Online community: Zulip or Reddit?

[Ben Hutchison]

I feel like an online discussion community for Melbourne Compose is important

We are trialing an Zulip instance at https://melbournecompose.zulipchat.com. I suggested Zulip because the Lean programming community use it heavily, see here https://leanprover.zulipchat.com/

I haven't yet drunk the Zulip koolaid. I personally don't love the UI. Before we get in too deep with Zulip Im open to exploring alternatives.

One alternative that appeals to me is a Reddit restricted community. Anyone can view but only Melbourne Compose people can post; we could ensure there's enough moderators that getting access is low-hassle. And Reddit has DMs & group chat for full private communication. [https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360060416112-What-are-public-restricted-private-and-premium-only-communities]

Thoughts, opinions or feelings on Zulip vs a restricted Reddit topic (vs other..)?

-Ben

PS  Slack, Discord and Gitter are "No" for me. Slack is the most usable but the 90 day message retention is a deal-breaker; User-generated content is too valuable and not to be discarded. Discord has too much gimmick imho. And Gitter feels abandoned - if there's someone truly "in charge" of the platform they hide it well.