64 replies to this topic

[MinigunL5]

I agree with many of the points here, but I want to add some of my personal thoughts, mainly about Discord. I find Discord preferable to FC because of its fast pace and constant conversation. It is much easier to make a quick remark on Discord than write out a whole paragraph for FC. So it makes sense that people (especially younger people) will prefer this more fast-paced platform. Additionally, while it is nice to have informational guides on FC and it's true that it's easier to store these guides on FC than Discord, I prefer to get my ant info from Discord. When I was a beginner, I could simply ask a question in the appropriate channel and often get multiple answers. Sometimes I would be provided multiple points of view and different experiences which were extremally helpful. Though, on some occasions my questions would be ignored or covered up by others so it is not without faults. Another thing about Discord is that it allows for much closer connections than FC due to it being a more fast paced constant conversation. I personally have made many a friends with other ant-keepers through Discord. Nowadays I don't use Discord or FC much due to time constraints and lack of interest. But I think they are both great platforms that each have their own place in ant-keeping. And while FC does seem to be on a small decline, I am sure that it will continue on well enough as long as the hobby continues to grow and it continues to be moderated. 

 

P.S. If you haven't tried Discord, I suggest that you give it a shot. It's definitely not for everyone but you might be surprised by how useful the platform can be, especially for niche hobbies like ant-keeping.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I agree with many of the points here, but I want to add some of my personal thoughts, mainly about Discord. I find Discord preferable to FC because of its fast pace and constant conversation. It is much easier to make a quick remark on Discord than write out a whole paragraph for FC. So it makes sense that people (especially younger people) will prefer this more fast-paced platform. Additionally, while it is nice to have informational guides on FC and it's true that it's easier to store these guides on FC than Discord, I prefer to get my ant info from Discord. When I was a beginner, I could simply ask a question in the appropriate channel and often get multiple answers. Sometimes I would be provided multiple points of view and different experiences which were extremally helpful. Though, on some occasions my questions would be ignored or covered up by others so it is not without faults. Another thing about Discord is that it allows for much closer connections than FC due to it being a more fast paced constant conversation. I personally have made many a friends with other ant-keepers through Discord. Nowadays I don't use Discord or FC much due to time constraints and lack of interest. But I think they are both great platforms that each have their own place in ant-keeping. And while FC does seem to be on a small decline, I am sure that it will continue on well enough as long as the hobby continues to grow and it continues to be moderated. 

 

P.S. If you haven't tried Discord, I suggest that you give it a shot. It's definitely not for everyone but you might be surprised by how useful the platform can be, especially for niche hobbies like ant-keeping.

 

See, this is exactly why I dislike discord. It's not great for storing information. It's more like an annoying sounding board with a bunch of bad information from 12 year olds. 

[Chickalo]

I read the first page and skimmed the rest, but I guess I'll give my food for thought.

 

First of all, the Discord vs Formiculture.

 

Discord, like many people said, is a faster paced platform.  When compared, Formiculture is like a town message board- people can post messages and maybe see some responses about it.  It takes longer but it's more professional, longer messages, etc.  If Formiculture is a message board then Discord is like the town center, lots of people talking at once, more casual.  Obviously, in newer years the town message board became less popular, buildings with flashier signs full of people are more likely to attract people than the wooden post with posts of paragraphs.  Overall, Discord is just an easier way to connect with people and ask simple questions than Formiculture.  Over the years, I've made more close friends on Discord than on here- but that's to be expected.  On here, there's a certain format to go by, there's proper grammar- it's more professional.  On Discord, however, it feels more casual, more like talking with close friends.  Alongside that, there's more leeway on Discord to talk about stupid/unrelated things than there is here, which is another appeal to Discord- being able to connect through other things than ants.

 

Of course, with that being said, there are things that Formiculture can do that Discord can't.  For instance, Formiculture is much better for posting journals.  You can do it on Discord, of course, but you also have a shorter text limit, people might flood out your comments, etc.  Formiculture is also better for posting research and discoveries, as discussing on that.  On Discord, I can't post a single picture of local ant without someone calling me out for having less interesting northern species.

 

Now, that being said, another thing is that there's kind of this awkward transition between ant journals and AntsCanada.  Sure, we have content like essays of how to keep species, or entertaining drama on YouTube, but there's a relative inability to keep up with what's popular, especially in a day and age when 30 second videos on TikTok are what bring things to be popular.  There's only so much you can squeeze into such a small increment of time, and alongside that you have to be funny?  On YouTube it would've been a doable feat, but due to how algorithm on things like TikTok work it's just not as favorable for the attention span of people today.  The hard truth is that scientific facts and a TikTok format just don't fit well together.  I'm sure if longer videos ever come back into popularity maybe ants could rise again, but until then we're just stuck in this awkward in between.  It also doesn't help that the US Government doesn't care about ants, causing laws that no effort was put into which often causes a topic of debate.

 

So yeah.  Sorry that it's a long read.

 

My condolences to those who can no longer enjoy the forum like they used to, and my best wishes to the community.

 

In Short:  The format of Formiculture isn't friendly to those of us with shorter attention spans, which I think is the root of the spammy messages problem.  Likewise, the format of Discord isn't friendly to those of us who want to show long documented posts.

Edited by Chickalo, January 27 2023 - 5:30 PM.

[Leo]

Been a member since 2016, and an insect keeper since 2010, I think its safe to say that many of the veteran keepers with high quality journals and equipment have simply lost interest and moved on or something of the sort. A few examples of this would be: CoolCoolJ, CrazyLegs, Connectimyrmex, and the list goes on.

That is not to say that new members and journals can't have the same quality as before, but when I first joined, there were at least a dozen, active, long-lasting, detailed journals and far more active and experienced members offering great advice + interactions, which just made this place a lot more enjoyable to stay. Unfortunately, this just doesn't seem to be the case anymore. This, paired with the emergence of faster-paced discord servers which appeal more to the younger (and newer) ant keepers means that formiculture is no longer the "main hub" of ant keeping that it once seemingly was. Regardless, this place holds a special place in my heart, and I do hope to see it back in its prime someday.

 

Every time I check in I also get a blast of nostalgia

[asim]

I am a kid here who is twelve but kids that make ridiculous posts for no reason should be banned until they are older

And one more thing about this prenny guy. A lot on new members on the forum are discouraged because when they join they are called prenny especially Floridians this happened to me and I almost left the forum but some people like United Ants helped me and encouraged me to stay. All I want to say is we should stop saying everyone is a prenny until they actually try to sell ants.