Will Whyzzat ever expand the user base?

redrumloa

redrumloa

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Not a shot to anyone, just curious. Most the users seem to come from the old AO days. There were some who joined not supposedly affiliated to AO, but the most prominent of those were clearly a known troll.

Is it impossible to build such a site organically? Would be nice to get more opinions in here, if they are organic and honest.
 
The problem here is that every time I open registration, I get hit with russian bot trolls, hence no users. Every time I get a new user account request that seems valid, it turns out to be a troll, so if you have friends, invite them, just let me know what username they're using and I'll manually approve them.

Wayne
 
Well, I think the concept of a forum, in general is a lost concept, nowadays.

You might go to a forum for support or questions on a specific thing. But rarely to talk or discuss things, in general.

It's a noble idea. And, honestly, one we probably need to be getting back to, what with the mainstream media being in an even bigger mess than ever... While Facebook and the like are still just chambers of echos. No one is ever exposed to a new idea or new point of view, anymore. At least not any that aren't bought with corporate dollars.

I've racked my brain a lot about how you'd go about taking a site with the general premise of this one, and what you'd have to do to go larger with it. The technical stuff is pretty easy. But honestly, I can't come up with a way it could work and attract the people you'd want in the way you'd want.

It just isn't like the old BBS days, and I don't really know what you could do to bring that spirit back.
 
The issue here isn't whether or not Whyzzat "will" ever expand our userbase. It's a matter of word-of-mouth and bringing in friends.

Turns out that registration IS turned on (manual verification though), but the only "people" I ever see creating a new account are Russian (.ru) spam bots... Matter of fact, the last 3-4 people here have been MY friends and refers. What's your excuse? :)

Wayne
 
Speelgoedmannetje said:
We all know the answer to that, Whyzzat is pure and local, nothing for city folks with their non-local ways
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Heck, we hardly even bicker here anymore. When we do it is usually pretty lightweight. Stupidity around the world seems pretty obvious to all of us. We might seem an odd bunch to new timers.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
I find most "social" media frustrating because the threading is so bad and people are so concerned about "curating" their walls. Fora are better IMHO.
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I think you guys kinda misread what I was saying. Or I didn't say it right. (Impossible, right?) But I fully agree that the forum format is superior for actual discussions. I hate most "social" media to the point I don't even have an account on any of them except LinkedIn, which I'd gladly erase as soon as I could retire. lol

But, I think we've all noticed... Outside a few small circles, there doesn't appear to be a lot of wider interest in actual discussions, anymore. And that's a shame. And a real problem. Most people really would rather curate their walls than open them to differing views. When every disagreement becomes hatred, there isn't any place left to actually learn or grow. Taking a step toward fixing that would be worthy goal. But I'm flat-out stumped how you'd do it.
 
ilwrath said:
I think you guys kinda misread what I was saying. Or I didn't say it right. (Impossible, right?) But I fully agree that the forum format is superior for actual discussions. I hate most "social" media to the point I don't even have an account on any of them except LinkedIn, which I'd gladly erase as soon as I could retire. lol

But, I think we've all noticed... Outside a few small circles, there doesn't appear to be a lot of wider interest in actual discussions, anymore. And that's a shame. And a real problem. Most people really would rather curate their walls than open them to differing views. When every disagreement becomes hatred, there isn't any place left to actually learn or grow. Taking a step toward fixing that would be worthy goal. But I'm flat-out stumped how you'd do it.
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I think in general people are growing intolerant of differing views. The forum format kind of forces social interaction and lively discussion of competing opinions. Social media, mainly Fakebook which is my frame of reference, is indeed about their own wall. Politics on Fakebook rarely goes well, even for real life friends. You get nothing but echo chambers. Even I've gotten to the point I almost never post politics on my own wall because I'm tired of the nonsense. I sometimes comment on a friend's post, but only if they are in the same ballpark politically as me. Too many times I've seen people unfriend and block someone for posting a thought out disagreement (we know who's the most intolerant). Even replying to "news" on Fakebook I've gotten a temporary ban for having an improper opinion. Actually what I did was basically take the headline of a trending news, and flip the races obviously being sarcastic. WHAM 5 day ban with threat of perma-ban.

In short, I agree social media has killed the traditional forum. Even more specific, to borrow a term from another community, I think normies have killed the online community. Even before internet forums, there were BBS Boards and multi-line chat systems. Most of those people were tech savvy. I guess the type of person was more willing to be engaging. Now you have any slack-jaw yokel with a cell phone only caring about selfies and what their circle of friends are telling them what to think. The old school techies generally didn't care what others thought because they were outside the "norm" anyhow.

Screw it, let's bypass internet forums and open a multi-line BBS ;-)
 
Speaking of Fakebook, I think I have 2 people on my "firend's list" that I have never met in person. Those 2 will probably be removed soon too. I think it is ridiculous to collect "friends" to pad a number or for them to pad their number.

Fakebook is a good way to keep in contact with family and real friends who aren't local, but have been absolutely terrible in forming a bastardized way of socializing for 1 going on 2 generations now.
 
Wayne said:
The issue here isn't whether or not Whyzzat "will" ever expand our userbase. It's a matter of word-of-mouth and bringing in friends.

Turns out that registration IS turned on (manual verification though), but the only "people" I ever see creating a new account are Russian (.ru) spam bots... Matter of fact, the last 3-4 people here have been MY friends and refers. What's your excuse? :)

Wayne
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I don't have any friends :(
 
redrumloa said:
Speaking of Fakebook, I think I have 2 people on my "firend's list" that I have never met in person. Those 2 will probably be removed soon too. I think it is ridiculous to collect "friends" to pad a number or for them to pad their number.

Fakebook is a good way to keep in contact with family and real friends who aren't local, but have been absolutely terrible in forming a bastardized way of socializing for 1 going on 2 generations now.
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I have maybe a dozen friends on facebook who i have never met in real life and i really get along well with them. The thing about social media is that i get to interact with people who i would ordinarily never interact with.

Another thing i like about facebook friends i have never met is that there is separation which means minimal consequences if something goes wrong. Sometimes safe friends are good friends (depending on my mood).
 
Wayne said:
The issue here isn't whether or not Whyzzat "will" ever expand our userbase. It's a matter of word-of-mouth and bringing in friends.

Turns out that registration IS turned on (manual verification though), but the only "people" I ever see creating a new account are Russian (.ru) spam bots... Matter of fact, the last 3-4 people here have been MY friends and refers. What's your excuse? :)

Wayne
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how about using a "code word' we can give to referrals so they are automatically approved?
 
metalman said:
how about using a "code word' we can give to referrals so they are automatically approved?
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That would require a code change, which isn't really practical at this point (since we're about a year behind on Xenforo updates)...
 
I have to be honest in saying I've pretty much cut out social media entirely. I've not touched Facebook or twitter in weeks and even then that represented the first time in weeks itself. Outside of this place I rarely post anywhere now beyond here and even that is pretty sporadic.

I just don't enjoy going online as much nowadays. The flame wars of old began and ended at the browser, these days a wrong word to the wrong person will result in you losing your job or even your freedom. It's utterly mad, all of it.

Truth is, outside of this place I don't know anyone who would be into this sort of forum. Then again most of the people I work with are young enough that I could have fathered them, with the few my own age being completely tech oblivious.
 
the_leander said:
I just don't enjoy going online as much nowadays. The flame wars of old began and ended at the browser, these days a wrong word to the wrong person will result in you losing your job or even your freedom. It's utterly mad, all of it.
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You know, I kind of miss the good old days when the net (and before that the BBSes) required some kind of smarts to even play. Now any idiot can post - and it shows.
 
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