How can we save the forum?

[Cherry Cola]

meh

define "active members", I hang out on a forum with maybe 35 people, but there are still more posts there on a daily basis despite the userbase having been that small for well over a year. So I'm kinda wondering how many posts you need to be considered active here.

Another thing you could do is reduce the amount of categories to fewer but wider ones; thereby, allowing users a better overview of the boards and what topics are being discussed. It would also make things a lot easier on new members. As it is now the boards feel kinda like a dough thats been rolled too thin.

sigh another letter in the goddamn verification code I couldnt make out : (

 

[Alice?]

Any two people here are free to create something amazing together.

Create, create, create.

So what you're saying is... a forum love child is in order?

 

[Lyra]

So what you're saying is... a forum love child is in order?

Uh, I'm fairly sure that's already happened several times.

 

[Jennywocky]

My use of active is different. If there are people logged into the forum, I consider them active.

There is a constant flurry of posts made throughout the 24 hour period. At any one time, there are more than 50 registered members on the forum either reading or writing in threads. There are far more guests browsing topics (and they can't all be spiders).

a forum is dying when there are no new topics being made. I have not seen a decline in thread activity since my return. I see new members have replaced old members. The forum activity is pretty constant. The quality of content is of course open to debate.

Thanks for clarifying where you were coming from. I do think the forum activity is steady here, at least. My impression also is that everything's always been kind of low-key here (it's not like the site lost a lot of activity, it's just been maintaining what it always has)... am I right on that? I'd be more concerned if the site had had 200+ registered members posting and browing all the time, and then had dropped to 50. Everything is relative. There is a stable core here that seems committed.

 

[Hawkeye]

Thanks for clarifying where you were coming from. I do think the forum activity is steady here, at least. My impression also is that everything's always been kind of low-key here (it's not like the site lost a lot of activity, it's just been maintaining what it always has)... am I right on that? I'd be more concerned if the site had had 200+ registered members posting and browing all the time, and then had dropped to 50. Everything is relative. There is a stable core here that seems committed.

Yeah, I've never seen this place as a place for super serious discussions. The majority of discussions contain a large amount of armchair theorising and philosophical thinking. This doesn't mean to say that the debates aren't interesting ^^

Nothing has really changed in terms of content. There has always been a discussions about philosophy, religion, physics, relationships and not to mention the MBTI system. There has always been the existence of advice threads, whether it be for education, relationships, motivation, etc... Ever since I joined the forum years back, there has also been an endless amount of silly tests that originate from OKCupid.

 

[PhoenixRising]

I would say that innovation seems to be lacking here, though. Although I'm relatively new to the world of forums, it seems as though one as open as INTPf is missing some of the more hardcore idea-people (or at least they're not showing it).

I agree with your point here, I've been somewhat disappointed about the relative lack of serious intellectual posts on here. Also, when someone does present a scientific or philosophical theory, there are markedly fewer responses to their thread than the countless 'just for fun' threads.

It seems like most people aren't that interested in relating with others on an intellectual level, and if they do, it's about proving their point instead of an interchange of ideas.

I think that this may be inevitable though. The unfortunate truth of humanity in its present state is that diversity causes conflict. Knowing somewhat the history of this forum, it seems that it started out with a small group of people who were all similar in their mindsets, sense of humor and ideas of friendly debate. But that's changed over time with the addition of many more members.

I've heard others mention that they feel uncomfortable opening up and sharing their ideas for fear of hostility or misunderstanding. I will admit, I don't usually say much of anything at all because of this.

I do find myself wishing I had found this place before, when it was more introvert-friendly.

 

[Duxwing]

I agree with your point here, I've been somewhat disappointed about the relative lack of serious intellectual posts on here. Also, when someone does present a scientific or philosophical theory, there are markedly fewer responses to their thread than the countless 'just for fun' threads.

It seems like most people aren't that interested in relating with others on an intellectual level, and if they do, it's about proving their point instead of an interchange of ideas.

I think that this may be inevitable though. The unfortunate truth of humanity in its present state is that diversity causes conflict. Knowing somewhat the history of this forum, it seems that it started out with a small group of people who were all similar in their mindsets, sense of humor and ideas of friendly debate. But that's changed over time with the addition of many more members.

I've heard others mention that they feel uncomfortable opening up and sharing their ideas for fear of hostility or misunderstanding. I will admit, I don't usually say much of anything at all because of this.

I do find myself wishing I had found this place before, when it was more introvert-friendly.

I can relate to the part about facing difficulties in debate due to other members' problems. Oftentimes, one or two opponents will join the one that I had originally intended to argue against, burying me in arguments. But more insidious are the various ad-hominem attacks, both real and implied, that come at me during debates. I'm called petulant and lazy for asking for proof and evidence, emotionally disturbed because I am skeptical, or unable to argue because I am young. The aforementioned "idea people" are also a problem. Many of them, like Da Blob, have an agenda to push at all costs: debating against them is like talking to a wall, and their ideas must be un-spun before they can be safely stored as truth. Oi, I joined INTPforum in order to escape such problems, not thrust myself into them.

But debate isn't the only activity here, and I acknowledge that. The interchange of ideas is important too! I just don't see how to do that without Socratic questioning or outright conflagrations of argument.

-Duxwing

 

[Coolydudey]

The forum has been and still is, a site where multiple activities take place. And to preserve the forum means preserving diversity, because otherwise we have boring repetitiveness. Briefly, there are certain key points that need to be addressed:
1) Increase of brief, insightful posts as well as well-thought out contributions. This is by far the most important, and the hardest to achieve. Every one contributes individually, since this is such a small community. Therefore, the responsibility belongs to all of us.
2) Maintenance of the "fun" parts of the forum, as well as keeping generally non-serious posts where they are.
3) More aggressive moderation in places, as in removal of obviously spammy posts, or more aggressive splits of long-winded two person debates that sometimes occur.

 

[Back2Basics]

We should first institute a tax of some sort, and say it is for the betterment of the forum. We will then use the money to educate our members and make sure their life is far better than would be otherwise. Shortly after taxin we will divert some money into a protection agency where we enforce certain rules, regulations, and beliefs that, as a society, we believe will make us better. Those that try to go against us will be met with force, and those that stay with us will flourish as the Chosen Race of INTP's.