Everything Under the Moon

It has been brought to my attention that this site's forums are dying. Not enough activity by members; but why is that? Probably because not a lot of attention is being brought to it or the pagan community at large. The solution is simple then: share a link of Everything Under The Moon with anyone you know who would be interested! Tell people you know in person, and don't be shy! Encourage people to be open about their interest in witchcraft so we can have more people who will want to join!! Blessings!!!

As I understand it many forums are seeing a lapse in contributions, The one I'm on for my "cured" disease has also slowed down to the point they are going to close. Mostly the cost. But also, the lack of folks speaking up.
Also I know the owner here has mention it isn't cheap to keep this place running free of ads to keep it peaceful and beautiful as it is now. I had suggested to her a donation button, that may or may not still happen.

I say YES! YES! YES! let's spread the word, if you have a site or blog or some other pertinent place where witchy folks gather. Put a link to the forum in there, then come on in here and get to know your community! We are currently one of the longer-lived forums on the interwebs, we have the ability here to meet folks from all around the world to share our best witchy crafts, knowledge, and experiences. It's true there are some rules, and we can all be smart within those rules.

Be reminded forums are not an instant messaging system, sometimes responses take some time. If you have yet to receive a response, give it a day or two or even longer. Remember the only dumb questions are the ones not asked.

if anyone has ideas about community projects, please let your thoughts be known!

bb, Firebird

Recently went to look at other forum I read and post sometimes but over there is not much posting either, it is UK based TheWhiteGoddess forum. I am in EU and european pagan forum very seldom see one and/or they closed.

Still miss that Witchvox.com closed down because one could find pagan folks from other countries.

I miss the Witchvox too! That was a legendary site. I had friends there who were very prominent members of that forum.

Firebird wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:43 pm As I understand it many forums are seeing a lapse in contributions, The one I'm on for my "cured" disease has also slowed down to the point they are going to close. Mostly the cost. But also, the lack of folks speaking up. Also I know the owner here has mention it isn't cheap to keep this place running free of ads to keep it peaceful and beautiful as it is now. I had suggested to her a donation button, that may or may not still happen.

Maybe forums are an older medium now, but I think a private website owned by someone paying out of their pocket that enforces her own rules is far more free of a community than a social network like facebook/meta or twitter which is owned by multi-billionaires who don't know or care about you and just think of their users as demographics.

For that reason, I think these small communities are still valuable, and not necessarily outdated.

supremz wrote: ↑Sun Aug 28, 2022 9:44 am Maybe forums are an older medium now, but I think a private website owned by someone paying out of their pocket that enforces her own rules is far more free of a community than a social network like facebook/meta or twitter which is owned by multi-billionaires who don't know or care about you and just think of their users as demographics.

I concur!

Hey Nerys, I think they (TWG) are also seeing a decline, but I think they are still open.

Come one in folks! we won't bite much
F.

No matter if it is big or small, this is a wonderful community, and I think we'll like it here. It is very easygoing.

TWG is still 'open' but its been far from particularly active for some time now.

Ya know, I remember back several years ago that summer was typically slower, seems the younger crowd contributed quite a bit...during school. As soon as school let out for the summer, it got real quiet.
School is back in session for many already across the globe, I really liked when it started after Labor-day, seemed more Autumnal and time to settle into study. Course I guess that only pertained to the Northern hemisphere?
BB, F.

supremz wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:32 pm It has been brought to my attention that this site's forums are dying. Not enough activity by members; but why is that? Probably because not a lot of attention is being brought to it or the pagan community at large. The solution is simple then: share a link of Everything Under The Moon with anyone you know who would be interested! Tell people you know in person, and don't be shy! Encourage people to be open about their interest in witchcraft so we can have more people who will want to join!! Blessings!!!

people are using discord now. i suggested they make one but they disagree on that. If they don't follow modern trends, it will die out.

The key word there is "trend". If discord is just a current technological fad, then it too will die out- probably sooner rather than later, and then there will be something after that, etc. Constantly adapting to the times means it will never be anything more than a product of that particular period with all its biases, and then it will die with them once they change again.

Then again, this site has been around since 98 and it shows. Maybe updating the html will help. On the other hand, I admire the simplicity, which probably also makes hosting it better.

Also, is discord not the perfect place to refer to the site?

Ummm, just the name of the place is unappealing to me, there is really enough discord in the world.
F.

supremz wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 2:45 pm The key word there is "trend". If discord is just a current technological fad, then it too will die out- probably sooner rather than later, and then there will be something after that, etc. Constantly adapting to the times means it will never be anything more than a product of that particular period with all its biases, and then it will die with them once they change again.

Then again, this site has been around since 98 and it shows. Maybe updating the html will help. On the other hand, I admire the simplicity, which probably also makes hosting it better.

Also, is discord not the perfect place to refer to the site?

Discord won't die out soon because of what it has to offer and because of the way it is made. It's a perfection for every gamer out there in the world. Besides gamers, I have seen many pagan servers that are FULL of people who are pretty active. Personally I love forums but it seems that people do not. They all like things that happen fast. Most pagans I saw were youngsters on those servers.

Ya, I also believe that so many of the younger folks are living in the world of "instant" everything and maybe they don't have the patience to wait a day or two or even several hours before someone responds to a post. >shrug<
I'm not a gamer so I guess I don't get it at all. I like pinball
F.

Silent Ponny wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 2:46 am

supremz wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 2:45 pm The key word there is "trend". If discord is just a current technological fad, then it too will die out- probably sooner rather than later, and then there will be something after that, etc. Constantly adapting to the times means it will never be anything more than a product of that particular period with all its biases, and then it will die with them once they change again.

Then again, this site has been around since 98 and it shows. Maybe updating the html will help. On the other hand, I admire the simplicity, which probably also makes hosting it better.

Also, is discord not the perfect place to refer to the site?

Discord won't die out soon because of what it has to offer and because of the way it is made. It's a perfection for every gamer out there in the world. Besides gamers, I have seen many pagan servers that are FULL of people who are pretty active. Personally I love forums but it seems that people do not. They all like things that happen fast. Most pagans I saw were youngsters on those servers.

My point is not that discord isn't popular, but that taking a web forum and forcefully adapting it to another medium is a bad idea because it would also alter the content and nature of communicating within that community. Illiteracy rates are soaring now; I think anything that promotes use of written word instead of spoken is way better.

Obviously you are right that discord is more popular right now, but will that still be true 24 years later? You're also assuming online chat servers are something new and they aren't. Only their network speed is faster because of better technology, but that is it.

If the owner of this site ever wanted to make one it still wouldn't justify destroying these forums which are still alive and well, but the decision is out of my hands, in any case. I say no because experience has taught me that trends die faster than they live. True human connections sever contemporaneity and transcend time.

supremz wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 4:37 pm

Silent Ponny wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 2:46 am

supremz wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 2:45 pm The key word there is "trend". If discord is just a current technological fad, then it too will die out- probably sooner rather than later, and then there will be something after that, etc. Constantly adapting to the times means it will never be anything more than a product of that particular period with all its biases, and then it will die with them once they change again.

Then again, this site has been around since 98 and it shows. Maybe updating the html will help. On the other hand, I admire the simplicity, which probably also makes hosting it better.

Also, is discord not the perfect place to refer to the site?

Discord won't die out soon because of what it has to offer and because of the way it is made. It's a perfection for every gamer out there in the world. Besides gamers, I have seen many pagan servers that are FULL of people who are pretty active. Personally I love forums but it seems that people do not. They all like things that happen fast. Most pagans I saw were youngsters on those servers.

My point is not that discord isn't popular, but that taking a web forum and forcefully adapting it to another medium is a bad idea because it would also alter the content and nature of communicating within that community. Illiteracy rates are soaring now; I think anything that promotes use of written word instead of spoken is way better.

Obviously you are right that discord is more popular right now, but will that still be true 24 years later? You're also assuming online chat servers are something new and they aren't. Only their network speed is faster because of better technology, but that is it.

If the owner of this site ever wanted to make one it still wouldn't justify destroying these forums which are still alive and well, but the decision is out of my hands, in any case. I say no because experience has taught me that trends die faster than they live. True human connections sever contemporaneity and transcend time.

I am not assuming anything. I am merely observing reality. It's not the network speed that makes people like social networks, it is the content it is providing and the manner the content is provided. As I said, I love forums, but most of them are slowly dying out. Of course, that won't happen that fast, who can tell the future. Reddit is type of forum, but concept is different.

To make something popular again one must do some marketing, one must make some ground breaking change that will tell people "A ha! This is something fresh, there is something there I could invest my free time". Some people start with the design itself (forum design). Some people go out and do real word spreading with forum look change.

And if you want something to be changed, the administrator team should be more online, or they need to make a team of moderators who can be online often to make things active. Point is, there is a lot of work to be done, and it won't happen by itself. I always see potential in big forums, but stuff got lazy or something.