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Thread: The Future of Internet Forums

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    United States Avalon Member Bluegreen's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    A television network does not have the same clout as it did a few years ago, as overall viewership is down, and that is across the board. However, there is still that core contingent of folks who enjoy watching TV, and the numbers are not negligible. Those folks will often look to a particular network first because they know that network offers programming that aligns with their interests, be it cop shows, animal shows, ufo shows, whatever. If that network unveils its new fall programming and find their ratings taking a nosedive, they are going to take a cold, hard look at themselves and no one else because its all about content. They know the formula is pretty simple: bad shows = no viewers and good shows = viewers, so they are going to try and come up with better shows. This scenario played out last year, will play out next year, and will likely continue to play out in the years to come.

    There are so many forums like this one covering so many interests they are near uncountable, and I don't see that disappearing tomorrow. Some may disagree, but I see forums falling into the category of 'show business' or 'entertainment' just as much as 'journalism'. Substitute 'forum' for 'television network' or 'watching TV', and those are my thoughts.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Online forums are taking a hit currently for a few different reasons. Many people are working way too hard and not by choice. They are too drained to participate, though they may want to. Something people probably want to discuss more in detail and might make the time for is discussing the economy and real survival issues as those issues relate to them. Joe from the Carolinas alluded to this, I think. (Correct me if I am wrong, Joe)

    There are several online forums designed for survival in tough economic times. I find they are geared more toward practical solutions and revolve around survivalism, which is fine. But, they end up catering or representing those who have enough resources to own property and or gold. Again, all well and good. But they ignore the fact that a majority of people don't have these kind of resources, nor can they escape working in the service economy. They want to vent. There doesn't seem to be an online forum that provides or encourages this kind of focus.

    In recessionary times, that are fast approaching, three things will happen. (1)People will have more spare time to join online forums.
    (2) They will not be on Facebook displaying their last meal (wieners and beans aren't particularly photogenic anyway) as they will be broke. The whole edifice of materialism and judging people by what they have rather than what they are, will collapse.

    (3)people will need, want and should drop all shame surrounding reduced means. And they may want to address and discuss it from a spiritual angle, which is very appropriate.

    Forums that provide and encourage these kind of discussions will out compete other spiritually based and general discussion forums.

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    United States Avalon Member ceetee9's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I can’t address Bill’s first question: “what’s the current health and membership of other forums out there?” since I’m only active on the Avalon forum—and then only marginally so in recent years. I am a member of a couple of other forums, but I haven’t visited them in years.

    As for Bill’s second question: “what will the future bring to us all?” unfortunately, I am not optimistic that it will be good for critically thinking and questioning people. Why do I think this? The quick and simple answer (which is all we seem to care about anymore) is: take a look around.

    Communication between us is being dumbed-down to the point where it’s almost pointless to even try to communicate any longer—which may, in fact, be part of the plan.

    Arguably one of the most popular methods of communications today is the tweet (140 characters up to 280 characters). Add to that the use of Emoji’s and single characters and digits to replace words and it’s pretty easy to see how the use of intelligent dialog and language is being degraded and/or discouraged.

    I don’t see Facebook being much better. I posted a nine minute video a few weeks back and one of my friends said he didn’t watch it because it was too long. He has also admitted that he “skims” most articles I post—primarily, I believe, because they don’t gel with his political bent—yet he will dismiss the article with not so much as one intelligent or factual rebuttal and often uses puerile and acrid statements and/or memes. And this guy has multiple degrees. Unbelievable!

    Aside from our school system that graduates students who can barely articulate a complete and coherent sentence, we have legislators who tell us that they don’t have time to read a bill and that they have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it. And yet millions of Americans seem perfectly fine with this insanity. How does this help any of us? Why are we not calling for the removal of such incompetent and irresponsible representatives? Have we lost our minds?

    Then there’s the mainstream media news sources that regurgitates the same scripts in one or two minute sound bites that tells us what we should think and believe. We’re bombarded with mind control propaganda 24/7, but only a few will take the time to research anything and most won’t look at alternative media sites because they’ve been programmed to believe that they’re all conspiracy theory or disinformation sites.

    From what I’ve seen it seems that most of the instant, quick and dirty communication methods being used today are used more for trivial communications like posting selfies, what they ate for dinner, their latest relationship faux pas, etc. and for posting biased and clueless political rhetoric. There’s very little substantive communication going on anymore.

    So when I consider all of this I find myself agreeing with Michael LeBron (Lionel) that “most people have the attention span of a gnat” and it becomes understandable why forums appear to be falling out of favor.

    It seems to me that very little useful communication is going on anymore. Perhaps there is some on forums like Avalon, but I fear they will soon all be going the way of the dinosaurs as will we all if we continue to let this societal downward spiral to unfold.
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    What's the current health and membership of other forums out there?
    I cannot offer any help regarding this question, I am not a member on any other forum and I ended up here because I used to read Rense.com and TheTruthseeker.co.uk websites frequently because I found that the Main Stream Media was not offering a true narrative of many facts. I had no one in real life that I could speak about the subjects that were being discussed here. So I am very grateful that Bill created this Forum and accepted my membership. I haven´t posted many things because honestly I am not knowledable about the subjects specially when they take place outside of my country, in other words, I learn more here than I could teach and I decided to contribute with the subjects that take place inside my country that reach international news outlets. I remember I read a post of Bill Ryan also complaining about the huge number of people that log as guest instead of log in as member. I can only think that people are afraid of the police state and don´t want to be publicly linked with conspiracy theories. I read once, outside this Forum that all Foruns are monitored and there is no such a thing as privacy in any Forum on internet, so people maybe afraid of being surveilled, that is one reason I can think of.

    What will the future bring to us all? I am not optimistic about the future ( it includes the future of the Earth Planet, The future of civilization and also the future of Foruns like this on the internet), why I am saying this, right now Thetruthseeker website is being blocked, it started one day ago. It is not clear what is exactly the reason but the website is under attack. There is a clear orientation from the Internet Giant Companies like Facebook, Google etc to censor and shut down alternative medai websites. There is another problem to consider, the quality of education received by the Millenium Generation is really bad, the majority is not capable of analyse, summarize, connect the dots, They llok like zombies spending hours sliding their fingers on a smartphone screen and most probably on a social media website and doing and discussing superficial things. It is my impression that it is a small percentage of people worldwide that is questioning the truth of information presented to us on a daily basis. There are those who react with anger when find that has been deceived and start to do a search for the truth elsewhere, there are those that do not admit that are being deceived and would rather defend the status quo,
    There are those that think that it is too absurd and crazy the narrative presented by alternative media, but what I am trying to say is that you might apply some Marketing Analytic strategies to attract people to Avalon but you might end up attractting the wrong type of person. There is even another problem, the lack of education and respect that people forgot how to discuss and disagree in a gentle way.
    So that are the reasons why I am not optimistic with the future of us all.

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    New Zealand Avalon Member HaveBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by HaveBlue (here)
    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?


    Hey, this might be it LOL. I'm a little embarrassed to say that this has never occured to me

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I am not a member of any other forum. I like to listen to a few researchers who post on u-tube, like Dark Journalist, Joseph Farrell, Catherine A Fitts. I read real books and avoid TV except for the occasional downloaded movie. As others have commented, I don't post often as I am here to learn. Though I am not uneducated I observe that others know a lot more than I do about many topics, and reading comments or looking at links leads me to widen my own researches.
    I don't know about the future but at present I think that a site such as Avalon is very helpful for people like myself who can't talk to many others about a lot of what is on here because it is too weird for most people. There are also important archives of books etc, very kindly placed, for all the seekers looking for ways to navigate the 'rabbit hole'. The Avalon resource and 'shelter' will become more important if it can be protected enough to continue. I take the point made earlier (Paul?) that this also costs money and will get a donation together.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Before I read anyone's reply, god don't let me look below It is more about being dismissed. It seems nobody has the time, wherewithal or inclination to engage.
    No time to address or post. The job, the nagging wife....suck all good intentions.

    And being honest, how would I know my comment was buried within 4 pages? Just saying, if one engages online you just got to hang for the answer.
    Last edited by Hazelfern; 22nd February 2019 at 05:58.

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    Avalon Member Them's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by HaveBlue (here)
    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?
    True. In my case, I've remained a member to learn. Anything I've wanted to say, someone else already has or soon will.

    I have no complaints. I'm glad to have been walking these halls for seven or so years and hope to continue doing so for
    years to come.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I am basically a lurker here. I don't consider myself able to discourse intellectually and be able to take all the time to cite facts, etc. However I love to follow conversations and topics. Social media even on Facebook of groups, the discourse is harder to follow because it is NOT a forum where one can go and look at Topics. Everything just rolls down the news feed into oblivion. I don't like it, personally. Social Media just seems like a place to "hold a banner" up of a belief or idea and have others Like it or Hate It or whatever. With Social Media communication I do not believe we are really communicating at all. It seems superficial. No depth. I like this forum. I visit daily and check out the topics. So, no, I don't post, but I'm here.

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    Red face Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Quote Posted by HaveBlue (here)
    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?


    Hey, this might be it LOL. I'm a little embarrassed to say that this has never occured to me
    Splain plz

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by Hazelfern (here)
    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Quote Posted by HaveBlue (here)
    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?


    Hey, this might be it LOL. I'm a little embarrassed to say that this has never occured to me
    Splain plz


    sure. maybe these people had no intention of posting at all, but just wanted to view the threads that are invisible to non-members.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I check this forum almost daily for new info, interesting discussions and potential material for self study. Sometimes my understanding on topics are limited by my English standard. But nonetheless I will remain here for the quality of the posts, thank you.

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    UK Avalon Member Sunny-side-up's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by HaveBlue (here)
    Bill Ryan says 50% of the new members never post after signing up and isn't sure why?.

    This is obviously so that they can view the members only threads. Occams razor?
    Could be, but I like to think they are taking their time and bringing themselves up to speed, after all there so much to take in here
    I'm a simple easy going guy that is very upset/sad with the worlds hidden controllers!
    We need LEADERS who bat from the HEART!
    Rise up above them Dark evil doers, not within anger but with LOVE

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I may appear somewhat perverse to some on this forum, because I do not believe social media is a large evil, or a mind control matrix - in fact I think social media is the manifestation of global freedom, and the liberation of publishing access for the common man.
    Yes Silicon Valley might have something of a monopoly in these early days of the global network, but if you care to look around, mainstream media and the enormous power groups who had their 'day in the sun' via the Broadcast media era (1910-1995) are being massively challenged by the accumulated mass result of over 20 years exchange of new ideas, and global fraternity at the grass roots level. Mainstream media empires are desperate to discredit Facebook, and all digital media, simply because the people now have broad access to a pluralistic range of alternative media, and discussion.
    Don't be too quick to dismiss the healthy benefits of global communication, and interaction, despite tech giants. The entire world of media journalism, and corporate affiliates of the media cabal are publishing endless negative spin articles about social media.
    I am quite happy to debate, in a civil way with anyone who disagrees with me, but I ask you to look at the current populist shift in western politics, the potential for radically new movements, all made possible by this emergence of a connected world, and the ability of ordinary people to experience this mass exposure to narratives.
    Terrence Mckenna spoke about this acceleration of 'novelty' and the rush towards a time of rapid change, there is a palpable subjective difference in the entire quality of social time, which many are reporting.
    We could be accelerating towards a major shift in human consciousness-or drawing towards the renewal of the universe, the 'Torus' middle, which Arthur Young spoke about - or perhaps some ultimate ragged hole of annihilation-we don't know.
    In any case, I see the internet as an accidental release into the public domain, and it is a major thorn in the established power group's side. I love social media, it is the media of the people, we can publish to very large audiences for 10's of dollars, without needing any covert relationships with powerful people-this alone makes it incredibly valuable, and dangerous for the shadowy 'Bilderberg' types, we shall prevail.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I don't think anyone has ever found a pile of books lying around inside a UFO/UAP.

    For thousands, if not millions of years, humans developed their communication abilities within their primary senses. The abstraction of text came late and is a tiny blip in the long human history.

    Text can be valuable for record keeping and for identification of technological user interface components. Even UFOs, apparently, have little graphics identifying which place to lay a hand or finger etc. Other than that, text seems to have had it's day.

    I won't mourn it's demise at all, in fact, I'm pleased about it. Text has been a divisive thing from it's start. Oh, and when was it started? Was it by those Annunaki kings, to lay down the law over their new slaves ? I'm not sure, but the whole short history of text has been one very sad episode for us humans.

    We humans have a highly evolved set of primary senses. Text trashes those senses and forces it's own regime complete with class division on us. There are those who read a lot, and there are those who don't. That's the first division, but then it subdivides further from there. Text is a kind of firewall that decides who will get access to higher thought and the societal clout that enables. It ensures that cerebral lingual muscle gets to have the biggest clout, and intuitives, the least.

    The sooner we a rid of it the better. I think it's a positive and healthy sign that people are moving away from heavy textual interfacing. That, alone, is certainly not enough, tho'. There has to be a facility for transference of higher thinking, other than elite dinner parties etc. I can't quite see what it is yet, but I'm hopeful it will manifest shortly.

    NLP, OMG. Let's hope those days are well and truly gone, and any other lingual engineering cults.
    ..................................................my first language is TYPO..............................................

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    I am piping up again, Hazelfern brings up a terrific point: People are far less inclined to fully engage with others in today's social world. Forums are based on the assumption that people will focus, and consider the ideas and opinions of others, and even 'change their thinking as a result' (!)

    This is a big ask today, so many are way more inclined to project their own position, to promote their own 'brand'. The idea of 'Traffic' has corrupted our perspective, traffic is People, not an abstraction.
    We can see how this dynamic operates, the two-way communication flow of the internet is still very strange to us, it seems we have been conditioned so powerfully by the "Broadcast Era" when we were all passive receivers of the provided social narrative, that we find it difficult to manage the opening of two-way communication?
    Forums belong to the old world, when debating, and argument were valued as an intellectual skill, today everyone wants to be a presenter, a media personality!

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by Anchor (here)
    People still write long posts. I read reddit a lot and some of the longer posts often have "TL;DR" (Too Long Didnt Read) summaries at the end, a sort of one or two sentence short form summary of the post, it is almost considered etiquette these days for posting longer posts and if you fail to provide one, say for a story you were trying to tell, you might get people pressuring you to add one!

    I noticed some people use that form on this forum and there have been some threads also advising people to do it.

    For example:
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...er-of-a-thread.
    What is interesting about that thread is that the OP (Original Poster) used a lot of acronyms in common use on social media form and got told off for it - including tl;dr
    I tend not to read long posts. Seems like they're usually trying to sell something or recruit someone for something. I'm more interested in people's original thoughts than what group think they've bought into or are promoting.

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  37. Link to Post #59
    Canada Avalon Member Ernie Nemeth's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    What I have observed is that the average IQ of a group is inversely proportional to the number of people assembled.

    The best communication occurs one-on-one, in person. Every other format truncates not the amount but the quality of information exchanged.
    As we all know not all information is accurate or pertinent and merely clouds the central issue. Then there are the meanderings down memory lane and tangents that just protract the entire purpose of the assembly, or thread, or platform discussion. These add up to a great deal of 'noise', that although may be entertaining or even informative in their own right, lowers the 'signal' ratio.

    That's why properly moderated forums are useful, they allow far more information to flow than a chaotic discourse among millions and limited to a few hundred characters per post.

    Although, again, it could train people to use language more succinctly - like a poet might. Or any artist for that matter, if multi-media is an option on the platform.
    Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water...Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee

    Free will can only be as free as the mind that conceives it.

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    Default Re: The Future of Internet Forums

    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    What I have observed is that the average IQ of a group is inversely proportional to the number of people assembled.

    The best communication occurs one-on-one, in person. Every other format truncates not the amount but the quality of information exchanged.
    As we all know not all information is accurate or pertinent and merely clouds the central issue. Then there are the meanderings down memory lane and tangents that just protract the entire purpose of the assembly, or thread, or platform discussion. These add up to a great deal of 'noise', that although may be entertaining or even informative in their own right, lowers the 'signal' ratio.

    That's why properly moderated forums are useful, they allow far more information to flow than a chaotic discourse among millions and limited to a few hundred characters per post.

    Although, again, it could train people to use language more succinctly - like a poet might. Or any artist for that matter, if multi-media is an option on the platform.
    When I went to high school, we had to study “the Precis” in English class. It entailed reading a long document and distilling the key facts down to a limited number of words. This proved to be surprisingly useful when I went out into the world.
    See: https://www.learnesl.net/what-is-pre...ng-in-english/

  40. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Chanie For This Post:

    Ernie Nemeth (19th February 2019), RunningDeer (18th February 2019)

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