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IJBM II's Three Year Anniversary
So it's been three years since this site was created. A lot has happened with every passing year, don't you think? And that's why there are threads to gather everybody's thoughts and impressions about it, and talk it out.
As usual, there's a questionnaire if that's to your liking, open for everyone whether you're a regular, a lurker, or somebody who comes by every now and then. You might want to answer these questions before reading others' answers, if you feel it might spoil your own answers.
On IJBM:
- Are you surprised that IJBM II is still around?
- Are you surprised that you're still around? What keeps you coming back? What keeps you from coming and posting more often?
- Exactly how has your view of the site changed since last year?
- What about how it's changed since you first joined IJBM II? What did you think about the site when you first came here?
- What has been your favorite aspect about the site? What about your least favorite?
- What are your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments ever?
- What about your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments since last year?
- What do you think is the most important factor for keeping IJBM II alive in the future?
- Do you have any thoughts about ways of attracting new members, or bringing back inactive ones?
On other websites:
- What do you think (if anything) about Heaper's Hangout, Beyond the Lampshade, TV Tropes and its forum? Are you a regular member in any of them?
- What do those places have that you wish IJBM II had? What does IJBM II have that you wish these and other places had?
- Do you think that IJBM/HH/BTL will still be active a year from now? Two years from now?
Bonus question:
- What IJBM threads/posts/happenings would you put inside a time capsule, to be opened by internet denizens ten years from now?
If there's anything you feel like mentioning that doesn't have to do with the questionnaire, feel free to do so.
Thanks to Louie for contributing to this post.
Comments
Technically, this is more like 2.1. And no, not really.
No. I'm a moderator, and I want to finish my RahXephon liveblog. Some threads being just dead, and I don't like talking about anime with glenn anymore. >_>
Not sure.
Less active, but orobably less annoying too. Can't really remember.
Kind of? It felt like the site would implode sometimes, but I'm a worrier/alarmist by nature.
This place is nice and civil and that's pretty rare. It's small, there's a history behind it and stuff happens even if not very often which is fun. We're all very different posters when it comes to likes/dislikes or points of view, so even when I don't really have much to reply to I feel like I've learned something new about either the world or you guys.
Also you guys accept a lot of my ranting about weird things, thank you for that.
I want to say it's quieter or something, but I can remember even days before last year when we'd go 4ish hours without any new posts. But I guess that's not important since my view is that it's quieter, when compared to the reality of it not being quieter. There are less frequent posters though, but I still try my best.
I actually joined a while before I started posting, but I started posting a few days just after Draven was banned. I guess I had certain expectations from that (not sure what though). Otherwise, I first heard about the site from Legionnaire when FE first got a little trigger happy and it just seemed like a fun place to be with a bit more filter (I've always been a fan of the application system) than TVT.
My favorite is the people here, everybody just seems to make things fun in their own way, I miss the people who left but I think we still have a whole bunch of fun characters around here (Yay old man tone). My least favorite? Iunno, I'm a bad critic outside of stories, politics and economics.
Favorite? Basically every day, I check here almost religiously and there's always something fun to find, even if it's some old threads from before I joined. Least favorite? I totally missed the ban of table chucking guy and before that took him seriously as a poster, even though things he said included it being okay for a certain show I forget the name of to make light of the plight of transgender people and that Harayuki from Accel World disgusted him to no end because he was fat.
I started my own wonderpost thread! (I think I'm a bit too stuck-up usually) and as for least favorite I can't really think of anything.
We keep posting! Maybe new people will come but I don't want to place all my hope in a thing that's not directly obtainable in any tangible manner as of yet.
Aside from asking really politely? Iunno. Maybe we can use SAO banners/have a front that is an SAO fansite, that'd get people to sign up <_<
I used to be a regular TVT-er, I still have a great friend over there who I don't contact often enough and I really should. TVT's forums, at least where I used to hang out, feel kinda... spiteful (I don't really like using this word, but it's the only one that feels appropriate) to me now. I wouldn't go back. I've never really considered the other sites, since they don't appeal to me.
I hear they have more members than us /jealous. Really, I wish they had the atmosphere of this site, I know most of the atmosphere I obtain from this site is my own mind telling me this place has atmosphere, but that doesn't mean I should disregard how much this specific site has contributed to that. You should take into account that I'm a very oddly specific person, I've left lots of sites that I just read because I felt that the viewpoints weren't just different but unappealing and damaging (ANN, Crunchyroll, recently SeventhStyle), so it's possible that it's just my very fickle opinion..
Two, three years? Yeah, I'm kind of concerned with more long term, I'd probably never be sure about that, so I guess all I can do is enjoy the site right now.
Really? Everything, we shouldn't be able to leave anything out because each thread is in the DNA of this site, each event and each happening just seems insurmountably important (Even the more-GMH 60% of GMH's threads <_<).
Man, I could answer more of these questions, but too many answers would be "don't know", "don't care" or a combination thereof.
If by "time capsule" you mean the Wayback Machine, I already did that with my RahXephon thread some time ago, because I have a bloated sense of self-importance or something.
My turn.
On IJBM:
Somewhat. Three years is an eternity in internet time.
Not surprised. I keep coming back 'cuz it's comfy. I'd come back more often if I could expect a sizeable discussion to have been brought up while I wasn't looking.
It feels desolate now, and discussions on making media are mostly extinct now.
Less wacky and lolrandom. I joined as soon as it started so as to keep up with IJBM I on-goings for as long as they'd last.
Favorite: The community.
Least favorite: That there's only been a limited amount of topics that get talked about.
Favorite? Hard to say. There's been plenty of things I'm glad I've read, watched, being involved in, etc.
Least favorite? Those times early on when sniping got out of hand quite often. Or watching long-time users leave.
Favorite? Some really cathartic PMs I've had with a couple users (you know who you are). For something publicly available, the FATAL thread.
Least favorite? The chain reaction of people leaving the site, most of whom I really liked.
Giving new users a reason to join. "It's nice" doesn't cut it.
Nothing that we haven't talked about often before and hasn't worked out. Maybe link to stuff we do here on HH or something.
On other websites:
Every time I check HH it's more and more lively, and somewhat daunting. I dunno what they do at BTL besides keeping contact with each other. I dunno what's up with TVT nowadays, I only rarely check their threads when something happens elsewhere that makes me think something interesting might be brought up.
I wish this place were as active as, say, HH. I'd like if everywhere had the good-natured discussions we've had (except when we haven't).
HH doesn't seem like it's going stagnant anytime soon. The others, on the other hand...
Bonus question:
My Drama Chronicles thread and its relevant threads, these anniversary threads (especially the first one), the MtG threads, and a representative sample of a media discussion and Alex swording.
Double post because I'm done writing replies.
I guess that's how it's felt throughout these years, summarized. It's the little things that add up to the site's experience, or atmosphere, or however you're supposed call it.
On that point, for the past three weeks or so I've been going through memory lane, what with rereading stuff to write that last Drama Chronicles entry, or plain reading through the previous entries, or dredging through old threads to get material for that Christmas scene I made earlier, or rereading the other anniversary threads to make this one or just because. Well, like I said on IJBMer Updates, I'd been going through a nostalgia trip (mostly over by now), and it's that it's been three years of watching people come and go, seeing users get into things and abandoning others, watching how events start up, unravel, get talked about and be forgotten, listening to the younger folk going through the end of high school, choose a career, get into college and go through their first classes, discussions about people getting into real-life and online issues and sorting others out, sharing those little things one finds over the 'net, learning and making others learn, overall talking about some little thing happened here or that this huge deal happened over there.
I guess what I'm getting at is that, yeah, it's been fun just hanging around.
*shrug* I mostly meant it in the sense of what you thought would make for good IJBM memorabilia.
I think our problem with getting new users is that we don't have a clear purpose. The Hangout is a place for good natured (well, I think) shitposting, for comparison. I don't know how it goes with BTL, perhaps they lure people with the premise of dissing TVT and then get them hooked, dunno. IJBM, on the other hand, is mostly the place some TVT refugees hang out, pretty much that. The name is rather non-specific nowadays, I feel it may give an impression like we're a place for complaining. Or, in other terms, like we're TVT's Real-ish section with more complaining and jadedness. Can't say I don't see myself here (although I could enjoy some part of HH's activity), but other people might be turned away.
That said, to turn someone away you need her first to show up. I'm not saying that we should go out and advertise, but I'm guessing other TVT spin-offs might be more recognized in their native recruitment pools.
I guess that's been our main issue. Why would someone join this one and not the other thousand general purpose forums? Apparently so far it's been because they know people here, and it seems we've exhausted that resource.
Thanks for making this thread, I appreciate it.
Are you surprised that IJBM II is still around?
Yes, I suppose so, partly because it seems to be sort of normal for small forums to eventually fade away with time and there is not a lot anchoring this site to TVT anymore. If when the deletion of IJBM was announced you had said that IJBM II would be around three year later, I doubt too many people would have believed you, but it still exists, albeit in a more skeletal form.
Are you surprised that you're still around? What keeps you coming back? What keeps you from coming and posting more often?
I am not sure if I qualify as being "still around" given that I rarely post. I think the reason why I continue to check the site on a daily basis is because I like to hear what other people have to say, especially regarding subjects about which I know very little, e.g., Stormtroper's Venezuela politics thread or glennmagusharvey's threads. What keeps me from posting more frequently is probably not having much to say.
Exactly how has your view of the site changed since last year?
I do not believe my view of the site has changed much since last year. Being on HH more has led to me hearing more criticism of IJBM there. Such criticism has sometimes surprised me because the way I see the site described on HH from time to time really does not match my understanding of it. That difference may just come down to personal preference though.
What about how it's changed since you first joined IJBM II? What did you think about the site when you first came here?
I feel like IJBM II was a bit more off-the-wall when I first joined it if that makes any sense. I am not sure if that was necessarily a bad thing. That said, I am glad that the site moved away from the hangout for banned tropers/center for criticism of TVT that it was before. That is not to say that we should not be pointing out the problems with TVT, just that I am not a big fan of cross site conflict.
In the past year I think the site has become more of what was discussed in the second year thread, that is, smaller and with less varied discussions.
What has been your favorite aspect about the site? What about your least favorite?
One of my favorite aspects of this site is that it tends to be moderated well. While there are some problems, they seem to get resolved fairly quickly (perhaps even too quickly depending on your point of view), especially when compared to larger forums. Another would probably be that the community is surprisingly diverse even if a lot of people share somewhat similar interests. This might be totally off, but I get the impression that many more of the IJBM regulars live outside of the US than the HH regulars do for example.
My least favorite aspects of the site have been the drama/conflicts between members and the relative lack of activity.
What are your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments ever?
I am not sure I am qualified to answer this question.
What about your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments since last year?
I am not sure I am qualified to answer this question.
What do you think is the most important factor for keeping IJBM II alive in the future?
As long as IJBM II has members it seems like it will stay alive.
Do you have any thoughts about ways of attracting new members, or bringing back inactive ones?
Unfortunately, I do not really know how IJBM would get new members. A lot of tropers/ex-tropers seem to be on Tumblr though, so maybe trying to recruit there could work. Would setting up an official IJBM tumblr make sense?
On other websites:
What do you think (if anything) about Heaper's Hangout, Beyond the Lampshade, TV Tropes and its forum? Are you a regular member in any of them?
I have tried to become a bit more active on Heaper's Hangout, though the only place I regularly say anything these days is #trashheap. TV Tropes is somewhat unrecognizable to me now and I am afraid I have not heard of or seen anything on Beyond the Lampshade that would really make me want to join that site.
One place that I think should probably be mentioned with HH, BTL, and TVT is Tumblr given the number of former tropers on that site and the fact that some troper connections have been maintained and even maybe rediscovered there.
What do those places have that you wish IJBM II had? What does IJBM II have that you wish these and other places had?
As Stormtroper pointed out above, HH certainly seems more active than IJBM. It also appears toavoid most of the drama that can come with that level of activity. At the same time, I feel like the community there is a bit more close-knit than the one on this site. I get the impression that many of the members on HH already know each other very well and that it is sort of difficult to communicate there if you are not fluant in the "Heaper language" or do not wish to wade into the massive Trash Heap thread. That being the case, I feel like the relative openness of IJBM might be something from which HH could benefit.
Do you think that IJBM/HH/BTL will still be active a year from now? Two years from now?
While this is just a guess I see IJBM becoming even more of a shell of its former self more likely than it say outright disappearing a month from now. I do not really know enough about BTL or HH to say much about those forums, but I would be surprised if HH did not continue to be active given that it does not appear to be losing members.
Bonus question:
What IJBM threads/posts/happenings would you put inside a time capsule, to be opened by internet denizens ten years from now?
As others have already mentioned, the Drama Chronicles thread appears to be the obvious choice. Perhaps we could also add IJBMer Updates or a couple of the earliest threads about TVT so IJBM's "legacy" is not just a bunch of drama.
Are you surprised that IJBM II is still around?
No. The regulars are pretty tight.
Are you surprised that you're still around? What keeps you coming back? What keeps you from coming and posting more often?
Simple lack of topics I find interesting prevents me from posting. Nostalgia keeps me coming back occasionally.
Exactly how has your view of the site changed since last year?
Exactly is a very precise word to live up to, but my opinion on some regulars (who no longer post here) had been steadily declining.
What about how it's changed since you first joined IJBM II? What did you think about the site when you first came here?
It's no longer a TV Tropes refugee site, meaning the Chagens and Tnus who put a damper on the site are no more. It's pretty chill now, albeit seemingly directionless.
What has been your favorite aspect about the site? What about your least favorite?
Favourite: the community, though losing people like Khwarizmi and Bob was a downer.
Least Favourite: I'd like to say Chagen, but admittedly he was interesting in a reality-TV trainwreck way. For my actual one, how long it took to decouple ourselves from TV Tropes.
What are your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments ever?
Favourite: Noimporta and Insanity Addict's snide remarks.
Least Favourite: When we got involved in the TV Tropes / Something Awful feud.
What about your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments since last year?
Favourite: I was away for more than half of it, so it's hard to remember everything. But Anonus's TPP thread was good to return to.
Least Favourite: Malkavian mansplaining people's motives for watching Feminist Frequency, with the nadir being comparing it to Transformers.
What do you think is the most important factor for keeping IJBM II alive in the future?
The site needs a suitable raison d'etre. Keeping in touch with the core community satisfies the minimum for such a motive, though also see below.
Do you have any thoughts about ways of attracting new members, or bringing back inactive ones?
More variety in topics and interests. Having an overwhelmingly male user base discussing feminism for instance is a recipe for cringe. Also, having discussions constantly rely on understanding the core users and culture locks others out of the loop, which doesn't help invite people in.
On other websites:
What do you think (if anything) about Heaper's Hangout, Beyond the Lampshade, TV Tropes and its forum?
Eh, TV Tropes is occasionally a fun trivia site. I try to avoid getting too involved in forums nowadays.
Are you a regular member in any of them?
No.
What do those places have that you wish IJBM II had? What does IJBM II have that you wish these and other places had?
Bobby G and Morven, among others.
Do you think that IJBM/HH/BTL will still be active a year from now? Two years from now?
Yes.
Bonus question:
What IJBM threads/posts/happenings would you put inside a time capsule, to be opened by internet denizens ten years from now?
Hmm...Rob Ford is popular right now for being a celebrity schmuck...Chagen's posts. I still remember the lurker topic who claimed he was the reason for a lot of the site's viewership. Drama Chronicles Thread as well.
Huh, a Tumblr sounds interesting, although I'm not familiar enough with the site to offer ideas.
Also, I wanted to point out those were the only two posts made yesterday.
Hmmm, I was thinking... I already posted here, so I guess it's sort of expected for me to reply to that too...
Actually, nah. Perhaps I would be, if I was told so these two or three years ago, but then there were more folks around, so I might've figured so on wrong assumptions.
Not surprised, but never put much thought to that. What keeps me coming back is the feel of a small, familiar community. If I may re-use the comparison from a year ago, it's like meeting in a pub after a hard day, or a bench in front of a local alcohol seller. I don't post often because in most cases the currently active discussion concern topics I have nothing or not enough to say about, like a show I'm not into, or some issue that I'm not invested in enough to de-lurk and spew opinions around. In some cases, this is not the community I feel like being provocative in. I feel most of these might be relevant to my patterns of activity on other forums. A personality sort of thing, I guess.
After a couple of latest cases of mass exodus, it has less strongly opinionated users. From a certain point of view it's good.
I came here after getting bored with TVT. Hmm. Bored, disillusioned, losing interest, however you want to call it. Something like that. IJBM felt like a fresher and more tightly knit place. As for the site back in the day, it was more vivid, and somewhat different, but not in some radical way.
I'm gonna keep these together. I have no particular opinion about least favourite parts, save for the part where I got involved in a couple of flames. The rest I either happened long ago to not be much of a bother, or involved specific people I have no intention to diss in your face. But I'm gonna say I'd like to see a couple of users back. My favourite part was that interactive story game of Nova's. I'd like to see a thing like that once in a longer while.
Well, if the folks don't leave...
Covered that part in the post above, I guess. Inactive, well, most you can do is to ask them to get back in, or convince them they have a reason to get back in and then ask.
I still post on TVT forums once in a while (perhaps slightly more often that I used to), but any regularity I have is that of a lurker. I edit and browse the wiki sometimes. Once in a while, I take a lurk at HH. Looks like a place of more shitposting, activity, and has some TVT refugees that I'm fond of that don't appear here, but not to the point of me getting another account. But it would be fun if it somehow could be arranged to cross-over between IJBM and HH on a single account, heh heh heh. On BTL I can't say anything, don't know what they've been up to since that last year or two.
Like I said, HH has more activity and some users I have a fondness for, but I'm not keen on activity in itself (ie. the stupider kinds of shitposting), more like... mhm... a potential for activity. BTL, that year or two ago, had a section on writing and writing advice, that's something I consider fun. TVT has Writer's Block and World Building, but I'm not active there. I may lurk but some aspects put me off active posting, for reasons varying between these two.
Yes, I find it believable. Don't know about BTL, because I don't know anything of their current state, but the rest, well, if they managed to get here, why won't they do so by then.
As for the Bonus Question, I think people covered the majority of what I might have found worthy of speaking of here.
A quote button. :P
As an afterthought concerning the idea of posting more often: I was about to post something, then I figured I'd rather check if it wasn't discussed before. Then I thought about posting that I'm going to post something after I read that, but figured it'll be a bit too silly, in other words, I prefer to post when I think I have something to say. So I'm posting here about my thoughts on posting about posting. Heh heh heh.
Meanwhile, I wish HH had BBcode, where I could simply put in [ quote ] [ /quote ] and then get a quote, without having to click the quote button which inserts sometimes-buggy formatting...
Anyway I think I should reply to this thread soon. Soon(TM).
Stormtroper,
Huh, a Tumblr sounds interesting, although I'm not familiar enough with the site to offer ideas.
I doubt making a Tumblr itself would be too difficult. We could probably either make a group blog and invite in some IJBMers who are already on Tumblr to take part in it or just make a separate IJBM tumblr and share login information with some people here. If I remember correctly, HH has a tumblr account, but I am not sure if it is particularly active. That being the case, we might need to brainstorm some ideas about what to do with that site to avoid it going to waste.
What does everyone else think? Would making a IJBM tumblr be worthwhile?
We have an active images thread so I'd say it's a good idea.
Also reblog Forzare's stuff or something.
Well, it looks like ijbm.tumblr.com is taken, but thankfully itjustbugsme.tumblr.com is not, so I would be inclined to go with that unless anybody objects.
If we make a tumblr, it seems like we would need to decide whether we want it to be a primary blog or a secondary one. Making a primary IJBM blog would require having a IJBM email address and login, something that I think might be a bit awkward if we want multiple people to be able to edit the blog. That said, having a primary blog would also allow IJBM to like and follow people, something that might be helpful if we want followers.
Going the secondary blog route would make it easier for people to edit the blog since those who already have tumblr accounts could just be added to the group. It might make things harder for IJBMers without tumblr accounts though and as mentioned above, the blog would not be able to follow people.
What do other people think? Should we go with a primary or secondary blog for the IJBM tumblr?
We can also put liveblogs in there.
How feasible/annoying would it be to make a primary blog, and have a thread here for users to request those with login info to put into the blog?
Kinda strikes me as an extra step, at least compared to just turning on submissions on the blog itself...
I would tend to trust Central Avenue's judgment on that. Submitting does not require a Tumblr account anyway, so I think IJBMers who are not on Tumblr should still be able to contribute even without a separate thread. If we do end up making a primary blog though, should we use someone's preexisting email address or just make a new one?
*shrug* Personally I never regularly check e-mails for anything so whatevs
Well, http://itjustbugsme.tumblr.com/ exists now, but it basically has nothing on it. If anyone is interesting in messing with the theme and such, feel free to PM me for login information.
- Are you surprised that IJBM II is still around?
HAHAHAHAHA! It died because I wasn't here!- Are you surprised that you're still around? What keeps you coming back? What keeps you from coming and posting more often?
I'm surprised, to the point where I'm not sure why i'm here. The fact that I can spam whatever the hell I want keeps me coming back. To be honest, the only thing that keeps me from posting here is the LACK of ferocity, drama and NON-APOLOGETIC MENTALLY ILL ASPIES WITH LOLIPHILIC ANIME DELUSIONS. Conflict drives the story onward, Conflict keeps the reader staring at the pages. Conflict makes the white girls cum and tremble upon the instrument of their desire. "I think I would die if you stopped, please master, keep going! I can't stand it!"- Exactly how has your view of the site changed since last year?
A year ago I forgot it existed because I was busy MAKING DAT MONEY BOYYYYYYYYYY- What about how it's changed since you first joined IJBM II? What did you think about the site when you first came here?
-holds up a sign named "Drama Chronicles Thread" enthusiastically-- What has been your favorite aspect about the site? What about your least favorite?
-holds up a sign named "Drama Chronicles Thread" enthusiastically-- What are your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments ever?
-holds up a sign named "Drama Chronicles Thread" enthusiastically-- What about your favorite and least favorite IJBM II moments since last year?
-holds up a sign named "Drama Chronicles Thread" enthusiastically, and sadly at times-- What do you think is the most important factor for keeping IJBM II alive in the future?
-holds up a sign named "Drama Chronicles Thread" enthusiastically-- Do you have any thoughts about ways of attracting new members, or bringing back inactive ones?
I could show you guys my tits.Wow, it... really is kinda true. Hehe.
Yes.
Yes.
Shitposting.
Glenn.It is sadly a little bit dead. :c
I feel a little bit more confident that I'm not going to be banned unless I do something completely inappropriate.
Like posting my tits.It has become more dead but also it feels a little bit more safe and less politically volatile than its affiliates.
It was just a little bit intimidating because I had more social anxiety back then.
Shitposting.
Vorpy.Being kinda dead.
I really hated the TV Tropes drama in 2011 and 2012. The best moments all involve me, of course.
Or Vorpy.Weeeeeell, it hasn't even been 2017 for a full month yet~
Vorpy & Miko, master and apprentice of subtle trolling and wild shitposting. ^_^
We need good threads and fun stuff to do.
Or tits.I'm biased against heapers because they ban too many people, like myself, the queen of fabulousness. Also when I was banned it was way too tumblr-social-justicey and politically volatile. BTL always seemed kinda militant and aggressive to me, going after people and stuff, which makes me want to stay far away. I can't say much about the new TVT but the old one sure was a hilarious shitshow.
Nope. I've considered rejoining TVT (can I evade a 6 year old ban with new leadership? lolol) but idk what I would even do there.
More activity and entertainment.
Chill moderation that doesn't feel threatening or political.
Autism is capable of anything.
See above.
Myself, so I can observe how much more fabulous I become. <3
I guess this one turned out to be true for HH and, for lenient definitions of 'active', IJBM.