As internet forums die off, finding community can be harder than ever

Re:As internet forums die off, finding community can be hard... by roenxi on Thursday November 19, 2020 @05:45AM (#25148159)

The not-indexed-by-Google thing is probably more a feature. The odds are slim but there is a tenancy for angry flash mobs to appear sometimes on the internet. It isn't desirable to invite the whole world in to every conversation.

I do think it is unfortunate for these groups to be giving their data to Facebook. I heard a wild rumour that FB was doing a purge of some sort on right wing political groups. Gauging the truth of something like that from a distance is impossible, but it did raise the point to me that if your private group was kicked off Facebook there probably isn't a way to take your post history with you.

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Re:As internet forums die off, finding community can be hard... by deepsun on Thursday November 19, 2020 @05:52AM (#25148200)

I don't mind mobs appearing on my forums about ultralight aircrafts. Easy to clean, not much harm. Most of the members know each other or through a common friend IRL anyway.

But the value in these forums are enormous, and helps saving lives. That knowledge doesn't stale either.

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Re:As internet forums die off, finding community can be hard... by crocodiletears on Thursday November 19, 2020 @06:30PM (#25155640)

Happened, but it targeted more than just right-wingers, though they bore the brunt of it. Pretty much every local political activist I know had their accounts restricted right before the election. In addition:

Most libertarian groups and pages I know affiliated with the 'boogaloo' movement caught a ban

Most of the pro-trump pages I know caught a ban, as well as pro-trump groups involved in on the ground activism

A few left anarchist groups I was in caught a ban.

It wasn't so much 'purge of the right', there's always a low-level purge of right wing pages going on, either because of moderator bias, or simply because leftists and/or liberals spend more of their free time infiltrating groups and reporting right wing content than vise-versa.

Rather, it struck me as an attempt to suppress protests and potential violence in the streets on either side of the political divide in the days subsequent to the election.

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Re:As internet forums die off, finding community can be hard... by ghaff on Thursday November 19, 2020 @10:57AM (#25150742)

If you really want invite-only posting, your best bet is probably to have an invite-only (or subject to approval) mailing list and, optionally, post the archives.

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