warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Sad. Very sad
Is this board dying?
- Thread starter BirraImperial
- Start date
Be the change you want to see. If you don't like Trump talk dominating the forum, then don't participate in those threads. Enough people do that and they will eventually be buried and people will be discouraged from posting about it because they'll think it's just a waste of time.
BirraImperial
Pura Vida!
It's great that I have sparked some very interesting discussions here...I think threads take too long to fall off the first page of the forums and not a lot of new threads are being created...Not only in OT, but in the other subforums...Perhaps it's reddit, perhaps social media is killing the internet forums, I don't know...
BirraImperial
Pura Vida!
I don't mind US politics in OT, BTW...But I do understand how they might become a bit overwhelming for users outside of the United States...
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
I don't think OT is dying, but I think it might have become a little stale, in some regards. As the OP mentioned, there are few newer threads started, and while I think that's balanced by the fact that a lot of threads go on for longer and become more in-depth, it does mean that a lot of the discussion circulates around current events, which may lead some posters to lose interest, particularly as Warpus pointed out if those events are only happening very indirectly to them.
I think part of the reason for that, though, is that current events are good at inspiring discussion. A lot of other threads are presented as open questions, which tend to peter out if the answers don't happen to spark some broader discussion, or deliberate attempts to provoke disagreement or debate, which while capable of producing very active threads, may just be the same handful of posters going back and forth for a dozen pages.
What we could probably do with is more threads built around concepts rather than events or identities, where the OP doesn't start "so this happened" or "X is Y, fight me", but by floating a notion that may or not be true, but the consideration of which is useful or interesting. Those are tricky, because it's hard to produce and articulate that sort of idea, and nobody wants to invest that energy if they're going to get three replies and then drop immediately to the third page. I'm not sure if there' a remedy for that, but I think perhaps we're become a little too reliant on the serial threads, a little too unwilling to believe that a thought or rant or question may actually be worth a discussion of its own, if it has a chance of spreading beyond the page or two which is usually considered the polite maximum use of space in a serial thread.
I think part of the reason for that, though, is that current events are good at inspiring discussion. A lot of other threads are presented as open questions, which tend to peter out if the answers don't happen to spark some broader discussion, or deliberate attempts to provoke disagreement or debate, which while capable of producing very active threads, may just be the same handful of posters going back and forth for a dozen pages.
What we could probably do with is more threads built around concepts rather than events or identities, where the OP doesn't start "so this happened" or "X is Y, fight me", but by floating a notion that may or not be true, but the consideration of which is useful or interesting. Those are tricky, because it's hard to produce and articulate that sort of idea, and nobody wants to invest that energy if they're going to get three replies and then drop immediately to the third page. I'm not sure if there' a remedy for that, but I think perhaps we're become a little too reliant on the serial threads, a little too unwilling to believe that a thought or rant or question may actually be worth a discussion of its own, if it has a chance of spreading beyond the page or two which is usually considered the polite maximum use of space in a serial thread.
Tahuti
Writing Deity
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2005
- Messages
- 9,492
Donald Trump is the topic of choice among Dutch media.
Then again, only "left-wing" sources have a slight bit of credibility. De Telegraaf and GeenStijl are relatively Trump-free, though they complain about how bad [insert marginalised group here] are, so you can't call them news by any respectable measure.
Disgustipated
Deity
Can anyone tell me why Reddit is so popular? Their format is terrible, and I don't see any way to improve it. I tried going there for movies since they shut down the IMDB message boards, but there wasn't much there (compared to IMDB). Would be nice if there was some kind of realistic replacement for the IMDB message boards. I miss discussing movies.
As for this place, time is always an issue. It's harder and harder to find time these days.
Ryika
Lazy Wannabe Artista
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2013
- Messages
- 9,393
Probably for the same reason Youtube is popular - you can discover actually interesting, user-generated stuff, while most of the rest of the mainstream-internet is either all about sharing one's boring life with the world (social media), or discussing ones opinions on things (forums, etc.).
That isn't universally true of course, but it's not hard to see why for games like Civ people would prefer going to a side where they can click through a few topics and see some stuff that makes them smile and then like a few comments or maybe leave a comment themselves.
That isn't universally true of course, but it's not hard to see why for games like Civ people would prefer going to a side where they can click through a few topics and see some stuff that makes them smile and then like a few comments or maybe leave a comment themselves.
Timsup2nothin
Deity
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- 46,737
Eleanor Roosevelt said:
For us to build more threads around concepts we need the participation of great minds.
If I gave you the impression that I wanted Trump related talk to stop, then that was my error. I don't. I am just acknowledging that Trump topics dominate the forum, which may in turn be why people feel like the other threads are "dying".
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
How can Trump related talk not dominate the forums, he's like the most ridiculously absurd political satire ever imagined come true.
We have a perfectly good forum for that here.
Don't you get tired of talking about it after a while though?
I do... but that's what work, NETFLIX, the movies, restaurants, kids sports games, local fairs, sex, beer, barbecues, yard work, gardening... etc, on and on... are for right?
Timsup2nothin
Deity
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- 46,737
The defining characteristic of "middle age" might be that sex slipped to number six on the list.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I think it's popular because it can be a powerful aggregator (depending on the subreddit you are in). It's not really designed for discussions.. but can be good for shorter exchanges
Disgustipated
Deity
Where? The Arts and Entertainment forum? I did post there recently, but I always forget we have it. It's pretty dead.
I like to discuss specific movies after watching it (assuming I really enjoyed it), and the imdb boards were pretty cool when they were up. I'm mostly talking about for older movies. New movies coming out could turn into troll fests (I'm looking at you Rogue One), but I ignored that mostly. Older movies could have some pretty good discussions of the themes of the movie.
As for reddit, perhaps I'm not using it correctly. But the formatting is terrible, and it seems impossible to find stuff. I may eventually learn if I have to go there if every other forum dies as well. Most news sites no longer have discussion boards either. Foxnews, CNN, HuffingtinPost all got rid of their forums, as well as my local newspaper.
I'll make a new thread just to please the OP.
Kozmos
Jew Detective
Reddit takes a little bit getting used to, I don't necessarily find it harder to discuss there but it moves much faster so it's unlikely conversations can last months like here.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Haha, well, I hadn't meant it to sound quite that pretentious. When I say "ideas", I don't mean philosophical concepts so much as threads which promoted discussion for discussion's sake, rather than for the narrower purposes of commentary on current events. Contemplative rather than reactive, I suppose is the distinction I'm trying to make, and both events and people are entirely fair game for that.
aelf
Ashen One
Really? Because all that doesn't seem as important to some as giving them exactly the structure and content that they want in a thread. Not to mention participating in bad faith. There are those who want to be pedantic for the sake of pedantry and won't tolerate anything less, and there are those (probably done this myself) who will enter threads just to get into fights without regard to the subject matter of the discussion.
Forum animosities aside, you can't ask for more discussion for the sake of discussion and then demand that thread starters conduct the discussion in the way you want. That's hardly incentivising thread starting.
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