5 ms·

> I'm a member of some paid forums that is far better Such as? I've been looking for someplace to pay for because it's better

danans 5y ago
It's very topic/interest specific, not a general forum: Green Building Advisor. Also, I have some private email groups in which I only have thoughtful discussion with people I know and trust (though don't always agree with). I don't know if any general paid forums though.
- tombert 5y ago
  There's Something Awful which is fairly general and charges a one time fee, but it's much more poorly operated than HN.
  - zozbot234 5y ago
    SA used to be in a troll war with the old Slashdot.org tech forum. 4chan was a later 'spinoff' built by a Something Awful user, and taking much of its initial community from there. Given these facts I've never thought of Something Awful as especially free from toxicity.
    - jart 5y ago
      They also used to be very toxic to the the Church of Scientology and Habbo Hotel. Nevar forget.
      - alophawen 5y ago
        Pool's closed! But that's Anonymous, not SA.
DrewRWx 5y ago
I'm guessing something like Metafilter's buy-in.
- rbancroft 5y ago
  Metafilter was extremely toxic. If it's sanguine now, it's only because everybody with other views was driven from the site.
  - astrange 5y ago
    I think I tried reading Metafilter once; it was a thread discussing whether men rape for power or for pleasure, and anytime a man tried posting in the thread they were driven off for not "centering women". Although that style of discourse was pretty common at the time, quite popular on livejournal and later tumblr. Lately I see complaints about it being full of people who tell you to go to therapy as a solution for everything. Which I didn't even know was a type.
dredmorbius 5y ago
Metafilter has remarkably high-quality discussion given its size. I've been a member of various private email lists over the years which can be good, though those seem to have an active lifespan of 5--10 years, with 10 being a pretty extreme outlier. Those communities become quite insular over time, and tend to retain less-interesting and spin out more interesting contributors.
- shaicoleman 5y ago
  > Metafilter has remarkably high-quality discussion given its size. Here's an example of the toxicity in Metafilter: https://www.metafilter.com/194412/Canadas-Protest-on-Wheels#8210317 https://www.metafilter.com/194412/Canadas-Protest-on-Wheels#... I don't even feel comfortable quoting it here. As you can see it's the 3rd most favorited comments in that thread. I wasn't even cherry picking, it was the first story I clicked on.
  - jl6 5y ago
    Metafilter isn’t toxic at all unless you have the wrong opinions.
    - throwaway6532 5y ago
      And this is the takeaway for everyone using any platform anywhere. The fundamental reality is people disagree with other people.
    - fivea 5y ago
      > Metafilter isn’t toxic at all unless you have the wrong opinions. Echo chambers have that effect on people.
  - BizarroLand 5y ago
    On a similar post here I was given a lot of flak for posting anti-Nazi sentiments, I didn't realize that it was such a charged topic considering how it's Canadian truckers boycotting mask mandates as the mask mandates are ending and how neo-nazis are showing up in support for the whole thing. I mean, generally, if I am at a large gathering and Nazis show up and they're on my side I would hope I would have a nice long think about what I was doing at that moment but some of these people are failing to realize that the sentiment of "they're on MY side, so it's okay now" increases the likelihood of people ending up on their side as well in the future.
dotancohen 5y ago
NasaSpaceFlight forums' L2. I've never been in there, but everyone who has says that it is the best forum on the internet.

danans 5y ago

It's very topic/interest specific, not a general forum: Green Building Advisor. Also, I have some private email groups in which I only have thoughtful discussion with people I know and trust (though don't always agree with). I don't know if any general paid forums though.

tombert 5y ago
There's Something Awful which is fairly general and charges a one time fee, but it's much more poorly operated than HN.
- zozbot234 5y ago
  SA used to be in a troll war with the old Slashdot.org tech forum. 4chan was a later 'spinoff' built by a Something Awful user, and taking much of its initial community from there. Given these facts I've never thought of Something Awful as especially free from toxicity.
  - jart 5y ago
    They also used to be very toxic to the the Church of Scientology and Habbo Hotel. Nevar forget.
    - alophawen 5y ago
      Pool's closed! But that's Anonymous, not SA.

DrewRWx 5y ago

I'm guessing something like Metafilter's buy-in.

rbancroft 5y ago
Metafilter was extremely toxic. If it's sanguine now, it's only because everybody with other views was driven from the site.
- astrange 5y ago
  I think I tried reading Metafilter once; it was a thread discussing whether men rape for power or for pleasure, and anytime a man tried posting in the thread they were driven off for not "centering women". Although that style of discourse was pretty common at the time, quite popular on livejournal and later tumblr. Lately I see complaints about it being full of people who tell you to go to therapy as a solution for everything. Which I didn't even know was a type.

dredmorbius 5y ago

Metafilter has remarkably high-quality discussion given its size. I've been a member of various private email lists over the years which can be good, though those seem to have an active lifespan of 5--10 years, with 10 being a pretty extreme outlier. Those communities become quite insular over time, and tend to retain less-interesting and spin out more interesting contributors.

shaicoleman 5y ago
> Metafilter has remarkably high-quality discussion given its size. Here's an example of the toxicity in Metafilter: https://www.metafilter.com/194412/Canadas-Protest-on-Wheels#8210317 https://www.metafilter.com/194412/Canadas-Protest-on-Wheels#... I don't even feel comfortable quoting it here. As you can see it's the 3rd most favorited comments in that thread. I wasn't even cherry picking, it was the first story I clicked on.
- jl6 5y ago
  Metafilter isn’t toxic at all unless you have the wrong opinions.
  - throwaway6532 5y ago
    And this is the takeaway for everyone using any platform anywhere. The fundamental reality is people disagree with other people.
  - fivea 5y ago
    > Metafilter isn’t toxic at all unless you have the wrong opinions. Echo chambers have that effect on people.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  On a similar post here I was given a lot of flak for posting anti-Nazi sentiments, I didn't realize that it was such a charged topic considering how it's Canadian truckers boycotting mask mandates as the mask mandates are ending and how neo-nazis are showing up in support for the whole thing. I mean, generally, if I am at a large gathering and Nazis show up and they're on my side I would hope I would have a nice long think about what I was doing at that moment but some of these people are failing to realize that the sentiment of "they're on MY side, so it's okay now" increases the likelihood of people ending up on their side as well in the future.

dotancohen 5y ago

NasaSpaceFlight forums' L2. I've never been in there, but everyone who has says that it is the best forum on the internet.