4 ms·

The SA you describe still exists, and it still has those things you mention. A lot of people (including SA posters) say it's not as good as it used to be, but

The SA you describe still exists, and it still has those things you mention. A lot of people (including SA posters) say it's not as good as it used to be, but that may be the same phenomenon HN users complain about when they say HN used to be better back in the day.

philipkglass 10y ago
I just took a look for the first time in years and it does look pretty good, though not as active as I remember. I was never banned. I ended up walking away permanently in early 2008 because I realized that it had become a dangerously deep time-sink for me. I just logged out and never logged in again. (I left kuro5hin earlier in a similar way.) Now of course I sink my time across other forums. HN is my current favorite. I seem to have a little better graduated self control nowadays; I'll not post here for a week or more if higher priorities interrupt. I'm still active on Ars Technica but the constant political sniping allowed there is really tiresome. I could happily live the rest of my life without seeing "snowflake" used as an insult again. Or without seeing a snarky anti-Trump comment in an unrelated article with 70 upvotes. I don't like Trump either, but that doesn't mean I want to read lazy insults against him all day in every discussion. Reddit's never tempted me to register an account though I like to read Ask Historians.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  You are absolutely right about the time sink aspect, although the User Control Panel is pretty useful in that it provides a view of only the threads you have subscribed to, which minimizes the "hmm, this thread looks interesting... ah crap it's 4 AM!" problem.
  - rublev 10y ago
    But then you're just more efficient and get more posts in the same amount of time.
cloakandswagger 10y ago
SA was the first forum I really got involved in and I posted there for years. When I was there I thought it was the pinnacle of comedy; I'd never been exposed to that brand of humor before it, and I thought it was genius. When I look at SA today it just seems juvenile and try-hard. Really, painfully unfunny. I think part of it has to do with the stricter moderation; SA in the early 2000s was 4chan before I knew there was a 4chan, and I appreciated the raucous, sometimes offensive humor. Moreover though I think you're right, SA is still SA. My ideas about what is funny have changed, but SA is still the same.
- nyolfen 10y ago
  >When I look at SA today it just seems juvenile and try-hard. Really, painfully unfunny. this is how trends work. the originators are truly creative and interesting, but over time the paths they forge spread across populations, and inspire increasingly poorly executed knock-offs. eventually it becomes embarrassing for earlier adopters.
- xor1 10y ago
  SA lost lots of good people to 4chan, mainly because a bunch of them were banned for loli on a Direct Connect hub (Raspberry Heaven). All of the original 4chan admins, mods, and posters were also SA posters, including moot himself.
lsadam0 10y ago
I've not logged into my account in a decade. I suspect that SA didn't change, I think we've changed. Getting older sucks.

philipkglass 10y ago

I just took a look for the first time in years and it does look pretty good, though not as active as I remember. I was never banned. I ended up walking away permanently in early 2008 because I realized that it had become a dangerously deep time-sink for me. I just logged out and never logged in again. (I left kuro5hin earlier in a similar way.) Now of course I sink my time across other forums. HN is my current favorite. I seem to have a little better graduated self control nowadays; I'll not post here for a week or more if higher priorities interrupt. I'm still active on Ars Technica but the constant political sniping allowed there is really tiresome. I could happily live the rest of my life without seeing "snowflake" used as an insult again. Or without seeing a snarky anti-Trump comment in an unrelated article with 70 upvotes. I don't like Trump either, but that doesn't mean I want to read lazy insults against him all day in every discussion. Reddit's never tempted me to register an account though I like to read Ask Historians.

enraged_camel 10y ago
You are absolutely right about the time sink aspect, although the User Control Panel is pretty useful in that it provides a view of only the threads you have subscribed to, which minimizes the "hmm, this thread looks interesting... ah crap it's 4 AM!" problem.
- rublev 10y ago
  But then you're just more efficient and get more posts in the same amount of time.

cloakandswagger 10y ago

SA was the first forum I really got involved in and I posted there for years. When I was there I thought it was the pinnacle of comedy; I'd never been exposed to that brand of humor before it, and I thought it was genius. When I look at SA today it just seems juvenile and try-hard. Really, painfully unfunny. I think part of it has to do with the stricter moderation; SA in the early 2000s was 4chan before I knew there was a 4chan, and I appreciated the raucous, sometimes offensive humor. Moreover though I think you're right, SA is still SA. My ideas about what is funny have changed, but SA is still the same.

nyolfen 10y ago
>When I look at SA today it just seems juvenile and try-hard. Really, painfully unfunny. this is how trends work. the originators are truly creative and interesting, but over time the paths they forge spread across populations, and inspire increasingly poorly executed knock-offs. eventually it becomes embarrassing for earlier adopters.
xor1 10y ago
SA lost lots of good people to 4chan, mainly because a bunch of them were banned for loli on a Direct Connect hub (Raspberry Heaven). All of the original 4chan admins, mods, and posters were also SA posters, including moot himself.

lsadam0 10y ago

I've not logged into my account in a decade. I suspect that SA didn't change, I think we've changed. Getting older sucks.