162 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Discord isn't my thing, and entitlement (per described in the discord) makes me want to join it even less, and what Ferox said. So yeah, you'll never see me on the discord 'cause I don't feel like being a part of it for reasons stated...

[AntsDakota]

I'm not sure I agree with your premise that the vast majority of people here do not like the other communities; there is a lot of crossover.
 
The many separate groups of antkeeping hobbyists reflect the diversity of attitudes and social mores of their members.  Each community has a slightly different way of doing things, and some personalities are more compatible with the membership of some groups than with others.

I’m FC fanboy all the way.......

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I've been able to flourish here, so why would I go anywhere else? The journey is over, the treasure has been discovered, Formiculture fulfills all of my needs, so why should I go anywhere else? 

[Manitobant]

Mods are horrible, seriously they're really bad.

[Martialis]

Mods are horrible, seriously they're really bad.

Subjective assessment. I don’t think they’re horrible. And I’m banned!

[GeorgeK]

Quite frankly this is very baitish post made for no absolute reason. Your post title says ‚‚people don't like ants and antkeeping discord'', what exactly makes you think we don't like ants? This is, afterall, a antkeeping discord and we all are here because of the ants. As for why people don't exactly like/use antkeeping discord, everyone has their own reasons. I personally dislike the amount of people, spam, discord in general and the fact that you have to go thru piles of informations to just find what you need, forums are simply easier to browse and easier to navigate, I can't see discord replicating forums at any point, it might be a good chatroom, but it is horrible in mimicking forum. I suggest you don't make stupid needless threads in the future for the sake of starting something.

[Serafine]

Well, what exactly is the ants and antkeeping discord server? 

That is what i am trying to ask.

It's a chatserver with around 3000 members (I'd say around a third of them is very regularly active). It's also (by a good margin) the largest and oldest antkeeping discord group and the only large one that didn't collapse/implode due to major drama at some point (it did have some drama mostly but always came out relatively unscathed).
 
Discord generally is a good platform if you have really short or really complicated questions (which end up in a lengthy discussion covering related topics as well) and for just casually talking about ants & stuff (the sort of smalltalk you wouldn't want to have in a forum).

It's less good for permanent information like guides or journals (actually it's pretty terrible for that). It cannot replace a forum but it can do a list of things forums can't do. Some people here see Discord as a competition to Formiculture but it really isn't - both are very different platforms with different capabililties and should play to their individual strengths.
 
 

While I can't comment on laws in other countries, the laws regarding the transportation and sale of ants in the US can be very muddy, and in my opinion, some parts do need revision and change.

Actually the US laws are very clear - no transportation across state lines (whether this always makes sense when for example a species is native on both sides of the border is debatable but these are the rules) and certain species are banned from keeping due to their invasive nature (this mostly affects Solenopsis invicta within the quarantine zone but only in certain states). The real nightmare are laws in asian countries (some allow exportation, some don't, some only allow it from certain provinces, obviously every country has their own individual permit processes) and laws in Europe (which are a rabbithole in and of itself, particularly due to the fact that certain ants that have been illegally exported from their country of origin can basically become legal to sell once they arrived in Europe as import laws are next to nonexistent - this technically makes the ants legal in Europe despite them being obtained illegally which is really a massive problem for any international community taking things even halfway serious).

 

Mods are horrible, seriously they're really bad.

Saying the staff of platform/server XY is bad is always easy until you're trying to do the same by yourself, finding out things aren't even remotely as simple as they seem from the outside. I know for a fact that certain aak mods spent high double digit numbers of hours talking personally to specific users in order to avoid them getting banned for annoying and driving away other users (some people have difficulties socializing properly or are in a crappy household situation or cause trouble for other reasons) - name me a single server you've ever heard doing this. And yes, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - that's life. Sometimes people just need a little bit of guidance and the feeling of being accepted without constantly having to prove themselves - which young people often tend to do by being edgy and riding the line to look cool - and sometimes they just need to be booted to maybe have a comeback a year or two later when they've grown a little more reason and wisdom (this is why we have an appeal process which has in fact been used by several members that got banned at some point for whatever reason).

Which brings us to another very significant thing about the english-speaking antkeeping community in particular and that's the fact that age average is really really low (something that's very different from Europe where for example in Germany the average antkeeper is more in their early to mid twenties). Most US antkeepers are super young, we're talking pre-adult teenagers here. Technically any antkeeping community is for the most part a teenager group and we know how those usually tend to behave - in fact I'm almost surprised there isn't more drama in the antkeeping community overall (there is but it usually happens outside of Formiculture, AAK and other relatively well-moderated platforms). There are "bad apples" no doubt but most antkeepers I've met so far are very helpful, social and do well understand that building a community that works for everyone requires everyone to take care of and maintain certain rules regarding interaction with one another.

Edited by Serafine, March 25 2020 - 2:44 AM.

[madbiologist]

Quite frankly this is very baitish post made for no absolute reason. Your post title says ‚‚people don't like ants and antkeeping discord'', what exactly makes you think we don't like ants? This is, afterall, a antkeeping discord and we all are here because of the ants. As for why people don't exactly like/use antkeeping discord, everyone has their own reasons. I personally dislike the amount of people, spam, discord in general and the fact that you have to go thru piles of informations to just find what you need, forums are simply easier to browse and easier to navigate, I can't see discord replicating forums at any point, it might be a good chatroom, but it is horrible in mimicking forum. I suggest you don't make stupid needless threads in the future for the sake of starting something.

I didn't make a "baitish" post, if that's what you mean. Ants and Antkeeping is the name of said discord, it's obvious that everyone on here likes ants.

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[FSTP]

 

 

 I know for a fact that certain aak mods spent high double digit numbers of hours talking personally to specific users in order to avoid them getting banned for annoying and driving away other users (some people have difficulties socializing properly or are in a crappy household situation or cause trouble for other reasons) - name me a single server you've ever heard doing this. 

 

 

 

I like what you said but to be fair, This one, this just recently happened and several chat mods including myself spent several weeks talking to an individual who was spiraling but in the end they were partially banned. 

[ANTdrew]

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

[madbiologist]

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm waiting for things to happen so it isn't just an update on one or 2 colonies.

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[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Nothing has really happened with Aphrodite and Selene. I talked to Ant_Dude yesterday about my setup for Selene and he suggested changing it to a TT setup with a cotton ball plug, but that is about it.

[dspdrew]

Chat rooms are fun, but some people like forums where information is organized and not fragmented all throughout 20 different conversations.

[Ferox_Formicae]

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I think we're all just straight-up sad. This isn't exactly a happy time. I am trying to get some good updates out though, and some of the new colonies I've gotten are some really good ones. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis anyone?

[madbiologist]

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I think we're all just straight-up sad. This isn't exactly a happy time. I am trying to get some good updates out though, and some of the new colonies I've gotten are some really good ones. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis anyone?

I mean assuming school doesn't come back until August, I'll be spending my time catching way more Camponotus than I really need.

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[Ferox_Formicae]

 

 

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I think we're all just straight-up sad. This isn't exactly a happy time. I am trying to get some good updates out though, and some of the new colonies I've gotten are some really good ones. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis anyone?

I mean assuming school doesn't come back until August, I'll be spending my time catching way more Camponotus than I really need.

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I've already got 4 chromaiodes dealates, all with eggs, and flights have barely even started yet! Myrmentoma are barely even flying!

[madbiologist]

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I think we're all just straight-up sad. This isn't exactly a happy time. I am trying to get some good updates out though, and some of the new colonies I've gotten are some really good ones. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis anyone?

I mean assuming school doesn't come back until August, I'll be spending my time catching way more Camponotus than I really need.

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I've already got 4 chromaiodes dealates, all with eggs, and flights have barely even started yet! Myrmentoma are barely even flying!

First, we have to have Prenolepis imparis fly somewhere other than Cincinnati.

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[Ferox_Formicae]

 

 

 

 

My question is why is FC so dead now if all of us just are cooped up at home? Where are all the cool journal updates and stuff? Isn’t anyone making cool formicariums or anything?

I think we're all just straight-up sad. This isn't exactly a happy time. I am trying to get some good updates out though, and some of the new colonies I've gotten are some really good ones. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis anyone?

I mean assuming school doesn't come back until August, I'll be spending my time catching way more Camponotus than I really need.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I've already got 4 chromaiodes dealates, all with eggs, and flights have barely even started yet! Myrmentoma are barely even flying!

First, we have to have Prenolepis imparis fly somewhere other than Cincinnati.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

I still haven't seen them fly personally because I have bad luck (with common ants), but they'll probably fly today or tomorrow again.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

It's supposed to hit 60 by me, so time to go on the hunt...

[madbiologist]

I've been monitoring a nest I found yesterday, and they're bringing a lot of soil out...

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