The Golden Age (Statistically) of PD: 2008

[POFP]

What the hell was it like, then? The counter at the bottom of the Home page says that there were once over 700 people online at once.

Which of you were here around that time, and what was the constant influx of visitors and new meat like?
Was there a trend in ideology and political sway?
And most importantly, what the FUCK caused a spike in activity like that?

I mean, I think I might have been lurking without a profile maybe a year or two after that time, and it was only a little more active than it is now.

[Faust]

The 782 people online (in one given 15-minute period, there were a lot more then that throughout the day), was when RAW was the front page article of Wikipedia.

Around 2008/2009 the forums were really active, the forum had been still buzzing on the honeymoon period after the last set of admins moved on after a particularly bad run. The Black Iron Prison project acted as sort of a tent pole, with a diverse range of personalities all working it, and it snowballing off into other ideas and so on, even apart from the highbrow discussion there was a lot of fun stuff going on.

There was a mix of political, philosophical, humourous, and analytical, not trends per say, if anything so many different personalities, so many different arguments, but it was all good.

We've had other projects since then that acted as a similar glue but these last few years have been really quiet. Partly I feel because of the changing nature of the medium (forum software is getting declining use compared to aggregates, social media, etc.).
Part of it may be cultural, a lot of discordianism really fit with the feelings and what was going on in the world, and part of it may be a lot of people grew up and have busy lives.

In 2008 I was single, worked in a supermarket and had loads of time to do stuff on the site, nowadays I'm lucky if I manage to get a weekend to relax let alone work on side stuff. I'm maintaining the server but not really doing anything creative with the systems, though I try to update the blog every few months whenever I see anything interesting in going on in the discordian community as a whole.
I'm still looking to encourage anyone who's interested in discordianism, and when I see people working on cool shit I want to see if I can help them, but I'm not really sure what I can do other then offer resources here, and push content and projects that have been created so they reach a wider audience.

[POFP]

The 782 people online (in one given 15-minute period, there were a lot more then that throughout the day), was when RAW was the front page article of Wikipedia.

Around 2008/2009 the forums were really active, the forum had been still buzzing on the honeymoon period after the last set of admins moved on after a particularly bad run. The Black Iron Prison project acted as sort of a tent pole, with a diverse range of personalities all working it, and it snowballing off into other ideas and so on, even apart from the highbrow discussion there was a lot of fun stuff going on.

There was a mix of political, philosophical, humourous, and analytical, not trends per say, if anything so many different personalities, so many different arguments, but it was all good.

We've had other projects since then that acted as a similar glue but these last few years have been really quiet. Partly I feel because of the changing nature of the medium (forum software is getting declining use compared to aggregates, social media, etc.).
Part of it may be cultural, a lot of discordianism really fit with the feelings and what was going on in the world, and part of it may be a lot of people grew up and have busy lives.

In 2008 I was single, worked in a supermarket and had loads of time to do stuff on the site, nowadays I'm lucky if I manage to get a weekend to relax let alone work on side stuff. I'm maintaining the server but not really doing anything creative with the systems, though I try to update the blog every few months whenever I see anything interesting in going on in the discordian community as a whole.
I'm still looking to encourage anyone who's interested in discordianism, and when I see people working on cool shit I want to see if I can help them, but I'm not really sure what I can do other then offer resources here, and push content and projects that have been created so they reach a wider audience.

Oh, that's awesome. I wouldn't have even thought that would cause such a huge spike.

Also, the admins thing interests me.

And yes, I think Social Media has by far dominated the communication scene in regards to debates on pretty much anything. But I find it IMPOSSIBLE to have some of the conversations I have here, on Facebook. For that, I appreciate your dedication to keeping this all alive, regardless of how quiet it gets.

And I get you on the being busy thing. I am pretty much never at the apartment I pay 500 a month to share, and sleep in a different bed every night (Bounces between two beds). I couldn't imagine even getting time to play video games for an hour, assuming I could sleep at my apartment every day for a week. The fact that you are able to put the time and effort into this that you do, is amazing.

Seriously, thank you. I'm quite sure we all appreciate it.

[Faust]

I appreciate the sentiments, but I do fuck all barred keeping the lights on, and fixing the odd thing here and there.

The previous admins thing was just before I came on the scene, Roger or ECH would be able to explain it better, I arrived in the aftermath of that when the forum had this awful key west pina collada theme, and about 1 post a week.

[POFP]

I appreciate the sentiments, but I do fuck all barred keeping the lights on, and fixing the odd thing here and there.

The previous admins thing was just before I came on the scene, Roger or ECH would be able to explain it better, I arrived in the aftermath of that when the forum had this awful key west pina collada theme, and about 1 post a week.

Even for a site based on Discord, a Key West Pina Collada theme is pretty disturbing.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

2008 was a weird year in general. Obama happened, and Anonymous, and there was a whole lot of this feeling of stretching after a long nap in an uncomfortable cave.

[Cainad (dec.)]

2008 was a weird year in general. Obama happened, and Anonymous, and there was a whole lot of this feeling of stretching after a long nap in an uncomfortable cave.

And then we were in an even bigger cave.



I oozed my way onto the forums in 2007, and by 2008 I was a full-blown PD.com Asshole Fuckface (as we were known by other Discordian forums, back when they existed).

I remember being a lot weirder and thinking about weird stuff a lot more in those days.

I basically transitioned from adolescence into psuedo-adulthood on PD.com. The damage can never be fully undone.

[LMNO]

I am horrified that I have been working in the same corporate megastructure as long as I have been here on PD.com.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I am horrified that I have been working in the same corporate megastructure as long as I have been here on PD.com.

This is exactly why I change jobs whenever the mood takes me.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

2008 was in fact the high point of PD, IMO.  Not the only good time, but the high point.  Some great writing, great music, and lots of horrible lore.

It really started to fall apart in October of 2009, at least for me.  It's still here, and it still has good stuff on it occasionally, but stand-alone forums as a whole all more or less died off that year.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

This was a weird party to show up late to, that's for sure.

[hooplala]

This was a weird party to show up late to, that's for sure.

It was always a weird party.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It was a good party because it was so weird.

I think a lot of us were in transitional places in our lives, and many of the former members transitioned out of using forums altogether. I had a lot of free time and money when I was first on the forum, and I think a lot of people had lots of free time so there was a lot of conversation, trolling, argument, drama, etc.

It was indeed the glory days of the board, and it was also happening just past the height of web forum use; all the really big forums I was on started to decline shortly thereafter.

[minuspace]

In total disregard, I allow myself this literary transgression, because I'll feel both, n/either, n/and/or damned iff I don't.

Ahab soon calculated what his latitude must be at that precise instant. Then falling into a moment's revery, he again looked up towards the sun and murmured to himself: "Thou sea-mark! thou high and mighty Pilot! thou tellest me truly where I am—but canst thou cast the least hint where I shall be? Or canst thou tell where some other thing besides me is this moment living? Where is Moby Dick? This instant thou must be eyeing him. These eyes of mine look into the very eye that is even now beholding him; aye, and into the eye that is even now equally beholding the objects on the unknown, thither side of thee, thou sun!"

[Salty]

In total disregard, I allow myself this literary transgression, because I'll feel both, n/either, n/and/or damned iff I don't.

Ahab soon calculated what his latitude must be at that precise instant. Then falling into a moment's revery, he again looked up towards the sun and murmured to himself: "Thou sea-mark! thou high and mighty Pilot! thou tellest me truly where I am—but canst thou cast the least hint where I shall be? Or canst thou tell where some other thing besides me is this moment living? Where is Moby Dick? This instant thou must be eyeing him. These eyes of mine look into the very eye that is even now beholding him; aye, and into the eye that is even now equally beholding the objects on the unknown, thither side of thee, thou sun!"