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    Default Other forums

    What other fp forums are out there.

    Fpn and Pentrace are all i could really find and pentrace doesn't seem to be very active at all

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    The only other one with any amount of activity is the fountainpen sub at reddit. Definitely a younger/noob crowd, more enthusiastic than anything, but another good one to have in the mix. That's about it that I'm aware of.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Senior Member migo984's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    I agree with Jon. The fountainpen subreddit is worth a visit. It is usually lighthearted & the young crowd there are enthusiastic & appreciative. Probably not for those who take FPs too seriously, without sense of humour or with language sensitivities.
    Mind you, although lots of members are new to the hobby, there are plenty of helpful, experienced users too, & it is often where I hear about the new stuff going on. I like that it’s not the same old same old over there.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Plenty of forums in other languages are quite active... Pelikan's own forum, for example!

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    Default Re: Other forums

    reddit?

    Looked at it, confused the shit out of me. Are there any decent facebook groups?

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by Elim View Post
    reddit?

    Looked at it, confused the shit out of me. Are there any decent facebook groups?
    There are a ton of FB groups, from narrow focus to big giant clusterfucks. The lack of decent search or organizational tools has always limited my interest in them.

    FWIW, I felt the same way about reddit but felt it was in my interest to understand what newer generations of pen people were interested in. Honestly, it only takes a few moments to get used to the interface and ways of communication. The "culture" is different, but I think it is more worthwhile than the FB groups. If you have any particular narrow-focus interests, speak up - there may be a FB group for you.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Senior Member penwash's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by Elim View Post
    reddit?

    Looked at it, confused the shit out of me.
    LOL! I'm not surprised at all. I like it there because I get to see newcomers to the hobby, full of enthusiasm. And news travel fast over there.

    Actually I don't know of any Facebook *group*, lots of pages, but not "group" per se. So I'm asking the same question you are.
    Last edited by penwash; November 2nd, 2018 at 02:42 PM.
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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by penwash View Post
    Actually I don't know of any Facebook *group*, lots of pages, but not "group" per se. So I'm asking the same question you are.
    I did a quick Facebook search on "fountain pen" and restricted the results for Groups. It returns somewhere around 100 hits, so there are more groups than you'd ever want to join.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I did a quick Facebook search on "fountain pen" and restricted the results for Groups. It returns somewhere around 100 hits, so there are more groups than you'd ever want to join.
    About 100 more...

    It surprises me that there doesn't appear to be a UK-centric forum - the only thing close that I stumbled upon seemed to be a reddit for the London meetings, and that's just depressing reading when you know you'll never get to one. It's not that I don't enjoy reading about pens and pen aficionados from all over the world, because I really do, but sometimes you want to go somewhere where everybody knows your name a "vintage Duofold" is odds-on going to be black, blue, red, or green and aerometric filling, and you don't have to explain what Smith's is.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by Elim View Post
    reddit?

    Looked at it, confused the shit out of me. Are there any decent facebook groups?
    To be totally honest, this style of Forum at FPGeeks drives me goddamn crazy, so there's that.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    "Vintage' is as narrow as i get.

    I really did try on redit but jut did not understand it at all. Too old and set for new styles i suppose, my brain just doesn't work like that.

    AzJon- This is all i've ever known for forum styles, discounting the old listserv days.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by Elim View Post
    "Vintage' is as narrow as i get.

    I really did try on redit but jut did not understand it at all. Too old and set for new styles i suppose, my brain just doesn't work like that.

    AzJon- This is all i've ever known for forum styles, discounting the old listserv days.
    That's largely why it drives me kinda crazy, it's been around forever. It was clunky back when and its still clunky now. It has some pros, but tends to stagnate. Reddit has the opposite problem. Too much information in small, temporary bits. You end up answering the same 10 questions over and over, but the activity of it makes me feel like its a bit more of a living community.

    I mean, this community is alive as well, to an extent, but as time goes on, Forums of this nature tend to slow down and discourage questions where the answers are buried on an eight year old thread.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    I keep an eye on Reddit but not a lot of activity.

    There are many enthusiasts on posting on Instagram.

    You might want to check Meetup, too, for local gatherings.

    I've seen Facebook siphon off traffic for a car hobby of mine, dividing up the community needlessly. Facebook is a subpar medium for discussing hobbies because posts are so ephemeral and as mentioned, lack search and any kind of organization. Personally, I can't wait for Facebook to die the gruesome death it so richly deserves.

    I don't know of any other dedicated forums besides fpg and fpn but I know there are fountain pen sub forums on some forums like watchuseek, badger & blade, and others, though I have spent no time there.

    Maybe there are some old school mailing list groups still around on Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, etc.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Elim - You might find this site of interest/use/help

    http://pennaquod.net

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Elim View Post
    "Vintage' is as narrow as i get.

    I really did try on redit but jut did not understand it at all. Too old and set for new styles i suppose, my brain just doesn't work like that.

    AzJon- This is all i've ever known for forum styles, discounting the old listserv days.
    That's largely why it drives me kinda crazy, it's been around forever. It was clunky back when and its still clunky now. It has some pros, but tends to stagnate. Reddit has the opposite problem. Too much information in small, temporary bits. You end up answering the same 10 questions over and over, but the activity of it makes me feel like its a bit more of a living community.

    I mean, this community is alive as well, to an extent, but as time goes on, Forums of this nature tend to slow down and discourage questions where the answers are buried on an eight year old thread.
    The key to avoid stagnation is not just to link something to that old thread, but expand and, if possible, add your own experience on top of it.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    There is also the Fountain Pen Network-Phillipines. Not as busy as fpgeeks but has some good data and pictures.
    Link: http://www.fpn-p.org/


    All the Best.

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    Last edited by carlos.q; November 2nd, 2018 at 07:12 PM.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    The pen addict Slack is pretty good but if you hated reddit (a sewer, but not that bad if you just stick to the parts you like and ignore the parts that verge on 4-chan levels of puke) you'll also hate slack (awful platform, imo) but the folks there are very nice. If i could move that whole community over here I would. haha.

    FPN is dreadful. This forum is existing on fumes. Some of the FB groups I have been on were just awful.

    Good luck.

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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by stub View Post
    The pen addict Slack is pretty good but if you hated reddit (a sewer, but not that bad if you just stick to the parts you like and ignore the parts that verge on 4-chan levels of puke) you'll also hate slack (awful platform, imo) but the folks there are very nice. If i could move that whole community over here I would. haha.

    FPN is dreadful. This forum is existing on fumes. Some of the FB groups I have been on were just awful.

    Good luck.
    The place in Reddit.com that is /r/fountainpens is not a sewer. It has no more level of toxicity than other pen forums, and lots of new ideas, two Diamine inks (yes, made for and named by the subreddit), and frankly, more energy than all the other forums combined.

    And you know why that is? Partly because there are 4 moderators who work as a team and put some effort to make that place from getting out of control.

    I am one of the 4 moderators, and probably the most useless one.
    - Will
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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Other forums

    Quote Originally Posted by penwash View Post
    The place in Reddit.com that is /r/fountainpens is not a sewer. It has no more level of toxicity than other pen forums, and lots of new ideas, two Diamine inks (yes, made for and named by the subreddit), and frankly, more energy than all the other forums combined.

    And you know why that is? Partly because there are 4 moderators who work as a team and put some effort to make that place from getting out of control.

    I am one of the 4 moderators, and probably the most useless one.
    I'd like to second that (with caveats) - the fp subreddit is very well run and behaved, none of the disgusting and egregious stuff that occurs in the fringe areas of reddit. Of course, that is no different than considering every forum on the internet as being the same - reddit is simply a platform and container and it gets used well and poorly, depending on what group you are looking at.

    The only thing I'll counter is that one person's "energy" is another person's "oh gawd someone is going apeshitbananas because they just got their first TWSBI Eco for the nine millionth time this week". I mean, some of the the posts are so repetetive it is insane but, hey, they are young and having fun. I just scroll past it. The worst thing is downvoting but you can get used to that and then... you have people who are new to fountain pens and *mostly* open to info and sharing and all that. Not a great place for vintage knowledge unless you are the one supplying it, but it's fun to see people having fun. I find it a good alternative to the traditional pen forum blather.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

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