You used to have good insights and effortposts
You used to have good insights and effortposts
Hi there,
I'm sure you've seen me around, as I've been here for quite while. I enjoyed and saw how this site grew, etc, but what I enjoyed was the genuine topics and conversation of discussions about this site. Perhaps it is the reintegration of life and routine, away from Covid, but I've noticed a decline in quality that makes me reminiscent and nostalgic for the past and even for members like LiberalSocialist.
You used to have something to say, regularly.
Chapochat/Hexbear wasn't just recycled memes and images from r/thedeprogram or r/trueanon.
There are still interesting things and conversations that are posted but they've been drowned out by pages of mediocre images that substitute picture and image for discussion and introspection; as another poster once typed, paraphrasing, we're all just trying to create site taglines and phrases and substituting quips for insight and catharsis.
Fair enough that catharsis, solidarity, and revelation can only be achieved through living your life and not through quiet meditation and discussion on reddit or psuedo-reddits. But there was at least more frequency of effort posts, venting, and exegesis of history, current and social events, and understanding of the world or at least an effort to do so.
To my observation, such that I lurk here, Such effort is only spared on video games. On media. On the dunk_tank. On getting upset about wrong opinion.
Despite the federation, this site seems to have only become isolated and divorced of what made it unique: effortposting.
Maybe it's not just Hexbear. Maybe that is why UlyssesT left; the catharsis is exhausted and online space is dominated by a a tendency for performative and justified outrage and yearning for solidarity and emotional validation. But rather than copium, as anyone afflicted with a disease would prefer, some small part of me wanted prognoses rather than diagnoses.
I don't know. I reflect on things like /moretankiechapo or /genzedong and see how things have declined in qualityposts. Perhaps it is for the better, as UlyssesT had discovered, to have the impetus to go outside and not only live life but to evangalize socialism and recapture purpose and community.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Might be nostalgia glasses + the new sorting algorithm. I've been here a while and things haven't changed that much.
What I have noticed:
- Discussions have mostly moved from posts to megathreads, honestly this is kinda weird to me but w/e. Its still happening tho, just maybe not in the expected format
- less trolling, due to the efforts of the admins/mods
- less reactionary shit in general, chuds & terfs & stupidpol types get utterly decimated when trying to post here, there were definitely people that used to slip past the radar and would poison the well of discussion here
- People here are a little less liberal (me included) after having to kill the Bernie in their hearts and minds + forced integration with lemmygrad
wasn't just recycled memes and images from r/thedeprogram or r/trueanon
One of my favorite parts of Hexbear is being able to see memes from reddit without having to go to Reddit myself
I appreciate all of the posters who go into that jungle to bring back the slop
I think it's a function of the content aggregator model for forums. Comment chains favour quips and bickering over group discussion, upvotes favour low effort and high engagement posts over more involved posts about niche interests, the structure of posts directs people to react to the "content" instead of providing broader topics of discussion and sorting and hiding of posts means most peoples input is buried almost immediately.
I mean, what's the point of effort posting if only 10 or 15 people will even see your post and maybe 2 will comment. While a reddit thread or news article that makes people mad will get hundreds of upvotes and dozens of comments. We're using a site structure designed to create a self perpetuating content farm and it's working.
I dunno, im getting a lot from this place. I haven't been here very long but it's just a treat to have people around who think like me. I go over to one of the more reddit-like instances to check the barometer of the MSMians and it's all nasty and low like i remember, with insults standing in for discussion.
While this place might get some recycled memes at least i know i can speak freely here to thoughtful people, and it might not seem like much but it's been... necessary.
It does make me sad how the only time there's a great number of comments about art or philosophy is in the monthly struggle session about whether all Western culture is just a tool of the CIA. I'm still holding out hope that we could get some genuine discussions going, especially because all other Internet venues for discussing literature are extremely fucked in terms of politics, but it doesn't seem likely.
Be the change you wish to see in the world
I enjoy making high effort posts, I had a bunch written that got nuked when I wiped my acc a while back when i got spooked I was on a watchlist (opsec blablabla). I enjoyed writing them and nerding out over the details etc etc, unfortunately, those take a looooot of time, effort and motivation (moreso the latter actually). i think this is a classic case of posters slowly gathering responsibilities and getting busy living, no longer having time to nerd out and write long and insufferably academic sounding nonsense for us all to enjoy. But I believe these come and go in waves, I'm sure other posters will carry the torch and keep the effort posting tradition alive.
We used to have frequent struggle sessions that came out of those effort posts too. For better or worse these days every struggle session no matter how mild ends in a bunch of bannings. Every struggle session I see less and less of the people I saw before. Eventually all the people who have something to say are banned and now it's just us shit posters left.
Not really being critical of the moderation policy or anything but this is the natural end conclusion of "you can't disagree". A bunch of folks who only perfectly agree with each other don't have much to say outside commentary on current events and sharing jokes and memes. That's how it is.
If you want to try to start some discussions around things that you think won't end up with half the site banned go for it. I'd participate. I'm trying to start regular discussions on polyamory on that new comm for that exact reason; I think its a set of topics I haven't seen much discussion on here and might also not end up with anyone being banned. We'll see how it goes. Worth a try.
I dont know. Im just a shitposter. When I come home from work I just want to look at some memes. I respect effort posts and struggle sessions. I just dont have the mental capacity to engage with that stuff most of the time during the week.
Sure this place sucks, but it's always sucked, and it doesn't suck any more now than it did.
fake news
You aren't the first person to complain about the vibes being off. I'm not sure if I feel it or not (maybe cuz it happened so slowly or just my usual bad memory). It does seem like there is a lot more churn in the feed with lower effort stuff (especially from the federated servers lol).
Maybe it could be the new sorting algorithm? Algorithms affect what people see but also what they post eventually. Maybe we could try reimplementing the old Hexbear sort to see if it helps?
Have you tried logging off and on again? Give it like a day in between to make sure all the slop has a chance to leave your feed, you lil piggy you (I kid, a lil, might be time to take a break, have a training montage and become a new power poster to attack and dethrone God)
This site is really small so the nature of it can change pretty dramatically with just a small number of users coming or going. I suppose that is to say that nothing in life is static so enjoy it while it lasts. Change is inevitable and there’s not a lot you can do about it. The new effortposters arent the same as the old effortposters.
idk i've learned a lot more from this site since the news megathreads than any time before. like a month ago i posted like way too many effortposts to convince some
that LLMs were probably not sentient. i still learn something new from every daily megathread also.Sorry if I'm part of the problem. I'm one of those users (or perhaps the only user) who doesn't have any of the knowledge or desire to post anything actually substantive, so I just shitpost instead.
I'm of the opinion that if you have nothing to contribute, you shouldn't bother pretending you do. So at this point I just see myself more as a bystander filled with rage against the first world than someone with any desire, will, or ability to effect change. And honestly, effortposting is absolutely not my thing, is that a sin? Am I wasting space?
Maybe I'm being self conscious here, but I'm probably making it worse because I'm just making my one post here about myself. Look at how much I talk about myself. I can't seem to post anything without just talking about myself.
Despite the federation, this site seems to have only become isolated and divorced of what made it unique: effortposting
I'll admit that I've been slacking on effortposting for a good while now, or even just posting all together. I find it harder to really engage with the site now. I can't really say if it's me or the site, its probably mostly me.
Oh don't worry, I'm coming for both the TrueAnon and Deprogram people. Really great examples of western slacktivism that papers could be written about. Instead we just get weird guys writing papers about how Chapo = nazis. Let's talk about why your opinions on Russia and Guyana are adjacent to Konstantin Syomin, the Deprogram guest who thinks Hamas is an imperialist proxy.
Ulysseys seemed like he was in pain. If you're not able to post without being that mad, don't! Unless being mad kind of feels good I guess?
People need to set posting rules. I try to post outside and at work. Always feels like I'm getting in a free turn.
No I didnt
I like writing up effortposts, I just need to find a topic I can dive into for a couple hours. Now's a good time since I'm on winter break and have access to online archives & libraries through my university. I've been thinking of doing a writeup on Ryan McBeth, this think tank/YouTube osint guy who also wrote a Tom Clancy-esque Handmaidens Tail fanfic that just has so much to unpack it'd be a post all of its own
I agree. Been here since the start. I don't really know why it's happened.
I feel like part of it is just general culture war brain and dunk culture. The 'random redditor says something incredibly stupid' posts are so tedious. General terminally online stuff about Vaush and the like is just not worth the time of day.
thanks for participating. personally i'm here to say rest in piss when public ghouls bite it. and sometimes i'll put effort into a comment.
You used to effort post me on my cell phone
Late night when you need my content
By Hydaelyn if you want good insights and effort posts - be the change you wish to see in the sundered reflections of Hexbear
I used to write effort posts but 2023 has been a super busy year for me and I am seriously burned out.
I already have an entire series of Hexbear exclusive multi-part articles in the works, ranging from a deep dive into the Soviet economic system, to modern day China’s agricultural and property market crises, and how the past intersect with the present.
They’re all 60-70% done but I could never bring myself to finish them, for each layer I managed to peel off during my research into the subjects, I end up discovering entire hidden worlds behind them that demand further investigation and eventually getting so burned out by all the readings (plus all the translations I have to do because most of the materials have not been published in English) that I put them off for long periods of time.
I am the king of not finishing things I have started, for I am a perfectionist and insist on treating writing effort posts on obscure internet websites like I’m doing serious research for a PhD program, complete with citations and figures for illustration. Please don’t be too hard on me, I am doing all these work for free, and I still have a full time job that I have to do to feed the family. (And no, I will not be taking donations or monetizing any work/research for what is essentially a side project for me.)
All my effortpost accounts got banned. And with Joeysteel's banning, my sweet dreams died.
If we want to have a space with a different culture, someone needs to fire up and cultivate a new instance. With the paper of federation, you don't even hamper your ability to post here.
Fuck it, if someone wants to see this happen, DM me. Not saying I'll do it myself, but maybe I can coordinate some interested parties.
