What draws people to an online forum anyway?

Mostly me, I figure.

I guess it is mostly people googling "philosophy forum". And Wosret.

Been thinking about this question as well. Possible reason: the third place for the internet age: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

And that also explains my reason for slowly leaving the old place. Something was lost. It's not like the quality suddenly tanked or even the people I was dealing with day to day even changed. It just sort of became uncomfortable and untrustworthy.

I also have this weird obsession for dudes who potray themselves as Japanese anime chicks.

[quote=Hanover]I also have this weird obsession for dudes who potray themselves as Japanese anime chicks.[/quote]

Time for me to change my pic. I need Hanover's obsession.

Quoting Yahadreas

Time for me to change my pic. I need Hanover's obsession

Your obsession is philosophy forums generally, finding time to post at PF1, PF2, and PF temporary. My obsession, though, is dudes who portray themselves as Japanese Anime chicks. At least mine makes sense. You know, best of both worlds.

The real reason people go to philosophy forums is to try to learn the secrets of the universe. That is why so few people actually arrive and less hang around, the slobs prefer to look for them on farcebook and twatter.

People that portray themselves as Japanese Anime chicks or even guys(can anyone tell the difference?) are having identity doubts. The rest of us just doubt everything.

For me it goes something like this:

1) You are looking for some information on the net
2) You find good information / resources in some themed discussion forum about the subject
3) You get interested in the discussion
4) You dare to ask / comment something there
5) You get some insightful and good answers or comments... now you've taken the bait
6) You get "accepted" by the people and get into interesting discussions... you are hooked.

When something doesn't check out from 2 to 6, then you won't be there.

From my past experience with gaming servers (though the standards are going to be different I am sure here) it is very important at first to be very relaxed in the moderation. Recruit anyone and everyone and build up the popularity which will drive more people to want to come. Slowly weed out the trouble makers. I would of course ban spammers and trolls but I would be more sensitive with the low quality bans. Just my insight. People wont wont to come or stay if they feel threatened that moderators are ruling with an iron fist and it may give the forums some what of a bad reputation. Just my thoughts.

Reply to Hanover

Don't be hatin.

If you're Peebs then I'll be the vampire Queen. .

Reply to The outlaw Josey Wales Sounds like good advice The.

Interaction with other like minded adults is why I am on the net. Friendships grow out of time spent, thoughts exchanged. Mayor Of Simpleton is my virtual brother, very unlike my older brother and Hanover and I living parallel lives. Or Benkei having little Benkei's running around. Sir2u knows how to get to the heart of my matter and Banno was able to give me the run around till I didn't know which way was up. jamalrob came onto the scene a bit later and to this day, I thought a picture that Wosret put up of himself for Halloween, wearing a tutu and a Viking costume was real! ssu and The outlaw Josey Wales are cool cats as is coolazice! Yahadreas, one of my all time favorite posters. My dear jorndoe has managed to cool my jets when necessary but never too often.
I come here, to the internet to be with friends from around the world and hope to continue for a long time to come.
Thanks for asking (L)

That is pretty much what I don't come to a philosophy forum for Tiff.

I was hoping to resurrect ModBot by listing names of folks who were here that I could remember, that simple. ;)

I just looked at the discussions you have started at PF over the years Tiff. You might find it interesting to have a look yourself. I couldn't find a single topic with what I think of as philosophical content. There's a lot of embarrassing oversharing about your personal life, discussions about other people's personal lives and problems, sentimental poetry, pointless polls about drug use and the American political system, it's all just froth.

I'd like to ask you to leave all that crap behind, and make some philosophical contributions here. Deal with ideas, not personalities. If you want to "socialise", do it on Facebook or something.

If you "just looked" then you might want to get to know me before judging me.
I was invited here and I think I shall remain.
Thank you kindly for the expression of your thoughts.
Tiff

Reply to Human =(

That seems a good way to get off on the wrong foot.

We might kindly ask you to be respectful of others, in the same light. It's not like you *have* to reply, if it's really such a burden. Just reply to what you want to reply to. If it doesn't seem appropriately philosophical [a standard which yourself and myself seem to disagree upon], then just reply to what is.

I've known you for some time Tiff, I couldn't remember you saying anything of philosophical interest, but I thought I'd check the records.

I wasn't suggesting you should leave, I was suggesting you should stay and make more appropriate contributions.

Reply to Human I intend there to be a social aspect to the forum, and I think most members are happy with that. But there's an easy solution for you: click on 'Categories' and uncheck the category called 'The Lounge', so all those social type discussions won't appear in your home page, ie. in your 'All discussions' screen.

Oh and be nice if it's at all possible. Your comment there was the first sour note since I set this up, and it's kind of disappointing.

What draws others to online forums, is the same thing which draws people to any type of interaction and that is the concept of 'community'. No man is an island, most especially those who pretend they are.

In a word; we all rely on each other whether or not we enjoy it. Some times we might, other times we might not but bottom line: the human is a social animal, as a general rule (barring certain genetic exception and even they require interaction to sustain self, which is ironic).

The more interesting question is how online platforms function. The dynamics of virtual 'social places' are radically different from those that occur face to face. I wonder how it affects our neural pathways, myself. I see a loss of art and empathy as its most dire consequences.

A wonderful example being the above exchange between 'Human' and 'Tiff'. 'Human' would be far less likely to react in such a fashion in real life, therefore, reserves it for virtual space.

On a seperate note: Thank you Jamalrob for creating the new forum. I deeply hope it will become a thriving and authentic community.

Best to all.

What draws me is the posters. And right now we have many of the highest quality posters in PF all in the one spot. Oh, and we have @Hanover too. :P

Quoting Human

4

I've known you for some time Tiff, I couldn't remember you saying anything of philosophical interest, but I thought I'd check the records.

I wasn't suggesting you should leave, I was suggesting you should stay and make more appropriate contributions.

I'm here for the piss and vinegar.

Also, I'm here for Baden, especially with his new avatar. It sort of gets me going.

Quoting Hanover

Also, I'm here for Baden, especially with his new avatar. It sort of gets me going.

If you make that @Baden, I'll know quicker when you're salivating over me. (It's the curly one to the left of the eye.)

Piss and vinegar? Hehehe. Hanover wins the internet for the day on two levels. Yay!

Quoting jamalrob

Your comment there was the first sour note since I set this up, and it's kind of disappointing.

Somebody liked it though.

Doesn't it still pop up under "mentions" even without the @ symbol? When do I use a hashtag? I've heard tale of them, but when I was growing up we just had stamps and envelopes.

Oh, yeah, sorry @baden

Human isn't very proficient at intricate irony? Or?

@Human, you remind me of The Great Whatever. Is that you?

Quoting Hanover

Oh, yeah, sorry @baden

It doesn't work unless you get the capitalization right. Can someone else be @Hanover's techie babysitter, please?

Quoting Yahadreas

Human, you remind me of The Great Whatever. Is that you?

I was thinking the same thing. Let's not spoil the suspense though. We'll know soon enough when Banno joins up and there's a cat fight.

Not him, I'm not sure who Human is.

Quoting Baden

I was thinking the same thing. Let's not spoil the suspense though. We'll know soon enough when Banno joins up and there's a cat fight.

I sent Banno a PM to come on over. I didn't put an @ sign on it or a hash tag, so it may not work. I think if I hit Ctrl-X on his avatar over there and do a Ctrl-V over here, it will copy and paste him here. That's how I get to work every morning anyway.

The last thing this fledgling forum should have to deal with right now is TGW, Kwalish Kid and John Sartoris all joining at about the same time. :o

Reply to Human

Pot calls Kettle? I am pretty sure all of this could have been done in a PM. Though, it seems you may have more of a deeper issue with Tiff to go out of your way to try and publicly shame her for doing the exact same thing you are now doing.

Well, it seems as though someone may have Pm'd all the people in the unmoderated section this new websites link. Good luck Mods! ;)

Well, things in the world of philosophy certainly have been 'interesting' recently. Who ever knew our beloved, 'stuffy' little humanitarian science could attract such controversy.

As always:

'Don't feed the trolls' and of those there are many shapes and sizes. Some are even dressed up as fairies! As a rule ignore sympathy ploys, too good to be truers and those who incite/provoke. That's what I've learnt so far, kinda. The internet sure is a weird place.

:D

Back in my nights-at-the-gay-bars era I used to consider a good, conversation over beer just about as good as finding a hot trick to go home with. Eventually I aged out of the bar-nights and hot-tricks routine. There were some political and religious groups that served the conversational need, but those are pretty much all dead. I worked at a place in the late 80s where about a third of the employees engaged in an intellectually stimulating approach to the work. That was ideal.

All people need places to make connections; some people need places to interact intellectually. PhilosophyForums was the best thing (since 2008, for me). Connection + intellectual interaction.

There is much about this academic field philosophy that I find a bit dry, even arid. Other less academic parts interest me more.

What drew me to PF, more or less my only online Forum, was that I was interested in philosophy and was losing my English.

What kept me there was community...
...actually more than one community.

It was a community where I could rant and roll over philosophical like sort of stuff without too many people trying to move to another seat at the table; thus not bother my other communities with the burden of having to be exposed to such obsessive/compulsive behavior.

Now that this community in PF is threatened, I'm in the process of moving...

... resulting in posts like this one on this online forum.

Meow!

GREG

Start a special dueling thread where all can go and release their pent up fury on whatever other brave soul shows up there. Should be fun.
Same rule as Las Vegas should apply there though.

Reply to Sentient - Hear!
Didn't Wittgenstein think philosophy is an activity? (Pardon if my memory failed me.)
There's a "living" aspect to philosophy, more than reading the books of old, but also chatting (socializing), and forming one's own outlooks.

@jorndoe

I never enjoyed Wittgenstein enough to be able to concur or verify this! Ha.

Philosophy deals with the question 'how to live' and everybody asks that in some form or another at some point.

Speaking of Wittgenstein, where's Sam26?

I have thoughts, ideas, and questions that I want to discuss. I don't know anyone in person to discuss these topics with. Philosophy Forums and other online forums are a refuge for me to get down my thoughts and hear some feedback. Mostly I use them to reorganize my thinking and tidy up the clutter bin that is my head; it's a type of therapy, so to speak.

Reply to darthbarracuda - That's my take too, well one of them. (As long as decluttering comments doesn't become too large a task in itself.) :)