Maybe this is just me, but I've not experienced a degredation with new user influxes because (I'm guessing) I'm pretty careful about who I follow. When an influx was happening it was only apparent through meta-spaces like #askhubski. If I blocked that, I am honestly not sure I would have noticed a change at all.
The takeaway from each new wave is that I've generally picked up a one or two new people (if any) or domains to follow and then moved on, which has worked pretty well. God, you have no idea how close I was to typing this exact thing, but I stopped because #askhubski just wasn't a primary reason I enjoy it. But this is exactly what I was referring to when I said that search was a problem to be solved. I personally don't get the most community value from the 'ask spaces' though, which is where most of the reposts happen. My experience and relationship with content on Hubski has remained nearly identical to what it was years ago, with what can only be described as glacial improvements on something I liked to begin with. I mean that as a compliment and I'm definitely not talking about UI or any of that stuff. I contrast that with Reddit where I don't even feel like I'm on the same sight anymore, and no matter how much effort I put into unscubscribing and searching out the best subs, I can't seem to escape the change in tone. I don't know, -maybe I somehow keep a tighter reign over here. Take it easy for the holidays at least. Of course not. Everybody knows that was Rancid.It's not a problem of #askhubski. It's a problem of Hubski becoming a Reddit annex. The "thoughtful web" has become a place where Redditors show up and go "I'm thoughtful! Listen to me being thoughtful! You, over there! Be thoughtful!"
It's easy to say "not to say reposts and search aren't problems to be solved - they are." What's hard is to arrange your social structure such that it can be welcoming to the new while also giving the old a reason to stick around.
I'm out. I'm out for the rest of the year at least.
That probably makes me a bitter old man but hey - Green Day didn't invent punk, no matter how many hand grenade stickers you put on your mom's CR-V.