Modal wrote:
For instance, why would I post around here rather than just speak in the Discord? It has everything the site has, except people receive notifications and I'm more likely to get a response. A fast one, too.
Ah, but here's the thing: What if you want to talk about something other than the current topic of discussion?
The major advantage of a forum is that it accomodates many conversations at once, albeit at a slower pace. This generally allows posts to be longer, better thought-out, and occasionally more cerebral. Further, it solves the problem of l'esprit de l'escalier, or the occurrence of thinking about the perfect thing to say only after the conversation is over. On forums, a conversation is never truly over, which allows one to take their time in crafting their response.
tn5421 wrote:
I don't personally think that is a good idea, but don't let that stop you.
Personally, I disagree: This is a bad idea, and you should let that stop you.
Remember: Novelty is a precious commodity, and Lewd's novelty is being a comfy anime forum that isn't tied to a giant site like MAL or Hummingbird. It's a place to converse, a place to relax; similar to a group of good friends. Compare this to, say, the E-Hentai forums, which is like being in a room full of polite and friendly strangers. Yeah, you talk to each other, but it's two completely different scenarios.
Furthermore, the greatest problem with Facebook (as well as other sites) as a social network is that it fails at its job. Instead of uniting the community, Facebook's structure of status updates and newsfeeds have created an environment of superficial interaction; tiny one-line witticisms on pictures, in place of genuine discussion of interesting topics. If you're unpopular like me, the algorithm eventually secludes you on your very own "island", and thus you're left with very little incentive to keep contributing to the site.
Lemme put it this way: One of the chief reasons I was drawn to Lewd is because there's no real indicator of who's popular and who's not. Save the mods, everyone here is on an equal footing. Introduce machinery like "Followers" and public "Status Updates", and that appeal vanishes in the blink of an eye. And if some admin were actually foolish enough to make that content easier to access and consume than the regular forum posts, then, well... It's not really a forum anymore then, is it?