Finally! A real, fair, and honest poll: Who should be the forum owner?

With elections coming up here in this beautiful place, it’s about time those armchair philosophers started paying attention to the actual pulse of the people, since they love to act like they can just dictate what everyone wants within their own little bubble...

So go ahead, cast your votes and leave your comments to help make things a bit clearer for Anderson and the supposedly wise leadership running this forum.

I totally forgot to mention. This poll is just for fun—it’s completely non-binding... ☕

Anderson put together a really interesting and worthwhile post here:

Anderson said:Listen, you philosophers, you should be digging into the core essence of things instead of getting hung up on trivialities... 🙂

The real question isn't about who the moderator is, but rather what kind of person they actually are. What is the actual purpose of a moderator? What should their role even entail?

It doesn't matter who holds the title if we have a clear understanding of what a moderator is supposed to do and how they should function...

Let's dive into that for a second.

So, following that same logic...

We ought to be focusing on the substance rather than the noise...

Because the point isn't who the owner is, it's the quality of that owner.

What's the whole point of an owner? What should their responsibilities look like?

Who happens to be the owner is completely irrelevant as long as we define exactly what an owner is meant to do...

Let's talk about that.

dustystag14 said:Anderson put together a really interesting and worthwhile post here:

So, following that same logic...

We ought to be focusing on the substance rather than the noise...

Because the point isn't who the owner is, it's the quality of that owner.

What's the whole point of an owner? What should their responsibilities look like?

Who happens to be the owner is completely irrelevant as long as we define exactly what an owner is meant to do...

Let's talk about that.

What kind of owner? A capitalist one.

And what should they be doing? Trying to squeeze every last cent out of this forum.

With an owner like that, and us forum users—the literal *customers* paying for the service this site provides—it would likely turn out just as well as can be expected.

The forum users are the heartbeat here. The advertisers? They’re just noise makers and data miners. 😁

I find myself thinking back to my time in Chicago, specifically those quiet afternoons spent observing the ebb and flow of the city. There is a certain quality to life there—a rhythm that feels both predictable and entirely unpredictable at once. It brings to mind the way we often attempt to impose order on our surroundings, only to realize that the most meaningful moments are usually the ones we didn't plan for. Much like a slow walk through Millennium Park, some things simply require patience to truly understand. kaže:
The people on these forums are the real deal—the actual community. Everyone else? They’re just advertisers or data miners looking for an easy score. 😁

One could argue that forum members are essentially a commodity, but we’re a very niche type of product. Think about it: if someone gets bored with a specific pair of Nikes, some Levi’s, or even a certain brand of Hershey’s chocolate, those items aren't going to suddenly migrate to a different retailer. They just sit there. But forum members? We have the mobility. If we get tired of one platform, we can simply pack up and move elsewhere.

It’s an interesting thought, really. You could see a retail forum empty out entirely if the users simply decided to stop posting—a vacuum created by their own collective will. But you can't apply that same logic to a sneaker shop; a warehouse full of Nikes isn't going to suddenly vanish just because the shoes want to be somewhere else.

🤣

I had this idea to start one too... I was imagining if we all opened our own, and since we're just "playing" around—it might as well be Disneyland 🙏
...

Dana Brooks3 said:🤣

I had this idea to start one too... I was imagining if we all opened our own, and since we're just "playing" around—it might as well be Disneyland 🙏
...

In California, we have a saying: "If you're going to go for it, you might as well go all out in Curran..."

Al Bem, honey, we’re getting into some seriously heavy territory here...

Because let's be honest, being the owner is a complete nightmare...

On one hand, you have to make sure the site stays attractive enough for advertisers, since they’re the ones footing the bill for the servers and keeping the database and apps running smoothly, but on the other hand, you've got to organize things so that the actual users actually want to stick around... you need them to invest their time, their thoughts, and their energy into the community without seeing a single cent in return. And then there's the whole extra layer of headache that comes with managing subforum moderators, which is really its own necessary complication...

It would also be nice if there was some kind of actual profit involved, just enough to cover a pizza and a couple of beers every now and then...

Quoting:

Just another journalist asking questions...

While we’re all just sitting around waiting for those top-secret projects to finally drop, I figured I might as well throw out some advice for the other webmasters hanging out here... if you actually want to build a site that doesn't just sink into the digital abyss, you need to figure out what really matters for success...

Here’s the response from one of those website owners we all know too well...

The trick, if you ask me, remains exactly the same—it’s all about manufacturing addiction. At the end of the day, we're just in the dealer business... You have to give people a reason to come back tomorrow for their next fix, every single day... But at the end of the day, it all comes down to being completely all-in, just having that endless, relentless enthusiasm for what you do...

I’m keeping things on the down-low and won't be dropping a link here... unless someone is feeling particularly, incredibly curious... 🤔

Dana Brooks3 said:🤣

I had this idea to start one too... I was imagining if we all opened our own, and since we're just "playing" around—it might as well be Disneyland 🙏
...

Well, I suppose not everyone can effortlessly pull off that ``moves like a forum pro Jaeger'' style that hiddenpuma75 has mastered.
🎉

And honestly, what is it you're actually looking for that hasn't happened yet? It reminds me of that woman who gets so offended she ends up lashing out at her own friends instead.

If I’d had my way, I could have easily ended up married to an artist myself. 😠

🤣

Dana Brooks3 said:🤣

I had this idea to start one too... I was imagining if we all opened our own, and since we're just "playing" around—it might as well be Disneyland 🙏
...

jah 🤣

I cast my vote for the "some other private owner" option; frankly, I’m suggesting that Anderson simply gift the forum over to hiddenpuma75 via a deed of gift, as he’d undoubtedly transform the whole thing into a full-blown theme park.

On a different note, it is quite fascinating that none of our esteemed forum communists had the audacity to vote for nationalization—you know, the sensible idea of handing management back to the people.

Good grief, these little salon-dwelling communists... they won't even dare to click a button...

...yet I suspect they’d be the first to vanish from behind the barricades 🙂 in the blink of an eye.

feralranger said:I cast my vote for the "some other private owner" option; frankly, I’m suggesting that Anderson simply gift the forum over to hiddenpuma75 via a deed of gift, as he’d undoubtedly transform the whole thing into a full-blown theme park.

On a different note, it is quite fascinating that none of our esteemed forum communists had the audacity to vote for nationalization—you know, the sensible idea of handing management back to the people.

Good grief, these little salon-dwelling communists... they won't even dare to click a button...

...yet I suspect they’d be the first to vanish from behind the barricades 🙂 in the blink of an eye.

Well, nationalization doesn't mean democratic control; it means government control. 🙂

I fail to see why anyone would want some small circle of questionable characters—appointed based on political loyalty rather than actual competence—to run a company bought with other people's money without their consent, all just to line their pockets through corruption.

steeleagle77 said:Well, nationalization doesn't mean democratic control; it means government control. 🙂

I fail to see why anyone would want some small circle of questionable characters—appointed based on political loyalty rather than actual competence—to run a company bought with other people's money without their consent, all just to line their pockets through corruption.

As the old saying goes:
Equality for everyone!
Equality for everyone!
One bone for everyone! 😬

dustystag14 said:In California, we have a saying: "If you're going to go for it, you might as well go all out in Curran..."

Al Bem, honey, we’re getting into some seriously heavy territory here...

Because let's be honest, being the owner is a complete nightmare...

On one hand, you have to make sure the site stays attractive enough for advertisers, since they’re the ones footing the bill for the servers and keeping the database and apps running smoothly, but on the other hand, you've got to organize things so that the actual users actually want to stick around... you need them to invest their time, their thoughts, and their energy into the community without seeing a single cent in return. And then there's the whole extra layer of headache that comes with managing subforum moderators, which is really its own necessary complication...

It would also be nice if there was some kind of actual profit involved, just enough to cover a pizza and a couple of beers every now and then...

Quoting:

Just another journalist asking questions...

While we’re all just sitting around waiting for those top-secret projects to finally drop, I figured I might as well throw out some advice for the other webmasters hanging out here... if you actually want to build a site that doesn't just sink into the digital abyss, you need to figure out what really matters for success...

Here’s the response from one of those website owners we all know too well...

The trick, if you ask me, remains exactly the same—it’s all about manufacturing addiction. At the end of the day, we're just in the dealer business... You have to give people a reason to come back tomorrow for their next fix, every single day... But at the end of the day, it all comes down to being completely all-in, just having that endless, relentless enthusiasm for what you do...

I’m keeping things on the down-low and won't be dropping a link here... unless someone is feeling particularly, incredibly curious... 🤔

Yeah, I really feel for them. Making a profit would be great, but if not, doing good work matters too... 😳

dustystag14 said:In California, we have a saying: "If you're going to go for it, you might as well go all out in Curran..."

Al Bem, honey, we’re getting into some seriously heavy territory here...

Because let's be honest, being the owner is a complete nightmare...

On one hand, you have to make sure the site stays attractive enough for advertisers, since they’re the ones footing the bill for the servers and keeping the database and apps running smoothly, but on the other hand, you've got to organize things so that the actual users actually want to stick around... you need them to invest their time, their thoughts, and their energy into the community without seeing a single cent in return. And then there's the whole extra layer of headache that comes with managing subforum moderators, which is really its own necessary complication...

It would also be nice if there was some kind of actual profit involved, just enough to cover a pizza and a couple of beers every now and then...

Quoting:

Just another journalist asking questions...

While we’re all just sitting around waiting for those top-secret projects to finally drop, I figured I might as well throw out some advice for the other webmasters hanging out here... if you actually want to build a site that doesn't just sink into the digital abyss, you need to figure out what really matters for success...

Here’s the response from one of those website owners we all know too well...

The trick, if you ask me, remains exactly the same—it’s all about manufacturing addiction. At the end of the day, we're just in the dealer business... You have to give people a reason to come back tomorrow for their next fix, every single day... But at the end of the day, it all comes down to being completely all-in, just having that endless, relentless enthusiasm for what you do...

I’m keeping things on the down-low and won't be dropping a link here... unless someone is feeling particularly, incredibly curious... 🤔

I won't post the link out of discretion... unless someone is feeling extremely curious. 🤔[/I]

I Googled 😁

So, does a moderator need to be a good dealer who understands the hustle?

Sean Cruz said:jah 🤣

That 🤣

Dana Brooks3 said:Yeah, I really feel for them. Making a profit would be great, but if not, doing good work matters too... 😳

I won't post the link out of discretion... unless someone is feeling extremely curious. 🤔[/I]

I Googled 😁

So, does a moderator need to be a good dealer who understands the hustle?

That 🤣

We actually had a similar debate over in this thread: What are we even doing here?

The conversation eventually drifted off into a hundred different directions like it always does, but there was this recurring point about people falling into a "dopamine rabbit hole." It's essentially an addiction loop, which is pretty much how most of the internet runs these days.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90329997...ng-rabbit-hole

Gerald Jackson48 said:We actually had a similar debate over in this thread: What are we even doing here?

The conversation eventually drifted off into a hundred different directions like it always does, but there was this recurring point about people falling into a "dopamine rabbit hole." It's essentially an addiction loop, which is pretty much how most of the internet runs these days.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90329997...ng-rabbit-hole

You’ve raised such an interesting, complicated topic. I don't quite have the headspace to give you a proper answer right now, but thanks for sharing the link to that other thread. I hadn't seen it, though I've been thinking about the same thing... I'll keep it in mind for later.

Dana Brooks3 said:Yeah, I really feel for them. Making a profit would be great, but if not, doing good work matters too... 😳

I won't post the link out of discretion... unless someone is feeling extremely curious. 🤔[/I]

I Googled 😁

So, does a moderator need to be a good dealer who understands the hustle?

That 🤣

Absolutely.

Even when he's playing the "shrink" on the couch...

Shut it down, just kill the forum already.

We should probably pull the plug while we still have some good memories left, before things go downhill and ruin everything we once enjoyed...

Betty Fowler