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Daily Tildes discussion - missing information?
I'm doing some writing (and re-writing/editing) for the Docs site today, to prepare for trying to spread the word about Tildes more in the near future. To help with that, what information, explanations, or answers do you feel are missing or insufficient right now?
For example, the discussion we had the other day on moderation was a perfect example—there was no information really laid out about "how does moderation work?" I'm sure there are quite a few other subjects that also feel like mysteries for now.
So, especially for people that only found out about Tildes recently, what other gaps are there where you feel like, "I don't understand how Tildes is planning to ____________"?
Perhaps a blurb about promoting CSS/custom community stylings, and even supporting various types of commenting/submitting modes for the communities that want something a bit different from the standard model. Also perhaps something about the curation features, the exemplary upvote, etc. I think a blurb about the 'feeder community' model based on the hierarchy would also go over well. In a nutshell, we need to be better at promoting quality content to larger audiences than our predecessors.
By far and away, what gets the strongest reaction out of the people I show this to is the section on 'limited tolerance for assholes.' That's the standout.
Some documentation on the trust/reputation system for sure, but you're aware of that. However it would be nice to see a "future plans" type section with all the other features and systems you're considering, the reasoning behind them, etc. They don't have to be concrete plans but just things you're thinking about adding, and you can even list some that you have decided against including and why. I think you just need some more forward-looking, "aspirational" type stuff since that can inspire people to join far more than the rather dry documentation on already implemented features and general/technical goals can. And right now, at least from people I have shown the documentation to so far, the negative stuff (e.g. the don't be an asshole section) seems to be drawing far more attention than it deserves so some more positive and inspiring stuff should help with that. This all could also be done as a blog post as well so it's framed as more personal as well.
The donation page could also use some work as well. Some more "who am I (so why should you trust me)?", "what is a non-profit in Canada and what are my obligations to you all as being one?" and "why should you donate?" type stuff to help actually get that donation ball rolling would be nice to see.
p.s. You still haven't added your twitter to the contact page.
I think I found it rather complete (and convincing), except for information on moderation. Like, literally every concern I had about reddit (and especially the redesign) was answered perfectly.
On a more general note: I think it might be helpful to have a very good answer to (justified or flame-y) claims of “censorship”. Like, tackle that front and center, with pride. It’s just that it seems to me, these people always come out of the woodwork, looking for confrontation. I think there already is a section on content policies, just saying this might be blown up quite a bit.
This might be unpopular but whenever people ask me about mod policies or actions and whether they're censorship I always answer affirmatively and point out that any editorial control inherently censors certain content. People seem to react differently to having an editor/newspaper analogy than 'this is a free for all for the mentally unhinged.'
I prefer the simple line "If you want fully uncensored speech, go to Voat."
Everyone knows what a cesspool that's become. It tends to shut the crazies up instantly.