Invite-based QBN
Out of context: Reply #25
- Started
- Last post
- 50 Responses
- lukus_W0
Let's face it - we all want to be 'special' .. unfortunately the reality is, being a part of a members only message board isn't going to make anyone feel great for long.
The problem is quite an interesting one though - how can you form a group of 'like-minded' people on the internet, that is cohesive and .. and meaningful?
In life, we go through school - and are forced together .. we rebel .. form cliques - we identify what we want to be, in part by choosing who we want to associate with. Barriers are put up, and people are positioned on either side of the fences that have been erected. It serves it's purpose well.
Cut to adult life - and we're no longer forced to associate with people we don't care to associate with .. but still the old mentality remains. Why?
I haven't been part of QBN for that long in the scheme of things .. I started reading in 2008 - and really appreciated the cutting, and non-generic nature of the chat here. It seemed that the place had an 'edge'. I know that's a hackneyed phrase, which can mean anything (sometimes less than) .. but it set QBN apart from many of the forums I'd come across before.
Why did QBN have this edge .. probably because it had large personalities which weren't worried about filtering what they really thought.
The change now? These personalities have left .. they most probably got bored.
-> If anyone can join a group - a group can't exist. <-
There needs to be boundaries .. for a while QBN was able to squeeze a bit more life out of it's dying self through the 'secret' blog thread .. a meta commentary on everything else that went around. But once that was gone there wasn't any more scope for oblique inclusion vs. exclusion.
QBN lost meaning.
In the (ahem) end .. every story needs a beginning and an ending. It's a fact of life. Maybe QBN has found it's natural ending .. because _everything_ has a life span.
Playground tactics will always win out - because those who strive for more are often ego-fuelled and have a desire to win.
What would be a nice conclusion?
Maybe a quiet dignified death.