On the contrary:
On July 2013, the month this forum went live, Google Traffic was at: 0.1%. Users coming to this website VIA direct links was at 56%, and traffic from M.E.'s site was 53%.
On January of 2014, Traffic from Google was at 1.5%. Users coming to this websit edirectly was at 60%, and traffic from M.E. site was at 38%.
Moving foward to this month-- which is closing out in a week, Google traffic is at 6.5%, users coming here VIA direct link are 66%, and traffic from M.E.'s websit eis at 27%.
It's not that the Traffic M.E. Is sending us is srhinking. It's staying constant. The other two ares are just growing.
I'd also like to say that the amount of work we have done on this webiste... is basicly close to zero when we compare the effort we put into client websites. Hopefully that will change soon though.
About your idea of using Reddit as a platform to start. Try it if you think it will work.
"About your idea of using Reddit as a platform to start. Try it if you think it will work."
I'd have nothing to gain from it.
I ought to make a topic about how people got here. I am under the impression it was from finding the blog and clicking toward the forum (if not coming from the Psych Forums Migration), but it'd be interesting to see if it were otherwise.
You had nothing to gain from your suggestion, yet here you are contributing. 
I don't doubt that M.E's blog traffic played a great role in helping this community grow. But if you will notice, the people coming to this website directly is increasing. The reason is that the rates of people coming back after first coming here are increasing.
M.E.s traffic is constant at 10k. Google has gone from 0 to 2k (this month), and still growing.
I've been trying to learn how people got here since this community began. It's pretty random. Also, the growth we see after the P.F. incident was barely noticable. I hardly think it had much effect other than perhaps 5-10 or so more regular users.
Exploring science and our reality is an enjoyable passion of many Humans. Not just those who were in a possition to attend university for 8 years. The current meta makes it so that these individuals who didn't attend college regardless of their scientific ability will never be able to contribute to science because their voices are almost never heard.
To say these individuals who never entered college or whatever aren't contributing because they don't have a degree and are discriminated for that seems to be too much wishful thinking for me. It's more because even if they wanted to contribute they wouldn't be able to, because they lack the proper training, knowledge and education. What do you think our real scientists were doing in those 8 years at college? They are right at the cutting edge of their fields, they are deservedly the experts here. What would the average Joe add to our overall scientific knowledge? He wouldn't even understand the first 3 paragraphs of a research paper! Let alone "add" anything!
And if there really was an exceptional man who pursued science as a hobby, never bothering to get a formal education in it, and he made significant advances in whatever fields he was interested in HIS WORK WOULD STILL NOT BE LOST. The worst that would happen is that he'd take him a bit longer to get his paper out there and build his reputation or whatever, but if his work was really THAT good, as soon as he showed it to a real scientist, he'd get his hard earned recognition instantly. Even more today with the internet. And it's not like Newton (i.e. one of our greatest scientists) was IMMEDIATELY recognized as genius by everyone, for christsake. He was neglected for many decades, specially outside England.
So what the above all means is that the problem you are proclaiming to solve with your reddit-like website/platform does not even exist. It's a non-problem.
In fact, such a website would actually CREATE problems. Because now EVERYONE would be allowed to publish their little "research papers" and "scientific theories" no matter how utterly retarded and unscientific they were. Such a website would necessarily produce and preserve mountains of toilet paper in the form of pseudo-scientific trash articles, which in turn would scare away any self-respecting scientist and drive him out of the website's vicinity. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid science is NOT for the masses. It's reserved for a a very rare and special type of person usually designated as "scientist".
Bottom line being: whoever is capable of adding anything will add it regardless of there being a popularity contest website advertising his works. If his voice does not get "heard", then it's because he most certainly sucks major ass and DESERVES not to be heard. If you have a truly great work, but can't still get "heard" even after such powerful tools as the internet are given to you, then you also DESERVE not being "heard" (for not being able to use powerful tools, you see). And that's that as they say.
"You had nothing to gain from your suggestion, yet here you are contributing."
It's easy to suggest things, and if it happens to become something afterwards I can remark on how crazy it was that something actually panned out from a suggestion.
I could even use it as a point of reference to show that I give good ideas~
"M.E.s traffic is constant at 10k. Google has gone from 0 to 2k (this month), and still growing. "
Oh I don't deny people are coming here for here, but at least on the old forum I remember there being people who didn't even know the forum could be accessed from outside of her blog site. They came from the blog first, which effectively served as a promoter for this forum itself.
Promotion that works without your direct guidance becomes effortless on your end.
by EtzelTo say these individuals who never entered college or whatever aren't contributing because they don't have a degree and are discriminated for that seems to be too much wishful thinking for me. It's more because even if they wanted to contribute they wouldn't be able to, because they lack the proper training, knowledge and education.
I'd say confidence plays a very large role in an individuals success. How someone perceives themself shapes who they become.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but college costs money, and it requires time, and it requires the patience to put up with an institutional system for 4-8 years. I can understand why many people can not or would not attend.
This isn't to say their minds are valueless. Information is now avaialble on the internet just as easily as any college. If someone wants to study, the resources are available to them-- assuming they have the mind for it.
Such a system as I've descirbed will give the Humans who have the skills, but not the time, patience, confidence, etc a chance to contribute information. If the information is valueble, it will be upvoted, reviewed, etc. We simply need a system that allows us to put a bunch of people and their ideas to, and let the best ideas rise to the top.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but college costs money, and it requires time, and it requires the patience to put up with an institutional system for 4-8 years. I can understand why many people can not or would not attend.
I am very much aware, Luna. But if these wannabe scientists don't have the time, nor the patience, nor the money to get proper training in science what they should be worrying about is on GETTING the time, the patience and the money to get properly trained. I really do not see a website such as this getting any people other than lazy pseuds.
To be on the cutting edge of science requires YEARS of training and studying. It would be a PRIVILEGE for a true science afficionado to be TAUGHT and TRAINED by the very BEST teachers in the world. It's true he might not have the money to PAY for the BEST, in which case, like I told, he's better off getting the money. I mean, it costs what a full university degree? 40k dollars? In my country it's much cheaper, alright, because Europe, etc., but 40k isn't even that much for such a high privilege as BEING THE BEST. Not to mention there's always scholarships to the most talented students, as well as BANKS who WILLINGLY LOAN money specifically to wanna be scientists, etc. etc.
So college being hard to enter and to get through is not an excuse. I'ts SUPPOSED to be hard, for this is the only way to manufacture the BEST.
And even all this notwithstanding, I've already said that there could always be a guy like me, who HAS the time, who HAS the patience (I prefer to call it passion) and who HAS the money, and just prefers to study on his own and is actually GREAT at what he does. He will however remain an EXCEPTION, for the vast majority of the people do not have the time, the passion, the money, the intelligence and the strength to EXCEL in their hobbies. A website such as yours would have to be HEAVILY moderated (and thus cost a lot of money), like I explained in the other thread, in order to maintain the quality, otherwise, since the masses are allowed to post and upvote, the only thing accomplished by it will not be science, but a joke.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, this is just my style of writing. Honest, with no bullshit, as I prefer. All I'm doing, then, is analyzing your idea from every possible angle and telling you why I don't think it's a great one.
And to re-cap: it's not a good idea because:
We simply need a system that allows us to put a bunch of people and their ideas to, and let the best ideas rise to the top.
Who are the people? --The masses.
Whose people belong the ideas to? --The masses.
Who decides which ideas are the best (i.e. who upvotes)? --The masses.
It's not a good idea, because the masses are dumb as a beast.
"In fact, such a website would actually CREATE problems. Because now EVERYONE would be allowed to publish their little "research papers" and "scientific theories" no matter how utterly retarded and unscientific they were. Such a website would necessarily produce and preserve mountains of toilet paper in the form of pseudo-scientific trash articles, which in turn would scare away any self-respecting scientist and drive him out of the website's vicinity."
But that's the beauty of it~
I can already imagine theories like this (http://theflatearthsociety.org/cms/) being rated as the best by such a website, lol. Only lazy pseuds, conspiracy theorists and trolls would be attracted to it. And these are exactly the people such a website would proclaim to be right at the cutting edge of science, lol.
In a way, I can actually see this working. As parody and joke website, to be clear! Imagine a platform that compiles all the funniest, strangest and most retarded theories of the universe all into one site! I can already imagine myself browsing it late at night to relax after a hard work day. Or to brighten an overall shitty day, etc. I can see this website being successful with a goal as this.