The current default “Homepage” value is “All”. That makes sense for users with zero subscribed magazines, so they see something.
But for users with one or more subscribed magazines, the default value for “Homepage” needs to be “Subscriptions”.
That’s partially just because subscriptions mean little if the default frontpage ignores them. But there’s a more important reason than that.
The current situation is that posts in m/Conservative are heavily downvoted, and barely upvoted. (Whatever your politics may be, consider if this was happening to you.) As more ex-redditors join, this problem is likely to worsen.
Eventually moderators need better controls, to say things like “Only members can vote”, etc.
But for now, a very easy fix is to change the default value of “Homepage” to be “Subscriptions”. Of course, “All” should still be a selectable option for those who prefer it.
Thank you for doing your best to look past our political differences. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t named the magazine, because I believe it applies to all minority groups with unpopular perspectives. And if I’d phrased it that way to begin with, I suspect many on the Left would be more receptive.
To your point that conservative groups have been problematic in your experience, I’d wager that perspective is wholly rooted in your personal politics. No disrespect intended. FWIW, on behalf of conservatives everywhere, I’m sorry for whatever problems you’ve encountered in the past. (And I hope you’re not confusing “conservative” with other groups that are decidedly not conservative.)
With regard to starting a new instance, I hear you, and you’re not the only one to suggest it. It seems like it would be a massive undertaking for little payoff, so I won’t be the one to do it. I believe kbin should embrace a wide variety of minority groups, without inviting the whole world to vote on their content. If it wouldn’t have conservative users, then it would likely block a conservative instance, and then we’d be left with a subpar version of Gab. I’m not looking to create yet another filter-bubble. I’m looking for a wider community that on principle accepts a wide diversity of thought.