What kinds of things are we currently capable of?
What kinds of things would we be capable of if we were somehow different?
What kinds of thing would we like to be capable of?
answering my own questions-----------
Quote from: Cramulus on September 01, 2010, 04:16:21 PM
What kinds of things are we currently capable of?
We come up with a lot of ideas. Many of them are very sharp, addressing political, social, and religious rigidity.
We're pretty good at putting together Discordian documents.
We're pretty good at being a network that helps round out people's odd creative talents. If you're looking to create a document and you only know how to write, you can probably find a graphic guy and a layout guy here.
QuoteWhat kinds of things would we be capable of if we were somehow different?
I would like to see us get better at distributing the things we create. This may involve fine tuning our collective process to create media which will be rapidly transmitted and absorbed. (for example, getting better at making pamphlets, explosive images, etc)
I want to revisit two ideas relating to this
- PD's Automatic Imageblog (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=26019.0)
- Telarus had an idea that we should change pd.com/blog into an aggregator for various Discordian blogs and feeds
QuoteWhat kinds of thing would we like to be capable of?
I would like to gather Discordians here and arm them with tools they can use to transform the world.
I want more ways for non-Discordians to find out that they've really been Discordians all along.
I want to do projects which influence the larger world, not just the one in my neighborhood. This may be larger scale pranks, or just becoming the authority on adventures in modern living.
No, this forum is not. The people on it might be, though.
Quote from: Nigel on September 01, 2010, 05:15:42 PM
No, this forum is not. The people on it might be, though.
right, an internet forum is just a piece of software. But you can tell what I was actually asking, yes?
I think our ideas can have very real and tangible impacts on the real world. I know for my part I've woven in elements of our BIP discussions/theories/etc. into my work. Granted, I don't use Discordian cliches or terminology, but the root philosophy and idea is there.
So yeah, I think our ideas have very real potential for very real impact.
What's the roadblock? Critical mass, and lack thereof. And i think this gets back to the idea of The Machine and the fact that we can never really change The Machine. It's too big. But perhaps what we can do is in our own everyday lives and worlds, effect some kind of change on some of the tiny individual cogs of The Machine. And perhaps, if they link up just right, it can become a bit more amplified.
But, I also think that whatever impact we can have will be unattributable to us. Just because if the ideas come from us, the Discordians Us, people would never get past the "Well WTF is a Discordian? Are you fo realz? You need help!"
So whatever impact we can have will largely, if not wholly, be anonymous.
Quote from: Cramulus on September 01, 2010, 05:22:52 PM
Quote from: Nigel on September 01, 2010, 05:15:42 PM
No, this forum is not. The people on it might be, though.
right, an internet forum is just a piece of software. But you can tell what I was actually asking, yes?
My answer is more sincere than you think. The forum is not the software; the forum is the collective of users. Without the users, the software is just an empty venue, not a forum.
Some of the individuals who make up this forum may, and probably will, go on to change the world. The forum itself may influence and act as a sounding board for those individuals, but it will not change the world, no.
I agree with Nigel. Individuals may do something, but when it comes to the real world I dunno if enough of the 'collective' would be willing play in the realpolitik and compromise that would be necessary to influence the tribes of monkeys. I mean, we're a great sounding board for each other... but overall we don't seem to behave in a way that a Think Tank or Policy Center or a Community Program or any of the sorts of groups that impact society do. Not a bad thing, just not the klind of thing that seems likely to change the world IMO.
just to be clear, i'm not looking for a yes-or-no answer so much as I want to highlight possible channels for action/output and discuss how we can improve those channels. (ignore the subject line, see the three questions in the OP)
This forum has done a TON of cool stuff in the years I've been here. Some people may not understand the potential / kinetic energy which is somewhat unique to this forum -- I want to make that energy more explicit / accessible.
The three questions in the OP read like corporate motivational training and are so nebulous as to be functionally meaningless.
What are we capable of? Here in the forum, basically, bouncing ideas off each other and planning projects.
What could we be capable of if we were somehow different? ??? I don't know, maybe we would be telepathic or be able to fly? Depends on how we were different.
What kinds of things would we like to be capable of? I personally would like to be able to invent teleportation. I don't know about the rest of you.
Quote from: Nigel on September 01, 2010, 06:46:33 PM
The three questions in the OP read like corporate motivational training and are so nebulous as to be functionally meaningless.
What are we capable of? Here in the forum, basically, bouncing ideas off each other and planning projects.
What could we be capable of if we were somehow different? ??? I don't know, maybe we would be telepathic or be able to fly? Depends on how we were different.
What kinds of things would we like to be capable of? I personally would like to be able to invent teleportation. I don't know about the rest of you.
As long as it involves opening up portals rather than deconstructing me and sending the information to another place, I'm down.
Quote from: Doktor Blight on September 01, 2010, 06:51:17 PM
Quote from: Nigel on September 01, 2010, 06:46:33 PM
The three questions in the OP read like corporate motivational training and are so nebulous as to be functionally meaningless.
What are we capable of? Here in the forum, basically, bouncing ideas off each other and planning projects.
What could we be capable of if we were somehow different? ??? I don't know, maybe we would be telepathic or be able to fly? Depends on how we were different.
What kinds of things would we like to be capable of? I personally would like to be able to invent teleportation. I don't know about the rest of you.
As long as it involves opening up portals rather than deconstructing me and sending the information to another place, I'm down.
Oh, yeah, portal teleportation is definitely the only way to go!
:D
They're open ended questions meant to spur discussion.
If we were like
- we could do [y]. So you fill in the x and the y.
For example, my suggestion around critical mass.
If we (Discordians) were [a larger but still well connected group] we could [accomplish better message saturation and penetration].
What kind of things would we like to be capable of? I think we want to be capable of spreading our ideas in a way that both catches people's attention, but doesn't do so in a style or manner that would cause us to be easily dismissed as crazies or kooks. It needs to be clever but intelligent.
So when you boil it down I think it's about enhancing our capacity when it comes to social marketing. That probably involves connections and certainly involves networking with folks who have the time and energy to put into projects.
I think one of the things we have an issue with here is we have a lot of good thinkers. Unfortunately, we don't really have enough doers. And I say that not in terms of not wanting to do things, but not having the time to do things, and that is the situation I'm in.
This isn't really a NEW topic; I go through this process every six months or so - take a look at the forum, see if it helps me accomplish my goals, try to draw attention to vectors for change. This fine-tuning and self-examination is helpful for the growth of any mastermind group.
Let me try answering two of these questions in a different way, maybe it'll be more clear.
What have we done? A lot more than just "bouncing ideas around"!
We're decent at creating new media and rallying points for Discordians.
-the black iron prison, etc
-Intermittens
-posters, posters, posters
-one line meme bombs
-we've succeeded at a few pranks which require cooperation and collaboration
-our network has grown out of the digital world. Many have met each other in the flesh. In many places, cabals have formed after meeting online here.
What could we be capable of if we were somehow different?
-We could be more efficient in the platforms we create for people to find out about Eris. ie, BETTER magazines, BETTER posters, etc
-Tapping into different forms of media.. for example there are very few good videos about Discordia on youtube. Hoopla's are the best ones that come to mind, they take ideas we've hashed out and explain them in very clear language
-we're not really good at larger publications - like books - unless one person champions it
-I wish there was a way to organize ourselves into smaller task-oriented groups. If I want to put together a pamphlet, I could always start a thread about it and anybody who wants in can participate. But that's not always the best way to work on a collaborative project. LMNO and I have been working on the Chao te Ching for months - we eventually found that we could work more efficiently away from PD, communicating via PM and workshopping content via wiki. There may be software available which facilitates projects better than the forum's normal structure.
(http://www.principiadiscordia.com/book/images/NewStory.gif)
Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name? on September 01, 2010, 07:04:39 PM
If we (Discordians) were [a larger but still well connected group] we could [accomplish better message saturation and penetration].
What kind of things would we like to be capable of? I think we want to be capable of spreading our ideas in a way that both catches people's attention, but doesn't do so in a style or manner that would cause us to be easily dismissed as crazies or kooks. It needs to be clever but intelligent.
Critical mass is definitely a big component of potential influence.
One of the factors which makes it hard to talk about Discordia is how indefinite it is -- there are no rules, no dogma, so we end up having trouble talking about how we should go about stuff. I personally don't want to tell anybody they're doing it wrong if they're doing what they love.
One idea I've been kicking around is that maybe we should take the PD brand of Discordia and brand it as a coherent package, in the same way that Greg and Kerry divided the Discordian Society into POEE and the Erisians, and anybody that didn't jive with either sect could be part of the LDD. We could outline our ideas in a very straightfaced way without worrying about betraying some Discordian meta-rule or alienating existing Discordians.
This can contain sign posts to go check out the Principia or other works. Because I agree, i think a more people would be into Discordian ideas/attitudes but they're not receptive to the "joke religion" meme.
For example, is Eris real? We have a variety of opinions about this topic here at PD. We sort of have a rough consensus. (judging from the polls) This is a very agnostic community, and I think we could explain how to relate to an imaginary construct in a more palatable way than our neopagan discordian cousins.
QuoteSo when you boil it down I think it's about enhancing our capacity when it comes to social marketing. That probably involves connections and certainly involves networking with folks who have the time and energy to put into projects.
Maybe we can recruit some more high profile people -- like Cory Doctorow -- who are already hip to our ideas and might like being given some kind of silly title.
QuoteI think one of the things we have an issue with here is we have a lot of good thinkers. Unfortunately, we don't really have enough doers. And I say that not in terms of not wanting to do things, but not having the time to do things, and that is the situation I'm in.
fuckin troof. Part of the motivation for nearly every project I start here at PD is to demonstrate just how easy/fun it is to start something and then ride it for all its worth. I am always super psyched when somebody like Dimo shows up, gets infected with the energy, and then actually goes into the world and starts shaking stuff up. I want more of that!
going back to both my second post ITT (the part about the pd/blog) and RWHN's critical mass note:
I think that having a media platform which exists OUTSIDE OF THE FORUM will help a lot of this.
1) it'll help us focus on creating media for that platform. Over time, we'll organize ourselves to better do that.
2) it'll provide an entry point for outsiders to find us
we've had a group blog before, but something about it didn't work. I think our content was awesome, the problem was that we only had like 3 people producing it. Rather than explicitly trying to create a blog, maybe we need a broader platform which everybody feels like they own.
PD isn't going to change the world.
But some of its members might.
I like this idea of a media platform. I've been canning video and audio rants for some time now, but the project for which I was doing this failed to materialize. Don't know if they'll change the world, but I'm willing to try to do my part.
Yeah, possibly. To a small degree. Most won't listen.
The distinction I was trying to make is the same as the one Dok made; The forum is a forum. Its value is in its ability to bring forum members and ideas together. The forum doesn't DO anything; members of the forum do things, brought together by this venue. It enables collaboration. The forum is a platform for a meeting of minds; nothing more, nothing less. The minds and ideas that are here are what attract and influence new members.
You cannot motivate "the forum" to do something, because the forum is not an entity. What you can do is engage members of the forum.
What can we do? I don't know. What do YOU want to do? Are you doing it?
The word "forum" is just shorthand for this social network and the things its structured around (Dok's "five pillars"). I've updated the thread's subject line to further clarify my intent.
I guess what I am doing is steadfastly maintaining my independence from the idea of community-as-organism. If I am part of a community organism, it is the one I am physically local to. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm a free agent, not a team player.
I find PD.com a fun place to hang out, but I don't get the AWESOME ENERGY vibe that Cram does... I mean honestly, we seem to behave like normal primates doing normal primate things (me included). Our debates tend to be the same debates with the same people making the same arguments... or shoehorning the same arguments if the topic is close enough (me included). Energy here for new projects seems to run like energy I've seen in Linux/Open Source communities, or SCA communities or InfoSec communities where an idea gets hyped, lots of cool stuff explodes across the community and four or five months later there are two guys struggling to make the idea work while everyone else is off doing whatever it is that they do. I don't think that's particularly bad, just that its not something unique and special for this forum.
But maybe I'm just old and jaded. :)
Quote from: Nigel on September 01, 2010, 10:04:54 PM
I guess what I am doing is steadfastly maintaining my independence from the idea of community-as-organism. If I am part of a community organism, it is the one I am physically local to. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm a free agent, not a team player.
I'D LIKE A COMMUNITY ORGANISM.
Oh, wait.
Anyway, I'm both a team player and an individual, as the occasion warrants. I'm down with doing something. I mean, I've been waiting for 8 years for something resembling a concerted effort.
Remember Dok's "five pillars of Discordia"? while I respect that some of you are here for mainly social reasons, some of us are here to do projects. I started this thread to talk to those guys -- like dimo and nephew twiddleson, who are still excited about collaboration.
Speaking for myself and I suspect a lot of others around here, I want to be doing cool stuff that's worth telling other people about, and I actively use this forum as a resource to that end. I see it that way due to my experiences here - this forum has channeled a lot of awesome energy through my life. There are probably other forums out there where this is possible, but none of them are about Discordia.
Our creative processes can be examined and made more efficient. That is the aim of this thread.
If you think this forum isn't useful for that, or that's not why you're here, that's cool. But kindly GTFO MY THREAD AND STOP VAMPING OTHER PEOPLE'S ENERGY.
seriously, every time I start a thread like this, I spent most of the time trying to justify why I might want to talk about this stuff. Sometimes I do wonder why I even fucking bother trying to use this place as a creative platform, thank you guys for reminding me of that.
Um, okay.
If you didn't want the videos and MP3s, you could have just said so.
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:49:25 AM
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Oh, okay.
Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it. I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.
do you think principaidiscordia.com/blog is the right spot? We could get everybody back into the habit of jizzing stuff over there?
Quote from: Doktor Howl on September 02, 2010, 02:51:47 AM
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:49:25 AM
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Oh, okay.
Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it. I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.
Woot!
I'd be happy to lend a hand on any projects. I'm a good writer, and I've done some decent work with Photoshop, and more recently Open-office Draw. I'm also a pretty fast learner. Send me a PM if you want my assistance on something.
Also, I've been thinking of trying to expand PulpGASM, with Dok's permission, since he's the one who started it. So if anyone wants to help with that too, send me (or Dok if he's interested) a PM.
I'm all for trying to do more with this forum. There's the potential to achieve great things here.
Also, what is this blog of which you speak? Sounds like it was before my time.
Quote from: Mistress Freeky, HRN on September 02, 2010, 02:57:49 AM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on September 02, 2010, 02:51:47 AM
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:49:25 AM
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Oh, okay.
Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it. I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.
Woot!
Also, Frank. :lulz:
Quote from: Dr. James Semaj on September 02, 2010, 02:59:12 AM
Also, I've been thinking of trying to expand PulpGASM, with Dok's permission, since he's the one who started it. So if anyone wants to help with that too, send me (or Dok if he's interested) a PM.
GO! DO THAT SHIT!
I've just been too damned busy with 12 hour days to do shit. That should end next week.
QuoteGO! DO THAT SHIT!
I've just been too damned busy with 12 hour days to do shit. That should end next week.
Cool! I sent you a PM about what kind of thing I'm thinking of doing.
Will try and lay some groundwork tomorrow.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on September 02, 2010, 03:02:14 AM
Quote from: Mistress Freeky, HRN on September 02, 2010, 02:57:49 AM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on September 02, 2010, 02:51:47 AM
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:49:25 AM
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Oh, okay.
Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it. I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.
Woot!
Also, Frank. :lulz:
YES.
You guys are gonna love this. Frank is a GENIUS.
He's in one of the "network" podcasts.
"We care about people. Just not you."
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:37:54 AM
Remember Dok's "five pillars of Discordia"? while I respect that some of you are here for mainly social reasons, some of us are here to do projects. I started this thread to talk to those guys -- like dimo and nephew twiddleson, who are still excited about collaboration.
Speaking for myself and I suspect a lot of others around here, I want to be doing cool stuff that's worth telling other people about, and I actively use this forum as a resource to that end. I see it that way due to my experiences here - this forum has channeled a lot of awesome energy through my life. There are probably other forums out there where this is possible, but none of them are about Discordia.
Our creative processes can be examined and made more efficient. That is the aim of this thread.
If you think this forum isn't useful for that, or that's not why you're here, that's cool. But kindly GTFO MY THREAD AND STOP VAMPING OTHER PEOPLE'S ENERGY.
seriously, every time I start a thread like this, I spent most of the time trying to justify why I might want to talk about this stuff. Sometimes I do wonder why I even fucking bother trying to use this place as a creative platform, thank you guys for reminding me of that.
Maybe you should have been clear about
that at the beginning of the thread, instead of being extremely vague and general, addressing everyone at large, and then pitching a hissy when "the right" people didn't read your mind and respond exactly as you wanted.
Anyway, from now on when you start a thread I will assume that I'm the Wrong Kind of Discordian to reply to it, even if you don't make yourself clear at the outset.
Professor-
Are your aims to accomplish something that could be implemented moreso in meatspace (ie: Postergasm material, Pirate Pass-off)
or are you leaning more toward things that are better spread across the internet (podcasts and such)?
I prefer the former, just because of the audience I'm trying to reach. The school I go to provides me with targets who are about as rigid as they come in terms of politics, social circles and religious backgrounds (southern old money conservatives) and I attribute the kinds of successes I've had on campus due how blindsided my targets are when they encounter something I'm left around campus or have passed off.
Something I've noticed is that people who aren't in on the joke tend to be immune to things like Postergasm. While you might get a "That's so weird", the message won't go much deeper than that. How to get new ideas into people's heads, and have them actually think about it is a problem I would like to tackle.
Whoa. What?
Looking for ideas is not critisism.
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:49:25 AM
hm what?
ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.
I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.
Oh, really? It seems to me like you COMPLETELY missed my point.
But apparently I don't contribute, so it doesn't matter. I'm just an energy vampire who only uses the board for personal projects, and pointing out that the accomplishments achieved by people here are accomplishments of the PEOPLE and not of the FORUM makes me not the kind of person you want to collaborate with.
Sorry I read your words, and not your intention behind the words, and responded to what I read instead of to what you MEANT TO SAY.
Hawk,
outta here.
QuoteOh, really? It seems to me like you COMPLETELY missed my point.
I think the problem is that both of you misunderstood each other.
Quote
They're open ended questions meant to spur discussion.
This is why the questions were framed the way they were. The idea (I think) was to try and get ideas cooking.
Nigel, I think I get what you were saying. You were trying to explain that it was the people rather than the forum which produced the idea.
Cram (I think), got angry because it sounded like you were being defeatist about the purpose of this thread, which is why he said what he said.
None of this is really a big deal. It's an argument fueled by misunderstanding and semantics. It would be really cool if this thread wasn't killed over something that wasn't even a big deal.
Dr. James Semaj
Really hoping he didn't make things worse.
I'd really rather Cram and Nigel didn't fight.
Do not make me resort to terrorism.
Too many good ideas get wrecked over these online shouting matches. Plus, you guys are friends! I mean, sure, any good friendship includes the occasional knock out drag out fight, but this is just...pointless.
Oh, and I'm calling it a night. Talk to you in the morning folks. Hope things are doing better.
Quote from: Nigel on September 02, 2010, 03:16:03 AM
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 02:37:54 AM
Remember Dok's "five pillars of Discordia"? while I respect that some of you are here for mainly social reasons, some of us are here to do projects. I started this thread to talk to those guys -- like dimo and nephew twiddleson, who are still excited about collaboration.
Speaking for myself and I suspect a lot of others around here, I want to be doing cool stuff that's worth telling other people about, and I actively use this forum as a resource to that end. I see it that way due to my experiences here - this forum has channeled a lot of awesome energy through my life. There are probably other forums out there where this is possible, but none of them are about Discordia.
Our creative processes can be examined and made more efficient. That is the aim of this thread.
If you think this forum isn't useful for that, or that's not why you're here, that's cool. But kindly GTFO MY THREAD AND STOP VAMPING OTHER PEOPLE'S ENERGY.
seriously, every time I start a thread like this, I spent most of the time trying to justify why I might want to talk about this stuff. Sometimes I do wonder why I even fucking bother trying to use this place as a creative platform, thank you guys for reminding me of that.
Maybe you should have been clear about that at the beginning of the thread, instead of being extremely vague and general, addressing everyone at large, and then pitching a hissy when "the right" people didn't read your mind and respond exactly as you wanted.
I thought it was pretty clear when I read it. Even before he made the edits to help make it clearer to you and Rat. These are discussions that have come up time and again over the years since we've all been here. I think it is a good discussion to have to sort of take inventory of what capacity we have here, what additional capacity we need, and then, what do we do with that capacity.
Quote from: Risus on September 02, 2010, 03:18:33 AM
Are your aims to accomplish something that could be implemented moreso in meatspace (ie: Postergasm material, Pirate Pass-off)
or are you leaning more toward things that are better spread across the internet (podcasts and such)?
that's definitely a good topic for discussion.
If the goal is to infect people with Eris, where
are our energies both spent?
social media logic suggests that we need both meatspace and digital efforts.
Speaking for myself, I like to create resources and tools that people can use in real life. One of the reasons I championed POSTERGASM is because I wanted newcomers to have an
activity they could do and feel a real sense of participation. And this particular form of participation is a beacon to other likeminded weirdos.
QuoteSomething I've noticed is that people who aren't in on the joke tend to be immune to things like Postergasm. While you might get a "That's so weird", the message won't go much deeper than that. How to get new ideas into people's heads, and have them actually think about it is a problem I would like to tackle.
a few of the postergasm packs are based on this exact question. It's a great question -- one we should be revisiting constantly.
Volume Dingus, for example, is based on the idea of putting up things which are subtly incongruous with the average pedestrian's expectations. My thinking was that if you see something that clearly does not belong, this would make you question what it's doing there. And if you start to think about why somebody would waste their calories putting up joke posters all around the neighborhood, it shifts you to a different frame of reference. A large part of it is resisting capitalist programming, the idea that something is only legitimate if there's money involved.
Then Calvinball followed - which is largely about trying to generate the illusion of a giant game. It suggests that maybe there is a really fun layer of reality hidden right in front of your face.
But there are certainly other ways to approach this problem. I'd love to hear more riffs on that note.
Last time we had this discussion (re: how to collectively get better at making cool stuff), one of the things which came up is that many of our successful projects involve collecting and organizing resources we create for fun. The Fat Eris Cook book, for example, was based on the observation that there are tons of great recipes lying aorund, and wouldn't it be cool if it were a PDF you could have in your kitchen?
This method tends to work better than coming up with a concept and then asking people to write for it. For example, there was a project on this board called LOLLERCAUST which has been started and dropped probably a half dozen times. We had a concept for lollercaust before we ever had material for it. And then the material we generated didn't reach the goal we had stated.
By examining past creative processes, we're better able to understand what kinds of projects take off.
So let's think... what happened to the fat eris cookbook? We had tons of great energy there and then it vanished. Well at a certain point, every project needs a champion, somebody who's willing to collect all the pieces and format them. I think it was Pariah who was masterminding that project? Eventually he lost interest (for whatever reason), and it's sat dormant since then.
What if, when he realized that he was losing steam, he passed it off to somebody else? If he'd posted the layout files he'd been working on, I wonder if somebody else would have picked them up.
Maybe that's something to explore..
Quote from: Doktor Alphapance on March 31, 2009, 02:43:43 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on March 31, 2009, 02:36:48 PM
what about distribution? -- we can easily distribute it to the forum, but what about after that? How do we connect this idea with us being egotistical blowhards who like to see our thoughts in print?
If we can find a solution to this, most of the other problems will seem minor.
Quote from: Cain on March 31, 2009, 03:32:33 PM
We should really see if we can contact people in the current internet counterculture - groups like the former Technoccult site (now Renegade Futurist), Alterati (good for creative projects), the PDX Occulture lot...and work from there. The first two in particular churn out links and promotions like nobodies business, and with the added bonus of attracting our sort of crowd.
I misunderstood the question and I will excuse myself from the rest of the thread. No offense mean, Cramulus!!
Sorry!
I don't know that problems with unfinished/unrealized projects is entirely a lack of internal process. We tend to work really well without very little clash or lack of action when the energy is good. If a project loses energy, you can pass it off as many times as you want but it is the collective energy that keeps it going.
I think the collective energy dissipates because of a lack of defined direction/goals, and hence a lack of results. And every new project becomes harder to start on purpose without waiting for that collective energy to spark again spontaneously, because the last string of projects amounted to nothing.
I think affecting the public is good for its own sake, but results in that arena will also give us more energy and ideas for new projects. So maybe the idea of "Growing" discordia should be redefined - maybe this isn't about getting new people to call themselves Discordians, but about making bigger waves in popular culture just for the sake of getting a kick out of it and energizing us to keep doing it. I think a natural result of that will be more people calling themselves Discordians anyway.
Cram's posts have answered a couple of questions that I've had about projects. For example one question I had was "do we do stuff to bring people to Discordia, to make them think, to shake them out of their drudgery or for a larf?" The answer is all of the above and I like that.
I like EggGASM a lot, for example. It's easy to do, fun to do, and is a weird little present for the person who finds it. I like doing it when it's not Easter time since it adds to the oddness. I did try it at a St. Patrick's Day party. Unfortunately my audience wasn't particularly imaginative and the only one they thought was funny was one that asked if having sex with your clone was masturbation. All the other ones just kinda went over their head. One of them also said that whoever wrote them must be a chick or gay because the handwritting was too neat. I still had fun with it though, since everyone wondered what the hell was going on.
Anyway, part of what I like about the projects here is that it gives me an opportunity to do something fun and shake me out of my own drudgery. But if I can make my participation more effective, all the better. Like others have said the "Oh that's weird. Hmmm." Problem is something that would be good for us to figure out how to fix.
Quote from: vexati0n on September 02, 2010, 06:32:00 PM
I don't know that problems with unfinished/unrealized projects is entirely a lack of internal process. We tend to work really well without very little clash or lack of action when the energy is good. If a project loses energy, you can pass it off as many times as you want but it is the collective energy that keeps it going.
I think the collective energy dissipates because of a lack of defined direction/goals, and hence a lack of results. And every new project becomes harder to start on purpose without waiting for that collective energy to spark again spontaneously, because the last string of projects amounted to nothing.
I think affecting the public is good for its own sake, but results in that arena will also give us more energy and ideas for new projects. So maybe the idea of "Growing" discordia should be redefined - maybe this isn't about getting new people to call themselves Discordians, but about making bigger waves in popular culture just for the sake of getting a kick out of it and energizing us to keep doing it. I think a natural result of that will be more people calling themselves Discordians anyway.
You can't make a Discordian overnight. I heard about Discordianism years before I decided to adopt it.
I refuse to participate in any group projects from now on because apparently, if I respond in a way that challenges what Cram wants to hear, or indicate that I know anything about how people's minds and creativity work, I become one of the Undesirables and unworthy of recognition.
Have fun with your vision of Discordia as corporate entity!
Cram- despite what misunderstandings have arisen in this thread, I like it, because it's causing me to examine the purpose Discordia has for me, and how I can better use it. Plus, it's a nice motivator.
Quote from: Nigel on September 02, 2010, 07:12:39 PM
I refuse to participate in any group projects from now on because apparently, if I respond in a way that challenges what Cram wants to hear, or indicate that I know anything about how people's minds and creativity work, I become one of the Undesirables and unworthy of recognition.
Have fun with your vision of Discordia as corporate entity!
whatever
it's not like I was unclear about what the point of this thread was. I answered the questions in the OP
twice ITT to get the ball rolling in the direction I wanted to discuss. Other people seem to be getting it just fine.
Historically, whenever somebody starts a thread like this, you've been very vocal that you don't want to be organized or challenged, and that you'd be freaked out if some of us had stated goals and objectives. That's cool, nobody's twisting your arm into sharing those goals or playing along. But you are sucking wind out of people's sails by objecting whenever people want to talk about THEIR goals or how we can get better at accomplishing them.
If you started a thread because you wanted to talk about a specific topic, wouldn't it frustrate you if I kept posting in that thread about how that topic is meaningless and I don't want to discuss it?
Now you're all "I refuse to participate in any group projects from now on" because I don't want to engage you while you're actively working against me? meh, sour grapes!
We've had this problem before. Back when we were starting to have some energy around PD 06 which then became BIP, etc., there was some consternation among some long-timers about organized Discordia. What was unfortunate was that some of those people decided to just take their ball and go elsewhere *cough*EB&G*cough*. Not everyone on pd.com HAS to be involved in projects. I know, as much as I would like to be, I likely won't because I can't commit the time. But, that doesn't mean we can't at least encourage those who can and want to and offer some positive input into what they want to achieve. I really do admire Cram's motivation and commitment to finding projects and avenues for spreading Discordia to broader audiences. Nobody really knows about us and so it does require somewhat broad thinking and thus some broad questions and from there hone in on what we can and want to focus on.
Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying "Good on you Cram, keep up the good work!"
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 03:41:33 PM
Quote from: Risus on September 02, 2010, 03:18:33 AM
Are your aims to accomplish something that could be implemented moreso in meatspace (ie: Postergasm material, Pirate Pass-off)
or are you leaning more toward things that are better spread across the internet (podcasts and such)?
that's definitely a good topic for discussion. If the goal is to infect people with Eris, where are our energies both spent?
social media logic suggests that we need both meatspace and digital efforts.
Speaking for myself, I like to create resources and tools that people can use in real life. One of the reasons I championed POSTERGASM is because I wanted newcomers to have an activity they could do and feel a real sense of participation. And this particular form of participation is a beacon to other likeminded weirdos.
QuoteSomething I've noticed is that people who aren't in on the joke tend to be immune to things like Postergasm. While you might get a "That's so weird", the message won't go much deeper than that. How to get new ideas into people's heads, and have them actually think about it is a problem I would like to tackle.
a few of the postergasm packs are based on this exact question. It's a great question -- one we should be revisiting constantly.
Volume Dingus, for example, is based on the idea of putting up things which are subtly incongruous with the average pedestrian's expectations. My thinking was that if you see something that clearly does not belong, this would make you question what it's doing there. And if you start to think about why somebody would waste their calories putting up joke posters all around the neighborhood, it shifts you to a different frame of reference. A large part of it is resisting capitalist programming, the idea that something is only legitimate if there's money involved.
Then Calvinball followed - which is largely about trying to generate the illusion of a giant game. It suggests that maybe there is a really fun layer of reality hidden right in front of your face.
But there are certainly other ways to approach this problem. I'd love to hear more riffs on that note.
Maybe the way to approach the problem of people immediately dismissing the 'weirdness" would be to try a bait and switch. The Volume Dingus was halfway there, I think. The picture allowed it to blend in with "accepted" posters, while the text was gibberish.
Maybe if there were two part posters, or signs that, while seemingly harmless and not weird, would invite
suckers people to false meetings or to other locations with increasingly stranger signs.
I'm going to fine tune this idea, and get something workable going.
Quote from: Ratatosk on September 02, 2010, 06:07:42 PM
I misunderstood the question and I will excuse myself from the rest of the thread. No offense mean, Cramulus!!
Sorry!
:argh!:
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 08:22:23 PM
Quote from: Nigel on September 02, 2010, 07:12:39 PM
I refuse to participate in any group projects from now on because apparently, if I respond in a way that challenges what Cram wants to hear, or indicate that I know anything about how people's minds and creativity work, I become one of the Undesirables and unworthy of recognition.
Have fun with your vision of Discordia as corporate entity!
whatever
it's not like I was unclear about what the point of this thread was. I answered the questions in the OP twice ITT to get the ball rolling in the direction I wanted to discuss. Other people seem to be getting it just fine.
Historically, whenever somebody starts a thread like this, you've been very vocal that you don't want to be organized or challenged, and that you'd be freaked out if some of us had stated goals and objectives. That's cool, nobody's twisting your arm into sharing those goals or playing along. But you are sucking wind out of people's sails by objecting whenever people want to talk about THEIR goals or how we can get better at accomplishing them.
If you started a thread because you wanted to talk about a specific topic, wouldn't it frustrate you if I kept posting in that thread about how that topic is meaningless and I don't want to discuss it?
Now you're all "I refuse to participate in any group projects from now on" because I don't want to engage you while you're actively working against me? meh, sour grapes!
I wasn't actively working against you. You posed some pretty vague questions, I responded with my thoughts based on the questions you wrote, and you got shitty, insulting, and defensive. That's where I'm at, now; you made it pretty clear that I'm a board nigger if I differ from your way of thinking. You went back and clarified, but that didn't fix your insult-slinging hissy fit that I didn't read your mind and fall in line in the first place, nor your implication that I don't contribute to or lead any group projects.
I'm still not saying that group projects don't work. I am, however, saying that you could stand to tighten it up and address the people, instead of pulling this "we" shit and then lambasting everyone who thinks differently.
I don't even know what you mean by "sour grapes". I have my own projects; many of them include groups of people. I just do them. It's not like I feel like I'm missing out because I'm not into LARP.
Quote from: Risus on September 02, 2010, 09:02:25 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on September 02, 2010, 03:41:33 PM
Quote from: Risus on September 02, 2010, 03:18:33 AM
Are your aims to accomplish something that could be implemented moreso in meatspace (ie: Postergasm material, Pirate Pass-off)
or are you leaning more toward things that are better spread across the internet (podcasts and such)?
that's definitely a good topic for discussion. If the goal is to infect people with Eris, where are our energies both spent?
social media logic suggests that we need both meatspace and digital efforts.
Speaking for myself, I like to create resources and tools that people can use in real life. One of the reasons I championed POSTERGASM is because I wanted newcomers to have an activity they could do and feel a real sense of participation. And this particular form of participation is a beacon to other likeminded weirdos.
QuoteSomething I've noticed is that people who aren't in on the joke tend to be immune to things like Postergasm. While you might get a "That's so weird", the message won't go much deeper than that. How to get new ideas into people's heads, and have them actually think about it is a problem I would like to tackle.
a few of the postergasm packs are based on this exact question. It's a great question -- one we should be revisiting constantly.
Volume Dingus, for example, is based on the idea of putting up things which are subtly incongruous with the average pedestrian's expectations. My thinking was that if you see something that clearly does not belong, this would make you question what it's doing there. And if you start to think about why somebody would waste their calories putting up joke posters all around the neighborhood, it shifts you to a different frame of reference. A large part of it is resisting capitalist programming, the idea that something is only legitimate if there's money involved.
Then Calvinball followed - which is largely about trying to generate the illusion of a giant game. It suggests that maybe there is a really fun layer of reality hidden right in front of your face.
But there are certainly other ways to approach this problem. I'd love to hear more riffs on that note.
Maybe the way to approach the problem of people immediately dismissing the 'weirdness" would be to try a bait and switch. The Volume Dingus was halfway there, I think. The picture allowed it to blend in with "accepted" posters, while the text was gibberish.
Maybe if there were two part posters, or signs that, while seemingly harmless and not weird, would invite suckers people to false meetings or to other locations with increasingly stranger signs.
I'm going to fine tune this idea, and get something workable going.
A Discordian scavenger hunt! That's awesome!
This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).
I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum. I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest. I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project. I don't want to only 'shake things up' – I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something. I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them. I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it. I want change, and I want other people to want change. Anyway. I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time.
Welcome noob. Pool's on the roof.
Awesome, xickass! Welcome
Quote from: Xicked on September 03, 2010, 10:39:32 AM
This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).
I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum. I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest. I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project. I don't want to only 'shake things up' – I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something. I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them. I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it. I want change, and I want other people to want change. Anyway. I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time.
wait wait wait
you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?
i feel so exposed.
Quote from: vexati0n on September 03, 2010, 12:33:56 PM
Quote from: Xicked on September 03, 2010, 10:39:32 AM
This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).
I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum. I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest. I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project. I don't want to only 'shake things up' – I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something. I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them. I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it. I want change, and I want other people to want change. Anyway. I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time.
wait wait wait
you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?
i feel so exposed.
Exhilarating, isn't it? :wink:
:lulz:
suddenly I feel like this forum can help us accomplish posting naked pictures of ourselves.
Quote from: vexati0n on September 03, 2010, 04:11:16 PM
suddenly I feel like this forum can help us accomplish posting naked pictures of ourselves.
I was totally ready to offer some ideas, but I think I'm throwing all my support behind this one.
I have some thoughts though.
There's a lot of stories (main ones I've heard have been from Masons or Forresters) with basic variations on the theme;
I was [doing something] when [bad thing happened] then [person] did [something nice] after having noticed my [identifing symbol that I belonged to a certain group].
The main one was Forresters who were given a free flight upgrade from their Forrester flight person.
So I'd like to see a real movement of Discordians being really able to help eachother out in this way. The main requirement is thoguh that people become successfull in life beyond Discordianism. So this one's moot in some ways, but it's an attitude that I've already seen, and this we should foster.
ALSO
What I'd love to see is the existance of groups who produce Discordian 'stuff' in the real world. We're great at making things that are cool in production, but I'd love to see some kind of Print on Demand resource that provides Discordian texts/stuff. I know Cram's page is a bit like this, and I'm pretty sure Rev. St. Syn does too, but seeing more real world Discordian things would be a great goal; espeically as the making side of things is fantastic.
A while back Cram posted a thread about a great little game called Pirate Pass-Off (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=17954.0).
What if we put a url on the backs of those cards?
Thanks for the welcomes. :)
Quote from: vexati0n on September 03, 2010, 12:33:56 PM
wait wait wait
you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?
i feel so exposed.
:lulz: I thought Discordians were exhibitionists?
Referring to the thing back a page or two:
The reason projects peter out around here isn't because we don't have organized goals. It isn't because there's a lack of energy. It isn't the lack of good newbies. It isn't even the occasional (or often) drama. The reason is that we're all so independent that we can't work on projects together without getting in each other's way. We're all a bunch of control freaks. Control freaks with itchy trigger fingers.
:lulz: Nailed it.
If we had some way of clearly delineating a temporary leader just for the scope of a project, do you think that would help?
Almost!
Cause even if we would always get a kind benevolent and wise temp leader for a project (not so far-fetched, we had a couple), I think it's not so much a problem as delineating the temporary leader, as well as getting the project participants to suck it up and do what she/he tells them to. Even if it's the most awesome leader.
Just plain charisma only seems to motivate participants for so long.
Quote from: Telarus on September 06, 2010, 04:58:12 PM
:lulz: Nailed it.
If we had some way of clearly delineating a temporary leader just for the scope of a project, do you think that would help?
VOTE FOR ME! I SHALL RETURN ALL EMERGENCY POWERS AFTER THE CRISIS!
what we need is a travelling discordian special ops team that will come to your house and kick your teeth out if you fail to produce your assigned work. unless it's my turn, in which case that would be fascism.
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz: @ Dok & Vex
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 06, 2010, 05:04:58 PM
Almost!
Cause even if we would always get a kind benevolent and wise temp leader for a project (not so far-fetched, we had a couple), I think it's not so much a problem as delineating the temporary leader, as well as getting the project participants to suck it up and do what she/he tells them to. Even if it's the most awesome leader.
Just plain charisma only seems to motivate participants for so long.
I think defacto leaders just 'happen' (being the one or two people who do/care the most).
But Goals are great. I'm told in PR you MUST always set goals so you can measure success.
IE Xproject is a success if it generates
At least 20 posters
Buzz in at least five blogs including one major (Boingboing/Disinformation/Fark etc)
At least one new contributing member to PD com.
Quote from: Kai on September 06, 2010, 03:33:00 PM
Referring to the thing back a page or two:
The reason projects peter out around here isn't because we don't have organized goals. It isn't because there's a lack of energy. It isn't the lack of good newbies. It isn't even the occasional (or often) drama. The reason is that we're all so independent that we can't work on projects together without getting in each other's way. We're all a bunch of control freaks. Control freaks with itchy trigger fingers.
The common factor for the projects that haven't made it yet, in my experience, is a lack of clear goals. Moreso than people being control freaks. While this goes hand in hand with people not willing to compromise, as you pointed out and I've observed, I would say they're correlated sometimes but not necessarily connected.
In fact, I think more often,
there aren't enough control freaks so key decisions don't get made and the target is lost in a fog of everyone waiting for someone else to make a move.
Specificity in attitudes predicts behavior, I could even dig you up the studies.
OP:
This place (current population and motivations over the past year ish), is great at chrunign out ideas and minor publications. For the false starts that do get going, we get good quality when something does get off the ground. Internmittens is a prime example here.
If anyhting were to get expanded, or be subject to doing MORE, I'd say that's the palce to do it. (Just pondering where else this could go has given me a few other project ideas too.)
Since the loose, freewheeling association and participation attitude has driven it this far, I don't really see any changes in the structure or format of how this gets done being contructive. It would add EXPECTATION and DEMAND, both of which kill my motivation in any situation on projects I do in my free time. If anything, I'd look for ways to rope in new brains / Points of view, and ways to whore out what we've already done.
Net and Dingo basically say the same thing, and I think they got a point. If you want a project to go well, you need a clear goal.
For example those letter writing campaigns we did, they worked (somewhat) because of a deadline. If everybody's just waiting until stuff happens, nothing may happen, but if it's "write / join / post / create something NOW or it's too late and the opportunity it over" a lot of people will at least give it a shot and put in a littlebit extra to get it done on time, which for a lot of projects not only means something happens on time, but something happens at all :)
interesting tangent: Unlike infectious diseases and news, behavior change spreads faster through online networks that have many close connections instead of many distant ties. Redundancy is key, as people are more likely to engage in a behavior if they see many others doing it.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/network-behavior-spread/
Net & Dingo both say that it would be easier to participate if there were clearer goals.
Richter adroitly points out that expectations and demand can kill a volunteer's motivation.
Perhaps there is a way to join these two points...
perhaps there is a way to make a goal explicit without making it imperative
one suggestion would be to come up with some kind of form we could fill out about a project. Remember the Volunteer Thread? The idea was that people would post things that they need help with, and other people would post if they wanted to help out. But it didn't work that well. why? I'm not entirely sure, I think it has something to do with thread structure. In the thread architecture, a request for help gets the same weight as a single-emote reply... Thread drift will rapidly obscure still-active ideas.
MAYBE we need to set up something like a wiki page where members can create or modify a project's goals and to-do list... that way, if everybody has equal access, nobody's going to feel like a tyrant.
Net came up with a couple of form-like questionnaries once. On the headquarters that no longer don't exist, but also in O:MF, I think.
Wiki would be awesome. I should point out, I like goals, but if you're just throwing stuff out there, what-ifing or having fun, then that's awesome too.
For future projects I initiate I'll keep the goal thing in mind, but try to keep ot open ended. I think a wiki adjunct is a good idea too.
So as Richter pointed out, one of our talents at this forum is producing little booklets, pamphlets, small publications.
Other than posting on the PD blog, 23ae, and scribd, what are the best ways to spread these ideas?
I think a good way would be to start submitting our stuff to aggregators - Digg, Reddit, ways that will get us a large amount of traffic and possibly even the "jackpot," front page of Digg style.
If you want to make those absolutely viral, you have to spread hooks far and wide, easiest through social networking sites. People have short attention spans so throwing the full content at them in one go can scare people off. These hooks have to inspire interest and a want to know more with morsels of info.
Social media makes it easy to spread far and wide, but getting people to actually focus on material depends on how Market it. Fortunately we have the memebomb database which gives us a little stockpile of marketable pitches.
Also I get the idea that if you pitch a booklet to the right subreddit, there will be people with a slightly longer attentionspan reading and checking them out. Some regions in redditspace are in fact quite intelligent.
Also, about Digg, I heard it's not going very well with that, since they got a huge user backlash after the latest change in the codebase, interface and ranking algorithms. Seems that big mainstream news channels and popular blogs are automatically more likely to hit the Digg frontpage.
But for Reddit, sure. If anyone ever submits something to Reddit, drop a note on the forum here and I'll give it an upvote. There's more people with a Reddit account on here, right? I know TTM has one, and I spotted somebody called "stgulik" on there, but I'm not sure who that is (maybe Rat or Iason, is my guess).
As far as I can observe, timing also plays a part in getting to Reddit frontpage. I get the idea that recently-submitted articles getting like five upvotes in their first hour also drift to the top, if for a short while, compared to older articles that need tens or hundreds.
Also know that every Reddit reader makes a selection of subreddits they like, and subscribes to then, then when they are logged on, on Reddit.com they will see a mix of the top-rated articles from only those subreddits. This means that, if you pick the right subreddits, that are very on topic, but also don't have a lot of competition, you will have a good chance our articles will float to the top for exactly the right subgroup target audience Reddit readers.
Additionally, TTM made a PrincipiaDiscordia subreddit, that hardly has any activity right now, but for one, we could just dump any cool stuff in there, regardless of anything. And more importantly if we pitch articles to other on-topic subreddits (politics? religion? philosophy? I dunno) you can submit them to the PrincipiaDiscordia subreddit as well. Just to sort of tie them together. I think it helps if the duplicate articles in the PD subreddit have a few comments, because then the link to the PD subreddit shows up as an "other discussions .." tab in the original subreddit, which will give us exposure.
Oh, adiitionally, speaking of comments, I believe articles are also rated depending on the number of comments they get.
So yeah. What shall we submit?
Quote from: Cramulus on September 14, 2010, 03:00:06 PM
So as Richter pointed out, one of our talents at this forum is producing little booklets, pamphlets, small publications.
Other than posting on the PD blog, 23ae, and scribd, what are the best ways to spread these ideas?
Real world projects. Absolutely.
Slightly altered.