Do You Think Phatmass Has Changed Over The Past 2 Months?

[CatherineM]

I think part of it is that some people have given up Phatmass for lent. I think there have been lots of babies being born that seem to monopolize their parents' time. I also think things are cyclic.

[BG45]

I'd say it hasn't been what it used to be since Election Season kicked off. It went from Christ-centered to very political as a whole.

It's gotten a bit better again, like I can look at Open Mic and see more than one non-political topic for instance.

[dominicansoul]

i think if you think things have changed for the worse, you must look at yourself to see how you contribute to that...

there's always a lot of observing what the rest of us do, and finger pointing, when in fact, we can make phatmass a better place by our own actions and words...

change for the better begins with the individual...

[laetitia crucis]

I think things have changed, but I can't really tell if it's "for better" or "for worse".

I agree with CatherineM's statement that things are cyclic.

Regardless of how things change and grow, I know I will always come back to Phatmass. I joined in 2006 (via a Google search result) for a few months before entering a religious community and didn't really have access to the internet, but when I came back this was literally the first place I came back to. (That is, after setting up a new e-mail account since I deleted my old one before entering. )

Phatmass is phamily. Phamily dynamics will always change and grow.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Raphael' date='06 March 2010 - 10:21 AM' timestamp='1267888864' post='2067506']
I don't know about the past 2 months, but over the past 6, definitely. This phorum used to have a much more dynamic and youthful spirit.[/quote]
Before all us old fogies took over?

[quote]People used to be more committed to heroic virtue instead of making excuses for themselves. If the Church taught it, Catholics here believed it. Also, when the lame board was mixed with Open Mic, the phorum was much more lively and enjoyable because there were goofy threads to break up all the serious discussion a bit.

Sadly, all those things have changed to one degree or another.

I suspect that's why many old members no longer contribute. I know my wife hardly ever visits anymore for those reasons. It just isn't the same.
[/quote]
I think you're looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. The fights now are nothing compared to those of several years ago! When I came on, in '04, there was a lot more "Traddie vs. Novus Ordo" type fights and stuff.


[quote name='BG45' date='06 March 2010 - 11:25 AM' timestamp='1267892727' post='2067520']
I'd say it hasn't been what it used to be since Election Season kicked off. It went from Christ-centered to very political as a whole.

It's gotten a bit better again, like I can look at Open Mic and see more than one non-political topic for instance.
[/quote]
It gets heated [i]every[/i] election season. I remember the '04 Bush vs. Kerry election season being particularly heated. If anything, there seems to be less explicitly partisan political debate these days.


Btw, threads like this one (about how phatmass has changed for the worse) seem to cyclically pop up every so many months.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Socrates

[Sojourner]

In my experience, PM changes slightly as people come and go ... each of us brings our individual personality to bear on our interactions here. I tend to think, though, that real life has more an effect on people's posting habits than anything else. People graduate from school and get jobs, or get married, or have children, or join religious orders, and PM is no longer as big a part of life as it once was.

I think that's as it should be. PM is not real life, but it can help to prepare people to better experience and appreciate real life. We have conversations often about things like vocation and children and so on, and I consistently see an orthodox Catholic position defended in those threads. People come here with questions about how to life out their faith, and they stay for however long they need to and learn about the faith from (hopefully) orthodox posters ... and then they go out and live their lives in the vocations they've been called to. Some people stick around longer and ensure that the message is perpetuated, but I guess it doesn't bother me that some of my favorite people aren't on as often anymore. They're out putting the lessons they've learned here into practice, and that's a beautiful thing and something we should be thanking God for.

[Apotheoun]

It is about the same as when I joined in 2004 . . . just different people.

[Luthien]

[quote name='Terra Firma' date='06 March 2010 - 03:55 PM' timestamp='1267898149' post='2067547']
In my experience, PM changes slightly as people come and go ... each of us brings our individual personality to bear on our interactions here. I tend to think, though, that real life has more an effect on people's posting habits than anything else. People graduate from school and get jobs, or get married, or have children, or join religious orders, and PM is no longer as big a part of life as it once was.

I think that's as it should be. PM is not real life, but it can help to prepare people to better experience and appreciate real life. We have conversations often about things like vocation and children and so on, and I consistently see an orthodox Catholic position defended in those threads. People come here with questions about how to life out their faith, and they stay for however long they need to and learn about the faith from (hopefully) orthodox posters ... and then they go out and live their lives in the vocations they've been called to. Some people stick around longer and ensure that the message is perpetuated, but I guess it doesn't bother me that some of my favorite people aren't on as often anymore. They're out putting the lessons they've learned here into practice, and that's a beautiful thing and something we should be thanking God for.
[/quote]


IAWTC. ^

I've been on PM for almost 6 years, I go through fits and spurts of posting myself.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Raphael' date='06 March 2010 - 09:09 AM' timestamp='1267891761' post='2067516']
. . . I think the phorum was much better when people had a sense of humor
[/quote]
You have to have a sense of humor if you are going to read Reyb's never-ending thread in the debate forum on the historical versus the hysterical Jesus.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='Socrates' date='06 March 2010 - 12:31 PM' timestamp='1267896661' post='2067538']
I think you're looking at the past through rose-colored glasses.
[/quote]
Simulacrum.

[Lilllabettt]

I think of phatmass as a real phamily. Sometimes family members are cranky, sometimes they are supportive, sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are serious ... no matter what, I just like to be around them. I have never had a "real" fight on PM. (not from my pov, anyway.) In fact, sometimes I like the people I argue with best of all.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Raphael' date='06 March 2010 - 10:21 AM' timestamp='1267888864' post='2067506']
I don't know about the past 2 months, but over the past 6, definitely.
[/quote]
I just realized I didn't put "6 years" as I had intended.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Socrates' date='06 March 2010 - 12:31 PM' timestamp='1267896661' post='2067538']
I think you're looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. The fights now are nothing compared to those of several years ago! When I came on, in '04, there was a lot more "Traddie vs. Novus Ordo" type fights and stuff.
[/quote]
It's possible that I saw things differently then than I do now. I was in college and in a community that was very Catholic when I started getting really involved from Nebraska.

We did have a lot of Rad Trad debates, true.

[Tony]

this place is constantly changing. One of the reasons I left for a while. I still hope once in a while, Vera, TCW, or Immaculatta, or some of the old timers will jump in and say hi

Edited March 6, 2010 by Tony

[toledo_jesus]

During Lent Phatmass always gets a little tetchy. It works itself out.