User:RiaVora/Alt-tech

Implementation of Feedback
Bryankjh Peer Review

His criticisms about the lead were similar to mine, that is was overly detailed and needed to be more broad and split up into sections (I have not currently edited the lead but if I get time, I think it would be good to restructure with my new content).

Actionable Items


 * 1) I completely agree that the challenges section can be expanded to include more viewpoints, and I will look at more sources for adding that.
 * 2) I also agree with the abundance of alt-right platforms, and I would like to add alt-left platforms for balance and exposure
 * 3) I agree that the division is still not completely done, and I am looking for more alt-platforms to add, and then restructure from there

(The part about what can be improved was already touched on above, thank you to Bryankjh for the review that was really helpful!)

Jeshgus Peer Review

I'm glad that he thinks my article needs my planned structure. I also agree that the lead is too broad and needs to be segmented as the other user suggested, and further analysis of the websites will be really interesting!

Actionable Items


 * 1) I completely agree that the impact is missing, and I am honestly really interested in that too. I would like to find more research on the estimated number of users, the events that sprung from these platforms, and other non-biased metrics of impact.

Thank you to Jeshgus for the peer review!

VillusionV Peer Review

VillusionV mentions that I said there would be editing of the lead and hadn't actually implemented it and he/she is totally right, I was hoping to directly edit the changes, and put it in Actionable Items #1.

Actionable Items


 * 1) As stated in the introduction of my description of changes, I will copy the lead into the draft and edit it, so I am not directly editing the Wikipedia page until I am sure it is complete.
 * 2) VillusionV points out the use of "far-right" and "most," which I believe are fair criticisms because of inherent bias that is difficult to remove in myself, and I will revisit both of those terms to make them more neutral (and take his/her suggestions for "republican" and "conservative")
 * 3) VillusionV mentioned that I used mostly news sources, and when I expand my search on impact, I hope to use more non-biased journal articles to reduce the bias in my sources.

The overview of changes are covered in what is stated above, thank you to VillusionV for the peer review!

Kyle.chan201 Peer Review

Kyle.chan201's review is on the alt-tech talk page and has suggestions as listed below.

Actionable Items


 * 1) I think the addition of ramifications to society is really interesting, but I am not totally sure how I would structure that. It would be interesting if there was a source that covered that specific viewpoint, but if there isn't one that I can find, then I would worry that I would be adding my own bias to the article. So, I think it's a great point, and I will add it if I can find supporting sources!
 * 2) He/she mentioned a few unreliable sources, but I do believe those sources are directly from the organizations (as User GorillaWarfare clarified). I will give them a second look!

Thank you to Kyle.chan201 for the review!

Sid900 Peer Review

Sid900's review is at the bottom of this sandbox and has the suggestions listed below.

Actionable Items


 * 1) He/she said the challenges section should be more flushed out, as was also mentioned by Bryankjh, so I will look more into sources that refer to challenges of alt-tech platforms overall!
 * 2) He/she brought in Democrat vs. Republican, and in the context of specifically the US, I think it would be interesting to explore those and usage of the platforms. If I can find information on it, I will use it!

Thank you to Sid900 for the review!

[For the other reviewer written on my Wiki dashboard (Go23bears), I could not find their review]

Overview of Changes
I will be editing the introduction and adding examples about specific alt-tech in relation to political groups.

Challenges
Mark Pitcavage, a historian and analyst of far-right wing groups, finds that alt-tech companies face the unique barrier of attracting users without the support of traditional funding sources such as venture capital and seed funding. In order to host their services online, they must find payment and service providers willing to face public backlash and scrutiny for supporting alt-right content.

Gab
Launched publicly in May 2017, Gab is considered one of the most successful alt-tech platforms for alt-right activists. It claims to have more than 300,000 registered users, and crowdfunded more than $1 million when it launched in 2016. Gab was infamously involved in the Pittsburg synagogue shooting in October 2018, when it was discovered that the sole suspect of the attack posted a message on Gab about his intent for the shooting. After facing public scrutiny, Gab was dropped from its provider and several payment processors, causing it to briefly go offline. Although seeming to support free speech and lack of content moderation, Gab has faced intense backlash for providing a safe space for antisemitic and otherwise alt-right content.

Hatreon
Hatreon was created to provide crowdfunding and payment services for groups and individuals banned from mainstream platforms such as Kickstarter, Patreon, Paypal, and Stripe.

In August 2017, Hatreon was officially launched by Cody Wilson, a notorious American crypto-anarchist known for openly releasing files for a 3D-printed gun. According to Wilson, who doesn't consider himself a member of the alt-right, the purpose of the site is to provide "valuable social commentary" and he hopes it "will piss of Germany." Since its launch, high-profile alt-right and neo-Nazi activists, such as Andrew Anglin (founder of The Daily Stormer) and Richard B. Spencer (creator of term "alt-right") have since joined the website to receive funding for their projects. Hatreon has helped over 400 creators raise approximately $25,000 per month through donations from users. Other organizations, such as Nordic Resistance Movement (a neo-Nazi group based in Sweden) and Identity Evropa (a neo-Nazi group based in the United States), have received over $1,000 a month in support.

In November 2017, the website was suspended by VISA, and currently redirects to a notification page.

Voat
As described by several media outlets, Voat operates similarly in both style and function to Reddit, differing based on its commitment to freedom of speech. Voat is separated by themed categories, which each category containing a collection of entires submitted by registered viewers. However, unlike Reddit, Voat is censorship-free and provides an ad-revenue sharing program. Voat has been described by The New Yorker to be a descendant of 2chan, 4chan, and 8chan sites where users would compete for outrageous content. However, Voat itself has not tied itself to Gamergate or any of these movements, and neither of its founders have personally written antisemitic content.

Voat was founded in April 2014 by Atif Colo as a student side-project under the name WhoaVerse. Justin Chastain also joined as the second founder. In December 2014, WhoaVerse retired their mascot, updated their logo, and changed their name to Voat as in "vote".

In June 2015, Voat was shut down from its provider Host Europe due to concerns around the right-wing and extremist content. Voat's founders attributed the shut down to lack of political correctness. At the same time, Voat's PayPal account was suspended due to suspicion regarding "sexually oriented materials or services".

Voat became an official US company in August 2015 after receiving donations from Bitcoin and Dogecoin, citing that "when it comes to freedom of speech, the main idea behind Voat, U.S. law by far beats every other candidate country we've researched." In January 2017, Colo stepped down as CEO due to lack of time, and Chastain replaced him.

Reddit's move towards harsher policies for content moderation has fueled more users moving over to Voat, and venture capitalists have even approached the founders with appeared interest in investment. In July 2015, Reddit moderators shut down more content and dismissed a popular administrator, causing thousands to move to Voat. The founders, Atif Colo and Justin Chastain, claimed that they had 700,000 unique visitors at that time and were struggling to keep the site up. In November 2016, Reddit banned the Pizzagate conspiracy theory due to harassment concerns, causing users to flock to Voat. In November 2017, Reddit banned parts of the incel community, causing another influx of users on Voat. Most recently, in September 2018, Reddit dismissed mutliple subreddits that were associated with QAnon, causing the users and posts to move to Voat.

Peer Editing (Sid Gupta - Sid900) -

 * 1) The challenges section of the article needs to be fleshed out in more depth, to give a better perspective to readers.
 * 2) An analysis on the Democrat vs Republican viewpoints on this topic would bring out a wider frame of reference to the article.