Why is the Phorum Mostly Dead?

[Guest]

Just read a thread on BeyondBlue "Are forums dying?"https://theadminzone.com/threads/are-forums-dying.142524/  A bit of research did seem to reveal that dying forums is something of a trend and not confined to Phatmass - and a trend is only a trend and does not embrace the whole.

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

[Luigi]

From Elizabeth Scalia: "Searching for Meaning at the Corner of Snark and Outrage"

"Are you feeling like the social media you have made so much a part of your life has become a meaningless yet addictive habit, a daily lather, rinse, repeat of a word-shampoo that adds no lustre to your thoughts or to your understanding, and serves only to help you feel seen and heard?

That’s what all of us really want, isn’t it—to be seen and heard, our thoughts and feelings acknowledged and given support? Ideally, we’d prefer to receive it from someone who loves us, but we’ll take the Facebook [or Phatmass] facsimile if that’s all there is. 

But is that really enough to nourish and sustain us?

That question has been nagging at me throughout Advent as I have found myself alternately disinterested in, or impatient with, what I read on Facebook and Twitter, where man’s search for meaning has stalled at the intersections of Snark and Outrage. Look in this direction, and it sputters with self-indulgent scorn and sarcasm, sparing none but the similarly-minded. Look the other way, and watch the fumes of fussy exactitude choke the life out of charity until nothing can flourish except fury.

Sadly, I'm talking about a corner mostly populated by people whose interests are religious. It features scorn and snark being dished out by so-called Christians who appear to believe that self-indulgent mockery and calumny expressed against other Christians is an effective witness for Christ (hint: it speaks nothing of Christ but volumes about them), or by other so-called Christians who have chosen the sniffing Pharisee as their evangelical model, over the imperfect-yet-penitent publicans that Christ hung around with. "

There's more here: https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/searching-for-meaning-at-the-corner-of-snark-and-outrage/5980/

Edited December 20, 2018 by Luigi

[Aloysius]

I pop in from time to time just to see that the light's still on, but yeah there's not much to smell of elderberries one in anymore.  it is sad to think nice little community forums like this are dying in general in favor of big broad social media, definitely the anonymity and communal feel of this site were a big part of my childhood and could never have been replaced by things like facebook or twitter... but I suppose kids these days won't end up in places like this, only on the mass sites (if not facebook/twitter, something like reddit).

I do remember the days when coming to the phorum always sucked you in somewhere, into arguments or interesting discussions.  haven't come across much of that here in a long time, though that's partly probably because I grew out of the "I must correct someone who is wrong on the internet!" phase lol.  probably a lot more people burned out from that compared to the phorum's heyday when we'd go at it for dozens of pages.  

probably most of those old days could be viewed from the outside as having a bit too much overzealousness and seeming self-righteousness, but within them I always felt everyone of those big looming classical phigures of phatmass that posted so authoritatively always had some face of humility behind the screen, we all had a bit of camaraderie and kind of understood that the post being overly assertive wasn't necessarily for the sake of our own ego, but for the sake of the discussion.  probably from the outside a lot of it looked quarrelsome, but I never felt it to be that way the way I feel nasty snarky facebook and twitter arguments tend to be these days.... wonder how we could catch that lightning in a bottle again as I remember it (or am I just being sentimental and nostalgic?), because the debates were--if sometimes heated--almost always edifying.

alas, I probably wouldn't have the time for it myself these days.  but it's nice to see the lights still on, would be nice to see things pick up again for a new generation but that doesn't seem to be the direction the internet is going.

[Guest]

@makarioi I didn't come up with the conclusion that phatmass is dead. Stop being such a snowflake.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

[Jack4]

I have never seen a snowflake in real life. 

[MIKolbe]

snowflakes are white......

[Lil Red]

16 hours ago, Jack4 said:

I have never seen a snowflake in real life. 

Really really? 

[Jack4]

2 hours ago, Lil Red said:

Really really? 

I live in Kerala, India - tropical/equatorial region. It never snows here. I saw snow for the first (and only) time in my life when I went for a holiday abroad a few years ago. I have never seen a snowflake, ever.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Jack4 said:

I have never seen a snowflake, ever.

I live in South Australia, I have never seen one either.

[Lil Red]

 I hope you get to experience real snow sometime in your lifetime. There's nothing like playing in snow and sledding and shoveling. 

[dUSt]

I think we just need one really really good idea. 

[Ziggamafu]

On 12/21/2018 at 9:46 AM, Aloysius said:

I pop in from time to time just to see that the light's still on, but yeah there's not much to smell of elderberries one in anymore.  it is sad to think nice little community forums like this are dying in general in favor of big broad social media, definitely the anonymity and communal feel of this site were a big part of my childhood and could never have been replaced by things like facebook or twitter... but I suppose kids these days won't end up in places like this, only on the mass sites (if not facebook/twitter, something like reddit).

I do remember the days when coming to the phorum always sucked you in somewhere, into arguments or interesting discussions.  haven't come across much of that here in a long time, though that's partly probably because I grew out of the "I must correct someone who is wrong on the internet!" phase lol.  probably a lot more people burned out from that compared to the phorum's heyday when we'd go at it for dozens of pages.  

probably most of those old days could be viewed from the outside as having a bit too much overzealousness and seeming self-righteousness, but within them I always felt everyone of those big looming classical phigures of phatmass that posted so authoritatively always had some face of humility behind the screen, we all had a bit of camaraderie and kind of understood that the post being overly assertive wasn't necessarily for the sake of our own ego, but for the sake of the discussion.  probably from the outside a lot of it looked quarrelsome, but I never felt it to be that way the way I feel nasty snarky facebook and twitter arguments tend to be these days.... wonder how we could catch that lightning in a bottle again as I remember it (or am I just being sentimental and nostalgic?), because the debates were--if sometimes heated--almost always edifying.

alas, I probably wouldn't have the time for it myself these days.  but it's nice to see the lights still on, would be nice to see things pick up again for a new generation but that doesn't seem to be the direction the internet is going.

Woah! Good to see you’re still alive, man!

cheers!

[FatWinchester]

Got lame.  dust got too ban happy. 

[Ice_nine]

On 1/12/2019 at 10:37 PM, FatWinchester said:

Got lame.  dust got too ban happy. 

who are you?

My guess would be Hasan.