Gab

I've been on Gab for six months. The free speech idea appealed to me, and Gab could still be a great site if they dealt with the issues I'm about to describe. However, Gab is not a free speech site as they claim, they're just a wild west of abusive trolls, spam and harassers whose mission is to silence those they disagree with. Gab's ownership refuses to deal with these trolls. Last night alone I received over 50 email notifications of pornographic messages from three troll accounts.

Many Gab users express disagreement by spamming their opponents with the sickest and most disgusting porn they can find. Gab users are expected to flag their posts "NSFW" (not safe for work) if they contain pornography. Flagged posts are automatically filtered out, so you don't have to view them unless you turn off the filter. They also have a reporting system that allows users to report unflagged pornographic posts. However, trolls bypass the system by not flagging their posts.

Which brings me to the main reason I suggest you avoid Gab, unless you have a strong stomach and a high tolerance for being bullied and harassed. Gab has community guidelines. Trouble is, when you report posts (they don't let you report users) they completely ignore complaints. Also, you can't block malicious users (we wouldn't want to deprive abusive and sick people of their rights!) Users have to "mute" malicious trolls, which only means you can't see their posts, but they can still see and comment on yours.

On a technical note, the Gab website is poorly coded which means a lot of glitches. They have exactly one person who does all of their technical support and programming, and he only works for them part time. The owner cares about nothing but attracting new users from third world countries, to increase profits. So, he assigns his tech guy to continually make changes to the site such as adding translation features, rather than fix the existing technical issues. The two biggest problems are:
- the page, if not your browser, freezes and hangs when you try to attach a graphic to your posts.
- many of the text entry fields on the site are so slow they are useless. Imagine typing a letter and then having to wait 5 seconds for it to appear on your screen. That's how bad it is. And these issues have been going on, untouched, for months - in fact they are still ongoing.

Finally, their customer service stinks. Even if you buy a paid subscription, once you're signed up you are unworthy of their notice. Complain about a technical issue, report a malicious user, ask a question - all are equally futile because they arrogantly ignore and do not appreciate their customers. Also, the site owner sics his family members on anyone who files a public complaint about the way they're running the site. I've been attacked and bullied twice by his female relatives. All they care about is attracting new users so they can line their pockets.

Do you feel out of trend with what the newest derogatory slang is on the internet? Come to Gab! We have you covered.

This Free Speech platform really does not give a F about what you write or call people. Because FREEDOM.

So while you'll find some fantastic crypto bros, and interesting trolls, it's just a big old mess. You know you're in once someone threatens to bash your head in or yell at you about some conspiracy.

But you know what? It's fun as hell...

I'm a newly joined Gab Member (unpaid subscriber) and am somewhat satisfied with the user experience on Gab. I did a bit of research on the background of the entity Gab AI, Inc and found some interesting information. Gab AI is a Foreign Owner Publicly Traded Corp, reg in Delaware, offices in TX, based out of Anguilla. The characterize themselves as a "Information Retrieval Service", but openly market the site as a social media platform. The company has 1 employee of record, and almost no funds in the bank. Andrew Robert Torba the CEO of Gab touts the platform as the beacon of free speech. I found his relative's member profiles on the site and they actively and openly campaign for the silencing of gab members that they do not agree with ( on issues) whilst touting it as free and welcome to all. Hypocrisy aside, it has potential, no complaints regarding functionality. I enjoy my usage of it and at this point am staying.

I've been on GAB a while now, and have been made very welcome. The people are mostly really great, and of course, as Andrew Gorba, the owner states, there is NO censorship. I've heard that there might still be a waiting list, but when I applied, my wait was only two weeks. This site does not pry and only asks for a username, an email address and password. If a person wants to fill in a profile, that is up to them.

I love that certain words can be filtered out of comments sent, and people can be muted if they are annoying or rude. There are categories to choose from so communication and postings will be specifically directed to those with the same opinions or beliefs, which I really like.

This site is taking over from FaceBook and Twitter, (with worldwide members) and those two deserve to lose its members for all the censoring they do!

As I do still post on Twitter, it's a nice touch that there is an option for the GAB.ai postings to go straight through to Twitter.

The site is free and many seem to choose that option, but there is a very low fee membership which gains a few extra perks, (like saving certain postings or bookmarking comments) and there is an acknowledgement to go by the profile name if you go PRO. Also a person can become verified, which I particularly like. Then we get a blue tick by our name! Many people on there prefer, as I do, to use their real name.

Members can donate any time they feel like it, as there is no outside interference, and the site is kept running by membership donations, which is posted in a banner so we can see how well we are doing on there.

The support group actually respond! Amazing! Overall, it seems THE place to be and I hear there is a possibility of our President Trump coming over some time soon. Some of his people are already there. I expect POTUS is having too much fun tweeting right now, lol! But at least, on GAB.ai, he will not be censored and neither will his loyal supporters!

I LOVE THE SITE and the #GABfam! (Short for family)