• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics in ~tildes with the tag "survey". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Vetting new users

      Hey guys, Deimos gave me a bunch of invites to give out and I have a post on Reddit where I’ve been giving them out. So far I’m looking at each persons history to make sure they aren’t a troll,...

      Hey guys,

      Deimos gave me a bunch of invites to give out and I have a post on Reddit where I’ve been giving them out.

      So far I’m looking at each persons history to make sure they aren’t a troll, and have posted generally positive and insightful content.

      What do you guys think we should be vetting?

      Since I’m assuming Tildes won’t be Invite-Only forever, is this just delaying the inevitable?

      42 votes
    2. Posting AMP links in new topics?

      I have a question about AMP links in new topics. I posted this with the AMP link as an experiment. After a few days of life at 2G data speeds I have begun to appreciate the benefits of AMP. Also,...

      I have a question about AMP links in new topics.

      I posted this with the AMP link as an experiment. After a few days of life at 2G data speeds I have begun to appreciate the benefits of AMP. Also, fast load times seem to be in line with light and quick philosophy of Tildes.net.

      One downside of AMP is that it is a mobile layout which is not ideal layout on desktop with high resolution.

      What do you all think of using AMP links in topics?

      12 votes
    3. Throwaway accounts / anonymous posting / temporary personas

      Edit: whoopsie, already being discussed here: https://tildes.net/%7Etildes.official/2x3 This is tangential to this post here about NSFW/controversial content. Sometimes one needs to make a...

      Edit: whoopsie, already being discussed here: https://tildes.net/%7Etildes.official/2x3


      This is tangential to this post here about NSFW/controversial content. Sometimes one needs to make a confidential post detached from their own identity (say for example about a psychological problem or advice on an event where the OP wants to conceal real identities), and most places one needs a throwaway account. I think it'd be nicer if we allowed people to make posts detached from their main accounts w/o having to create new throwaway accounts. It might be possible via allowing a certain number of "personas" (i.e. a couple names one can allocate and use as nicknames), or via allowing to post anonymously (i.e. hiding the poster's account name, not w/o one), or allowing personas but temporarily and randomly generated names. What's you thoughts?

      6 votes
    4. Who was excited to pick a cool username?

      Since the website has a username and hundreds we were presented with an opportunity to pick a really nice or cool username on a site that I believe will rival reddit. I just picked my favourite...

      Since the website has a username and hundreds we were presented with an opportunity to pick a really nice or cool username on a site that I believe will rival reddit.

      I just picked my favourite character. I wanted to pick my first name (which I am 100% sure is not taken) but kind of decided to go towards more anonymity. I decided not to use my reddit username because no one else literally uses it so I will always have an option to make a new account with reddit username

      Did you think on that too or just used your reddit username?

      EDIT: I have actually changed my username from "ironman" to "metal" since i made this post. Now im like super happy and excited about my "identity" here

      30 votes
    5. Ensuring users read documentation

      There have been many, many, many threads over the past few weeks in which users (some new, some with a few posts under their belts) ask questions or make suggestions about items that are...

      There have been many, many, many threads over the past few weeks in which users (some new, some with a few posts under their belts) ask questions or make suggestions about items that are explicitly discussed in the documentation. Additionally, the documentation contains a lot of thoughtful items discussing the goals of the site and the mechanics for achieving those goals. The documentation is an integral part of this community, yet many people don't seem to be reading it.

      How can the community help ensure that users read and understand the documentation prior to becoming a member of the community? A potential solution could be to have a short quiz based on the documentation, which would ensure that users at least skim it.

      Any other ideas?

      27 votes
    6. Would you pay for access to Tildes?

      Tildes is 100% donation-supported. It sounds great but I'm doubtful it's a sustainable model. Countless sites have started this way but ended up seeking other ways to monetize, including......

      Tildes is 100% donation-supported. It sounds great but I'm doubtful it's a sustainable model. Countless sites have started this way but ended up seeking other ways to monetize, including...

      1. Showing ads on the site
      2. Intermingling "sponsored posts" or "promoted posts" with regular posts, basically giving preferential treatment to content from users who paid for extra visibility (native advertising)
      3. Selling user data
      4. Cryptocurrency mining (either with user permission or on the sly)
      5. Opening a store for selling branded merch
      6. Periodic "pledge drive" fundraising campaigns
      7. Enacting paywalls

      I've been thinking a lot about site monetization in the abstract lately. Some of these options are better than others. Personally, I'd draw a hard line against 1-4 on Tildes. I think all of those are in direct opposition to what this site is all about.

      I think 5 is a "good in theory, but not in practice" idea. A merch store might generate enough revenue for the first few months but would see rapidly diminishing returns. It would have to resort to increasingly gimmicky promotions just to reach eyeballs and meet its goals.

      I think 6 could be a popular option but I personally recoil from the annual hard-sell guilt trip. The recurring drama of "THIS COULD BE OUR LAST YEAR IF YOU DO NOTHING" is exhausting and paints the site's future as constantly in turmoil.

      Finally we come to 7, the paywall. Traditionally I hate these too, especially when they block content like news that is available for free elsewhere. Sometimes they are "soft" paywalls that give you free access to an article (or the first few paragraphs of one) before they ask you to pony up. I feel that these are the worst form of paywall because they tease and frustrate users, and are often easily circumventable anyway.

      That said, I think a "hard" paywall might actually be a good choice for Tildes. For starters, this is already a walled garden. We're actively trying to cultivate a community by not exposing the site to the wider world. That would at least make the transition to a paywall easier to swallow than if the site had been open the whole time.

      It's 2018. By now it's evident to me that TANSTAAFL online. If you're not paying for something, you are the product. I'm a dyed in the wool cheapskate and I don't like opening my wallet to use a website, but at this point I'm even more tired of being treated like a commodity. If I'm going to invest in an online community, I'd much rather pay a small subscription for access than be jerked around in shady ways. I feel it's the most honest and straightforward solution for a site like this.

      Caveats are that it would need to be cheap. Really cheap, like $1 a month. I don't know what the site's operating expenses are, but I would hope something in that ballpark would cover them, at scale. Also @Deimos would face the temptation to implement multiple options from the list as time goes on. Like, after we're used to the paywall, he might want to add "unobtrusive" ads too, or start selling "non-identifiable" user information. I think it's vital that the site never compromise like that. Raise the price if it comes to that, but don't get greedy. A page in the docs formalizing some promises about respecting users would be a nice thing to put on the record.

      What are your thoughts? I should say that I'm talking about the future here, I think it's way too early to put up a paywall now. The community would have to be large and mature enough to justify a paid subscription to it, and we're not there yet.

      12 votes
    7. Anyone else confusing quotes and OP comments when scrolling through a thread

      I'm glad we got that extra highlight for OP comments on a post. However, sometimes when scrolling down a post, and looking for OP's comments, I will stop thinking I've found one when actually it's...

      I'm glad we got that extra highlight for OP comments on a post. However, sometimes when scrolling down a post, and looking for OP's comments, I will stop thinking I've found one when actually it's just a quote inside someone else's comment, which is highlighted with the same color.

      Maybe we could get rid of the quote highlight and just use the indentation and lighter background? Or use another color for either of the two? Or do you think it's fine like it is now?

      NOTE: I always browse of mobile and use the solarized dark theme, not sure if this is the same with other settings.

      10 votes
    8. What will Tildes users be called?

      On Reddit it's easy -- Redditors. Ending in a vowel, Tildes makes that a bit less straightforward. This obviously is not a super high priority question, but I had the thought a few minutes ago....

      On Reddit it's easy -- Redditors. Ending in a vowel, Tildes makes that a bit less straightforward. This obviously is not a super high priority question, but I had the thought a few minutes ago. Are we Tilders? Tilds? ~rs? Anyone have any ideas that are a bit more creative and easier to say?

      23 votes