It seems like the reason they disabled user posting in s/whatever was because they wanted you to use the relevant default subs instead. "Realwhatever" isn't really going to solve that problem is it? It's still going to turn s/all/hot into s/realwhatever/hot.
I guess this is the real showdown isn't it.
For my part, I do think it was confusing for a lot of people (especially those coming from Voat) that s/whatever was not just a catch-all. The name seems to imply that it is.
So if we're being told we need to get a lot more particular about categorizing our own posts, there should probably be some kind of guide that lets people know what subs are available for their 'whatever' post. Just a flow chart kind of thing. (1) is this an open question for Poal --> it goes in /askpoal, (2) are you just disclosing something to Poal --> it goes in /tellpoal, (3) a random opinion? --> s/opinion, (4) Q related? ---> either the dedicated or parody Q subs, (5) politics? --> s/politics or s/USpolitics.
I guess if there was a shortlist of the subs that would normally capture something people would be tempted to put in s/whatever, that would probably help. Populating s/all with a bunch of posts to "realwhatever" is probably not going to deal with the problem that admin has actually identified.
It seems like the problem really boils down to users not wanting to use the site like admin wants them to. It's kind of interesting, because users are fine categorizing their posts properly when it comes to stuff like music, or gardening, or special subjects. But when it comes to talking about politics, Q, anti-Jew, white beauty/power/supremacy, cultural critique and just bullshitting generally, most users want a Chuckie Cheese ball-pit to throw everything into.
It's like cognitively, we all consider that ONE category of thinking. It's like the s/whatever sub is the 'personality of Poal' and the rest of the subs are special interests and hobbies of that personality. Haha. S/whatever is the Poal-self, our moment-to-moment thinking.
It's really funny to watch it happen. I am not interested in antagonizing anyone so I didn't intentionally post wrong content to whatever, but I did put things that were subsequently moved. It is aggravating, a bit micromanaging. I understand the desire to keep things orderly for finding content. However, now instead of it going into whatever, it goes into whatever I can think to try, and if that isn't an option I submit to a random sub. So instead of random things in whatever, it's going into aww.
I think it's a tension that we can't eliminate completely, but which we could probably try to minimize. You have these opposing forces, where on the one hand admin would prefer to keep all content tidy and organized (a drawer for every utensil), and on the other hand, people are incentivized to post their own content where they think it will get the most attention (the highest traffic regions).
If we go back to my analogy, where the s/whatever (as a general type of sub) category is kind of like the moment-to-moment consciousness of Poal, then users are going to want to put their thoughts in front of that catch-all sub. Instead, admin wants us to self-categorize. To a large extent we do, but like I said before, there seems to be a certain stream of contents (politics, Q, white-v.-Jew) that is just restless to be put on any one shelf.
If admin gives people the ability to create subs, then they're always going to give them the ability to create that catch-all sub. The only other option is for admin to eliminate catch-all sub types completely.
Are you that Australian guy from Voat?
Nope. Wasn't that guy called Paul or something?
(post is archived)