Something Awful and Friends - The roller-coaster train-wreck embarrassing downfall of a Web 1.0 giant and its tick offspring like from Cloverfield

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But from what you're saying Lowtax is making a bunch of money and not having to do much, how is that a bad thing from his perspective?

That's why its a bad thing:

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The SJW catladies were in full swing after Obama but especially after LF closed and they swarmed the whole website. To the point where half the userbase just left in a couple of years (and it keeps dropping off). Right now there are 5,800 users logged in, a few years ago that used to be the peak number of people in only one of their subforum (GBS). There are 650 users in there right now which used to be the deader subforums.

The most active threads right now are on top of the page are:

- Remember the good old days? Post your favorite shit from a decade ago
- Its not ok to say nigga when singing along to rap music if you're a white girl
- Lol MRAs
- Lol Gamergate
- Lol Ann Coulter
- Lol reddit


That's why he should care. That's his livelihood and his future daughters' college funds. Having your traffic drop to a quarter in four years is a really really worrying sign. Especially that youtube now stops monetizing "problematic" videos.
 
It's OK, you can call him autistic.

Nah, that word is so overused that it has no meaning anymore. This guy deserves something to distinguish him from the others, as he's clearly going above and beyond the expectations of a traditional "autistic" person.
 
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Nah, that word is so overused that it has no meaning anymore. This guy deserves something to distinguish him from the others, as he's clearly going above and beyond the expectations of a traditional "autistic" person.
So... "Mangosteen" then?
 
I just wanted to come here to stress that in all my years at SA, SASS, TNE, or SS, not a single member has come forward as doing any of the accused horrible irl contacts. There is zero tolerance for it. And not only would they be banned, they would be ostracized because it is just not cool. /Sperg

You guys really are doing gods work here. And I hope this is not the start of bad blood. SS is essentially in slow downward spiral and will ultimately end up as a bunch people who pay hosting fees to keep the dysfunctional but decent friendships we formed over the years intact. There are some seriously funny people at SS. Don't form any misconception that we are a hate fueled machine that exists only from feeding on SA drama and ironic racism.

And seriously Lowtax, no one at SS did any of the irl contacts you refer to. The only connection I can piece together is when KIR did something messed up and he only cane to TNE at the time because he was he'll banned or something at SA. We never claimed him as our own either. He was harassing you long before he chose other offsites.

Another misconception is that anyone who has a beef with SA/Lowtax is automatically embraced at SS. I've lost count of the number of times people have tried to raise a personal army against SA/Lowtax at SS only to be told "kill yourself" or "lol, fuck off".
 
How do you feel about your userbase shrinking to less than a quarter of what it was less than five years ago, and do you plan to make any changes to turn it around at any point @Lowtax?
 
Waggly mentioned to me about SA's art threads before, are they still around and carry the same sort of prestige today @Lowtax ?
 
How do you feel about your userbase shrinking to less than a quarter of what it was less than five years ago, and do you plan to make any changes to turn it around at any point @Lowtax?
It is what it is, and people have moved on to other forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook and whatever. Can I convince people to stop using those and join the forums? Hell no, especially with our old ass code and lack of features. So the primary draw is the moderation and userbase, both of which I'll be addressing.
 
It is what it is, and people have moved on to other forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook and whatever. Can I convince people to stop using those and join the forums? Hell no, especially with our old ass code and lack of features. So the primary draw is the moderation and userbase, both of which I'll be addressing.

Social media is busier than ever before so I don't think people have necessarily moved away from the format even if it's old, especially not if there is good content. Wouldn't it be possible to migrate SA on a newer better system without losing the old threads?
 
Social media is busier than ever before so I don't think people have necessarily moved away from the format even if it's old, especially not if there is good content. Wouldn't it be possible to migrate SA on a newer better system without losing the old threads?

I honestly think one of the problems is that a lot of people in the "make SA great again" camp absolutely hate the newer formats. They're fine for shit-posting and superficial shit, but they don't really lend themselves to effort posting.

Hobby forums can be whatever they want, but if a forum is a significant source of your income you have to go with what people are willing to pay for - even if that turns your own forum into a place you wouldn't personally want to post.
 
It is what it is, and people have moved on to other forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook and whatever. Can I convince people to stop using those and join the forums? Hell no, especially with our old ass code and lack of features. So the primary draw is the moderation and userbase, both of which I'll be addressing.
You should merge with Fark and call the new site farkingawful.com
 
To be fair, how many websites can people remember that were popular in the early 2000s that are still even vaguely relevant now, let alone forums and content aggregators which generally have a shorter shelf life? Honestly, it just seems like the natural cycle of any website for it to eventually get shit and lose popularity.

I don't want to sound like a cliche, but in the Web 2.0 era, where it's easier than ever to kick start and sustain an internet career using Twitter or Youtube or Tumblr or any other major impersonal social networking site, and where there is Twitter or Tumblr or Reddit or a million other niche forums that have people willing or even happy to put up with your sperging about any random topic, is there really a place for the Something Awful of old? Will it ever get the level of traffic to sustain the amount of good content it used to have? I don't think so.

I'm honestly not trying to be a dick here, but maybe it would be better for everyone to just say 'it was good while it lasted' and move on, rather than trashing about trying to find someone or something to blame for what was an inevitability. All good thing come to an end.
 
@Lowtax

What advice would you give to @Null. To always keep Kiwifarms somewhere he'd like to post? To monetise as much as possible and let that drive the direction of the forum? To pull the plug when the personal price becomes too high? To be very engaged or as hands off as possible?

What would you go back now and tell your younger self?
 
I honestly think one of the problems is that a lot of people in the "make SA great again" camp absolutely hate the newer formats. They're fine for shit-posting and superficial shit, but they don't really lend themselves to effort posting.

Hobby forums can be whatever they want, but if a forum is a significant source of your income you have to go with what people are willing to pay for - even if that turns your own forum into a place you wouldn't personally want to post.

I meant more something like this place, with chat even
 
Goon chat would be an endless source of drama, like Gooncons and the goon FB groups. It should probably happen for our entertainment purposes alone.

yeah thats my point thats what the IRCs are like put a chatroom in every subforum

It's also gonna drive users back to the site and make them spend even more time there
 
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