Forum comparisons

[Mycernius]

I am wondering how you think Jref compares with other forums that you use on a regular basis?
I use several, but Jref was the first one I joined and use on a regular basis. It wasn't the first, IMdb was the first, which led me here. And after being here for over two years I love the site and the people on it, despite the occassional bickering, it is one of the polititess forums I am on with people to match.
This has been thrown into real focus recently as I have joined three other forums in the space of a week, two atheist and one christian, hence the thread title. The christian one seems to be full of small minded individuals which make me crave for the open minded discussions we have here. A lot of backslapping when they think of a witty biblical quote The atheist ones are just as bad, plus they do not censor out expletives, which kinda bugs me. In fact all three seem to lack a certain respect towards other members, especially if you put up another view. Despite being on them and posting they don't really have the same feel as this one. Personally I am surprised I haven't been banned on the christian one. So how is it for you?

 

[ArmandV]

I agree that this is the most friendliest of forums I belong to. Moderation is minimal. Other forums have moderators who are rude and condescending to forum members. I find this forum to have more interesting topics.

 

[Seon-a Kim]

This isn't the politest forum I'm on and it's hard to actually interact with people get to know each other...or make online friends if you could call it that. What is kinda strange, because it has a lot of members, but the actual active and dedicated ones aren't with as many, so it should be easier to get to know each other and not the other way around.

I kinda slowed down in postin' and comin' here because of that, I actually can contribute a lot to a forum if it attracts me much, with long quality posts and interestin' new topics, but I only do when I feel I'm not doin' it for nothin'

 

[ArmandV]

This isn't the politest forum I'm on and it's hard to actually interact with people get to know each other...or make online friends if you could call it that. What is kinda strange, because it has a lot of members, but the actual active and dedicated ones aren't with as many, so it should be easier to get to know each other and not the other way around.

I kinda slowed down in postin' and comin' here because of that, I actually can contribute a lot to a forum if it attracts me much, with long quality posts and interestin' new topics, but I only do when I feel I'm not doin' it for nothin'

I wonder why you feel that way. You've only been here since October. Perhaps you haven't gotten the "feel" or "rhythm" of the forum yet.

Naturally, there's some who are belligerent in their postings, but those are few and far between.

 

[Seon-a Kim]

Feel free to Google "Ayu-youkou" or "Aeshma" and you will see that I got lots of forum experience and run some myself

It doesn't have to take this long to get to know people, maybe I look in the wrong sections and people rather pass by in there (come in post a bit and never come back), but for example when I PM a regular staff member with a forum related question, then bein' totally ignored isn't very welcomin'

Basically that's is what gives the feelin'...bein' ignored once to often, then ya don't get the feelin' you belong to the community.

 

[ArmandV]

Feel free to Google "Ayu-youkou" or "Aeshma" and you will see that I got lots of forum experience and run some myself

It doesn't have to take this long to get to know people, maybe I look in the wrong sections and people rather pass by in there (come in post a bit and never come back), but for example when I PM a regular staff member with a forum related question, then bein' totally ignored isn't very welcomin'

Basically that's is what gives the feelin'...bein' ignored once to often, then ya don't get the feelin' you belong to the community.

Maybe it is the topic that doesn't interest others. If they aren't interested, they they won't post (I know I don't).

 

[Elizabeth]

Feel free to Google "Ayu-youkou" or "Aeshma" and you will see that I got lots of forum experience and run some myself
It doesn't have to take this long to get to know people, maybe I look in the wrong sections and people rather pass by in there (come in post a bit and never come back), but for example when I PM a regular staff member with a forum related question, then bein' totally ignored isn't very welcomin'
Basically that's is what gives the feelin'...bein' ignored once to often, then ya don't get the feelin' you belong to the community.

I also prefer the friendliness of a small forum with limited subforums but the disadvantage, at least for me, is it's hard to get started there with the community already well-established. You feel like an intruder which I never did here. But the staff varies, and a lot of the mods have left at JREF or never check in regularly. You may want to try a different avenue for your issue.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Past history of JREF......

I still believe the chat room is the place to make close friends. A few years back we had 8 or 10 of the same people in chat EVERY night. Many have left JREF, but still swap E-Mails with me, due to the friendship built in chat. I try and watch for anyone in there nowdays, but most go in and out before I can log into chat to catch them.Our chat room has a lot of capabilities that are going to waste.

Uncle Frank

 

[hideway]

I found this forum to be very friendly and with lots of funny remarks and posts.
I'm loving it. Also this is the my first forum with a chat, I've just tried it and I liked it.

 

[kirei_na_me]

In my 13 years of Internet use, this has GOT to be the best community out there, to me. It's still a great place to be, but I'd say 2-3 years ago, it was at its absolute best.

We had a core of "regulars" who were always in touch via PM, e-mail, chat, other messengers, or on the boards, all the time. Some of us formed quality friendships and bonds that I think still remain, even though some of us(me being one) are not around as much, if at all, anymore.

I really miss the old JREF. There used to be a time when all the team members were always around and we all agreed! Can you believe that?! There was a time when we would come together and agree on a problem, and support each other while we remedied it.

There are a lot of members here who are dear to my heart, as sappy as that might sound. People that I will never forget.

 

[MeAndroo]

This is certainly the forum that I've visited for the longest period consistently. I think a big part of it is the breadth of age, nationality, and interests I see across the members. I don't put in enough time to post as much as some people, but I try to check it out a few times a week.

The other forums I'm on are almost entirely relating to food...recipes (not for me), blogs, reviews and best of all, recommendations!

 

[Elizabeth]

In my 13 years of Internet use, this has GOT to be the best community out there, to me. It's still a great place to be, but I'd say 2-3 years ago, it was at its absolute best.
We had a core of "regulars" who were always in touch via PM, e-mail, chat, other messengers, or on the boards, all the time. Some of us formed quality friendships and bonds that I think still remain, even though some of us(me being one) are not around as much, if at all, anymore.
I really miss the old JREF. There used to be a time when all the team members were always around and we all agreed! Can you believe that?! There was a time when we would come together and agree on a problem, and support each other while we remedied it.
There are a lot of members here who are dear to my heart, as sappy as that might sound. People that I will never forget.

Yeah, it was almost like paradise 3-4 years ago when I first joined. The was a 'family friendly' atmosphere when everyone was a regular, we all worried about members going AWOL, getting banned was virtually unheard of....the discussions were diverse and fascinating....natsukashii for the good ol' days at JREF....

 

[MajideSaiaku]

This forum is great but seems too vulnerable to poor judgement or emotional charges of those in control, and generally seems a bit more wild west.

The only other forum I really frequent is policed tougher then a despotic police state.....and it flourishes.

J-ref does have one perk, its somewhere to come when I wanna get away from strict posting guidelines.

 

[Elizabeth]

This forum is great but seems too vulnerable to poor judgement or emotional charges of those in control, and generally seems a bit more wild west.
The only other forum I really frequent is policed tougher then a despotic police state.....and it flourishes.
J-ref does have one perk, its somewhere to come when I wanna get away from strict posting guidelines.

Yeah, in essence if a site founder is going to bring on multiple admins make damn well sure you know what you're doing beforehand....

 

[leonmarino]

Well you know what.. This is actually the first forum I've joined and have been active in. So I don't have any other forum experience to which I can compare JREF.

So I decided to sign up to some other forums!! I'm pretty sure that wasn't your intention but I think it's good to have a broad view on things..

I'll report my findings soon.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Hey now, let's not open THAT can of worms again!

I belong to a zillion online foums, but this is the only one that I am consistant with. One of them is nice, but the topics tend to mostly be light. Another is OK and quite friendly, but everyone seems to know each other really well, and at this point in time, it seems more like online chat than a forum. There's a computer related one which is really nice, although a lot of times it seems like most of the threads are about how to remove viral infections, spyware, and the like.

Jref has great breadth of age and nationality of members, and many of them are consistently thoughtful and nice. I don't know about the "glory days" of Jref, but to me there is still a certain general atmosphere here that keeps me coming back.

 

[misa.j]

This is actually the first forum I've joined and have been active in. So I don't have any other forum experience to which I can compare JREF.

Me neither, I don't belong to any other forums, but I've seen some that didn't seem as friendly and diverse as this one.

I think Jref still rocks! Sure we see repeated questions and some redundant arguements from time to time, but for the most part, this forum is made by good, helpful people.

 

[Seon-a Kim]

Yes, the chat room is a good place, as I once had a long chat with some people there and it's a good way to get to know each other, just pity it's barely visited.

Oh and nobody has to get me wrong in this matter, I do like this forum/community...I just stated that it's seems hard to me to get to know people easily and get involved

Oh and as for the topics I made, that's not a problem to me, as all topics I ever created where visited and that didn't disappoint me at all.