To an extent, yes. But the one problem I have with Reddit to begin with is the voting system that only encourages circlejerking (in the negative way) so that opposing viewpoints are stifled or silenced by the majority. In order to be seen positively by Reddit, you can't think for yourself, the mob does the thinking for you. Which is partially why Redditors are stereotyped to be fedora-tipping liberal brony social justice atheist feminists. Especially since negative votes are blocked out from normal views or eventually deleted. To that extent, I would have no problem with *chan sites if they drop that overtly hostile tone that I had to endure for years. Even when I do admit that tohno-chan's quality has declined, it still is one of the better *chan sites.

I can't handle any site that requires registration. I have tried to post on forums before but I end up getting paranoid, blanking all my posts and deleting my profile. The anonymous format of imageboards is perfect.

"Normal forums" are all just as bad in their own right.
Any place using names always turns into clique filled circlejerks brimming with unfunny inside jokes and meta shit. The "communities" are usually based more around who is posting than what the actual content of the post is, and are often swarming with attention whores relentlessly pining for validation.
I can't stand non-anonymous forums. I can't do small talk and meaningless bullshit chatty posts, and I'm scared to even speak my thoughts about anything for fear of the hivemind combining against me with "downvotes" or similar bullshit.
I HATE the groupthink, the false niceness, the constant fear of censorship and the petty, cliquish, trend-hopping fuck mindset. I'm not willing to pretend to be someone I'm not, to keep up a reputation or to take responsibility for every single thing I post under one name.

I really dislike a lot of 4chan's shit too and think it's no better, but I'll still continue to post on anonymous imageboards like this. Anonymity makes honest communication a lot easier and creates a level playing field for ideas to be heard.
I like chans. A lot of internet communities are hard to fit into because they're very tight knit and all know each other. Chans are all anon, and you don't need to worry about any of that.

>>23704
>Especially since negative votes are blocked out from normal views or eventually deleted

This is completely exasperated by the fact that the greater reddit userbase simply does not understand the intended purpose of this mechanic. Far too often, even on rather obscure sub-reddits a dissenting or critical view will be inexplicably downvoted without textual response. The mere quality of potentially challenging a sensibility or differing from a prevailing view ensures a post's swift descent into oblivion.

I can't respect or participate within a community that with such a high degree of consistency props up the most vapid, inconsequential shit over content that doesn't overtly appeal to those actually bother to use the feature. The community self-determination operational model assumes intelligence, continuity and discretion as intrinsic properties of its users; a most decisive, system breaking miscalculation.

>>23706
Very much this. I abhor the notion of persistent identity, primarily as I'd probably feel compelled to tie myself down to various argumentative positions and posting dispositions. Anonymous dialogue allows utter freedom in thought as I can on whim contradict or oppose myself and even implement a self-negation in active discussion. It facilitates experimentation if anything, as there's very little residual impact from ideational or implementational failure.

>>23706
I'm the same way, except more with irc.

I don't like being on the internet at all anymore. It makes me feel like shit.

>>23702

I never liked *chans per se. Fora always seemed like a better choice to me 'infrastructure'-wise. It's just that *chans are anonymous and fora are not (and they could be, it's just that I never see any which use that system).

>After browsing chan sites nearly daily for hours on end, you start to think that people being snarky mean assholes to each other is the norm.

I prefer that to criclejerking and agreeing with everything your buddies say. Also the hierarchical nature of fora where the opinion of a person who registered two years ago will always be worth more than that of a new user no matter what arguments will be presented. The best part of *chans is that I can call somebody a faggot in one thread and then agree with everything he said in another thread. No grudges, no bias, just legit exchange of opinions.

>So long as you can find the right forum, the quality of anime/manga/media discussion is of a much higher quality than that on *chan sites.

I wouldn't mind trying that but I have been to tons of anime/manga centric fora over last 5 years and all of them were garbage. Unfortunately /tc/ doesn't express much interest in discussing anime nowadays. I stopped going to /a/ in 2009 and it was probably one of the best decisions in my life since it's userbase was probably the most toxic bunch I've ever had the displeasure of meeting in my entire life. Tried a couple of other imageboards but they were no good.
So yeah, if somebody knows any good places to talk about anime/manga I'd be very grateful if they could point me to them.

>For instance some of the anime/manga discussions on MyAnimeList under the specific title's forum are pretty good.

MALs fora are pure cancer that might be even worse than the likes of /a/. If it ever had any chance of not being shit that chance died the second they introduced a post counter.

>For more general things, Reddit is actually pretty good, despite all the hate from 4chan. The upvote system provides a structure that encourages informational posts, wit and friendliness.

The upvote system encourages fishing for upvotes by circlejerking and the like. I don't want to be called a faggot every single time somebody responds for me but I'd prefer that to fake friendliness because somebody doesn't want to offend me.

>>23704

>But the one problem I have with Reddit to begin with is the voting system that only encourages circlejerking (in the negative way) so that opposing viewpoints are stifled or silenced by the majority. In order to be seen positively by Reddit, you can't think for yourself, the mob does the thinking for you.

Exactly.

>>23708

>Any place using names always turns into clique filled circlejerks brimming with unfunny inside jokes and meta shit. The "communities" are usually based more around who is posting than what the actual content of the post is, and are often swarming with attention whores relentlessly pining for validation.

Another point I agree with.
The only exception here are communities which genuinely do meet up in one way or another. I used to be a serious (competetive) card gamer and I can tell you that using name based fora does a lot for the community (unfortunately it does cause drama at times but it can't be helped).

>>23709

>The mere quality of potentially challenging a sensibility or differing from a prevailing view ensures a post's swift descent into oblivion.

Again, true. Reddit enforces the worst kind of mob rule which ensures you absolutely cannot express and unpopular opinion and if you do you will simply get 'censored'. It's literally the worst place for serious discussion on the entire net.

>>23710

>I'd probably feel compelled to tie myself down to various argumentative positions and posting dispositions. Anonymous dialogue allows utter freedom in thought as I can on whim contradict or oppose myself and even implement a self-negation in active discussion.

Amusingly enough I think this is the sole redeeming feature of fora. People have some image to uphold so they can't just spout random bullshit. On the other hand it also means they can hide behind a fake facade of niceness and might end up being scared of expressing an unpopular opinion because it'd hurt they image.

---

To sum it up: the tragedy of imageboards is that they are utter shit but they are still better than any other 'platform' out there.

I love the honesty of imageboards. I'd rather have someone call me a faggot than pretend to be nice but secretly hate me or my post(s).

Post edited on 20th Feb 2014, 11:14am

>>23713
>if somebody knows any good places to talk about anime/manga I'd be very grateful if they could point me to them.
http://afternoon.heliohost.org/read/1371155153
http://secretareaofvipquality.net/saovq/kareha.pl/1270579727/

Good discussion is practically impossible nowadays no matter the place. I only go to /a/ just to save pictures and gifs, I don't bother reading the threads at all.

>>23715
See, the thing about those sites is that they are extremely dead, as dead as Tohno's /an/. You can't really call a place where the replies are 1 week apart from each other a "good place" to discuss anime when the discussions are practically non-existent. I'm not asking for /a/ or /v/ tier speeds, in the end those end up doing more harm than good, but the extreme opposite is arguably even worse. Better to find a diamond once in a while between the sea of shit than no diamonds and no shit.

Post edited on 20th Feb 2014, 1:22pm

>>23716

/a/ was shit to begin with, this isn't something new.

And yeah ideally I'd want a board that'd get like ~50 replies a day. Maybe 100. Anything faster than that essentially kills the discussions.

>Is anyone getting sick of *chan sites and going back to normal forums?
No, the only point I see in using forums is for joining an actual community that does stuff IRL, or at least works on a specific project like a video game or whatever. For actually discussing things, anonymous chan sites are way better than regular forums.

I've written so much stupid stuff over the years ever since I discovered 4chan in 2006, I'm really glad that nothing of it is archived anywhere under a name associated with me and nobody other than the NSA can simply pull it all out again just by finding out what pseudonym I've been using on those forums.

In regular forums, it often seemed to me like most people were simply ignoring me after a while. Maybe they actually blocklisted me, I don't know (I was generally quite friendly to people, but I'll be the first to admit that I have terrible social skills). On anon sites, people just read my posts like those of anyone else, and often even compliment me for good insights, or for being funny, or helpful. And I know that these compliments are not just empty words, but indeed genuine, because there's little in the way of false friendliness on chans.
Being brutally honest has little to no social repercussions on these sites, and hence there's hardly a place where people are more honest about their opinions.

When I'm in a discussion, I do not feel the need to defend the side I initially argued for just for the sake of keeping face, and certainly not after the discussion is already over. When the guy on the other end convinces me that his standpoint is the correct or more sensible one, I don't have to swallow much of my pride to just switch sides and argue against the very things I was advocating just 10 minutes earlier. This has helped me immensely in identifying and discarding internal self-contradictions in my views, positions and opinions, especially in regard to politics.

I can be an asshole when I feel like it, and be friendly to people when I'm in a good mood, and each time be received accordingly. There's enough need to hide my true feelings when I have to interact with people in my offline life, I don't want any of that when I talk to people on the internet for recreational purposes.

I like *chan websites because it's anonymous. If I come in and say something stupid, it's anonymous, and nobody knows. If I'm on a webforum, well first off, everyone is gonna see that "Posts: 1" under my name after I post something. Then there's the whole "circlejerk" mentality a lot of webforums have (like Reddit) where you're either with us or against us. And hell, when they see that "Posts: 1" and I'm against them, who cares? I'm a puny little new one poster, and they've got 10,000 posts or some shit. And even if I do agree with what they're saying, then I'm just the puny little new one poster trying to jump on the bandwagon and look cool. Even when you get past that, and you end up there with 10,000 posts of your own, you have a post history. If you say something against the herd, they can go through your post backlog and find something stupid you've said and hold it against you and turn you into a pariah. You have a name that they can associate one post they didn't like to, and judge you for the rest of your time on that community by it. Or they can google your account name or e-mail or anything and e-stalk you and find another account of yours to use against you. Then there's the crippling social anxiety I have that makes me afraid of that in the first place.

I was in a Starcraft clan when I was younger. We were all just a bunch of dumbass teens having fun together online, then our leader left. A mod took over, started power tripping, shut everything down, then used my password I used on the forums to access my e-mail, my AIM account (yeah, it was that long ago), and a bunch of other shit. He even managed to turn my friends against me while impersonating me on AIM.

Fuck web forums.

>>23702
Normally, if you really get sick of some posting system you just stop using it. So don't expect anyone to agree with you here.

I like imageboard discussions because no-one has to force their views and obviously superior arguments on others. No-one dreams of becoming a respected leader who crushes the opposing opinions with his unparalled wit. Most of the time people don't even tell why they think this-and-that, they just spit it out and switch tabs. Since really good discussions are rare in any format, I like imageboards because they don't show people's ugly sides so often. Less politics here than there, I'd say.

>>23712
It was hard to accept this.

The internet is the only thing I've ever had in my life but it's killing me slowly. I don't know what to do anymore.

There might not be much of a group mentality or an image of an elite few controlling everything on the surface, but imageboards suffer from the same type of corruption as registration-based forums do. Thankfully, much of this isn't discovered without going out of the way to investigate yourself, which makes it easier to pretend it doesn't exist. Filter tools help with too, when they available.

From observation, I concluded that humanity isn't able to communicate without ill intent. The race is stuck in the stone age, still. Online communication has an edge over the real world because it gives me a platform to say things like these, and anonymity helps carry it out thanks to things already covered in the thread. But it's still terrible, it's all so, so terrible...

>>23729

>imageboards suffer from the same type of corruption as registration-based forums do

No, they usually suffer from the exact opposite problems. The quantity of said problems and their gravity evens out but they are completely different. Both fora and imageboards have tons of positives and negatives and sometimes they are the result of the exact opposite approach in resolving same problems. For example having an identity on forum means you have some image to uphold which makes people try to contribute in a meaningful way and posters which do so the most are respected but it results in circlejerking. On imageboards you get rid of circlejerking but people are free to spout whatever they feel like without ever feeling any responsibility for it and quality contributors don't ever get 'rewarded' in any meaningful way.

>From observation, I concluded that humanity isn't able to communicate without ill intent.

From a broad enough perspective, sure. But if you'll end up being lucky you might find some niche where everybody wants to contribute in a meaningful way and they uphold the golden rule - don't shit where you eat.
I wouldn't want to go off topic here but I think Twitch Plays Pokemon is an interesting experiment that showcases how many people are on the net to have fun and how many are here to spoil other people's fun. I think it's roughly the same in most places.

>>23708
>Any place using names always turns into clique filled circlejerks brimming with unfunny inside jokes and meta shit

You're right, that definitely never happens on imageboards

>>23736
Ewwww.....

Lots of places have a "hivemind" mentality. It's something that's very hard to escape.

I think it's silly that people defend Anonymous forums as not being very hivemind-y. If there isn't a clique that people can follow and be a part of, they come up with a bunch of "memes" and collective opinions that you have to share, otherwise you're tarred and feather.

It's easy to get disillusioned, but I stopped caring when I found people who care for me for me, outside of the hivemind.

But what really sucks is that we pretty much have our own hivemind anyway, so I guess you can't really escape it.

>>23737
This is mostly true, and as much as western culture values individuality, humans continue to be, by large, inherently collectivist. Anonymity and the image board structure may foster better communities than the alternatives, yet all current examples are a disappointment. It seems to be the product of internet culture's progression as a whole in addition to the change of demographics (internet users of the 90s vs those of today--which includes just about everyone in the first world).
Now, I use the internet almost entirely for pirating, and to a lesser extent accruing information; if I have a question, it's surely already been asked and the answer is often found on a forum.

>>23738
>Now, I use the internet almost entirely for pirating, and to a lesser extent accruing information; if I have a question, it's surely already been asked and the answer is often found on a forum.
Me too.

>>23708
sup. shii

There is one forum I know of (forums.whirlpool.net.au) which is of very high quality. A defining feature of this is that the community is quite old (most are college aged or above), and there are no avatars or 'reputation' points systems. In addition you can't post pictures. So less emphasis on identity as per an anonymous forum, but with certain advantages with a non-anonymous forum. I think any discussion board filled with young people will eventually go to shit. Older people sem to be so much more apathetic about arguments or silly jokes.

I visit a named forum that isn't shit even though it's politics and people argue all the time. The people who dominate conversations don't do it through post count - the two guys with the highest post counts are not taken seriously by anyone - but by wall-of-texting every thread they're in. All in all it's the best place I've found on the internet for such discussions.

Still looking for a forum to discuss Japanese media that isn't dead or shit, though. Anonymous imageboard or otherwise. /jp/ could be good if it weren't for a bunch of persistent retards who insist on making it shit. Tohno is kind of dead. /a/ is shit.

>>23777
/tc/ isn't anywhere near dead.
It's just a low metabolism animal.

I've been feeling very depressed recently. I feel like I am just wasting my potential. On one hand, I have lots of academic talent, to the point where as a 2nd year undergrad I'm easily the top student in graduate (PhD)-level classes for quantum mechanics, relativistic electrodynamics, and group theory. On the other hand, I fucked up my GPA because I blew off a required biology class that I found to be incredibly boring. Or rather, I just got really depressed about the fact that I even had to take it, and skipped every single exam, completely failing the class.

I feel like everyone expects me to go to graduate school. I guess I want to, but I don't want to move away from home. I wish I could just stay at my pretty-decent state university. But then I'd just be letting everyone down, because people expect me to go to places like Caltech, MIT, Harvard... As if it practically goes without saying that I would be accepted.

Who knows if I'm even cut out for graduate school? I can't make any progress on my undergraduate research. All I want to do is post on the Internet and watch anime and read manga all day, and maybe learn Japanese.

>>23781
You'll have a much better time doing what you want to do. It's the people with expectations of you who are being a burden. They're placing more responsibility on your shoulders than you need right now, with the pressures of your own decisions weighing enough already. It's your future and you'll have to deal with the choice you make, so listen only to yourself.

>>23782
>You'll have a much better time doing what you want to do
is that why everyone on this site is so happy and fulfilled in their lives? doubtful.

>>23781
They let you take graduate level classes?

>>23783
A lot of people on this site are too cynical and unrealistic for their own good. That's all I'm going to say on that.

>>23785
And of course you're part of the enlightened minority, right?

>>23797
Everyone thinks they're part of an enlightened minority.

>>23709
>downvoted without textual response
Now that's an idea. What if downvoting required you to attach your reason?

>>23849
I'm sure that people will opt for insults rather than reasons and use that to punish whoever they dislike a little further.

Sometimes it is best to just avoid a feature or two than to implement it for no good reason.

>>23797
I'm happy

>>23784
Embarrassingly enough, I didn't mean to post to this thread.

But yes, they do, I just have to ask nicely.

>>23776
I remember that site. I browsed it a bit when I was just starting to learn basics of home networking and other home computer stuff.

>>23776
>>23950
I've never really paid much attention to this site beyond looking through its archives when I have a specific internet problem or purchase to make. Because of that I suspect one main reason it has a good culture is that most outsiders view it as a utilitarian thing, to be used when you have a problem. So it is never going to degenerate into a circlejerk or hive of obnoxiousness in the same way that more general sites like reddit or 4chan can. The lack of avatars, points and pictures probably help too. Average age may have something to do with it, but I don't think it's the main factor.

I'm sick of the internet as a whole, but I can't quit it.

>>23956
Yep. For me it's a "can't live with it, can't live without it" kind of situation. I remember when I was young and would barely even use the internet (I think we got dial-up in 1995, but I didn't start using heavily until long after that). I would just play single player games all day. Now it seems like my attention span is too destroyed to do anything like that.

>>23957
Yeah the internet for me just isn't that satisfying anymore altogether and a lot I see makes me upset. I feel like I've seen it all. My attention span is also destroyed and many normal things are much more exhausting now because of how uncomfortable in my own skin I am usually. Playing a very involved single player game is just something I can't do anymore, I can only enjoy pretty fast paced easy things now. I just barely manage to still enjoy watching anime too.

>>23738
>> as much as western culture values individuality,

mainly that is American culture other 'westerners' are more collectivist (i.e. Danes and Swedes)

>>23883
you talk to the professor about the subject and ask them beforehand if you can take it right?

lucky bastard i wish i was able to do the stuff you do. All I am is a poli sci major D:

In recent times I've become nostalgic of the forum system. At the time I was quasi-paranoid and had angst problems, but now that's not a factor so I'm developing some romantic ideas of how it wasn't so bad. Ditch post count and reputation, make guest accounts/anonymous posting a feature and overall have a minimalist/barebone setup - then I think there's a chance of something decent. Of course if administration/modding sucks, or there's a foul userbase, there's no hope whatever the system.

>>24038
I don't understand this system. Here you can attend any class and take whatever the fuck you want. The school don't know what the students know, so it's pointless to create restrictions.

>>24040
>The school don't know what the students know, so it's pointless to create restrictions.

Not when the educational model operates with intellectual development/edification of the individual as an ancillary effect at best. You are paying for an endorsement of vocational competency; a bigger number than your peers means that it's likely you will be a more productive toiler at the generic capitalism factory. Post-secondary institutions in their operation and history are inseparable from industry. As an institution, do you think the modern university facilitates or enables anything that isn't freely done with an internet connection and an iq of above 100?

>>24041
>As an institution, do you think the modern university facilitates or enables anything that isn't freely done with an internet connection and an iq of above 100?

If education is only a tool to refine yourself in the quest for stable/powerful employment or leadership, prestigious colleges also provide a great ground for networking with the potential leaders of tomorrow, and providing the generic approval that one needs to get their foot into the door of other prestigious societies. Mind you, that is not terribly useful to any of us.

Technical schools/universities are appropriate for engineering fields or any other field which requires raw data from the physical world to manipulate for the purposes of education, as they provide the labs, the complex, expensive machinery, and devise the specifications for which this data is too be handled, all of which are much more esoteric to the secondhand observer, and may not even be widely mentioned outside of the university environment. While one may argue that these esoteric standards are a self-beneficial product of the university, I believe that once you reach a certain level of complexity, human subjectiveness will make the handling of data different from the perspective of different people, and a self-educated student will be left out in the cold. Again, however, if you are going for a conceptual understanding and not a practical understanding, this is not a big issue, though most people go to university for the practical understanding for a career.

>>23849
>>24040
Such a platform could be built from meritable features of existing systems. Reddit boasts organizational strengths and community tools that set it, at purely a structural level, above the majority of its competitors. It is disputable however that its use of identity and community controls over the readability/presentation of user content actually enhances the quality of interactions that are enabled by the site.

>Now that's an idea. What if downvoting required you to attach your reason?
The systemic issue with a +/- system of user interaction with content is that it doesn't incentivize novel, contentious or stimulating discussion. Content that users find challenging or provocative will elicit consistent -'s, as has been demonstrated consistently by the broader reddit userbase. Under such a system, those ideas people feel compelled to downvote will remain unexplored and silenced in the aim of preserving sensibilities. I deplore this type of community enforced vapidity, and would prefer to see a metric that favors posts which generate discussion and response, regardless of its form. A simple display of total responses would be suitable - this amount would not necessarily influence the order of posts either.

>Ditch post count and reputation, make guest accounts/anonymous posting a feature and overall have a minimalist/barebone setup - then I think there's a chance of something decent
Identity can have some use in preserving the structure of a discussion, but its influence should be cut there. 420chan does something unique in limiting identity to a thread - I'd like to see this method explored in a system comparable to reddit.

>Of course if administration/modding sucks, or there's a foul userbase, there's no hope whatever the system
Ultimately this, though I think the effect of a shitty userbase can be modulated by the structure of a site. Moderation must be autonomous and minimized with the aim of interfering with discourse/culture as little as conceivably possible. This can be achieved through an unambiguous, minimal rule set and automation. The despotism certain administrators of /jp/ have over the content which appears on the board is truly deplorable, and in it's current state the board has been rendered a hollow, insipid wasteland of viral marketing and infinitely cycled sets of images.

Overall, fuck identity, fuck arbitrary, turgid administrative bureaucracies and fuck metrics that encourage plebeians to profoundly influence discussion at whim by pressing a button. I really wish I had the capacity to create websites.

>>24043
We definitely agree on the voting/reputation system. In truth, I never made it far enough in the evolution of forums to encounter post voting. But you only need a lick of imagination to see how wrong that can go. I see absolutely zero value unless you're running a fucking Q&A forum.

When it comes to identity, I'm with it simply for the charm. Again, you only need a lick of imagination to see how wrong that can go, so I won't deny that I'm peering through nostalgia goggles on this one. On a practical level, I really like the example you take from 420chan. That system should serve the objective positives of user identity in discussion. When it comes to reddit I must admit that I'm clueless. Never used it, and whenever I've stumbled into it - I don' understand anything.

On moderation, I think that it should be very behind the scenes. Unless you know the team, it should not be obvious who's part of it and who's doing what. After all, moderation is purely a community service. Tripping with power and title is not servicing anyone. That I say on the background of moderation experience. I was a horrible mod, the type who kills discussions. I also agree that rules of content should only be in place of absolute necessity.

>I really wish I had the capacity to create websites.
I think creating it is the easy part. Hosting, populating, maintaining and quality controlling it seems nigh impossible if you ask me.

>>24042
>Technical schools/universities are appropriate for engineering fields or any other field which requires raw data from the physical world

As someone actually in an engineering field, my intention with the original post was merely to confront the notion of undergrad academia being largely a bloated, arbitrary exercise of wealth-extraction. Though the existing curriculum may bring individuals to a level technical proficiency in these fields, it is very apparently not being brought about in the streamlined, honorable manner many are content to believe. Curriculum for technical fields can be reduced drastically and facilitated with technology - the mechanisms of lectures and people-centered evaluation and presentational methods are antiquated, token devices that are functionally inferior to what is possible with automated technologies.

>I believe that once you reach a certain level of complexity, human subjectiveness will make the handling of data different from the perspective of different people
Idiosyncrasy and convolution never really bodes well for large-scale endeavors of this variety, but there still exists variance in the standards and working conditions across firms/technological niches. Methodologies will inevitably vary across frameworks due to specific epistemic or practical needs - "science" is not a unified, centralized, homogenized endeavor that is administered and prescribed by continuous set of policies and rules. Familiarity with standards of practice of a given discipline is essential, but whether a traditional university program imparts something that is applicable to all instances of practice is questionable. Again, my opinion doesn't really diverge from the endorsement of specialized, focused curriculum - I think preparation for a specific vocational task would be better handled by an existing industrial entity working in tandem with the university, and semblances of this type of system do exist.

When I can't even traverse the university without being bombarded by solicitors who obviously pay to exist in the space they occupy, that's a pretty clear communication of the view of the studentbase. Not that I continued to bother physically attending after the first semester - these people are free to enact the delusion they consider to be a "community", I'm content to just silently take the credential, if with some contempt.

>>24041
>an internet connection
You mean without a university library/bookshop, or university passes on academic databases? If I were to write scientific papers based on what I get off of google scholar then I'd rather just give up. I may be misunderstanding you on this one, though.

>>24045
>Curriculum for technical fields can be reduced drastically and facilitated with technology - the mechanisms of lectures and people-centered evaluation and presentational methods are antiquated, token devices that are functionally inferior to what is possible with automated technologies.
Curriculum can be reduced when university level writers shake their word count fetish, I'm certain. The management's want for covering all the grounds can also be problematic, especially in highly evolving fields.

Use of technology assisted learning is mostly a decision on a school by school basis. If the education department establishes a few guidelines on the use of e.g. byod and lms then great, but it's still the schools' decision to implement said systems - especially in higher education. For that reason I think it's inappropriate to judge the institution as a whole by the separate schools' tendency to stay in the past.

You're being vague on a lot of points, I'm especially curious what this is about:
>When I can't even traverse the university without being bombarded by solicitors who obviously pay to exist in the space they occupy

Whether it's reddit's creation or not is completely irrelevant here but reddit-style-community-up/downvoting is literally the single most vile system the internet ever invented. It's hard to express how damaging the whole process is. A normal forum with retarded moderators who decide which opinions are okay and which aren't politically correct and are thus deemed to be no-good is bad enough in it's own right for what I believe to be obvious reasons so I won't even explain those in detail. But reddit style censorship is far, far beyond that. It actually teaches people ro be close-minded bigots who censor opinions they don't like. It makes them actively participate in this disgusting display of me-too-ism and crowd mentality and it makes them believe doing that is the right thing to do and that it improves the quality of discussion and everybody's lives period. There are lots of psychological processes at work here that ensure that the up/downvoting doesn't just damage the discussion, it actually damages people themselves.

At the same time positive feedback from the community is not without merit. People who contribute in meaningful ways deserve to get the credit in one way or another. Creating a system that only accepts upvotes would only halve the problem rather than fix it; whether it's preferable to complete lack of feedback is subject to further discussion. It definitely shouldn't be something as absurd as making the upovted post stand out in any way possible, though. It should be discreet or maybe even private - as in, only accessible to the author of said post(s). That would create an environment that encourages people to contribute and give people who contribute positive feedback without creating any hierarchical forum structures.

>>24040

This might sound funny but recently I was browsing through some forum and I was a bit annoyed at how ineffective they were. I had to go to a subforum and then pick a topic to see the posts instead of having them displayed in in-your-face imageboard style. I somehow found the process to be irksome.

>>24046
>You mean without a university library/bookshop, or university passes on academic databases?
Not specifically. In the presence of a decentralized, freely accessed network of information - the internet, or comparatively automated digital networks - what is the functional role of a centralized, for-profit entity that effectively distributes this same information? Information being distributed over the former instrument doesn't necessarily preclude academic/institutional methods of endorsement.

>inappropriate to judge the institution as a whole by the separate schools' tendency to stay in the past
Western post-secondary institutions are devised and operated in accordance with governing, ubiquitous standards of practice. Since this model is often devised by a regulatory institution employed by the state or a state sponsored entity, it is meaningful to criticize the modern university at a general/structural level. Universities only distinguish themselves from one another by name - the structural features and program models are invariable, as one would expect in any type of standardized educational system.

>I'm especially curious what this is about:...
Credit cards, various financial services, assorted seminars, volunteer organizations, interchangeable events, various product demonstrations. Do these sound appealing to you? Anyone who intends to actually transport themselves across the campus has the privilege to be exposed to endorsements for at least half of these things at any given time because the university recognizes the convulsing mass of flesh that endlessly drags itself across its infrastructure can be profitable by just existing. It works very much like advertising on any website, I would expect.

>>24049
>what is the functional role of a centralized, for-profit entity that effectively distributes this same information?
I don't agree with this, the access to information isn't the same. It' easier on the internet, but not as good. I've tried to procure my sources on a purely free-2-learn basis, and the results aren't as good. Instead of getting what I need, I just get what I get. However, if the internet were to be a truly free network of knowledge - all the knowledge - then the non-human assets of higher education would be defunct. I just don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.

>Universities only distinguish themselves from one another by name - the structural features and program models are invariable, as one would expect in any type of standardized educational system.
From my experience, this isn't quite true. Aside from laws, rules and guidelines, it can't micro-control every single educational facility. The leadership and their backgrounds and their agendas can be very different, with a working relationship where the one relies on the other, vice versa. Having attended several schools, I found that they all were different on multiple levels. With difference in culture, ideology, structure and learning models. Of course if whoever advocates a conspiracy that education, in the 'free west', is a propaganda infused tool of controlled indoctrination, then that's totally fair - I'm just not gonna touch on it. I guess it all depends on how pessimistic or naive we are.

>Do these sound appealing to you?
No, it's a fucking hassle. And a big incentive to not set foot on campus. It can easily spiral out of control and it's very distracting. Such is the vibrant and exhilarating life of a student, I guess.

>>24048
>It should be discreet or maybe even private - as in, only accessible to the author of said post(s).
I like that idea. The authors get their kicks of satisfaction or whatever, and also serves as a guideline of what other people like to see on a microlevel. You also inhibit the protrusion of the groupthink, to some extent maybe.

And yes, the traditional structure of subforum upon subforum absolutely needs to go! Only a very few forums are big enough to warrant this structure. Just have a main page where you select from a handful of themes, and bam - you're ready to read/post.

Another point I'd like to address is that of separate chat clients, like irc. I definitely see the merit of an instant messaging window integrated into the site where you get a more fluid conversation. But when it becomes a separate application, with separate accounts, and when it becomes... irc, then it seems inevitable that it'll become a completely different thing/monster with a completely different culture/userbase. Which in turn I think is a pointless addition.

Post edited on 20th May 2014, 10:55am

There's no way in hell that I'm touching an actual forum again, outside of a game forum looking for answers.
The communities, while not as dickish as say 4chan, is vastly more attention driven. There's always post counts, karma, voting systems, etc along with the name itself.
Have a big number and make a lot of friendly posts? Enjoy your popularity.
Have lower numbers and a more blunt way of posting? Enjoy being called a 'troll' or a bad poster, etc.
I enjoy being anonymous, thank you very much.

>>24051

>Another point I'd like to address is that of separate chat clients, like irc. I definitely see the merit of an instant messaging window integrated into the site where you get a more fluid conversation. But when it becomes a separate application, with separate accounts, and when it becomes... irc, then it seems inevitable that it'll become a completely different thing/monster with a completely different culture/userbase. Which in turn I think is a pointless addition.

Yeah, those are pointless and/or harmful. All shoutboxes and IRC channels are a bad idea largely because posting on an imageboard/forum simply cannot be compared to using an IRC channel. It just creates two parallol communities. In fact even on /tc/ people who use the site don't really care about the IRC channel and the majority of the people on the channel openly admit they don't browse the site.

>>24048
>It actually teaches people ro be close-minded bigots who censor opinions they don't like.

How is this any different to what happens here?

answer: The bigotry that happens here is the type that you subscribe to.

>>24068

I have no idea what you're talking about. If you mean reports then it's nowhere near close since those aren't visible to anybody besides moderators.

>>24069
That and the large amount of complaints and controversy that happens when someone challenges the norm

>>24073
>controversy that happens when someone challenges the norm
You call the antics that occur here controversy? At worst it's a storm in a teacup, I've yet to see a real shitstorm. You can't have a social site without a report system, and you're not gonna get an open community where every individual have perfect understanding and respect for every little opinion that stumbles about. I'm not saying that tc is perfect, but you should be a little realistic.

What I like about tc is that its users are very dilligent about posting on the right board. Everything lovey dovey goes on /mai/, everything despair goes on /so/, all the miscellaneous goes on /ot/, etc. There's close to zero off topic about, aside from a few derailings.


Another thing I've been missing from image boards lately is the sense of belonging. I could leave here and not feel a thing. I can be here and not feel a thing. Too much attachment is bad for something too of course, but some would be nice.

>>24073

How is that related to the topic at hand? If it happens it results from the general attitude of the userbase and it's not encouraged by the site structure in any mentionworthy way or form.

Also aside from obvious stuff that's forbidden by the rules I don't believe that to be the case, aside from misogyny I don't think there are any topics that are a berserk button (for most of us). We have differing opinions and worldviews.

>>24074

>Another thing I've been missing from image boards lately is the sense of belonging. I could leave here and not feel a thing. I can be here and not feel a thing. Too much attachment is bad for something too of course, but some would be nice.

That's something that simply comes with age I think. Teenagers look for their place, people in their 20s(/30s) give up on it either because they believe it to be futile or because they feel it's no longer important. As a rule of thumb of course.

>>24075
>That's something that simply comes with age I think.
I can relate to that. Image boards as a medium of expression used to have purpose enough for me, but now I feel the expression doesn't matter. I'm in it for the insight in how other misfits live their lives, I guess.

>>24061
I dunno, I think it really depends on the forum, mainly the members.

I go to a really slow website, it's essentially lost all focus and only a few members remain. But they think of the website like family, there's no post counters or anything, and they love new members, mainly because it actually gives the place some activity.

I think the slow tight-knit places are really good. Even if you're not really gonna get too valuable of a discussion, you can still talk about anything and actually afford it, they'll just love the activity above anything else.

I usually find places like these revolve around some kind of game. The one I go to actually revolves around two, it's themed after one but recently made it's own game.

>>24076

>I feel the expression doesn't matter.

I'm kinda interested in the age distribution of perma lurkers. I myself went from being a lurker in my early teens (because I was literally too shy to post on anonymous imageboards, go figure) to posting a lot in my late teens (because I felt the need to express my meaningless opinions and feelings nobody gave a shit about) and then back to being more of a lurker in my 20s (because I matured enough to realize nobody gives a fuck).
So again, it's one of the things that seems to come with age.

I was thinking of doing that too, talking about games and other interests with friends you know by their username seems a lot nicer than doing it with an Anonymous person on an imageboard.
The thing is I don't know of any good forums and even if I did, I guess it would take a lot of time to find a good internet friend you can talk to every day.
The few friends I had from the times I used to go to these forums don't log in anymore and even if they did, I don't think I would like talking to them.

>>23702
This picture is horrifying. Kaguya is one bumped table away from getting a pound of glass right in her face.

That might just be what she's hoping for, but what a horrible way to die, for sure.

>>24577
pretty sure that monitor would weigh a whole lot more than a pound.

>>24577
There's an alternate version of the image where just that happens.

>>24577
That's not going to kill you, it will probably only break your nose.

>>24583
Do you have any idea how heavy those things are? At least count in some broken teeth and minor fractures here and there.

>>24586
Yes I do, you're probably right. You can get serious injuries but I don't think you can die easily like that.

>>24582
Can you post it?

>>24587
Probably not. From a greater height perhaps.

>>24588
I don't have it handy. Also, I don't remember if it was an edit on the original or an edit on Kaguya version.

I've seen that image a billion of times and I never even realized it's a goddamn monitor. Then again I never looked at it closely but still. I always assumed the point is she is trying to kill herself. By moving one of those tables away and dropping that iron weight on her head. I'm worried I might be legitimately retarded.

>>24595
>she is trying to kill herself
Of course not. She's so lazy that she won't even sit upright to use the monitor.