we just need to make a thread interesting enough to draw the lurkers in while also not causing any stuffstorms to happen
[HOT NEWS] THE FAPPENING 2: GUEST SWARM BOOGALOO
on a serious note, while this topic's title is seriously dramatized, i think sheepocalypse kinda has a point- but i'm not really sure if it's totally hopeless. i've dipped my toes back in here every now and then over the past few months but each time i've checked back in, this place seemed like half of it was ROBLOX forums tier illegible avant garde stuffposts with the remaining two quarters being master matthew & lord tony """news""" threads-- though i will say that things actually seem to have improved with a bit more potential going on here this time around
but getting back to the point, i think in this case it's a "be the change you want to see" kinda thing. really, instead of just hammering in the whole
"NOBODY COMES ON ANYMORE ITS JUST POLITICS WTF" point home (yeah no stuff i think the most of us realized that over a year or two ago!) maybe try starting actually interesting & coherent discussions of your own that requires at least some input beyond one-word answers and actually instigate some kind of conversation, trying to avoid those barebones survey-esque topics. one idea i had myself was creating a revival of the "creepy stories" thread or w/e that we used to have wayyy back where people would post their own amateur (albeit fun) creepypastas basically, which was probably one of the things that kickstarted my interest in storywriting- or, maybe even just a general stuffty little short story/amateur writing thread could be open and interesting enough to get the ball rolling a bit more
trying to avoid going on a long winded nonsensical sleep deprived rant so i'll end it with saying that at a glance there at least seems to be some threads with discussion potential, the
car thread, the
hobby thread, and the
paranormal experiences thread to name a few. any of these could be used to kickstart some interesting discussions and there's still plenty more you can try to do here. also, keep an eye out for personal experience threads or make them yourself, those have usually been a promising staple for off-topic over the years (this section isnt particularly aimed at you sheepocalypse but really just anyone reading this)
tl;dr if you're gonna rant about/buy into the idea that the forum's dying because of the current culture, at least try to stand by the idea of giving it a dignified death and be diligent in trying to find a solution and keep discussion at some level of quality beyond /b/ 4kidz edition. ignore stuff threads & bump the ones with fruitful discussion (or even just the potential for it) rather than driving a claw hammer into its already weary structure with another pessimistic thread telling us the same things we've already heard a billion times. yeah, you may get some facetious replies in your serious thread but they're not really worth doing anything more for other than ignoring & moving on
and as much as it may not seem like it right now, at it's core, the BLF is still an early/mid 2000s internet forum and is still strongly a remnant of the days of 'internet outskirts' sites. compared to other, far more popular internet forums that are still standing, it still has an amazing advantage because of that, and with any 'outskirts' community like the BLF, self-moderation is key
