Back in 2020, there was a massive explosion of users not only in places like this, but in all sorts of smaller niche spaces across the internet. There was suddenly a huge interest in Matrix, the Fediverse, Gemini, projects like Spacehey, Pixelfed, Lemmy, etc. It was nice.
However, in the subsequent years (has it been almost 7 years already? How?) it seems much of this attention has redirected elsewhere and these places have been left very underpopulated. The Fediverse Matrix room used to be very active, now there are perhaps two or three messages there a week.
At the time, it seemed 2020 would be something of an Eternal September for these places. Apparently I was incorrect.
Either way, go update your gemini capsule. Make a post here, or on Station, or wherever. Reactivate your fedi.
Don't let these places die.
Funny to revisit after years and see this as one of the most recent posts.
I've found a way to "stay active" ambiently by cross-posting to my gemlog, but I need to keep my nose here, not just shout into the pub from outside.
I jus noticed that Lagrange lets me subscribe to feeds, I will endeavor to use that. Maybe I can find a way to weave Gemini feeds into my RSS reader.
A hearty drink and pie of whatever for softwarepagan. I regret falling away from here, it's a quiet civil little corner where we listen to each other, giving advice, encouragement or just company.
Not sure what I can add apart from my presence.
Be well
Hey there softwarepagan, would you get a drink on me?
Bartender is just now preparing the glasses!
I do, actually, visit the pub quite frequently, I just do it to read on other updates and give smudge some well deserved scritches on the butt.
I'm working on a lot of things right now and have been more outside touching grass, but this space and the small web in general still hold a very dear place in my heart.
I wonder if the guy who graduated this summer is doing the same, hope the best for them.
Others? Well, maybe they discovered intimate places like these when they most needed then, in the quiet crazy days of lockdown, but when they were free to fled, they did.
They might return someday, like migratory birds.
For now, let's enjoy our company together :)
Hello. It's been quite a while hasn't it? I peek through the windows of this place every once in a while. This resonated in me quite somewhat.
For me the big reason is that all this modern bot-crap is making the internet feel so out against us. It becomes so, so emotionally draining, because every single word you say can (and likely will) be used against you, literally. Both short term (a bot's answer depends entirely on what you send it) and long term (by getting your text scraped into a database).
Obviously I've also been (and still) going through so much, trying to grow as a person as much as possible. I can't deny that it's also a factor.
Despite my silence, I still... yearn. I yearn more than ever for interactions with people. I have been doing everything in my power to meet people in person and it is so hard.
These were our safe spaces... EVERYTHING got affected by bots, everything. Some websites fell, others became private... Don't let me even start about software projects.
In a way, corporations found a way to spill all of their evil into every single crevice of the web, automatically. It's like asbestos, or a computer worm, or both I guess. I haven't checked, but I'm SURE that a chatbot has posted here too. They have surely scraped this website tens of thousands of times.
I want to keep this stuff alive but it's genuinely hard.
You mention 2020. I guess that, because of all the pain and changes that the pandemic brought, we started caring for our humanity more than ever. We swiftly forgot.
I am tired.
Putting stuff out on the internet and interacting with anonymous strangers is less appealing than it has ever been. Via stylometry, I feel anything I write may only help deanonymize me. And you lot could all just be robots!
I guess I lost the appetite to talk to strangers. I'm generally opting to stay in the realm of verified flesh-and-blood.
It's sad this is where the internet has ended up. It used to be such a wonderful thing, too.
Thanks for the call to action (and for ew's reminders of the many quirky elements of Midnight Pub posts that gave this place its unique character). I also want to see places like the pub dusted off and thriving again, and I suppose the best way to help that to happen is to start contributing to these conversations again. It's been awhile, but it's always nice to come back here.
Howdy!
2020 and the (forced) change of habits following COVID has had more effect on life than anyone would like to admit. For example, folks could not go to their favorite sports for some time, or at least not the way as before. So among other things they found out, that their beloved sports is maybe not as important as it seemed to be. IMHO this same thing happened to a lot of dear habits.
As of The Midnight ... I peek through the windows several times a week. However, the somewhat agreed rituals of
these all have disappeared. In my opinion this place lived through the above mentioned things. It was not about "publishing" in the first place.
That being said ... the world has arrived in a lets say "strange" state. We are witnessing very interesting phenomena unfolding right before our eyes. Like new warfare, disruption of trade routes, ai bots running wild. Should I hang myself by publicly demanding "Stop the killing"? I mean, this would go some way to reduce the madness. But this will not stop greed and surveillance. I could go on. But I won't. I have been called guilty of publishing mostly technical stuff on my capsule. So be it.
Cheers,
~ew
I must agree that the roleplay element went missing a bit.
I personally enjoy the bit so much that I still partake in it when I occasionally post, it makes the difference between a generic message board and midnight/nightfall, and I'd like to see this place thrive with the same genuine energy that struck me the first time I swerved right in the alley and stepped in through the door.
Not that it's anybody's fault, don't mind my ramblings folks!
Might need a tea... Bartender?
I completely agree. I would really like to see this place thrive, I really well in love with the simplicity of it. I guess I should act out my words, I'll return to writing here again.