FPG Refuges Status Area: The 2020 FPN Diaspora

[Ron Z]

... there is no reality. There is good information on both sites.

Really?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I am surprised that so many people use the same name on different forums. Though I do understand building a reputation. For me, different forums have different personalties and each calls for a different persona. It is the internet after all, nothing is diffferent than what you make it - there is no reality. I float back and forth. There is good information on both sites.

See bolded: good luck with that. I got absolutely hammered both on FPN and on here for daring to experiment with different styles of writing.

[Jon Szanto]

I am surprised that so many people use the same name on different forums. Though I do understand building a reputation. For me, different forums have different personalties and each calls for a different persona.

As a musician I perform music from many periods, many styles, and many different characters, and I am always in the pursuit of a good faith presentation of those aspects, as disparate as they may be. I do so, on stage or elsewhere, as one person. I have no need or desire to change masks to cultivate a differing experience or perspective. The same applies in multiple forums and subject areas.

[Ole Juul]

I am surprised that so many people use the same name on different forums. Though I do understand building a reputation. For me, different forums have different personalties and each calls for a different persona.

As a musician I perform music from many periods, many styles, and many different characters, and I am always in the pursuit of a good faith presentation of those aspects, as disparate as they may be. I do so, on stage or elsewhere, as one person. I have no need or desire to change masks to cultivate a differing experience or perspective. The same applies in multiple forums and subject areas.

I can identify with what you say. I am also a musician, although retired. Switching identity to me is a strange idea if I'm sharing as a human being. Unless, of course, it is for security purposes in which case there are many alternatives. I feel it is safe to be myself on a pen forum. I wouldn't be here if I thought otherwise.

[Baisao]

When I said cross posting earlier I meant deep linking. Yes, duplicate posts within a forum is bad and contributes to a disorganized forum. Linking to a post on forum X in forum Z is a non-issue to me but I’ve seen it frowned upon by other forums. The only time I see that being an issue is if someone is using site X to host images for site Y. I’ve never personally seen this. What I usually see are posts linked to another forum because there is pertinent information on the other forum.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I got absolutely hammered both on FPN and on here for daring to experiment with different styles of writing.

When you're in an open, anonymous online forum, the majority of ‘everyone else’ there will imagine your posts are (or ought to be) really about them individually, relevance to them, how the content makes them feel and how its expression is perceived by them; they're somebody and you're nobody (until you've established yourself to be a member of their group) by default, instead of the other way around where they individually don't matter to you until they prove their relevance, when you're the one contributing content and they're passive, some-time consumers of such.

Just write the way you want to, either out of habit, by personal preference (with no need of justification) or in the spirit of experimentation.

It doesn't overly bother me. "Getting into character" is a writerly thing, particularly if writing fiction or with a target audience that has a specific requirement. On FPN I had people complain in a general way in threads, people who wrote nasty PMs to me, and even people who complained to the mods about my style of writing! The style, not rude words or offensive ideas, style. Similar response were seen here on FPGeeks, sometimes by the very same people who had fled FPN!

Celebrate creativity wherever you find it, I say. More people found it funny than not, although it was often those with an undeserved and undue influence on a forum who sat on the detractor's bench. A curious fact.

[bunyip]

I choose to use different handles, and sometimes different avatars, in different fora. Nothing else changes. I prefer that people wait a post or two before applying preconceptions.

[Kaputnik]

About different handles for different forums, it was a while before it even occurred to me that there might be an argument for using the same handle in different ones, or the same avatar. Of course, if somebody sees my handle on one forum and thinks "that's a good one", or if it's something not terribly obscure, like my handle here, then when I go to a new forum I may find that it's already taken.

On FPN (which I still am assuming will return), I'm ISW_Kaputnik. I can't recall now why I didn't just go with Kaputnik there, but I decided to use the simpler name here. But readers of Mad Magazine will remember "Roger Kaputnik", and I wouldn't be surprised if the handle is used by other people elsewhere.

As for censorship or heavy handed moderation on FPN, I haven't run into anything personally, but perhaps I'm insufficiently controversial. The one time I recall even a minor run-in with an admin was when I mentioned that I use an ad-blocker, and was told that I ought either to disable it or donate to them. I did neither, and the matter rested there. I haven't been a heavy user of FPN recently, but I think they're useful and hope they return.

[Johnny_S]

My interest is history, especially 1200-1600 and I am on two forums. One of them is strict and is actively moderated, subjects are kept on topic, no abuse, no swearing and posts must be relevant to the forum boilerplate. The forum has the word & in the title.

The other forum was started because a Moderator kicked out someone who thought it was fine to be abusive to other members and swear and to denegrate others, so he started another forum with a very similar name but with the word and in the title in order to cause confusion. That forum has a principle of anything goes. People who are banned from the & forum make their way to the and forum and carry on their practices including having heated arguments on the opinions of others, they also criticise each other, they contradict what has been said, they call people offensive names and use private messages in order to solicit support amongst them against a particular member.

[TSherbs]

My interest is history, especially 1200-1600 and I am on two forums. One of them is strict and is actively moderated, subjects are kept on topic, no abuse, no swearing and posts must be relevant to the forum boilerplate. The forum has the word & in the title.

The other forum was started because a Moderator kicked out someone who thought it was fine to be abusive to other members and swear and to denegrate others, so he started another forum with a very similar name but with the word and in the title in order to cause confusion. That forum has a principle of anything goes. People who are banned from the & forum make their way to the and forum and carry on their practices including having heated arguments on the opinions of others, they also criticise each other, they contradict what has been said, they call people offensive names and use private messages in order to solicit support amongst them against a particular member.

Sounds like middle school.

[TSherbs]

I am surprised that so many people use the same name on different forums. Though I do understand building a reputation. For me, different forums have different personalties and each calls for a different persona. It is the internet after all, nothing is diffferent than what you make it - there is no reality. I float back and forth. There is good information on both sites.

Sounds fine to me. The internet is a lot of bullshit anyway. What's a little more, all in good fun?

[Chuck Naill]

There appears that some of you feel you must comment/have an opinion on everything and feel that whatever you write just needs to be said right, wrong, or indifferent.

I’d suggest that folks who say they don’t care what people think, actually do. Otherwise, why the need to put it in writing?

Some people enjoy being a jerk.

Some want to be helpful.

In think it comes down to how you want to live and be connected.

[Chuck Naill]

Yes, folks have egos. This is well known as to not need repetition.

[welch]

I find that each time FPN chokes, a flock of people fly by FPG, and some stick around. I did, and check both sites. Some of the most-active people here are people I recognize from FPN. (Hello, and welcome, Smug Dill)

[TSherbs]

Some people enjoy being a jerk.

Some want to be helpful.

There are more choices, right?

[Warren]

I am surprised that so many people use the same name on different forums. Though I do understand building a reputation. For me, different forums have different personalties and each calls for a different persona. It is the internet after all, nothing is diffferent than what you make it - there is no reality. I float back and forth. There is good information on both sites.

I have half a dozen aliases scattered across the internet, across the years, and across different hobbies. The internal politics of two fountain pen forums didn't seem like enough incentive to create another.

On FPN I had people complain in a general way in threads, people who wrote nasty PMs to me, and even people who complained to the mods about my style of writing! The style, not rude words or offensive ideas, style.

Now you've got me curious.

Some people enjoy being a jerk.

Some want to be helpful.

There are more choices, right?

Waggery? Apathy? Rubbernecking?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

On FPN I had people complain in a general way in threads, people who wrote nasty PMs to me, and even people who complained to the mods about my style of writing! The style, not rude words or offensive ideas, style.

Now you've got me curious.

Essentially it comes down to the notion that a conversation is not only (or, sometimes even) about sharing data. Some people don't understand that and get upset when a style or mode of expression challenges their imagination. They were in a minority, there and here, so there is that.

[TSherbs]

Waggery? Apathy? Rubbernecking?

Yes. Ha!

Or....
Brobdingnagian
Mandalorian
Tralfamadorian

Or even EOCesian....

[Chrissy]

Hi @welch!

So far I'm finding there is (was?) more fountain pen related geekery on FPN, as I've mentioned earlier, but also more show-and-tell of newly acquired pens and inks, and more of an consumer ‘enablement’ culture there. That naturally shifts the bias towards modern products; of course (emerging or established) hobbyists can and do still buy vintage pens and even vintage inks, but consumers in general (inclusive of keen hobbyists) are likely to find it easier and quicker, and have more confidence arising from consumer laws and protections, in buying what is currently produced and available from well-known retailers.

Limited supply of a certain product or class of product doesn't seem to be that much of a deterrent for either modern or vintage models; from what I saw, people absolutely jumped on the release of the Lamy 2000 Bauhaus limited edition last year (and I got sucked in by the hype myself, too, even though I was never that keen on the Lamy 2000 Makrolon and its siblings), and limited editions of Sailor, Pelikan, Aurora, etc. which get pushed out one after another, year after year seem to generate a lot of interest/posts on FPN.

Rushing to acquire and ‘review’ or showcase new-release ink colours is almost a hobby and competition in itself, or so it seems sometimes.

I like it.

I've been known to attempt to access the FPN Ink Review Index, (in a Private window) once in a blue moon, to see an ink that has been reviewed.
I have to say that I have been mortified to see that it is in the most complete mess.
There are links/images that are either completely missing or are "Photobucketed out" due to non-subscribers. There are spelling mistakes for brands or inks. There are multiples of the same ink incorrectly ascribed as different inks. There are missing colour/name updates. There are really old links that don't correspond to any known ink. There are many other spelling mistakes and general inaccuracies.
In any description it could only be described as very poor. If I look at it, I often think: "How sad that they have absolutely no-one among all of their "Little Hitler" moderators who merely look at an occasional daily post, and potentially make an incorrect decision on it, who can maintain what could be seen as an important resource. But that's what they have and IMHO, that's what they do. I also love to say to myself: that's exactly what they deserve.

[TSherbs]

So what is it that FPN is doing right to get the results?

The FPN experience has more emphasis on information than sales. FPG has more emphasis on sales. FPN membership and daily content dwarf those of FPG. And FPN is more polite and decorous than FPG. When I really need to crowd source some info, I post there. But honestly, I use youtube just as much as anything now: I want to SEE pens and inks in ACTION. Sometimes static reviews are just not good enough. Both pen sites have their pros and cons, and of course neither is perfect. As I have said elsewhere, I miss having the geeks associated website with Dan and Stephen making a lot of that content.