Hexbear is the last fun place on the internet
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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chapotraphouse
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Hard agree. Shit's just boring now. Even hexbear, while the best place on the internet, still gets boring when the posts aren't there
a front page of threads all with 0-1 comments
Tbh I feel that this site has been more focused on culture war bullshit than before. And like, cutesy terminally online shitposts about power users or peepeepoopoo posting.
I know it's fun, but I do enjoy the more effortposty and analysis based content.
Or maybe I'm way off and reminiscing over something that never really was.
It is true the majority of the activity here is rage bait content.
But the site is getting old and the community is not realy growing, this is a larger issue with the western left after Bernie,
The old sub was different because when you're on reddit(and one of the biggest subs) there is always new people/controversies etc. In contrast even compared to the past here we already had our struggle sessions, we actualy had a fair amount of AOC/Bernie libs or not explicitly ML "socialists" and they all left a long time ago too.
Anyway the Ukraine war brought a lot of activity but it was downhill from there because Ukraine already lost this war over 6 months ago and now it is just throwing innocent black van teenagers into the meat grinder. I still keep myself informed and I rarely look at maps now because nothing is happening except a few timid Russian moves maybe.
If it is any consolation I think it is a pretty safe bet things will get more active again during US election years just like it was in 2020.
Yeah, I agree. I am actually looking forward to the U.S elections for that reason alone.
I think that we are a community capable of creating/researching/curating some great content. Ukraine/Russia has been a great example.
I just think that we should get into issues that aren't necessarily the hot topic of the moment.
I am actually tempted to put some feelers out for the starting of a community researching project. I think we have a varied knowledge base and if we could put our collective minds to use in mapping the history of a country/region/issue in a similar way to the Ukraine stuff. Even with the Ukraine stuff, there are so many great takes and stats that go under the radar that I think are worthy of preservation, fact checking, and then acceptance into the mega-folder/document.
Hey hey, as @[email protected] mentioned, this is kinda what I've been trying to do! Would appreciate extra hands on deck in the literature department (as while nationals of the countries we try and investigate are invaluable, for the non-western countries it's unlikely that there's around on Hexbear, or if they are, that they're willing to break anonymity and talk, which is very understandable).
Helloooo
Well, I hate to be a disappointment but I don't know how much of a dedicated week-by-week task runner I can be. Life is going to be hectic for me in the next year.
However, I will be researching Latin America - Venezuela in particular but it's all linked - very deeply in the coming months as part of my dissertation and creative process. I will have a pretty good database to share along the way, hopefully.
Your country threads are great, and the effort that goes in there must be huge. I don't know who's the Ukraine watchdog, but if they're out there too - wow - you are an absolute workhorse too.
However, I was thinking of something larger, more long term, and casual. A bit like the primers on topics like Ughyur situation, Ukraine, etc, but bigger, and less about disproving a controversial narrative I guess. If everything I'm about to say is basic, or jargon, or too idealistic, or whatever - please, shoot me down. Fill me with holes. I would rather have criticism than placation, even if it's severe.
TEXT WALL INCOMING:
Something that I see a lot in this site is people with a lot of free time, great opinions, well read, but reduced capacity for in person praxis despite an inner desire to do praxis. Whether it's alienation, physical disability, nihilism, neurodiversity, financial stress, not knowing where to begin, COVID fears, distrust in local organisations - whatever it may be - the people remain posting. And my idea is that posting could be praxis.
Issues are super multifaceted, and so is the way people are persuaded. Theory is gold, but the stuff people often post on this website - personal anecdotes (a large part of Bullshit Jobs is based off personal testimony), memes (humour is a huge tool of persuasion and can be effective at highlighting contradictions), documentation of events (like the seemingly daily Ukrainian soldier with Nazi insignia), and media recommendations.
If the people's posting power (of which this site is so proud) could be documented, I think we could be surprisingly effective. If anyone ever wants to do praxis - well, there you go - find some info and submit it to the community archive. So much information on this website is consumed and then goes into the deep hexbear archive, often never to be returned to. It just needs to be open source, accessible, while also being moderated enough to cut bullshit out. I don't know how to go about it - currently it sounds a bit like a left wing Wikipedia. In my head, I can see it more like a giant 4D map, or a big messy case file sprawling out over a desk.
I know, annoyingly conceptual and vague... but there's something in there that keeps me coming back to the idea.
Well to butt in again, I don't know enough about it, but people here have said good things about Obsidian. This is the place I know of that shows how it might be used to build an interconnected knowledge base. I think it would be better for the kind of thing you're describing than a wiki would. There's no "4D map" but it does have a rotating 3D map of how different sections connect. Just a thought.
I think this is an excellent idea and believe that @[email protected] has said something very similar. It was the major impetus behind the COTW thing that was started a few weeks back. It might be worth hitting him up to discuss further.
COTW?
Country of the week.
Oh, nice. That's cool.
I think most of us are burnt out. i know I am, I don't have the capacity for effort posts Like I used to on my last account
Yeah, that's true. And without new users coming in there's no one to spur it back to life. Just the same depressed online leftists rotting together.
I believe this is because of however the new algorithm works. Before, you would never have posts that just stay on the front page for 2-3 days and just generate more and more comments. There was a lot more “churn”. But now anything that generates comments tends to stay around longer and generate even more comments, which is why culture war bullshit stays up longer.
RIP JoeySteel