I really love Tildes, but the comments in this thread are fair enough criticisms, and pretty accurate.

The only thing I'd clarify in the comments here is that there's not really a "waiting list" for invites. Deimos accepts emails requesting invites, and people receive access as he responds to each email. Users also get 5 invites every few weeks, so you can ask people for one here or on /r/redditalternatives. Or in the invite threads that are posted in /r/tildes. And the invite system isn't used to make it feel "exclusive" (especially since it's pretty easy to get one,) it's used because the site has been around for years with an existing userbase, so there's an effort to gradually add users to Tildes so the site doesn't just turn into 99% disgruntled redditors.

Tildes simply doesn't have the goals of "reddit alternatives" that are hoping to launch a new, popular site. It's just doing its own thing. Personally I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for people who want to be part of the next "reddit" with millions of other people.

Actually, since you all aren't being assholes about your criticisms of it, this gives me a good feeling about kbin. I was going to try this site as an alternative before I found Tildes and have been spending most of my time there, but I'll probably hang around here eventually, for content that doesn't belong on Tildes (image posts, memes, and other silly stuff.)