The Cellar - View Single Post - Thoughts: Invite-only Cellar

Undertoad · 01-11-2002, 10:56 AM

It's not only me that makes the choice because the Cellar is not me; it's me plus all y'all. If everyone simultaneously decided that it was not worthy, it would die. There's nothing much special about me being the one who put this up here. It's all y'all that make it what it is.

But lemme mention how it was in the Philly BBSing land that pre-dates the Cellar. Once the community grew to a certain point, some places developed inner-circle boards that were not visible to the masses.

This in turn lead to ugly infighting, as people took to heart the idea that some were elite while others were not.

My gut feeling is that a discussion-style forum like vBulletin can only hold so many people until it has to change how it operates. Increasing numbers of forums let it expand comfortably. My gut feeling is also that places like this do not expand forever. Like Usenet, once they reach a critical mass, they become less useful to a lot of people.

Around here, we are so comfy with each other right now that conversations become casual and lengthy (and off-topic!) in a hurry. This in turn discourages outsiders, who feel that they can't get into the "clique" and fail to post and eventually fail to read.

This also means that it is, in effect, invite-only. If you are specifically invited you feel like you can crash the party safely. If not, you feel like you're butting in.

I guess I'm saying that I don't see further growth as a "problem" yet, and possibly something that's self-regulating anyway. But also, the place will change and evolve if it needs to. At a slower pace than the rest of the world, but I hope it will neet all our needs for the long haul, and I promise to try to keep hammering into place the technological bits we need to keep it solid.

01-11-2002, 10:56 AM	#2
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	It's not only me that makes the choice because the Cellar is not me; it's me plus all y'all. If everyone simultaneously decided that it was not worthy, it would die. There's nothing much special about me being the one who put this up here. It's all y'all that make it what it is. But lemme mention how it was in the Philly BBSing land that pre-dates the Cellar. Once the community grew to a certain point, some places developed inner-circle boards that were not visible to the masses. This in turn lead to ugly infighting, as people took to heart the idea that some were elite while others were not. My gut feeling is that a discussion-style forum like vBulletin can only hold so many people until it has to change how it operates. Increasing numbers of forums let it expand comfortably. My gut feeling is also that places like this do not expand forever. Like Usenet, once they reach a critical mass, they become less useful to a lot of people. Around here, we are so comfy with each other right now that conversations become casual and lengthy (and off-topic!) in a hurry. This in turn discourages outsiders, who feel that they can't get into the "clique" and fail to post and eventually fail to read. This also means that it is, in effect, invite-only. If you are specifically invited you feel like you can crash the party safely. If not, you feel like you're butting in. I guess I'm saying that I don't see further growth as a "problem" yet, and possibly something that's self-regulating anyway. But also, the place will change and evolve if it needs to. At a slower pace than the rest of the world, but I hope it will neet all our needs for the long haul, and I promise to try to keep hammering into place the technological bits we need to keep it solid.