Is there less 'chat' here nowadays?

[Duolingo]

I'm just musing, and maybe I'm wrong...

When I joined MN approx 13 100 years ago, there was a lot more actual, I dunno, chat. I think I mean the more light-hearted threads, I know there are still some excellent supportive and friendly and sometimes long threads on more serious topics still. I'm remembering people actually conversing back and forth on threads, not necessarily just the frequent posters, but anyone up for a discussion or chit chat. Nowadays the usual format seems a bit more 'OP asks question/makes a statement', 'a lot of people say their bit but don't necessarily reference previous answers or engage directly with anyone unless having a bum fight'.

i know there are exceptions, and I'm not referring to any recent thread in particular. Is it just my perception do you think? I could be talking shite 😄

@Duolingo I think part of the problem is the world in general seems a bit more dark- various serious conflicts, covid, poor domestic situation for many - I think humour in general has gone out the window somewhat- especially surreal humour or anything taking the piss out of others- even in a good humoured way-

I completely agree there are some lovely areas of this site/forum, but the OP did specifically mention "Chat".

I feel as though I learned a lot from MN in the past as threads were a discussion. Posters would pick up points made by previous posters and develop them or explain why they disagreed. Others would then run with those points and the previous posters might come back and clarify what they meant (if they thought it had been misinterpreted) or expand on their own ideas. It was interesting and informative and I changed my views or at least better understood other perspectives much more, something that was needed given the bubble in which I lived.
Now I feel it's much more a case of someone expresses an opinion & everyone else expresses their opinion, quite vehemently sometimes, so you see the range of opinion but don't get that understanding of why they hold that opinion. It's not that I'm asking posters to justify their opinion, just that it is more educational to hear the background or the context and better understand their perspective.

Probably because chatting about anything involving money, holidays, gifts, slight inconveniences (you know, Life!) are met with replies about 'first world problems, war in Ukraine, cost of living etc etc).

I can't stand the pre-grovel everyone feels they need to give 'so sorry I have a spare £100, I know there's a (insert world event) going on, and this is just a minor but does anyone know a spa near X' - it's like it's not allowed anymore!

I want to hear it all! Tell me about your day! Go to this great place, buy that, let's hear about that minor inconvenience - tell me everything! :) No apology needed (even if I'm down to my last fiver!).

hmmmwhattodo Yes! There was a thread about cruises the other day. It's a world massively outside my own and interesting even if it's something I can probably never do.

Yes @dancinginthewind , that's pretty much what I'm getting at.

And @hmmmwhattodo yes to the pre-grovel! Some posters on here have a lot less than I do and some have a lot more - yet we're all here and you want to hear from and learn from everybody, let's have it!

That made me 😂

I was watching javadoodles on youtube and it came up as a suggestion. I had been watching this, I have anxiety and it helps me and cracks me up.

I can't draw, neither can mum, and we're both really impressed at how animators create so much expression with lines and dots.

In the past, I'd share this kind of clip on MN and it would have generated a whole thread. javadoodles has a lot of mad skits featuring the line (sung) "because it was the 90s" and I think a few years back, MNers would have loved those.

It does feel like the Twitter era stiffled discussion by turning it into soundbites, and debate has lost nuance and become polarised and tribal. Not helped by other marmite issues going on in the world around the same time and since.

Political discussions were interesting and informative when I started MNing.

There was a lot of random chatter and funny responses back then. That's why I got hooked.

I really don’t like a pre-grovel. Especially in a post about money in the money part of the site.

I think people write less than they used to because people are more on mobile devices. this makes the posts seem terse.

It’s definitely not as funny anymore - sometimes a good thread never seems to get going. I’m not really sure why that is, other than AIBU dominates everything.

@BogRollBOGOF Twitter used to be hilarious. I can't remember who it is, but someone is trying to recreate 2006 Twitter because they think algorithms and bots are the issue. I'm not so sure. I used to have a big Twitter following connected to my writing.

It was so funny, really interesting and my then boss ended up asking me if I could link it to my day job because she thought it had enough reach to be helpful. (I said no, that sounded riddled with problems).

When things turned political, I closed it down. It was very much individuals who were changing their approach and using it as a political platform. Previously we had fun, some drinks out and I even met up with a follower from India when her firm sent her to London.

I'll be interested to see how the 2006 experiment turns out, if they continue with it. I'm back on it but only for music and writing stuff.

it's as if real people, who I know in real life, just want to start fights on social media. Like it's become something they enjoy.

@Duolingo i miss the water serpents, and bison threads, etc

I've just spotted what you did there, very well put😆

Yes, twitter sounds bites, smart phones, some very contentious political and global issues which stress and polarised people... it makes sense they contribute to a shift in the way people use online forums. I've wondered if people have less patience in real life too, it could just be my perception but generally people seem more stressed and impatient out and about. I can't say I blame them really after the shit show of the last decade, but it is sad.

Bisons ring a bell, but I can't wrack my brains for details.

Well you can’t chat if you post then 20 mins later when you go to respond to anyone who’s replied there are 200 more posts.
I think there are just more users.
in the early days on an unusual subject you might wait a day or so for someone to respond.

I think the @ function has killed some of the chat; people don't scroll through whole threads to see if someone has referenced their post or reply by thevold-school MN convention of 'bolding' the username of the person they're responding to at the start of a new post, hence don't necessarily see the whole thread developing apart from when being directly @ed. People used to find replies to their own input and respond or reference, keeping threads multidirectional and dynamic, but now, as people expect to be @ed and assume nobody is talking to them if not using @, attempts at engagement go unnoticed.
I still like bolding as per the olden days.

I agree about the "light-hearted"
thing, it seems that almost anything can cause offence to someone on here now. Also there are far more users and far more people change names regularly so you don't get to know posters as easily.

I am guilty of regular name changes. I use @ sometimes but do still use an old school bold, I haven't really thought about why or how it changes the flow of threads before though.
I like recognising poster's names, even though I'd wouldn't say there is anyone I particularly look out for. I'd like to be one of those posters, but I also like the anonymity especially when over sharing 😆

I change mine all the time too. I never used to worry about it and liked being recognisable but have grown a lot more cautious over the years.

I held out against @ and quoting for ages in favour of bold but they are both easier so I do tend to use them now. I have my @ notifications turned off so I do have to RTFT to see if anyone has replied to me.

Ha, the first time someone @-ed me my phone went bananas, I was like 'what does mn want stop shouting at me I'm trying to stay under the radar here!'😆 So yeah, I've also got everything turned off. On balance I think it does help particularly on a busier thread.

Agree, joined in 2005 and was very lively then until lately.

I think there was a false golden era of MN people refer too tbh. I joined in 2007 and remember, yes there were more real conversations, but it was very cliquey with lots of "in" jokes and people would have conversations around "newbies" who they saw as outsiders. There was a real 'mean girls' vibe where certain users 'ruled' and could say no wrong. Glad that's all disappeared now.

I think perhaps people are put off starting threads because they know what will probably happen if they do and they can't face it. I often think of things to start a thread about, but just don't feel up to doing it. It's starting to become much slower on here so perhaps that's the reason.

I joined about then too, and while I get what you mean, it didn't bother me at all, clearly there were people who invested a lot more time and effort in MN than me and had got to know one another as a result. It would have been more weird if everyone had posted as if they had never spoken to those people before, which is what tends to happen now with so many more users and namechanges. I used to read all sorts and it didn't come across as mean or cliquey particularly, lots of in jokes but you soon picked them up.