Voat doesn't have a real userbase outside of the hate groups that have made it their home, and they've been in serious financial trouble for a while. They would have gone under by now if not for a recent cash infusion they received from /r/The_Donald, and even that will only last them a few months.
Hate groups were so prevalent on Reddit for one main reason: discovery. Being on Reddit made it easy for them to proselytize and recruit. Hate subs show up in Reddit's search function and in views such as /r/all. If someone posts a dogwhistle or even an outright racist statement on a default, you can click on the poster's username, see their post history, discover any hate subs they post to, and get sucked into their propaganda. Just typing the name of a subreddit creates a direct link to it... so if you tell a racist to "go back to /r/CoonTown", you're inadvertently advertising the sub (which is why AutoModerator has been a godsend, as you can automatically remove posts that contain links to known hate subs).
But if all the hate groups are over on Voat, all of that goes away. Redditors can't randomly stumble on Voat communities, and it's harder to advertise Voat communities on Reddit. Voat is its own tiny, isolated little private island for hate groups, and it's very hard to proselytize from there.
Same user name on Voat for reference if you want to get further into this debate.
I have been on Voat since close to the beginning. 3.2y because I was banned from Reddit for a disagreement with an admin.
Now you claim that Voat is full of racist and hate groups. I won't deny that there is quite a lot. Thing is that it isn't nearly the amount you want to make it seem. A larger base isn't ever going to participate within those groups. They will look into it.
We have also not been kept afloat due to the cash donations from the Donald. We have been kept alive because of the efforts of admin and many good people that want to develop the site in order to make it lower cost to host.
I can't speak for others but I do know that we do not go looking for new members within Reddit. We do however get many people that have been banned from various places within Reddit. That is what it is all about.
You won't understand that because you want to show a side that would make a vast majority knee jerk and react the way you want. Keeping them under your thumb.
By all means come over and see us. Check it out and post your views within /v/whatever because within that subverse your submission will not get deleted unless it is spam.
Keep in mind spam to "US" is when someone is trying to sell something without paying for an ad. I encourage everyone to experience what true freedom is. You may like it.
That's a little alarmist. I don't like the MakeupAddiction group (after all their whole stance on Maybelline is just terrible ;P) ... should I have a podium to punish those who like that sub or those who participate in it? (Note: I'm all for slapping down people who brigade, but guilt by association is terrible)
Hate groups were so prevalent on Reddit for one main reason: discovery. Being on Reddit made it easy for them to proselytize and recruit. Hate subs show up in Reddit's search function and in views such as /r/all. If someone posts a dogwhistle or even an outright racist statement on a default, you can click on the poster's username, see their post history, discover any hate subs they post to, and get sucked into their propaganda. Just typing the name of a subreddit creates a direct link to it... so if you tell a racist to "go back to /r/CoonTown", you're inadvertently advertising the sub (which is why AutoModerator has been a godsend, as you can automatically remove posts that contain links to known hate subs).
But if all the hate groups are over on Voat, all of that goes away. Redditors can't randomly stumble on Voat communities, and it's harder to advertise Voat communities on Reddit. Voat is its own tiny, isolated little private island for hate groups, and it's very hard to proselytize from there.