I propose someone create /s/SubsWeWant. It would behoove us to discuss potential subs first, explain our goals, determine if better names exist, consider (co-)moderators, be encouraged or talked out of them, and help promote awareness about them. I have lists of sub ideas I think folks might like.

submitted by JasonCarswell from fairfield-highland.k12.oh.us

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[–]Node 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (3 children)

Content categorization can be useful. I'm not sure if we need a ton of new subs, though. Early reddit worked pretty well with just the one page, with way more users than saidit has right now.

What we really need is more users who aren't trolls, spammers, or shills. Only a tiny fraction of new posts get any attention at all, and lately the drama posts have been dominating.

One problem that might happen with too many 'ghost subs' is that people feel isolated if they browse by subs instead of /s/all.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

You're not even remotely curious what people would like to see here? Further, we could discuss likes and dislikes, propose new ideas, and community activities, etc. I have big lists from over the years, and some I think would be fun and interactive.

Sure some people just come to SaidIt for the news or to be asstrolls, but IMO, SaidIt is ripe to cultivate community projects, and like other ideas and fads, some may last and some may die fast - perhaps even this idea. A community sub ABOUT community subs would be great to discuss deep sea fishing community & subs.

Bonus: The substantial differences between need and want could be defined by this post and sub name. #FoodCrisesLooms +.

Edit: You gave me a great idea. It could also be for aggregating recommended sub lists, etc. M7 shit the bed by letting anyone make them. From lemons we can make lemonaid.

Edit edit: I shouldn't type drunk.

[–]Node 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Edit edit: I shouldn't type drunk.

I've rarely had great results from drunk posting. M7 has even threatened to ban me over a couple of my drunk posts. :/ (that's all hopefully behind me now)

I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with having a million subs. It's more like having a lot of subs that get little activity or notice could give a kind of 'ghost city' feeling when people visit them.

I may have some extra bias due to AOU (one of the poal admins) having an autistic obsession with moving posts to the "correct" sub. It's a little off-putting.

/s/SubsWeWant could be a good way to determine whether there's a need for more subs. I can endorse that.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I would fucking love that Poal admin correcting and organizing - if it were done effectively and sensitively within reason - also assuming we laid out the rules clearly and had decent topical subs. SaidIt didn't always have a great selection to file things into.

This further cements the idea that we need metatags, not subs. (Or better: MetaVotes on a Phoenix Forum.)

The reality, ugly or not depending how you view it, is that SaidIt is for taboo topics banned from Reddit, mostly political and/or divisive. Reddit may always be a better place for niche interests - until a (Phoenix) forum comes along that is clearly superior.

SaidIt has strengths and weaknesses. Recognize and improve the weaknesses if possible, but dwell on the strengths. SaidIt cannot be all things for all people. The ghost town vibe is trivial and unimportant, IMO.

If it bugs you that much raise an army of recruits, storm the M7onarchy and demand he make a new policy to delete all completely empty subs over 2 months (or whatever time frame you like). AND it would be easy enough to write a script to copy-paste all the settings of that sub into a file to openly post into a dedicated sub documenting the process openly and transparently, so nothing is lost (ie. some fancy sidebox info).

While you're at it you could ask that unmoderated subs for 6+months be available to be co-modded.

[–]Questionable 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (5 children)

I know! You could make the sub! And then send out a million invites for moderators, and then leave the sub!

😃 😄 😅...

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

I have to wait a week.

Late summer into the fall I made a batch of subs (Surveillance, Corporatocracy, Technocracy, etc etc etc) and for the first time I thought:

  1. I'm a shitty mod in that all I care about is filing my posts in topical categories.
  2. I'm a shitty mod in that all I care about is a pretty banner and CSS.
  3. I'm a shitty mod in that all I care about is finding new information.
  4. I'm a shitty mod in that I don't give a shit about "moderating" anyone.
  5. I'm a shitty mod for dominating all the "Power, Corruption & Lies" subs.

So I figured I could be a good proactive mod and instead of saying "Ask to co-mod or earn an invite." I'd just invite folks who have already earned my confidence.

A few weeks in and I realized I was reaching my sub maximum of 40. I also realized that I could just dump those subs on the "suckers" who became co-mods. I decided that wasn't cool so I pondered on it for months, even started several drafts explaining all this, dumped some of my old subs (effectively the same result but different), etc etc etc. I even started making some subs to immediately offload them. I figured that was a sort of loophole that M7 would eventually seal off.

Ironically, much later I realized that M7 was actually shooting himself in the foot - again. Regardless of my motives (outlined above) and of how many subs I have control over, I'm not actually problem until I abuse it. Putting that arbitrary unjustified 40 max limit on us makes M7 seem like a tyrant, IMO. Whether they have zero or 40, anyone who creates a sub and dumps it is creating even MORE chaotic unregulated space that only the admins can tame.

I admit I was a shitty admin, but at least once or twice a year I might find spam to remove. I know I really should have cleaned up before my big purge recently but I wasn't fully thinking clearly (if I ever do) from the pain. More importantly and ironically, my goals and plans are more clear and pressing than ever before, so with this new huge personal paradigm shift I don't have too much interest in cleaning up everything I was doing or putting my house in order. I have lost all interest in pretty banners and CSS and intend to use my skills better. Time will tell whether my plans and efforts will be worthwhile. I can always resume my old habits.

[–]Questionable 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

I admit I was a shitty admin,

I admit, I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything you have said here is wrong, as you are incapable of providing a proper self evaluation of your own tenure.

My appraisal is as follows:

Sufficient. With a tendency to be too harsh on ones self, and too accepting of criticism. Too open.

Advice:

Give less fucks. Question the validity of criticism. Evaluate criticism from a more objective perspective. Oh, and as a user, self limit submissions to only 2 categories to prevent over saturation of topics.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Okay, I was being negative and too hyperbolic in my self-criticism. I'm afraid what you'll think of my optimistic and self-aggrandizing counter-internal-monologue.

Your advice is sage. IMO, the big fucks should be given for big actions, the rest is dramatic word salad.

Limiting to 2 categories may be a good idea, though I'm not at all sure what you mean by it - and are there exceptions when it's breaking news?

[–]Questionable 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

"I have to wait a week."

Was this not what you were asking for?

https://saidit.net/s/NewSaidits

/u/JasonCarswell has been invited by /u/Questionable to moderate /s/NewSaidits.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Fantastic! That will certainly suffice.

I appreciate the invite but I'm not interested in taking on the responsibility of even more SaidIt projects. I'm offloading subs. Moreover, I'm hoping to spread the responsibility and stuff and successful subs around - the very fundamental foundation for that sub. I can have great ideas, but I don't need to "own" them. I guarantee you I'll be constantly posting ideas there as they hatch in my head and need to exit via some expression. Importantly, I think, some of them are interactive, and I suspect good for community building, not just current events and conspiracy. Stay tuned.

I still haven't shared all of my "big ideas" yet. Once I've made my pitches I'll ask the community at large which they want me to focus on more. I can co-develop +-20 projects slowly but I want to be more effective and primarily focus on a priority few.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (4 children)

But there are more subs than users, why do you need even more subs?

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Fantastic question!

For years I've been whining and bitching about the chaos of the Sub categories. Since very early, coming mainly from Wikipedia/Infogalactic I was much more anal/organized, and tried to no avail to foster a community to democratically discuss the direction of developments - including new subs.

Maybe the best time is long past. I don't think it's ever too late to consider being more healthy. Time will tell.

If I post dozens of ideas on a regular basis, people can:

  1. Tell me to shut up.
  2. Consider my ideas.
  3. Discuss better names or subs or concepts.
  4. Get clarification, confirmation, or protest.
  5. Organize and collaborate.
  6. Promote existing subs.
  7. Shoot the shit.
  8. Conspire to take over the world.
  9. Get hyper-dramatic over the new normal.
  10. Count to ten.

11. Curiosity

Aren't you a little curious to know what I've got up my sleeve, not to mention others?

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

All the subs I need are already here, empty and abandoned. If your idea can create a self-supporting content-generating vortex, make a sub. If it can't, don't.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Some you may never know until you try.

[–]Airbus320 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Oey vey don't ask that