The Forum Curve

[iblamehamza]

During your time on the forum, you probably noticed that you enjoy it more/less at certain intervals (ex you enjoyed using the forum more when you had 600 posts, compared to now)

So, I’ll go over the 3 most common ways people enjoy the forum, and their outcomes.

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1. The “bad” outcome

View attachment 4455313

This is how the average user enjoys the forum. At first, he doesn’t really understand how things work, so he doesn’t really get any dopamine from the site (Area 0-2)
Shortly after, he realises what this place has to offer, and is overwhelmed with dopamine (Area 2-3).; But of course, all good things come to an end, and he slowly starts to get bored of the forum, until he deletes/leaves the space.
Pretty tragic ending, but ultimately, the world keeps spinning, new users will join and older users will be forgotten
I’ll try to give out a user as an example for each outcome, but I don’t think that’s needed here as you probably know someone already who decided to leave the site.
​

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2. The Good Outcome

View attachment 4455356

Similar to the first graph, in the beginning you have no clue how the forum works (0-2), so you don’t enjoy it much. The main difference between this graph and the previous one, is that your enjoyment doesn’t fully plummet (Area 10-14+). You start viewing this place as a replacement for tiktok, twitter etc. so you don’t have a reason to leave.
Of course, you don’t enjoy it as much as you did X amount of time ago, but you still have fun using it.
A good example would be @Gengar, who’s been on the forum for more than 7 years, yet he still has fun here, maybe not as much as he had a few years ago, but he hasn’t gotten fully burned out.
​

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3. The “True” Outcome

View attachment 4455400

again, similar to the first 2 graphs, you have no clue what you’re doing in the beginning, but
The main difference is that, you figure out how some stuff works, but you’re not fully hooked to the forum, so you just forget about it. The site has around 110k members, but most of them suffered this fate. You probably know a grey who got a few hundred posts, and then just forgot about the forum completely.
​

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While I can’t dictate your outcome on the forum, I can give you a tip to avoid the first outcome, and that would be to simply post less. Most new users think that higher post count=better user, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Try to post only when you have something to say, or you really want to do so

Spoiler

@BigBallsLarry @Orka @Daddy's Home @Randomized Shame

2 represents me

 

[Insomnia]

2 represents me

Likewise. A lot of people who are active right now relate to the 2nd outcome.

 

[iblamehamza]

Likewise. A lot of people who are active right now relate to the 2nd outcome.

Yeah , it is better than TikTok and Twitter, etc
Anyways

 

[karmacita901]

Ascending and then doing #3 is the only good ending

 

[Insomnia]

Ascending and then doing #3 is the only good ending

I guess that’s also an option. There are quite a few people who improved their looks/quality of life but still use the forum because it’s better than scrolling TikTok & other slop.

 

[Insomnia]

B

 

[Gargantuan]

I recognise all three phases, but what I've noticed over the years is that my post count has naturally declined as well. Early on, I was churning out post after post constantly. Over time, it slowed and then flattened, not because of discipline or restraint, but because entropy set in since there were fewer genuinely new patterns to respond to, more repetition, more meta, etc.

At some point, the forum either remains a place where new signal still emerges, or it becomes mostly noise recycling itself.
When that happens, posting less isn’t really a choice anymore, it becomes a consequence. You can’t force output when the environment isn’t pulling it out of you, in my opinion.

 

[Insomnia]

I recognise all three phases, but what I've noticed over the years is that my post count has naturally declined as well. Early on, I was churning out post after post constantly. Over time, it slowed and then flattened, not because of discipline or restraint, but because entropy set in since there were fewer genuinely new patterns to respond to, more repetition, more meta, etc.

At some point, the forum either remains a place where new signal still emerges, or it becomes mostly noise recycling itself.
When that happens, posting less isn’t really a choice anymore, it becomes a consequence. You can’t force output when the environment isn’t pulling it out of you, in my opinion.

Same thing happened to me. I used to make 100 posts per day (if not more) and now I make around 5-10. In my case it’s a combination of being burned out and the fact that I’d rather have fewer but more meaningful posts. (Mostly the latter)

I still enjoy the forum, but in a slightly different way.

 

[2414763h]

During your time on the forum, you probably noticed that you enjoy it more/less at certain intervals (ex you enjoyed using the forum more when you had 600 posts, compared to now)

So, I’ll go over the 3 most common ways people enjoy the forum, and their outcomes.

---

1. The “bad” outcome

View attachment 4455313

This is how the average user enjoys the forum. At first, he doesn’t really understand how things work, so he doesn’t really get any dopamine from the site (Area 0-2)
Shortly after, he realises what this place has to offer, and is overwhelmed with dopamine (Area 2-3).; But of course, all good things come to an end, and he slowly starts to get bored of the forum, until he deletes/leaves the space.
Pretty tragic ending, but ultimately, the world keeps spinning, new users will join and older users will be forgotten
I’ll try to give out a user as an example for each outcome, but I don’t think that’s needed here as you probably know someone already who decided to leave the site.
​

---

2. The Good Outcome

View attachment 4455356

Similar to the first graph, in the beginning you have no clue how the forum works (0-2), so you don’t enjoy it much. The main difference between this graph and the previous one, is that your enjoyment doesn’t fully plummet (Area 10-14+). You start viewing this place as a replacement for tiktok, twitter etc. so you don’t have a reason to leave.
Of course, you don’t enjoy it as much as you did X amount of time ago, but you still have fun using it.
A good example would be @Gengar, who’s been on the forum for more than 7 years, yet he still has fun here, maybe not as much as he had a few years ago, but he hasn’t gotten fully burned out.
​

---

3. The “True” Outcome

View attachment 4455400

again, similar to the first 2 graphs, you have no clue what you’re doing in the beginning, but
The main difference is that, you figure out how some stuff works, but you’re not fully hooked to the forum, so you just forget about it. The site has around 110k members, but most of them suffered this fate. You probably know a grey who got a few hundred posts, and then just forgot about the forum completely.
​

---

While I can’t dictate your outcome on the forum, I can give you a tip to avoid the first outcome, and that would be to simply post less. Most new users think that higher post count=better user, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Try to post only when you have something to say, or you really want to do so

Spoiler

@BigBallsLarry @Orka @Daddy's Home @Randomized Shame

I Agree with this also ORG is less good than it was back in summer

 

[Insomnia]

I Agree with this also ORG is less good than it was back in summer

If we compare the threads & users from summer to the users & threads that we have now, the difference will probably be nonexistent. You think the forum was better back in July because you were less familiar with it, like gargantuan said, the site was a new experience, now it became something that you Daily drive and you’re more accustomed to.

 

[2414763h]

If we compare the threads & users from summer to the users & threads that we have now, the difference will probably be nonexistent. You think the forum was better back in July because you were less familiar with it, like gargantuan said, the site was a new experience, now it became something that you Daily drive and you’re more accustomed to.

That’s true I suppose but some users I like got banned specifically so the experience got reduced but overall I agree