After years away from the board, I wanted to make a post about the book that led me back here: "Escape: How a Generation Shaped, Destroyed and Survived the Internet" by Marie Le Conte.
I forget how and where I first came across it, but in 2023 I found this memoir about growing up alongside the early internet. Though the author's specific experiences (blogging about indie music, political activism, oversharing online) were completely different from my own experiences (in terms of interests and platforms), her reflections on internet communities made me think a lot.
I'm not doing it justice summarizing it in this post, but basically the book is about how the internet of the 2000s was full of niche, passionate communities where people could connect over shared interests rather than geographic proximity. These spaces allowed people to explore new things and find their tribes in ways that weren't possible in their real lives. The book then explores how the internet gradually changed - from weird, authentic spaces to commercialized platforms optimized for engagement metrics and monetization. Forums like this one were supplanted by Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where algorithms determine what we see rather than chronological conversations. Le Conte captures that feeling of loss as the internet became "flatter" - with everyone squeezed into the same few massive platforms. But at the same time, it's more segregated because no two people are seeing the same things on the large social media platforms. Here, on the other hand, everyone who visits [whether now or 20+ years ago] sees the exact same posts, threads, and people as everyone else, not algorithmically shifted around.
Le Conte makes a point about how different communicating on forums was from scrolling on social media. On forums like this one, people have actual conversations that can develop over days. If we care enough, we can know each other's usernames, personalities, quirks, and opinions. There's continuity and depth that I realized I've been missing. It's telling that the term for Facebook/Twitter/Insta et.al has gone from social networks to social media: we're there to consume and produce content instead of interacting with people.
So I came back here after all these years. mm-bbs is not perfect by any means- the discussions here are slower than the frenetic pace you can find in social media, there are a lot fewer of us than in the heyday, and the board's reputation can be harsh even among other overseas H!P fans, but there's something special about this space that deserves to be preserved.
It's preaching to the choir by posting this here, but I'm curious: how have you experienced this shift in online culture over the years? Do you participate in other forums besides this one, H!P or otherwise? And what keeps you coming back here in 2025 when there are so many other ways to engage with people and H!P content online?
If you're interested in general internet culture and how communities were built online, I recommend checking out the book. The underlying themes about finding connection and identity online will likely resonate with you as someone who's on a forum reading this post in 2025+.
"Escape" by Marie Le Conte (internet communities, coming back to mm-bbs)
Moderator: Tsuki
Re: "Escape" by Marie Le Conte (internet communities, coming back to mm-bbs)
That sounds like a pretty cool book.
I do check twitter every now and then but I'm a locked account because I really don't want to participate in that culture. I'm also on the H!P discord but rarely post because of what I mentioned above. Sometimes I can follow a discussion for maybe an hour but if I'm off for 10 minutes I'm lost.
I feel like you could constantly feel the shift. From forums to "old" social media like myspace or even facebook, to twitter which even had a character limit, to instagram or tiktok that barely use written language anymore at all. It's also the "normies" flooding the communities. Nothing against them, but it's obvious that when nerds get together they go very deep into their interests while other people just touch the surface and have fun with it (good for them, but we don't have dedicated spaces anymore).
On top of that, and that one is definitely getting worse, nobody has patience or reading comprehension anymore. I grew up on books and I bet thats the same for most people here - or even on actual conversations. If you already grew up with tiktok you simply don't know how to communicate in more than 4 sentences (there are some reading nerds but even then they often don't read between lines or don't understand rhetorical devices). That's definitely something that happened in the last 10 years, especially since covid/2020ish.
Honestly - other social media is too fast for me. Not only do I not have the time I used to have, I also feel like a lot of information, but also jokes and memes get buried under people posting gifs, emojis and replies that are only a few words long. I remember forums that used to ban you for posts that had no significant substance (like even replying "Wow she looks pretty in this" could give you a warning lol) or just pictures or links without description. I know it was more work to post, but it wasn't worse.sadude wrote: Wed Jun 04, 2025 8:43 am It's preaching to the choir by posting this here, but I'm curious: how have you experienced this shift in online culture over the years? Do you participate in other forums besides this one, H!P or otherwise? And what keeps you coming back here in 2025 when there are so many other ways to engage with people and H!P content online?
I do check twitter every now and then but I'm a locked account because I really don't want to participate in that culture. I'm also on the H!P discord but rarely post because of what I mentioned above. Sometimes I can follow a discussion for maybe an hour but if I'm off for 10 minutes I'm lost.
I feel like you could constantly feel the shift. From forums to "old" social media like myspace or even facebook, to twitter which even had a character limit, to instagram or tiktok that barely use written language anymore at all. It's also the "normies" flooding the communities. Nothing against them, but it's obvious that when nerds get together they go very deep into their interests while other people just touch the surface and have fun with it (good for them, but we don't have dedicated spaces anymore).
On top of that, and that one is definitely getting worse, nobody has patience or reading comprehension anymore. I grew up on books and I bet thats the same for most people here - or even on actual conversations. If you already grew up with tiktok you simply don't know how to communicate in more than 4 sentences (there are some reading nerds but even then they often don't read between lines or don't understand rhetorical devices). That's definitely something that happened in the last 10 years, especially since covid/2020ish.
Re: "Escape" by Marie Le Conte (internet communities, coming back to mm-bbs)
I noticed the shift years ago. If it wasn’t for h!p I wouldn’t have a Twitter or a TikTok or an Instagram account but I keep them just to follow the girls.
Aside from here I’m on Jplop and Discord. Discord is a good place for up to date info and discussion but it’s basically just a chat and not so much a forum but you have the different servers that cater to different things and they do have a search function so as far as social media places go, it’s much better than Twitter.
Jplop is where I went once the BBS went down. It’s got a similar vibe to here but not as notches as the BBS.
I tried Reddit but that place is pretty dead. Worse than the BBS.
Twitter and its limited test function really ruined chatting. I think that was the start of the great downfall.
Aside from here I’m on Jplop and Discord. Discord is a good place for up to date info and discussion but it’s basically just a chat and not so much a forum but you have the different servers that cater to different things and they do have a search function so as far as social media places go, it’s much better than Twitter.
Jplop is where I went once the BBS went down. It’s got a similar vibe to here but not as notches as the BBS.
I tried Reddit but that place is pretty dead. Worse than the BBS.
Twitter and its limited test function really ruined chatting. I think that was the start of the great downfall.
This is a place where a signature goes. Enjoy some Airi instead.
Re: "Escape" by Marie Le Conte (internet communities, coming back to mm-bbs)
I hear you on reading comprehension. On the other end of the spectrum from that, Youtube for me is still just for the occasional music video. I can't sit through a 20 minute Youtube video explaining something that could've been 2 or 3 paragraphs and taken up much less of my time. It's such a waste.
I'm not here to just shit on social media-- I'm all for having different options for people's different preferences is fantastic. But after a certain point it becomes overwhelming and fragments everyone, especially already niche communities.
Reddit deserves a special mention for the above and for scaling social media in a different way. In theory it's great to be able to participate in discussions on any topic under one login, but it allows people to jump in and out of what would otherwise be tight-knit communities if they had a dedicated space and people had to be intentional to seek them out. Reddit's format and layout is also more conducive to reposting things over and over to have them show up as new instead of contributing to existing threads.
I have a love/hate with Discord (the platform, not any particular communities). It's great that it has normalized online chats and added a ton of features to basic chat, but it's still just that-- chat. I remember hopping on IRC or when we'd have AIM group chats with other mm-bbs members, and Discord is miles above that. But (just like Reddit) having one company control a platform is a recipe for disaster, and we're already seeing that with the annoying ads it's throwing in along with the feature bloat.
I'm not here to just shit on social media-- I'm all for having different options for people's different preferences is fantastic. But after a certain point it becomes overwhelming and fragments everyone, especially already niche communities.
Reddit deserves a special mention for the above and for scaling social media in a different way. In theory it's great to be able to participate in discussions on any topic under one login, but it allows people to jump in and out of what would otherwise be tight-knit communities if they had a dedicated space and people had to be intentional to seek them out. Reddit's format and layout is also more conducive to reposting things over and over to have them show up as new instead of contributing to existing threads.
I have a love/hate with Discord (the platform, not any particular communities). It's great that it has normalized online chats and added a ton of features to basic chat, but it's still just that-- chat. I remember hopping on IRC or when we'd have AIM group chats with other mm-bbs members, and Discord is miles above that. But (just like Reddit) having one company control a platform is a recipe for disaster, and we're already seeing that with the annoying ads it's throwing in along with the feature bloat.