One of Our Best Websites Died While No One Was Looking
slate.com
The once-thriving site used to answer our most specific questions. But users are fleeing.

“Why Do So Many Music Venues Use Ticketmaster?” “What’s It Like to Train to Be a Sushi Chef?” “How Do Martial Artists Break Concrete Blocks?” If you were looking for answers to such questions 10 years ago, your best resource for finding a thorough, expert-informed response likely would have been one of the most interesting and longest-lasting corners of the internet: Quora.

    • LvxferreEnglish
      3•5 months ago

      That’s what I’m predicting, too; past IPO the site will become a shadow of its former self. It won’t be just porn being banned, but also:

      • subreddits will be seized by the trademark owners, creating a chilling effect
      • content policy will be completely revamped. No more “we’re trying to protect you lol” façade, it’ll be right into “we don’t care about users or trash like this, we care about brands”
      • DMCA will be enforced on an “it’s a user so it’s assumed to be guilty unless it can prove the contrary”.
      • r/assholedesign and r/hailcorporate will get banned
      • they’ll revamp the ad spaces to give you a harder time blocking them
      • old.reddit? “I dun unrurrstand, y u live in the past? we remove it lol”

      I just wish that this all happened before the IPO. Sadly, it won’t.