Finally got access to Tildes today... Seems unimpressive ( kbin.social )

I got an invite code and so spent a bit of time browsing around because I'd heard good things about it. But I was surprised at how basic and non-diverse it all is. The forums are preset and are very generic. The conversations are definitely better than Reddit, but no better or worse than the ones I've had with people on Fedi.

Kbin is definitely my new home but I do like checking out the other options - I'd just heard really good things about Tildes and it definitely didn't match up with what I was playing about with today. Anyone else had a go at it? What's your take?

catahoula_leopard ,

I really love Tildes, but the comments in this thread are fair enough criticisms, and pretty accurate.

The only thing I'd clarify in the comments here is that there's not really a "waiting list" for invites. Deimos accepts emails requesting invites, and people receive access as he responds to each email. Users also get 5 invites every few weeks, so you can ask people for one here or on /r/redditalternatives. Or in the invite threads that are posted in /r/tildes. And the invite system isn't used to make it feel "exclusive" (especially since it's pretty easy to get one,) it's used because the site has been around for years with an existing userbase, so there's an effort to gradually add users to Tildes so the site doesn't just turn into 99% disgruntled redditors.

Tildes simply doesn't have the goals of "reddit alternatives" that are hoping to launch a new, popular site. It's just doing its own thing. Personally I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for people who want to be part of the next "reddit" with millions of other people.

Actually, since you all aren't being assholes about your criticisms of it, this gives me a good feeling about kbin. I was going to try this site as an alternative before I found Tildes and have been spending most of my time there, but I'll probably hang around here eventually, for content that doesn't belong on Tildes (image posts, memes, and other silly stuff.)

HipPriest OP ,

Tildes simply doesn't have the goals of "reddit alternatives" that are hoping to launch a new, popular site. It's just doing its own thing. Personally I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for people who want to be part of the next "reddit" with millions of other people.

Sure, I definitely respect that and it is one of the things I like about it. I like the way it's focused on conversations over cut n paste memes.

But I think I've found a similar experience here on Kbin by blocking meme heavy groups and joining more specific communities. I'm still going to check out Tildes every now and then though

Bipta ,

Waitlists are almost always just for hype.

Duchess ,
@Duchess@yiffit.net avatar

yeah, honestly i’m getting frustrated waiting for my invite to beeper :/

HipPriest OP ,

If you go on their Reddit sub (I know) and ask for one you can get one pretty quickly

raze2012 ,
  1. it's not a waitlist, simply invite only. If you can find someone who browses tildes they can give you an invite with no issue. But a semi-common way to "go around" that is messaging the admin, who ofc has infinite invitess, has a business address, and probably has dozens of requests coming in to read.
  2. it's quite the opposite here. The lack of free account creation is to purposefully limit growrth. Tildes doesn't want to be a dumping ground for reddit refugees everytime a drama explodes.
CoffeeAddict ,

I feel like on average their conversation quality is higher than the other alternatives. However, as you said, it is not very diverse.

Tildes also feels very “primp & proper” so to speak. While the conversations are generally very civil and of good quality, I also feel like the place is ruled with an iron fist; step a little bit out of line, and you’re pretty much gone. This is then coupled with the fact that you’re not able to make custom communities.

In the end, its good for civil discussion within the bounds of what is already considered acceptable by the admin. I almost feel like it has the opposite problem Reddit does - whereas conversations on Reddit are largely driven by bots and the hivemind, Tildes is controlled by Deimos and whoever Deimos approves of.

Thorned_Rose ,

I thought you were being facetious calling the admin, Δεῖμος. Like implying the Tilde admin rules with such an iron first he instills god-like levels of dread in users. And then I discover the admin's username is indeed Deimos 😅

HipPriest OP ,

Tildes is controlled by Deimos and whoever Deimos approves of.

This is a theme emerging from a few of the comments which is odd to say the least. Makes it sound like a bit of a vanity project

Gorejelly ,
@Gorejelly@kbin.social avatar

I browsed around it for a good 20 minutes or so. My initial knee-jerk reaction is that I would not want to join a community with no ability to create or join specific areas that could be narrowed down to more specific topics. “Gaming” for example (and as someone else already mentioned), has to be video games, of all forms (retro, console, computer, homebrew, hacks - from all years) alongside board games, card games, browser games, children’s games, educational games, physical toys, etc. It’s a mess, to me at least. There aren’t even that many categories.

It is also very sterile-feeling. I appreciate a good old-fashioned text wall, but no options for background and text colors even? (Maybe that is an option if you are able to log into the site)

millionsofplayers ,

There are themes, if you scroll down to the bottom I think it’s there. I’ve just stuck to love light since I started using it.

Gorejelly ,
@Gorejelly@kbin.social avatar

Thank you for pointing that out. I just did not see it. At least two of the themes were dark/cool enough to not hurt my eyes, so I do appreciate that option.

raze2012 ,

The idea here is that you have general categories and then you rely on tags to do more granular filtering. so you may be on the gaming group, but if you really hate retro gamess you would instead add games.retro (or something similar) to a filter list.

The idea of only a few groups and no custom group creation is intentional. There were other reddit alternatives that died out because everone was creating new groups willy nilly and it meant no one group could get enough traction. In contrast, Tildes only started with a dozen groups and you start out subscribed to everything.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

I really like the quality of the conversation over there but felt a little bit uneasy at the way the structure was influencing their community's culture.

The whole thing is owned/controlled by this one guy Deimos, everyone there is a mod but he is the only admin. He sort of gardens it, as in he deletes whole conversations if he doesn't like the direction they are taking the community in. Understandably there was a lot of reference to "Deimos says" and "Deimos thinks" when they discussed the reddit influx.

SkepticElliptic ,

I got into it with those guys around summer of 2020 over college kids returning to school in person. I live near a large college campus and we had a newborn so I wasn’t keen on a large number of young people coming into town and giving us covid. Deimos, told me to stop talking about it, so I asked “how do I delete my account?” and I never went back to check on what his response was.

Jokes on them because we got covid several times after our child started daycare a year later.

kid4today ,
@kid4today@feddit.uk avatar

Sounds like a cult!

Amir ,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

When I learned it was impossible to create or join a smaller community I noped out of there. I’m not interested in “gaming”, I’m interested in a few smaller games only.

NightOwl ,

I haven’t browsed tildes so don’t have impression to give, but Reddit is Fun dev made a tildes app which I think is pretty cool. Decided to download it now. It’s called Three Cheers for Tildes.

Tildes could be intersting, but difficulty of sign ups I think is what would keep it from becoming bigger. But, maybe that’s what they want. Their way of controlling their own “instance”.

originalucifer ,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

i spent some time there a few years back. it seemed.. sanitized.. and lacked any personality. im a silly person, i like silly things. silly isnt allowed there, generally. it felt like you had to have a stick shoved waaaay up your asshole to participate.

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