I miss the internet forum age

This place is kinda dead, I mean its not dead dead but its once mighty stream of diverse users is now but a trickle and there isn't the same kind of mental diversity that was once here.

Its not anyone's fault here. Forums are just a thing of the past, replaced by reddit and instagram etc. Younger people don't even know what these are. Even the most busy forums like bodybuilding.com are nothing of what they once were.

And it kinda sucks because those other places do very little to have an actual discussion, they become hug boxes of like minded only people. There are no debates beyond 24 hours when a thread disappears of a subs front page.

When the internet became more accessible (2006, but really more 2009 when the iPhone was switching from status symbol to free with your monthly plan) it became less interesting. People wanted to control it more, what you see what you hear what you are allowed to talk about. The Wild West days are over but its not civilized its subdued. Its not a better place but a worse one, where you data is analyzed and adds are targeted specifically to you. They have your search history, your contacts, your friends and even your DNA if you did something like 23andMe.

It was fun while it lasted.

 

I concur. It was fun while it lasted.

 

Re: Forums in General

No real debate, nothing to pontificate about. UsTwo / Herculite is simply stating a sad fact. Technology changed how we interact remotely (mostly for the negative, it seems) and here we are. Email replaced phone calls, texting replaced AOL Instant Messenger and Faceyspace (social media platforms) replaced forums.

...

Re: TFP

I would agree with your preaching more if I didn't spend a fair bit of my own money to help this place out.

Donation. The sticker project that failed miserably. The meet-ups.

The endless billable hours typing utter drivel.

Real talk:

"Recent Activity" tab on the main page tells any new user what they need to know about this place.

Spoiler: It's a bunch of dirty old men posting random gonzo porn shots with !!! commentary.

Enough already. Those posts should not be viewable in the activity timeline. Period.

 

I could post my wifes vagina in the public section like the members but thats not a draw these days even though I think she has a fabulous one.

I was a member of several forums, this is just one of them and they are *all* having this issue to a good extent. Its just not format that is being used much. The biggest draw here originally was the porn, no one can deny that, but after the boobs came a lot of good discussion. No one needs the porn its everywhere now. Back when there was a discussion to remove the porn here, which of course had a good number of supporters, I argued strongly against it as it was the very life blood of the site that kept people coming in, now not so much.

What I do find on forums is most of the posters are old, like me. I know someone who runs a porn site thats been around 20 years now and he said his traffic is down 66% and most of the active users are 40+. Basically old timers who found it back when it was "the" thing.

This isn't an attack on TFP, this is the state of the internet.

Maybe as the big sites like reddit, twitter, facebook etc eradicate free speech private forums might become a heaven for discussion again. We'll see.

 

ill always be here, post here, interact here. but thats just me.
i was drawn here for the porn.
the phrase used to be

"come for the porn and stay for the discussion"

and still is as far as i know.
I consider this place my home and everyone on here my family

 

Yes, the TFP used to be extremely active.

There were downsides.

Example, a common occurance back when the TFP was "hot":

An Active Member (AM) starts an interesting thread.
Several others AMs respond to the thread.
A "popular" AM makes a post unrelated to the thread topic.
Other AMs respond to the derail.
More AMs respond, adding more derailment.
By the end of page two the thread is no longer about the original topic.
By the middle of page three any post related to the original topic gets ignored.
Once the cliques start their own discussions the original topic is completely lost. Each derailment becomes its own discussion.

 

Some (but not all) former members can not handle
not having their friends, their posse,
the people who would automatically defend them
and any stupid bullshit they posted.
They could say anything and have their ass covered.
Now they have to defend themselves, and can't handle it.

 

This is exactly why forum moderators must be active in busy forums. Things must be policed, moved, locked, etc.

 

During the active periods I was referring to, the TFP had a long list of moderators. Most did very little moderating, and several were themselves major thread hijackers. Thread derailment and hijacking seemed to be accepted as normal.

BTW/FTR this was before cynthetic took control.

IIRC, at one time a large number of "moderators" were
relieved of that responsibility (more accurately stripped of the title).

 

I currently moderate a 250k sub on reddit as head mod, and being a mod is more like scalpel is needed for and many are prone to use hammers as I've found trying to recruit new mods. Arguing with people, getting worked up and then banning them when they get worked up for example was the last mod I had to get rid of.

Eventually I find on forums and subs good mods move on in life, get bored, ect and sooner or later the ones who like that hammer get in charge. I'd much rather under mod than over mod.

One of the straws that ended me posting here on TFP was when I made this statement in regards to a post.

"easy hippie chicks". It wasn't directed at anyone, it was a general statement based on a topic I have forgotten I think it was some artifact or artwork. Apparently this triggered enough people that I got PM's from mods asking me to clarify and one of the more sane ones said some wanted to ban me.

That was my "whelp TFP has jumped the shark" moment. There were some other incidents like that, but I don't recall circumstances, but it was no longer fun or entertaining to post.

I found a new forum at that point. The owner there was a libertarian so moderation was pretty even handed and I only grew bored when the great forum decline made it the same 20 people arguing the same points.

 

Agree.
The bicycle forum I frequent multiple times a day is thriving, and as busy as ever.
It's almost entirely men over 30, and predominantly over 40.

 

I moderate a pretty busy unofficial forum for Target employees but that's kind of a different thing.
The people go there for information about their job and then hang out talking about other subjects on the side.
They are mostly younger too, not very many who remember the days of forums.
I wind up having to be more of a teacher than a mod.
I just drop warnings into threads to stop squabbling and ban spammers.

 

I think it is Facebook Groups and political activities. But also that there are so many streaming video services, news, old movies, and stuff to do...

 

I agree that the internet isn't the wild west frontier it was back in the dialup days. I do miss it. The message boards were plentiful. The chatrooms were full. A/s/l was a thing. It was a great time to be alive.

I also agree that the subdued commercialized nature of it now has turned it into a utility akin to electricity and water than an amenity. It sucks.

HOWEVER!!! Speaking specifically to TFP, it has been a great place for me. From a personal perspective, I'd pop in more but life has gotten busy. Which sucks. Not whining. But it just sucks being busy all the damn time. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, TFP.
I freaking love the flow of new posts I see when I do hop on. Granted, it's not AOL back in the day, but it works for me.

I've thought about inviting the wife but I've decided to be selfish with this one.

Wrote all of that to say "Meh, works for me."