Is thi$ what I think it is about?

3 years ago by platypus_plumba to c/main

I saw that this instance had a large number of users so I thought "more users->more content->more fun". Apparently, I had to prove my value by answering 3 questions that showed my interest in their community and my value as a potential future member.

What could possibly be my value to a general purpose instance besides money? I'm a software/cloud engineer so I guess there are things I could help with, but my guess is they were expecting me to say "I can donate".

I get it, they need donations to exist, but this upfront? And to a community I don't even know? Maybe I'm imagining things and they were looking for something else?

Do all instances rely on donations? I'd like to contribute to the instances I enjoy at some point. But only if I feel at home with them, not as a prerequisite to join.

Zetaphor 66 points 3 years ago

What in this message made you think your rejection had anything to do with donations? Seems like you're jumping to that conclusion without any evidence.

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platypus_plumba -4 points 3 years ago
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some_guy 2 points 3 years ago

The instance I joined had a boilerplate form asking why to rate-limit sign-ups. It said that almost all applicants would be approved, but this helped to control the growth. Got in with a very simple request that used humor related to the instance itself. I would expect this is similar in motivation.

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something_complex 50 points 3 years ago

Beehaw does not really on donations, they are afraid of bring overrun by bots and assholes.

I didn't need to give them a big intro, barelly anything tbh. I'm guessing you sounded or too douchy or to botty

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Corkyskog 14 points 3 years ago

They might be worried about their fill rate and got more strict with their applications.

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ArcaneSlime 5 points 3 years ago

I'm betting they saw his requested uname is also used on a sh.itjustworks (wherever the dots go ffs) account and that played a part, since they defederated with those guys. Just a feeling I get.

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can 13 points 3 years ago

I really doubt this is the case. I have an acct on both with the same username and I've been pretty open about it over there.

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ArcaneSlime 6 points 3 years ago

Ah well there goes my theory lol. Thanks for the info.

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SharkEatingBreakfast 6 points 3 years ago

Yeah, I'm on both, as well. Don't think that's the issue.

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platypus_plumba -1 points 3 years ago
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Karlos_Cantana 48 points 3 years ago

I believe they want to limit troll and bot accounts. I know that if I were hosting a community I would want to vet the members so that I didn't have to spend all my time dealing with compliants and having to delete comments and ban people.

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elephantintheroom 19 points 3 years ago

This.

It's like that with many instances. They ask you to fill out a form, answer questions or something similar to make sure you're not some spam-bot. That's it.

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platypus_plumba -1 points 3 years ago
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elephantintheroom 12 points 3 years ago

Better a weak filter than none at all, I guess. They're not some multi-billion dollar corporation with the means to assign a lot of funds for spam mitigation.

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coldhotman 44 points 3 years ago
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platypus_plumba -2 points 3 years ago
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awesomesauce309 21 points 3 years ago

This your first day on the internet? There’s plenty of shit people looking to nefariously invade spaces meant for other people.

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platypus_plumba 2 points 3 years ago
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narc0tic_bird 37 points 3 years ago

Should've probably asked them. They are trying to be a more curated community. You are expected to read and obviously follow the rules, and reflect that in your short application text.

If it's not for you that's obviously fine. Just like it's 100% within their rights to not want you. Don't make a big deal out of it.

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platypus_plumba -6 points 3 years ago
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20gramsWrench 35 points 3 years ago

beehaw is a little more restrictive than other instances, not about money but about political alignment, they're making sure you're not being employed by some troll farm to tell everyone you don't like the gays or dogwhistle terf shit

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WheeGeetheCat 34 points 3 years ago

So I can see why people coming from centralized, for-profit platforms would assume everything is about money - because over there, everything IS.

In the fediverse (and the open source parts of the internet in general) - people are doing things for free for others benefit. As such, they don't NEED to cater to and attract everyone, nor do they generally have the time and money to run something that will require full-time effort. They can be choosy. They can look for 'their people'.

Do not take it personally.

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platypus_plumba -1 points 3 years ago
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WheeGeetheCat 3 points 3 years ago

Eh its more like you showed up at someone's block party and they don't have all the bells and whistles of a nightclub, because they don't expect as many people to even know they exist and they aren't charging a entrance fee

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truckkun 33 points 3 years ago

No, they are not asking for donations lmao. They just want you to prove you're a friendly woke inclusive person looking to make their community better with your contributions to their rules, peace, order and love and who knows what else. Just read beehaw org admins' comments and reverse engineer their opinion and regurgitate it onto an application.

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platypus_plumba -12 points 3 years ago
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can 6 points 3 years ago

You say common rules but there are many instances without those

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HerbErtlinger 3 points 3 years ago

Explicit policies are better than implicit policies. A code of conduct shouldn’t consist of unwritten rules. Maybe this is why you were rejected? It seems like you didn’t understand the purpose or content of their policies when you applied.

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truckkun 2 points 3 years ago

most servers have implicit rules, this one has explicit rules, simple as that, and they make it clear they're a safe space unlike most others that try to look free but aren't or are freer but get banned for allowing shit, beehaw is just clear about what it is.

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ericjmorey 1 point 3 years ago

If that's what you got out of it, you could work on your literacy.

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SharkEatingBreakfast 23 points 3 years ago

I got in with 3 or 4 sentences about a month ago.

We can't really guess as to why your admission was denied unless you post what you had written.

I'm not sure why you'd jump directly to the conclusion that your denial was based on money?

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platypus_plumba -5 points 3 years ago
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Zetaphor 15 points 3 years ago

The questions are intended to get you to stop, read the rules, consider if you want to be there, and to be earnest about it. Nobody said it was a mechanism to prevent bots. Just because it's not 100% secure against fraud and botting doesn't mean it's useless either.

I thought the only logical conclusion for gatekeeping with those questions was the donations.

I fail to see the logic in that connection. The first fact does not in any way directly lead to the other. They want to curate a specific type of community and they have a very limited set of tools at their disposal. The fact that those tools are not foolproof doesn't mean they're part of some rouse to ask you for money.

It’s just so illogical to think those questions are any kind of real ethical filter.

You're clearly missing the point of what Beehaw is going for, which may have been a contributing factor to your rejected application. You could always try again with a different identity, or since it seems you may not be what they're looking for you could just move on and enjoy your time in the fediverse from your sh.itjust.works account.

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SharkEatingBreakfast 10 points 3 years ago

You're clearly missing the point of what Beehaw is going for, which may have been a contributing factor to your rejected application.

I know it's harsh and kinda' mean, but:

Hey, look! The questions are doing their intended job!

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SharkEatingBreakfast 4 points 3 years ago

I did not just say "nice things" in my application. I talked about my what goals were in joining such a community, mentioned how my values seemed to line up with what they seemed to be fostering, and talked about what I might be able to contribute to such a space.

Answering a questionnaire like that won't keep out every bot or bad actor, but it certainly stops a large majority of fuckery from waltzing in willy-nilly.

It does have another reason: the current load on Beehaw from the influx of new users is absolutely wrecking things on its infrastructure. It was not designed to withstand the amount of users that have migrated over.

It's honestly not that deep. Not to be rude, but you seem to be taking it very personal. I promise that it's not!

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hemmes 20 points 3 years ago

Beehaw is notoriously strict with their content and philosophical approach to federation. Last I checked they banned hundreds of instances. That’s not my style. I looked for a well moderated instance that left the banning to the user and kept the server up to date and running. In fact I think they still have no instances banned yet. VLemmy did make me register and wait for approval which happened that same day and it’s been a real pleasure.

I have accounts on other instances and Kbin and all instances seem to carry about the same posts when sorting by All. The fediverse requires the user to search a bit more for the community that fits them best, and that’s a good thing.

Try a few instances and platforms. Kbin is pretty cool but not really my thing, I love Mastodon and my instance (shout out to mas.to and @rodti@mas.to).

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archomrade 2 points 3 years ago

It's nit-picky but you don't "ban" instances, you just de-federate with them. Individual users in a de-federated instance can still see posts, and can participate if they move to another instance.

It's a way of preventing brigading, if a single instance is the source of a lot of problematic users. With better moderation tools, defederation well become less common.

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hemmes 1 point 3 years ago path: 0 689707 694343 712595, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 1
archomrade 3 points 3 years ago

They are free to do so, I don't see the issue.

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muffin 18 points 3 years ago

I don't think this is about donations. Did you try registering again with more information about why you want to join?

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platypus_plumba -10 points 3 years ago
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Cqrd 23 points 3 years ago

You keep saying this but maybe you should have just done it lmao seems like you’re just here crying, seems to me their filtering system is working

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platypus_plumba 0 points 3 years ago
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CookieJarObserver 17 points 3 years ago
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Ziggurat 16 points 3 years ago

Honestly, the more I read about beehaw, the more it seems like a lost instance. They don't federate many people request an e-mail address to register and even have a member casting.

Doesn't seems like the most interesting place of the fedi

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can 3 points 3 years ago

Most places request an email because of bot signups. Next lemmy version reintroduces captchas so instances such as this are only requiring them temporarily.

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imrichyouknow 15 points 3 years ago

It's quite obvious not what you think about as many pointed out, that being said, an overly regulated instance is boring IMO.

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platypus_plumba 6 points 3 years ago
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can 3 points 3 years ago

If beehaw sounds like a place you'd like definitely try again. They've just been swamped.

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socialjusticewizard 2 points 3 years ago

Yeah I'm finding beehaw a great, very active community. They're doing something right.

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bandario 14 points 3 years ago

Let them play in their little walled garden.

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funchords 13 points 3 years ago

It's not about money. They do have a particular take on running their instance than most open general-use instances. You can read about that and their rationale and decisions and decide whether it is for you.

Informed by that, you might then decide if beehaw is for you or not. If beehaw is for you, talk about why you are joining in particular regards to gelling with their particular philosophy.

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webghost0101 13 points 3 years ago

I doubt this is about donations.

There is some stuff going on on beehaw, i am not quite sure about the details but essentially they defederated with some other big instances.

This means that they can no longer interact with those instances. And those instances can also not interact with communities on beehaw.

They can interact with other instances but are shielded from every comment and possibly even votes caused by defederated instances.

I believe this is a temporary trend that some instances are doing to protect their communities till better moderation tools exist. Not allowing new people in might be a part of that, Personally i am not a fan of this strategy but apparently current beehaw users are content with this.

I am on the fmhy instance myself, as far as i know we are not defederated with anyone so all of lemmy (including communities on beehaw) are open for me to see and interact with.

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ericjmorey 1 point 3 years ago

as far as i know we are not defederated with anyone

This is definitely not true. And considering their sidebar, they will be defederating with more and more as they discover what is on other instances.

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can 1 point 3 years ago path: 0 683791 690430, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 3
webghost0101 2 points 3 years ago

Interesting, i wonder whet the reasons where.

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can 1 point 3 years ago

Piracy?

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webghost0101 1 point 3 years ago

Thats my only guess. Bit strange though, there where piracy subs on R and i have yet to see any direct links to copyrighted material.

If they squerm at even the thought of obtaining copies of digital goods licensed by mega corporations without inconveniencing their vast profits then Arre have nottin to say to them but will share(!) my shanty “ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTybKL1pM4 “

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Datas_Cat_Spot 11 points 3 years ago

My answers were really short, and my app was approved. I figured it was a bot check, not actually reviewed by anyone.

I don't really use my beehaw account though, because they're heavyhanded with moderation and also cut off the largest lemmy instance, so I'd be missing a lot of content.

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Corkyskog 4 points 3 years ago

Ehat instance did they cut and why?

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can 14 points 3 years ago

Lemmy.world and sh.itjust.works were growing fast without an approval process and beehaw felt with the current rudimentary mod tools they couldn't adequately handle the influx of unvetted users. Refederation is on the table in the future though.

For now I have an acct here and there and Liftoff apps makes browsing between the two seemless and I suspect it will be even more elegant once Sync for Lemmy releases in a month or two.

But keep in mind this affects beehaw users the most. If you're on a smaller instance or kbin you'll be able to interact with all three.

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httpjames 7 points 3 years ago

They defederated from many instances because of open registration s. Trolls were getting through (an inevitable) and the Beehaw team didn't want to moderate users from those instances anymore.

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Datas_Cat_Spot 7 points 3 years ago

lemmy.world and yours (sh.itjust.works), as far as I know.

They're well within their right to do it, but it also sucks to see a fracture like that so early in the fediverse's growth.

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sourworm 2 points 3 years ago path: 0 688715 689167 690158, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
Leer10 10 points 3 years ago

I think it would help if you actually posted what you said. I'm a member of both and it seems pretty easy to be let in if you are thoughtful about your answer and it resonates with creating a thoughtfully pleasant space.

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SickIcarus 9 points 3 years ago

Unless you want to be a part of a curated safe-space you’re not missing anything. If you do want to be part of something like that, we’ll then you’ll need to reapply and sell yourself harder.

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macgregor 4 points 3 years ago

Rejected me too during the initial reddit exodus a month ago. I said I was looking for a reddit alternative, that I mostly lurk but occasionally post on tech subs as I am a software engineer. No response for a week then rejected around the same time they defederated. Figured they were just mass rejecting people at that point. Was already actively using accounts on lemmy.one and lemmy.world by then. I just use lemmy.one if I want to see Beehaw content.

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basket 4 points 3 years ago

Avoid beehaw

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platypus_plumba 5 points 3 years ago
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blackconservative -5 points 3 years ago
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hawkwind 3 points 3 years ago

What were the three questions?

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Cracks_InTheWalls 16 points 3 years ago

Why are you signing up at Beehaw? What is it about this community that makes you want to join it? What do you want to contribute to this community?

There is also a request to read at least one of three posts that detail the moderation/general philosophy of the instance to a) evaluate it's a place you actually want to participate in, and b) inform your answers.

Basically, go to beehaw.org and read some of the content you see there, learn a little bit about how they approach things, then make your case.

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Pugsley 5 points 3 years ago

What is your name? What is your favourite colour? What is the average air speed of an unladen swallow?

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nottheengineer 2 points 3 years ago

Beehaw is trying to be a place where it's illegal to hurt people's feelings, not a general instance.

The only reason they have so many users is that they have consistent branding across all communities, which makes them seem credible to people who have no idea which instance to choose.

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can 9 points 3 years ago

Have you considered that some users might want a safer place like that? Variety in the fediverse isn't hurting anybody.

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tallwookie 2 points 3 years ago

it's not really variety if it's a gated community.

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can 2 points 3 years ago

Well if you want to get in that gate it's not so hard. And now I have extra communities to interact with and an app makes it smooth. But if that's not for you just ignore it.

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breadsmasher 2 points 3 years ago

Instances currently rely on donations - I haven’t seen any ads on any lemmy instance

Beehaw is just one of those instances with a very strict sign up process. I haven’t seen anyone saying they were accepted or denied due to money/donations specifically- beyond this post

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sounddrill 1 point 3 years ago

Dawg even my clg didn't ask this much... they saw that I passed my 12 class exam, and asked for a 10k INR to block seat(private education here is a bit like that)

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tallwookie -5 points 3 years ago

beehaw is a "safe space" echo chamber - it caters to very special snowflakes. you're not missing anything

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