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- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
By your account, when you say 'troll accounts,' I'm led to believe that it's done with direct intent and consistency. Could you elaborate more? It's still a concept that I don't quite grasp.
Typically a troll joins a forum for the sole purpose of getting into arguments and irritating other readers. The more emotional responses the troll gets - then they more amusement they have on the topic.
Usually this is done by taking an inflammatory stance on a topic, or purposely misunderstanding other users posts and writing rebuttals or agreements to a position falsely attributed to the first poster that will cause further outrage.
Typically the troll does not actually believe the positions they type, but is engaging in the conversation simply to waste the other person's time or gain amusement from the distress it is causing people who do care about the issue.
It's distinct from healthy debate and discussion with differing opinions on issues, as a troll will literally take any position just because of the hysteria it causes in others rather than actual logic or beliefs.
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
I will admit that one of the downsides to posting here with such a currently limited userbase is the feeling that you're posting in a vacuum. I come back every so often and am always left disillusioned by the fact that seemingly no one is around to want to converse with me, and when I do post it seems to be as a thread killer. Kind of disheartening and keeps me, personally, from coming back here more often. So I check in, am largely ignored, and step away for another year plus. Maybe if we were a more proactive community that encouraged active contributions to this forum, then it wouldn't be dying. Or at the very least wouldn't turn into the weird, debased political mumbo jumbo this thread has devolved into.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
It's kinda one of those self-feeding things at some point too.
Like the place isn't as active as it was - and so there's not as much feedback - which limits the desire to post new threads - which limits content - which makes it even less active....so one posts less....
To me it's just a combination of new methods of chatting to GNR peeps like facebook taking up a bit of time, and then there not being as much new content with the band these days or maybe there is but there's less chance of the promice of new stuff. Like if you think about it - in 2004 we were in a lul but it was only 3 years since we'd heard brand new songs live etc.
These days even if they decide to bust out silkworms on a whim its a 15+ year old song that we're still waiting for lol.
I do miss the golden era of this forum though, somewhere around 2006 before we all got into as many fights too!
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
mitchejw wrote:By your account, when you say 'troll accounts,' I'm led to believe that it's done with direct intent and consistency. Could you elaborate more? It's still a concept that I don't quite grasp.
Typically a troll joins a forum for the sole purpose of getting into arguments and irritating other readers. The more emotional responses the troll gets - then they more amusement they have on the topic.
Usually this is done by taking an inflammatory stance on a topic, or purposely misunderstanding other users posts and writing rebuttals or agreements to a position falsely attributed to the first poster that will cause further outrage.
Typically the troll does not actually believe the positions they type, but is engaging in the conversation simply to waste the other person's time or gain amusement from the distress it is causing people who do care about the issue.
It's distinct from healthy debate and discussion with differing opinions on issues, as a troll will literally take any position just because of the hysteria it causes in others rather than actual logic or beliefs.
It almost seems like a version of a Catfish based on that definition.
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
Every forum is dying, it's not just here. The reasons that I believe they die are:
1) No one wants to discuss anything anymore. That ship has sailed. This generation of new/old people who now use the internet (even a decade ago, it was the hardcores of hardcores fuckin' around on forums, now it's everyone except they use social media), they're idiots who just want to get likes. They're not cut out to discuss, because the second you beat them in an argument, you're "bullying" them.
2) It's all on social media as above.
3) And this one is the most important... Most all forums, like anything, get stale. They really have a shelf life after they peak. Regulars begin to argue or some shit goes down, people leave. And another funny thing about regulars is that sometimes they come to a place out of habit, so you get a fanbase cannibalizing itself because they show up to, say GNREvo, because that's just where they've always went. Out of habit, they come back, but they lack enthusiasm about GNR and get negative, or nothing can please them. So the bad apples start spoiling the bunch because no one wants to be around people like that.
---
I'm not "regular" enough here to really speak for anything that's gone on here in particular, that's for sure (though I do see so much negativity, I can see why people would just stop coming back). However, all my above points are 100% based on facts in regards to another forum I used to visit religiously for a decade, so I can't imagine here would be much different.
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
To go with all that, I think is just time. I don't think alot of former GnR board posters are posting on FB about GnR. However, I know for myself I am on social media, logging in & out occasionally throughout the day. Those 30 minutes or whatever have eaten into my 'habit time'. So, with the 30 minutes there, my time here has gotten eaten into a bit.
Generally speaking at least, but I think it's a cultural/societal shift that has happened to most message boards & forums. I think former posters have moved on too. Just family time, work etc. The younger generation isn't as interested in boards whereas some of you grew up with them, or an extension of chat rooms. I'm a bit older but I loved the newness of them.
- dalethirsty
- Rep: 20
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
is getting drunk and posting on forums considered "old" these days?
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
To go with all that, I think is just time. I don't think alot of former GnR board posters are posting on FB about GnR. However, I know for myself I am on social media, logging in & out occasionally throughout the day. Those 30 minutes or whatever have eaten into my 'habit time'. So, with the 30 minutes there, my time here has gotten eaten into a bit.
Generally speaking at least, but I think it's a cultural/societal shift that has happened to most message boards & forums. I think former posters have moved on too. Just family time, work etc. The younger generation isn't as interested in boards whereas some of you grew up with them, or an extension of chat rooms. I'm a bit older but I loved the newness of them.
It's definitively weird though because I hate Facebook and Instagram. What is the younger generation into? Themselves?
Sometimes I feel like an alien. Most people are content to keep their bubble really small and basically live on close relationships and inside jokes (ya know...stuff that FB tends to cater to). While there's nothing wrong with close relationships, sometimes people wrap themselves in it as a way to insulate themselves from the rest of the world.
I love this forum. I have been here since Roses of Velvet (was that it?) and I came here from HTGTH in the late 1990s. I was like 16 when I first posted.
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
James Lofton wrote:That forum has been unreadable for years. Took it out of my bookmarks many moons ago.
Without its high google placement it would collapse under its own weight.
Haven't checked it in over a year but when I did, it was obvious most of the active accounts were troll accounts.
Its metal sludge without the laughs.
Just curious...I'm kind of a novice as to what the meaning of troll is these days...
By your account, when you say 'troll accounts,' I'm led to believe that it's done with direct intent and consistency. Could you elaborate more? It's still a concept that I don't quite grasp.
There are different types of trolls. The type I was referring to would technically be considered "alternyms", different "hats", or whatever people would call it nowadays.
Alternyms are 'normal' forum users(typically long time members) who have multiple usernames and use them to troll and/or play different "characters" on the forum. Basically you could read a 10 page thread that 20 members have posted in but in reality its 10 people.
metal sludge does this but its meant as a joke and not taken seriously. Its why I referred to that site as MS without the laughs.
You're a liberal who hates republicans and used to discuss food stamps. Let's pretend for this discussion that's just a character...That's your Mitch role for off topic. You'd use a name like axl4prez2020 as your character to talk GNR and be a "nutswinger". Log out of that account and your SlashSucks and with this character you troll old school fans and worship Finck like a god. Every day you juggle these various accounts acting like you're 3 different people.
That's the type I'm referring to.
monkey did a good job describing what the typical troll is.
I will admit that one of the downsides to posting here with such a currently limited userbase is the feeling that you're posting in a vacuum. I come back every so often and am always left disillusioned by the fact that seemingly no one is around to want to converse with me, and when I do post it seems to be as a thread killer. Kind of disheartening and keeps me, personally, from coming back here more often. So I check in, am largely ignored, and step away for another year plus. Maybe if we were a more proactive community that encouraged active contributions to this forum, then it wouldn't be dying. Or at the very least wouldn't turn into the weird, debased political mumbo jumbo this thread has devolved into.
You're definitely not being ignored intentionally. Hell....about half(or more) of my posts go ignored and I supposedly run the joint. 
Go back 8-9 years, majority of the site's members would quote every post of mine.
The site has little activity and literally 95% of it is in the Trump thread, 4% in other off topic threads, and 1% in the GNR section. What's funny about that is many years ago I had a very ambitious vision of offering tons of off topic content unlike any GNR forum in history when we were unveiling that killer new design. It was resisted by everyone and instead of continuing to practically forcefeed it down your throats, I killed it all and just went back to standard, generic off topic sections.
Now its a GNR site in name only. The most activity it gets GNR wise is lurkers/guests reading CD Whispers.
I've had people send me messages(here and other places) that they would post if it was more active. If all the people who have said that would post, it would be more active. No one will post without any posts...causing them to not post. A Catch 22 from hell.
The site got back ontrack when the reunion happened. Once the newness wore off, it went back to 'normal'....the new normal anyways.
Another thing this site has going against it is the fact it was dead for about 3 years up until 2015 when it started to get a bit active again. People simply forgot about it during that timeframe and I don't blame them.
A new album would probably boost activity here but that would also be temporary. The golden age is never coming back. GNR forums don't truly get new people. Its either old timers coming back or a current user under a troll account. Young people are on social media and so are most casuals and even hardcore fans now.
Brett hit the nail on the head. He's right...most forums are dying. Horror forums, crime forums, list goes on and on.
Regulars begin to argue or some shit goes down, people leave. And another funny thing about regulars is that sometimes they come to a place out of habit, so you get a fanbase cannibalizing itself because they show up to, say GNREvo, because that's just where they've always went. Out of habit, they come back, but they lack enthusiasm about GNR and get negative, or nothing can please them. So the bad apples start spoiling the bunch because no one wants to be around people like that.
That's evo in a nutshell....
There's a ton of people I'd like to see come back. A good example is Aquiesce. She was always one of those types that seemed to post in cycles. Post for a year or so, vanish for a year, resurface, vanish, repeat cycle. if I were to compile a list of my top 5 favorite GNR forum members, she makes the list even though she was never a constant presence in the community.
How do you get these types back? get on your knees and beg? There's really no way to do it and considering the fact the site is devoted to a band that doesn't release music, you're at an immediate disadvantage as a community to give people an incentive.
The younger generation isn't as interested in boards
They're not interested at all. if you post on other GNr forums and ever see some noob claiming to be a kid/teen, ask for their twitter/FB/IG page. ALL young people have them. If they balk at the request, they're not really a kid/teen...they're a troll.
Re: Is This Forum Dying?
It's definitively weird though because I hate Facebook and Instagram. What is the younger generation into? Themselves?
Sometimes I feel like an alien. Most people are content to keep their bubble really small and basically live on close relationships and inside jokes (ya know...stuff that FB tends to cater to). While there's nothing wrong with close relationships, sometimes people wrap themselves in it as a way to insulate themselves from the rest of the world.
I love this forum. I have been here since Roses of Velvet (was that it?) and I came here from HTGTH in the late 1990s. I was like 16 when I first posted.
You realise you just described this place, right?
I've never been on fb (or MySpace, remember that?), but instagram is great for keeping up to date with family. I don't get to see my brother & his family very often except thru instagram and skype, it's great. I don't use it as social media, to check in with the jenners or whoever, I'm following 9 people and they're all family. You get small adverts for celebrities or friends/random people associated with some of the people you're following, but it's easy to scroll right past that stuff.
But most social media apps I don't think people are content to keep their bubble really small & live on inside jokes.
Memes make the world go round these days & there's a lot of creativity, joy and wonder to be shared and found in random parts of the world. Every day amazing things are happening & getting shared on the internet for millions and millions of people. That's pretty fuckin cool if you ask me. Cooler than some daisy chain motherfuckers discussing GnR setlists or mythical albums..
& I'll tell you what, this net neutrality thing is a very real threat to websites like this. This place actually still attracts new users even if you don't realise it. If you yanks don't act, smaller websites like this will most certainly die off pretty quickly if Comcast/Verizon get their way.
