How will agoraroad handle an massive influx of new users?

remember_summer_days

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This. But I think this website isn't worth for anyone raiding it. Its not 4chan or some annoying twitch streamers discord. Also there are no extreme opinions or politics here that would startle an opposing side.
I feel like 4chan/>redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk people would just raid random sites just for the sake of it. Or there can be a fake narrative created around us that riles up any of those two. Right now Agora seems pretty politically neutral, but that could easily change in no big amount of time. It also doesn't help that the site is a sort of 'free-speech' haven. That concept alone tends to tick off the wrong sorts of influencers.

What I'm saying is, it wouldn't surprise me if we got raided by trolls at some point. And on that note, how aware are >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk/4chan of our existence? I know I found this site thanks to the adds on /x/
 
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Shantotto

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This. But I think this website isn't worth for anyone raiding it. Its not 4chan or some annoying twitch streamers discord. Also there are no extreme opinions or politics here that would startle an opposing side.
idk man, believing trans women are not women, or that there are only 2 genders, is enough to be labeled as a radicalized right-wing bigot on twitter now. YouTube is a little more relaxed, but twitter and twitch classify statements like these, or even misgendering, as hatespeech/harassment now and will suspend you over it.

one thing I've noticed in smaller online communities, especially agora, is that here, both sides co-exist. People who are pro-trans, neutral, anti-trans disagree but don't shame each other or get into polarized spats over it. But on mainstream platforms, opinions that are intolerant of traditionally victimized groups are considered extreme by said victimized groups who are emboldened to claim anything they disagree with his hateful/radical/extreme/far-right because the platforms who control discourse cosign them by suspending and silencing the opposition.

The arbiter of information determines the narrative and hence what is extreme and what is not.
 
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Shantotto

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I just want this site away from anything mainstream, i feel the same about vaporwave. the worst thing that could happen is if a youtuber with millions of subs made a video on it. I would hate to see agora torn apart. I love it as it is now, very comfy and chill. I dont want any bots or the kids from tik tok to touch this road. :NikoSip:
Illu should let MTTS loose
That would be worst case. 600 new users within 2 days or so. Core userbase isnt that much here. Those who regularly post or engage here.
Also correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't IlluminatiPirate manually approve users? I remember needing to wait for an email to have my account approved on the site.
 
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Andy Kaufman

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I really like alternative platforms. Ever since le >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk went down the shitter, the thought police clamped down on edgy subreddits and >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk encouraged bots (at least ⅓ of >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk users are bots) I looked towards other plattforms as alternative.

I subsequently stumbled upon ruqqus back then. (Yeah I know) I was there shortly after the Beginning and witnessed the incompetence and downfall of the site that could have rivaled others.

Now, sooner or later agora will blow up or get some serious influx of new users too, or will get its fair share of publicity. The site is well made, fun and gamey and actually comfy, recipe for success.

Howevee, Im curious, how do you think will agora handle this? It's admins?
Once daily newcomers outnumber todays core userbase (different from the total) the site might look completely different from what it is now. And we will actually have people arguing with you for your opinions or posts. Or worse.

I've seen what it did to ruqqus.

Has anyone had similar concerns?
Also, are any ruqqus refugees in here?
us elites will get 10 newfags each as slaves to work on our virtual estates
 
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no_chill

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Also correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't IlluminatiPirate manually approve users? I remember needing to wait for an email to have my account approved on the site.
Yeah but only because he doesnt know how to set up automatic onbaording hahaha jk
 
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SolidStateSurvivor

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Also there are no extreme opinions or politics here that would startle an opposing side.
The bar for "extreme opinions" is dreadfully low these days and the goalposts are constantly moving. Just the fact this place exists and merely provides people the chance to say slightly controversial things if they should desire to do so is a major sin to many.
 
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handoferis

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one thing I've noticed in smaller online communities, especially agora, is that here, both sides co-exist. People who are pro-trans, neutral, anti-trans disagree but don't shame each other or get into polarized spats over it. But on mainstream platforms, opinions that are intolerant of traditionally victimized groups are considered extreme by said victimized groups who are emboldened to claim anything they disagree with his hateful/radical/extreme/far-right because the platforms who control discourse cosign them by suspending and silencing the opposition.
Another side to this is that it's a lot harder to have a stupid polarized spat with someone when they're humanised. When you've seen them talk about other things. When you can't deny that they're actually a person and this one thing that you find a bit shit about them isn't actually their entire deal. Social media and bigsites atomize shit like that to the point where often, people are only engaging with the controversial content they don't like.

Frankly, I would still find someone whose entire deal was talking about one controversial thing and nothing else fucking gash to be around no matter where they are or what the topic was, but on a forum like this you actually find out whether that's really the case, instead of only being presented with one aspect of someone.
 
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Shantotto

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Another side to this is that it's a lot harder to have a stupid polarized spat with someone when they're humanised. When you've seen them talk about other things. When you can't deny that they're actually a person and this one thing that you find a bit shit about them isn't actually their entire deal. Social media and bigsites atomize shit like that to the point where often, people are only engaging with the controversial content they don't like.

Frankly, I would still find someone whose entire deal was talking about one controversial thing and nothing else fucking gash to be around no matter where they are or what the topic was, but on a forum like this you actually find out whether that's really the case, instead of only being presented with one aspect of someone.
This is a really good point. I see every user on this forum as a person, posessing multiple interests, and capable of engaging in many topics. For some reason I can't say the same for twitter handles, Instagram pages, or youtube comments. These platforms feel more like shoutboxes broadcasting messages to the world than they do places to have conversations with actual humans. Makes me wonder what most online arguments and drama would look like if they were addressed in person. Perhaps our biggest issue is our inability to see each other as real human beings, like the ones, who smile, frown, feel happy, sad, who are capable of walking past you in your own neighborhood. Weird...

Does an element of this humanity comes from the fact that the forum is so small? Maybe its just me, but something about large places, like a basketball stadium, containing many people of whom you will probably never see again, dehumanizes them, makes them feel not real, like npcs.

On the contrary, I've begun playing Cube 2: Sauerbraten after @№56 mentioned it in the Nice internet times thread, and everytime I've logged in this past week, I've seen a recurring list of names throughout the servers (there is max like 30 players across the servers everyday), a number of them mentioning that "Shantotto"'s a new name, and a couple others teasing me everytime I log on because they think I'm an old player pretending to have started playing 4 days ago. Most of them seem to know each other or have atleast seen each other around, they greet players who join, everybody seems to be in on some joke about "Crying in the car", knowledgeable about obscure sauer lore from the 2000s, and happy to have conversations about life while using the forbidden gamer words.

The other day I had convo with two dudes about agora, the yesterweb, and how I believe the oldschool internet is alive but overshadowed by the big social media sites and they were both genuinely excited to hear that places like this and various neocities webrings still existed. Every interaction in that game, despite being confined to a small chatbox, feels like an interaction with a real human being. I don't even feel that in voicechat on Valorant.
 
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Outer Heaven

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Another side to this is that it's a lot harder to have a stupid polarized spat with someone when they're humanised. When you've seen them talk about other things. When you can't deny that they're actually a person and this one thing that you find a bit shit about them isn't actually their entire deal. Social media and bigsites atomize shit like that to the point where often, people are only engaging with the controversial content they don't like.
Limit
Frankly, I would still find someone whose entire deal was talking about one controversial thing and nothing else fucking gash to be around no matter where they are or what the topic was, but on a forum like this you actually find out whether that's really the case, instead of only being presented with one aspect of someone.
Another big aspect of it is the customization on agora and how much text you can type. A site like Twitter limits both of these so you can't show off your interests or have an actual conversation with people. It's easier to see people as human online when they have a back and forth with you or show off their love for something on their profile. Chat is really good for this because it's site global so anyone can get in on discussions.
 
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Does an element of this humanity comes from the fact that the forum is so small? Maybe its just me, but something about large places, like a basketball stadium, containing many people of whom you will probably never see again, dehumanizes them, makes them feel not real, like npcs.
I think smaller communities do indeed feel more human. I think that in large groups, people feel less accountable and thus bad things are bound to happens.

As someone who was in Discord servers of various sizes, the small ones are always the best. The feeling of community was always present as you would see the same people repeatedly.

Overall, I think it's in the best interest of the Road to remains small.
 

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The bar for "extreme opinions" is dreadfully low these days and the goalposts are constantly moving. Just the fact this place exists and merely provides people the chance to say slightly controversial things if they should desire to do so is a major sin to many.
I won't name anyone, but some of the other old web forums out there incentivize their users to NOT name or link to the Agora Road. This place is definitively seen as controversial to some.
 

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I won't name anyone, but some of the other old web forums out there incentivize their users to NOT name or link to the Agora Road. This place is definitively seen as controversial to some.
That seems a bit counterproductive lol, I feel people actively seek out content that they are told is controversial and is banned. Sort of how books or movies quickly gain a cult following after the banning of them. Perhaps this applies less to the people who use mainstream sites, but I would expect it of people already on smaller older-inspired sites.

I feel like 4chan/>redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk people would just raid random sites just for the sake of it. Or there can be a fake narrative created around us that riles up any of those two. Right now Agora seems pretty politically neutral, but that could easily change in no big amount of time. It also doesn't help that the site is a sort of 'free-speech' haven. That concept alone tends to tick off the wrong sorts of influencers.

What I'm saying is, it wouldn't surprise me if we got raided by trolls at some point. And on that note, how aware are >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk/4chan of our existence? I know I found this site thanks to the adds on /x/
Honestly raiding on 4chan is pretty dead, I'd assume the same of >redditcostanzayeahrightsmirk, mods are just too strict now for it to have a sustained force. Occasionally janitors will decide to leave certain raid threads up and the flood gates will open but it's quite rare. I've seen a few alt-chans which are fairly popular which encourage raiding but I've only either seen raiding of other chans or of livestreaming websites. I feel webforums are too much of an hassle for them, registration is simply too difficult and lengthy to maintain an interest in it.
 
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I won't name anyone, but some of the other old web forums out there incentivize their users to NOT name or link to the Agora Road. This place is definitively seen as controversial to some.
Really? I mean I kinda understand wanting to sheild the world from Nagolbud's ramblings but...
That's honestly kind of funny to me, not sure why they feel so strongly against this place, like it's pointed out there's not even that many users so Agora is pretty low-key from my understanding.
 
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You people speak of MTTS as if he's some sort of beast chained up in the depths of the @IlluminatiPirate estate, and is to only be unleashed in case of emergency against enemies of the forum
It really do be like that. Pirate should bring back Mexican weed man as backup too while we're at it
 
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IlluminatiPirate

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I won't name anyone, but some of the other old web forums out there incentivize their users to NOT name or link to the Agora Road. This place is definitively seen as controversial to some.
I know who your talking about, old users will know. But I understand them.
 
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