Raddle is a leftist alternative to Reddit

October 1, 2017 9:14 PM

Raddle is a leftist alternative to Reddit, created after the organisers were banned. FAQ, Q & A.
posted by TheophileEscargot (35 comments total)

There are no ads, tracking or monetization.

Certainly bodes well for the future of Raddle.
posted by paulcole at 9:19 PM on October 1, 2017 [15 favorites]

Would be nice to know what exactly was the rationale for banning, was the concern that some of their memes were construed as inciting violence, etc? The article doesn't resolve the inconsistency, A says they still don't know why, B says they were told repeatedly to not do some unspecified something? Regardless, the free-software approach is a good change.
posted by polymodus at 9:23 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

So there's a subreddit (subraddle) for ShitLibsSayorDo but none for conservatives/libertarians/nazis?

Good job, lefties.
posted by asteria at 9:59 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

It's a militant leftist alternative to reddit.
posted by rubber duck at 10:26 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

I see their front page currently features a post about torturing people for their political beliefs:

https://raddle.me/f/memer/9247/4chan-didn-t-understand-it-so-here-s-how-torture-by-windmill
posted by foobaz at 10:27 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Well, for my entry in the betting pool, I give them 10 months. Anyone else?
posted by happyroach at 10:34 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Imzy lasted what, nine months?
posted by Pyry at 10:46 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

The thing with the most upvotes on Raddle right now on the front page has... 48. Most of Reddit's front page has tens of thousands. This doesn't really scan like an organized effort to create a better Reddit; it scans like one particular community of people wanted their own Reddit-equivalent, which is a different sort of a project. In particular, if that community itself is content with it, it doesn't need to take down Reddit; it just needs to give them a place to hang out and it can last indefinitely. The money problem only actually really becomes a problem if it catches on with a fairly large group but nobody wants to pay--if it stays tiny, hosting tiny sites is cheap. Scaling is the expensive thing.

I'm not sure what I think of their political approaches, but I like this model. Not one Reddit making money off of horrible people on which everybody is dependent to host their content, but lots of smaller communities that are self-funding and self-maintaining.
posted by Sequence at 10:53 PM on October 1, 2017 [8 favorites]

I'll give you even odds that it's run by the alt right as a kind of honey pot.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:55 PM on October 1, 2017 [28 favorites]

Would be nice to know what exactly was the rationale for banning, was the concern that some of their memes were construed as inciting violence, etc?

The people who run /r/LateStageCapitalism haven't been banned, so I doubt that it was their politics that got them kicked.
posted by xyzzy at 11:58 PM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

Of course, there are leftist academic subreddits that haven't encountered this sort of problem, of having to leave the site voluntarily or not. On the other hand, the reddit admins sometimes make problematic decisions; in a leftist sense, it was this groups' politics that got them banned and following that, understanding the rationale or details is a necessary-but-not-sufficient condition for each of us to decide whether reddit's decision was justified. For better or worse, there was no transparency to this--fine--but that doesn't completely let the journalism off the hook for what's an omission in their article.
posted by polymodus at 12:11 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

So, /r/tankies, amirite?
posted by acb at 1:32 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

I thought Metafilter was the leftist alternative to Reddit?
posted by seasparrow at 2:46 AM on October 2, 2017 [41 favorites]

it's an entire website of only the dumbest edgelords and undercover cops who, before they were banned, were fond of making death threats against other leftists. i hope their shit gets wrecked.
posted by indubitable at 3:48 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Would be nice to know what exactly was the rationale for banning, was the concern that some of their memes were construed as inciting violence, etc? The article doesn't resolve the inconsistency, A says they still don't know why, B says they were told repeatedly to not do some unspecified something?

it's because the author of this piece didn't even bother to interview anyone other than the screaming asshole who runs the site. here is a more comprehensive view, with receipts, of what they were up to before they were banned.
posted by indubitable at 3:52 AM on October 2, 2017 [10 favorites]

The thing about Reddit is that you can use reddit without touching the political sections, as I do. I know, the grosser parts of reddit to seep into other sections (for example, the North Dakota reddit I read has a prominent user that never gets banned named CraigCobbWasRight, and he's not the only right-winger), but I also encounter people of similar political persuasions too.

For the most part I use reddit because it brings me funny videos of animals, and memes, and /r/HighQualityGifs, and I can pretend I'm really smart by answering questions in /r/explainlikeimfive, and oftentimes Reddit brings me big news before Facebook or Twitter actually shows me the new news...why would I go to Raddle if it's a high-proof distillation of just the heavy-handed politics I try to avoid on Reddit? It's not a non-right-wing Reddit, it's a leftist messageboard wearing Reddit skin.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:21 AM on October 2, 2017 [7 favorites]

Raddle: for people who saw the right-wing redditors' complaints about having to treat others with basic human decency devolve to such a point where people departed for the less conscientious site Voat, and said, "Hey, that's not a bad idea; let's do one for our side!"
posted by mystyk at 4:35 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

I thought Metafilter was the leftist alternative to Reddit?

Raddle: The reddit.com it's okay to like!
posted by box at 5:07 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Errrr.....
posted by lalochezia at 5:16 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

I thought Metafilter was the leftist alternative to Reddit?

MetaFilter is the liberal alternative to Reddit.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:54 AM on October 2, 2017 [14 favorites]

Errrr.....

OMG raddled not rattled!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:57 AM on October 2, 2017

Metafilter is the centrist answer to reddit.
posted by evilDoug at 7:23 AM on October 2, 2017 [7 favorites]

Wow, do you know how much of a piece of shit you have to be to get banned from reddit? People don't get banned from reddit for lefty politics. Hopefully raddle dies quickly.
posted by ryanrs at 7:50 AM on October 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

I thought Metafilter was the leftist alternative to Reddit?

We came first, if anything Reddit is the rightist alternative to Metafilter.
posted by FJT at 9:39 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Metafilter is the centrist answer to reddit.

You clearly haven't had many of your comments here modded out.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:40 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Raddle is a leftist alternative to Reddit reads like something a Bad Website Ideas Twitter bot would come up with, along with "NonreciproCity is an Uber for people who drive in the breakdown lane" and "Dagame is the ePets.com of Scrabble enthusiasts".
posted by maryr at 9:49 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

nobody's asking the important question: how savage are their Verrit roasts
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:17 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

it's because the author of this piece didn't even bother to interview anyone other than the screaming asshole who runs the site. here is a more comprehensive view, with receipts, of what they were up to before they were banned.

To be honest, there are depths to this r/anarchism drama and I never quite trust any of the major recurring figures to be fully open about their own role in it. But this thing was definitely born out of r/anarchism drama (and probably has a bunch of people who got kicked off reddit for saying they want to kill cops or whatever.)
posted by atoxyl at 11:18 AM on October 2, 2017

People don't get banned from reddit for lefty politics.

I mean, it seems to be much easier to get banned from reddit for taking extreme positions in the name of left politics than for doing so in the name of right politics. A lot of the conflict that precipitated this does have to do with how close one is allowed to come to endorsing violence. But I think that's inclusive of a range from "punch nazis" to "armed insurrection" - I wouldn't assume everybody who wanted a new site was totally out of hand, either.
posted by atoxyl at 11:25 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

(Keep in mind there was a right-wing sub about dropping "commies" and other enemies out of helicopters for... months, at least, though they did recently ban it.)
posted by atoxyl at 11:27 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

The posts indubitable linked to were talking about killing a specific reddit user. Don't try to frame this like they were banned for talking about punching nazis or armed insurrection.
posted by ryanrs at 5:07 PM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well fair enough on that count - I guess I'm just having a hard time not pulling in thoughts about the larger r/anarchism-r/LWOE thing from which this eventually stemmed. (The history of which I wouldn't even begin to claim I fully understand.)
posted by atoxyl at 6:15 PM on October 2, 2017

There is porn on the front page right now (2 pictures at the bottom) so maybe this needs NFSW-ing.
posted by sylvanshine at 7:32 PM on October 2, 2017

If Leftbook is any indication, this will be a dumpster fire half populated by Alt-Right trolls in a few days.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 12:35 PM on October 3, 2017

Raddle me this: to what problem is this the solution?
posted by kirkaracha at 6:18 PM on October 3, 2017