Subject:
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Re: Whatever happened... LETS end this.....
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
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Date:
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Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:56:16 GMT
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Highlighted:
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(details)
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Chris Magno wrote:
> 1. I am a barometer of all things lugnet. if its hapening to me, its going on
> ALL OVER. so you may be right about the BC/AD thing, but what it really means is
> that MANY people will now, or ARE reentering a mini-dark age.
>
> 2. no amount of TOS modification, warm co-co and Hugs, or group deleations will
> fix this. either we get new blood, or we look back like the old geezers that we
> are and talk about the old days.
So some people leave. I don't know if you intend to equate losing long-standing
members from the site/hobby with the absolute demise of the site,
but it's kinda sounding that way.
People have this un-natural expectation that an on-line discussion forum
is somehow a community just like one in meatspace..., and that notion is
rampant on Lugnet. It's a nice concept, but in practise it falls flat every
time and Lugnet simply respects that natural law. You can trade ideas on-line,
carry on interesting discussions, show MOCs, arrange to meet new people, etc.
But no matter how much you try to believe of it as real relationships with
other people, it simply isn't. Major corporate ventures fail over and over
because people believe that being wired to others scattered all over the place
will allow them to accomplish great things, as long as they can email or
video-con each other. But there is absolutely no substitution, in any field,
for real human contact.
If you're expressing concern that Lugnet is
no longer the relevant resource centre / meeting place / info hub / whatever
to LEGO hobbyists that it once was, then that is incredibly valid, and action
should be taken to ensure it remains relevant. But if you're expressing
concern because some long-standing contributors are drifting away, whether
due to life changes, loss of interest in hobby, or whatever, then that is
natural. But I think what's more likely happening, as it seems to in every
on-line group that "believes" they are a community, is that people realize
it just ain't so. The novelty wears off, it's not as entertaining as they
once found it, the names they saw posting before are no longer there and they
don't feel like trying to mentally create the "characters" to go along with
the new unknown names... That's probably why groups like rtltoronto and
others are able to remain so "active"---it's because they have the advantage
of that actual flesh-and-blood interaction, making friends, making babies,
making memories. The other groups, ultimately, are collections of imaginary
friends where someone else writes the words. If visitors are unfortunate
enough to be able to make that leap from the imaginary meeting world of
Lugnet to the real-life meeting world, then ultimately, they are probably more
likely to drift away from the hobby, to be continually replaced by new
visitors coming along.
Before casting the epitaph on a site for all its failings, you may want to
consider whether your expectations of it, of *any* on-line discussion group,
are unreasonable. Lugnet, so far, has performed incredibly well. It's
existence, the "meeting of minds" it fostered, has led to the creation of
in-person regional groups, Brickfests, etc. Those, really, are Lugnet's
greatest contribution. Lugnet is the "tool" to help create those sorts of
real-life activities..., but it's not, and can never be, a *replacement* for
them.
KDJ
_____________
LUGNETer #203
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Whatever happened... LETS end this.....
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| (...) OK rob, your still new(ish) so I'll cut you some slack. 1. I am a barometer of all things lugnet. if its hapening to me, its going on ALL OVER. so you may be right about the BC/AD thing, but what it really means is that MANY people will now, (...) (20 years ago, 22-Dec-04, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
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