Yeah. I think It would be good to get some diversity in the kinds of people who come here. I don't want to push the edgy users out exactly, just make it so that they're not the only ones here. Surely those who value free speech would be fine with more mainstream people coming here and expressing different opinions. It's time to break up the circlejerk, I think. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm fine with "mainstream" popularity as long as it doesn't lead to "mainstream" moderation policies.

Sadly it doesn't work that way. As soon as normal people become the majority they'll start clamoring to remove the original inhabitants and adjust things to suit their preferences. It's happened so many times in so many places that it's not a question of "if". >Mainstream >Free speech Pick one.

>>709 I don't know. That's a blackpill I have a hard time swallowing. A lot of the time, platforms that were free-speech friendly start becoming restrictive not because the users want that content removed, but because the people in charge of the platform get greedy and want more advertising revenue, or something like that. I think that with the rise of web 3.0 technologies like IPFS, the hypercore protocol, BAT, and other decentralization tech that would allow us to cut money out of the equation (or decentralize that too, in the case of BAT) we'll see the start of a new chapter for free speech on the internet.

>>686 I think what imageboards really need, is a detailed categorization and filtering system. Then I'll be perfectly fine with imageboards being mainstream, because I can filter out all the bullshit and only see the interesting stuff. And by interesting I don't mean "expresses the views I already hold" I mean thoughtful, or at least fun.

mainstream of course, As long as that doesn't involve them changing enough in the process that it becomes something completely different. More people being comfortable with anonymous speech will help them to better cope with different opinions and harsh language. That's the kind of skin thickening that people need nowadays

mainstream just because that would signal that many people at least somewhat care about anonymity, and that's a good thing

>>686 Stay out of 'relevance', if by that you mean not plebbit-popular because then it either assimilates plebbit/4ailchan culture or gets the "goyim know, shut it down" treatment.

>>1054 I feel like that's all just a boogeyman. I don't think there's an inherent problem with popularity. I think if image boards are ever to succeed at getting and staying popular while also staying true to their values, they need to be more decentralized. Some kind of protocol based situation instead of individual websites with individual communities that are all separate from each other.