky times!
Thank you for changing how I use Tildes!
(This is a double post of mine from another thread).
I’m a newcomer. I’ve been here about a year+, and post in spurts then go dormant for a bit. (This is the backstory).
I actually love this site overall for what it is. I like the community, and the fact that it is small. Truly enjoyable.
I enjoy topics that everyone does not comment on. For example, I notice that some weeks no one comments in the “what you have been watching TV thread”. WHICH IS FINE. We aren’t always watching new things. But I am happy it is there for us to discuss.
The BIGGEST THING IS THIS. I find you all authentic. I would be surprised if anyone was a bot responding. There is no agendas, and everyone who does respond is giving an authentic response. Not a meme, or a one word flippant answer.
IMO, that is the strength of Tildes. I hope it sticks around for a long time.
I personally don’t even want to tell people about the site, as I like it the way it is. But that is counter intuitive. If you want more users, I would consider courting people who look up “social media alternatives”. It is how I found you to begin with.
Another lurker reporting in! This site is what I have wanted out of the internet for years, so I'm on here every day. In a world where mainstream social media seems hellbent on algorithmically inducing insanity on our whole society, Tildes is sobriety and hope for a better path. We have something really good going here, and it brings me joy to see so many others agree.
I'm not sure there's anything like Tildes on the modern internet that isn't focused on a niche.
The thing I appreciate most is that every time there's been an influx, the culture of good faith has survived!
Big hearts for the positivity! I need it not just on Tildes but everywhere in my life.
I agree Tildes is one of the bright spots. It is not perfect, but so few things are (chiefly cheese).
Also, this is probably not so, but I imagine your username being a reference to the monolithic and tedious requirements management tool DOORS.
First of all, cheese is love, cheese is life. I'm eating beer cheese as I write this.
Second, I'd never heard of DOORS, but yeah, I think that would definitely stop me. I'm in the physical security industry and sometimes train people to break into stuff. It's a career that's opened a lot of doors for me.
I'll see myself out.
I was going to guess firefighter
Nope, but I sure do want a full-size set of irons of my own someday. I have a tiny halligan for fun.
If you do get a full size one, you should put a keychain ring on it.
I once worked for an elevator company. It had its ups and downs.
I don't post more because I overanalyze too much, but I still use Tildes daily. I can't believe it's been 8 years already. Still feels fresh to me.
I am also always in need of more positivity and enjoy this site greatly! Thanks for being thoughtful, everyone.
100% agreed. You guys are great.
I agree with your agreement
Hello all,
I have 10 invites that I’ve had for years. I don’t believe I will ever use them. If anyone is interested in using these send me a DM and we can figure it out.