09-15-2022, 03:37 PM
For anyone thinking I'm sounding dramatic here, listen... I dedicated my LIFE to forums.
This wasn't just some hobby crap that came about because one day in 2016 I randomly thought, "Ooo, I wanna start my own site!"
Like no. This site was the afterword of the (what feels like) LIFETIMES that I spent administering message boards and participating in various forum communities.
This site was started AFTER almost 15 years of extreme devotion to various message boards. I was MARRIED TO THAT LIFE.
So when I say that I think things are on rocky ground in the online sphere that message boards inhabit... I'm dead fucking serious.
In 2022 and beyond, message boards ARE the pot of water with the heat incrementally rising... there are a lot of frogs in the pot, and they think they're safe in their echo chambers, they think someone is coming to save them. They think there's safety in numbers. They think they're gonna be able to do what they've been doing forever... but sadly, I don't believe that is the case.
Again... I wait to be proven wrong. I WANNA BE WRONG. I hope and pray to be wrong. Not just for the longevity of privately owned online communities, but because of what any negative changes entail in every other aspect of the world.
But as I addressed in my original posts on this thread... most online communities are not well run. They have not been safeguarded. They really haven't. I guess views and money were more important than actually protecting the chances of a long life for these communities. It is what it is... that's human nature for you.
I used to encourage people to start their own sites... but in the 2020s? You know what, grow a garden.
Peace out.
This wasn't just some hobby crap that came about because one day in 2016 I randomly thought, "Ooo, I wanna start my own site!"
Like no. This site was the afterword of the (what feels like) LIFETIMES that I spent administering message boards and participating in various forum communities.
This site was started AFTER almost 15 years of extreme devotion to various message boards. I was MARRIED TO THAT LIFE.
So when I say that I think things are on rocky ground in the online sphere that message boards inhabit... I'm dead fucking serious.
In 2022 and beyond, message boards ARE the pot of water with the heat incrementally rising... there are a lot of frogs in the pot, and they think they're safe in their echo chambers, they think someone is coming to save them. They think there's safety in numbers. They think they're gonna be able to do what they've been doing forever... but sadly, I don't believe that is the case.
Again... I wait to be proven wrong. I WANNA BE WRONG. I hope and pray to be wrong. Not just for the longevity of privately owned online communities, but because of what any negative changes entail in every other aspect of the world.
But as I addressed in my original posts on this thread... most online communities are not well run. They have not been safeguarded. They really haven't. I guess views and money were more important than actually protecting the chances of a long life for these communities. It is what it is... that's human nature for you.
I used to encourage people to start their own sites... but in the 2020s? You know what, grow a garden.
Peace out.
