Posting levels discussion

[dubsartur]

On mastodon Jubal complained about declining posting.

The biggest single factor is that we are in year 3 of the COVID pandemic (and quarter 3 of the Russo-Ukrainian War), public health measures have been removed, and we are tired.  Due to COVID, the war, and Brexit many people are stuggling to pay the cost of liviing which means less energy for geekery and creativity.

When I look for a space online its either to reach a specific audience or to work alongside peers / more advanced students.  Exilian is not really about anything, its more of a general geeky hangout with maybe a theme of storytelling and gaming.  I have not been able to do substantive creative work since September, and when I do have that energy I place it on my own server which I control.  So when I post here I can reach 1 or 2 people who I actually know, but not work alongside peers / more advanced students because its not focused on any of my areas of interest.

One reason I have been putting energy into mastodon is that the rise of social media with algorithmically-generated feeds was so destructive and for once in my life I have agency to change that in the right direction.

[Jubal]

Split into new topic to keep "Website Discussion" for the purely tech chats.

I agree that part of it's exhaustion. Part of it has also been the general grind over the years - we're if anything at this point notable for longevity.

I think there are also barriers that weren't there a while ago. A lot of people aren't used to forums compared to where we were in 2008-12, and seem to find the interface and systems a bit daunting because it doesn't look like the microblogging and person-driven platforms they're used to.

[dubsartur]

I have  been reading forums for 20 years or so, and Exilian is confusing because there are two levels (!) of sub-boards (and very many main levels).  I always struggle to find things.  The 'recent posts' feature also gets clogged with the spam in the 'word games' thread.

It seems to work OK on smartphones.

Exilian the forum is not a community, its a space where a community sometimes spends time.  I think that is a distinction from the spaces focused on a topic which are my natural way of engaging with others online.  The community can survive even if a particular space (such as the forum) becomes less popular.