I used to spend my life on this site.
- Thread starter Sergeant Hustle
- Start date
I think it is a general phenomenon with message boards. And the drop-off in content quality is probably even steeper than the one I have experienced - I personally have been around various boards since ~2003. Pretty much all of them have become parodies of what they once used to be and I have stopped posting (or visiting altogether). And given what I think the reasons for this are, they were probably even better places before I joined them.
And the reasons I see are the following:
1. As more and more people started spending more and more time on the internet, more and more morons flooded the places that were once restricted to a generally more thoughtful audience by the fact that it was the more tech-savvy and educated people that hung around the internet in the early days. This led to absolute bullshit dominating the posts and the boards went downhill.
2. In the same time, spending most of your time on the internet has very negative effects on one's mind - short attention span, inability to focus, etc.; so the quality of posts probably went down on an individual basis too
3. Related to that, the internet as a whole has moved from the message board and chat formats to the blog and social networking formats. The time people used to spend on message boards now they spend social networking; and social networking, especially in its more egregious forms like Tweeter, is especially harmful to one's brain.
4. A lot of people simply got tired of the whole thing and stopped caring about it.
A lot of those are natural developments of the system that could have been predicted and couldn't have been averted. It is what it is.
And the reasons I see are the following:
1. As more and more people started spending more and more time on the internet, more and more morons flooded the places that were once restricted to a generally more thoughtful audience by the fact that it was the more tech-savvy and educated people that hung around the internet in the early days. This led to absolute bullshit dominating the posts and the boards went downhill.
2. In the same time, spending most of your time on the internet has very negative effects on one's mind - short attention span, inability to focus, etc.; so the quality of posts probably went down on an individual basis too
3. Related to that, the internet as a whole has moved from the message board and chat formats to the blog and social networking formats. The time people used to spend on message boards now they spend social networking; and social networking, especially in its more egregious forms like Tweeter, is especially harmful to one's brain.
4. A lot of people simply got tired of the whole thing and stopped caring about it.
A lot of those are natural developments of the system that could have been predicted and couldn't have been averted. It is what it is.
once upon a time, i was a young teenager looking for a place online to spend my time, other than sneakily searching for sweet porn. i found my refuge on a podunk ole school looking message board--black with gory red blood dripping around the sides of it-- ran by some dood named mjp who shared a love for bro lynch hung. 91siccness is what it was then, back in '98. since then, ive watched this site go from good, to better, and metamorph into the wonderful conglomerate it is today. im amazed at how this site has grown, and touched the lives of many around the globe, as well as enthused me in my own personal journey by keeping me up to date on my favorite artists from the northwest. nowadays, i have a real life, joined the ranks of the disgruntled underpaid working class, and dont have too much free time to vent my frustration, explore preconceived notions, distinguish between fact and fallacy, nor to toot my own horn to feel important to an eagerly awaiting online audience. therefore my presence on the siccness has faded, but my ideas contained within my threads hold fast, like sinews gripping to tendons in between bone joints still flexing muscle with great rejuvenated vitality. i bless you with this mere homely post in order to let you all know im doing okay, im still in it, and i aint going anywhere until my family of extraterrestrials swoop down in their sweet chariot to scoop me up and carry back home once again. smile for me when you open the sunroof in your spaceship just to get a glimpse of the stars twinkling in the universe, and realize FoeTwin was too high minded for gravity to pull him down to earth. and my thoughts, elevated the the schmoak you exhale--just because i seem to disappear after awhile doesnt mean that im absent. much respect to the veterans--i dont have to name you all individually, just reflect introspectively, you know who you are--for tarrying on to fight the battle while enlightening the spirits of deception and liberating the minds of the ignorant.
dos dedos = selah
4twin
dos dedos = selah
4twin
I see two reasons why this forum in particular has seen a drop in content, and I've stated them once before.
1. For most of us regulars who have been posting in this forum for the past several years, there is seemingly no subject that we have not debated down to the very end. This makes discussing these same subjects with new people, or even re-examining the same issues ourselves, much less enticing.
2. People have begun using other peoples thoughts and opinions as a means to convey their own message. If you look at most of the threads in here they are news articles, which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does not provoke much discussion. That is if people even take the time to read them. This could be the consequence of the first reason listed, though.
I myself do not spend a lot of time reading news articles in here. But when someone makes a thread asking a question and/or raising an issue with their own opinion involved, I am much more inclined to participate. I keep telling myself I want to be more involved in this forum but I always seem to lack the time.
This is Nitro, for those of you that aren't aware. I am a perfect example of how discussions in a forum can change the way you think.
1. For most of us regulars who have been posting in this forum for the past several years, there is seemingly no subject that we have not debated down to the very end. This makes discussing these same subjects with new people, or even re-examining the same issues ourselves, much less enticing.
2. People have begun using other peoples thoughts and opinions as a means to convey their own message. If you look at most of the threads in here they are news articles, which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does not provoke much discussion. That is if people even take the time to read them. This could be the consequence of the first reason listed, though.
I myself do not spend a lot of time reading news articles in here. But when someone makes a thread asking a question and/or raising an issue with their own opinion involved, I am much more inclined to participate. I keep telling myself I want to be more involved in this forum but I always seem to lack the time.
This is Nitro, for those of you that aren't aware. I am a perfect example of how discussions in a forum can change the way you think.
The reason I rarely post in here anymore is because I am less interested in political topics and more interested in philosophy, especially pertaining to theism and religion. These sort of topics are scarce here now. Also, I don't feel like creating them because I feel like I am just retreading over stuff we've talked about time and again. So, I wait until someone else makes a topic and I'll chime in if I feel the urge.
