|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:23 pm
TSG gets quiet occasionally. I mean, we have general activity, often in the bump and chat threads. I like that people can just hang out here. But I was browsing other guilds for ideas for stuff to post, and it hit me: these guilds all have the exact same threads, over and over.
Most of them are also pretty inactive. I'm a member of maybe 10 to 15 Pagan guilds and aside from this one and Midnight Moon hardly any of them get any activity. Now, the population of Gaia has dipped dramatically, but some guilds still manage to stay pretty active. And looking through the history of some of these quiet guilds, they were obviously fairly active once. So why the decline?
I'm wondering if it's a depth issue. There are a few threads that get repeated often, but they all have a very limited scope for actual discussion.
Who are your patrons?
What's your animal totem?
Do you have a familiar?
What's your altar like?
What's your magical name?
Can you interpret my dream?
They also tend to have a place to post your rituals or spells, and that's sort of it. With some exceptions, it doesn't tend to get much deeper than that.
I'm wondering if this is an issue related to how wide the Pagan banner is. Are we (as Pagans generally) not having in-depth discussions because our paths vary so wildly? Are we forced to discuss stuff we all (or people assume we all) have in common, and never dive deeper?
I'd like to see more discussions on deeper elements of myth, religion and ritual, but I don't feel like I know much about these particular issues. I'm going to throw some out anyway, in the hopes that people will contribute, but aside from that, what are your thoughts on the death of Pagan guilds? How can we better contribute to the ones of which we are members?
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:00 pm
I think you're right- what counts as pagan is so big it's hard to get any back and forth going on anything really deep.
For me, it's also really personal- I don't mind sharing some stuff, but so much of it is private I don't feel comfortable sharing. cat_sweatdrop
I think a good way to get activity would be to try and build things- we might think everyone already knows about some subject- but by working together on a project, we can do a lot more interaction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:34 pm
Esiris For me, it's also really personal- I don't mind sharing some stuff, but so much of it is private I don't feel comfortable sharing. cat_sweatdrop This is true - there's sort of this back-and-forth by wanting to share and hear from others to establish more of a sense of community (at least for those of us who don't otherwise have one) and certain things being too personal to want to share. Or even impossible to share because of how they're framed. The thread about ineffable stuff was sort of created to fill that hole; you can share something you really really want to share, but be totally cryptic so as to keep it private at the same time. Quote: I think a good way to get activity would be to try and build things- we might think everyone already knows about some subject- but by working together on a project, we can do a lot more interaction. Yeah. I've been thinking too about more general topics - like I have a tendency to start up a discussion that I already know a bit about or have an opinion on, since I'll be able to contribute, but maybe a better thing to do is to start up a discussion on something I'd like to learn more about. Edit: and getting specific can lead to more well-rounded discussions. Like I'm reading Nuri's blog and noting concepts like Grace and Kharis and a discussion on those could lead to comparisons with other forms of Paganism.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:38 pm
I admit to being terrible at starting threads. While I occasionally have substance to offer conversationally, I'm not the sort of person who tends to spew it unbidden. I wish I knew how better to contribute, because I too dislike of the permanent 'Pagan 101' culture online. At the same time, though, I'm often reluctant to have in-depth interactions on the internet, greatly preferring meatspace for that sort of thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:51 pm
I think a lot of it is just a numbers thing at this point as well though, there just aren't that many of us, and due to differing ideas or personalities, we've split ourselves up even more, and it's hard to talk about the same things over and over, so people get bored and move on. BB (despite the horrible name) was hugely active at one point, and now it's like a dead zone in there.
I think too though, it's a Gaia thing. A lot of people don't take the discussions or groups on here very seriously, and so it's hard to keep anything going long term. It's probably age related as well, for a lot of these kids, it's just a phase, and they play at it for a bit, realize it's really not their thing and go do something else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:43 pm
Could be, Sweet. It sort of makes me sad even though I left that place in a huff, because it's sort of symptomatic of Gaia as a whole.
I actually don't really like discussing religion in person. I often feel uncomfortable, and everyone would look at me and I'd go all red and I never know how to express my ideas verbally. Writing is easy because you have the time to pause and the time to think as you're busy writing or typing the beginning of the sentence, but when stuff is in person I just get all caught up in my head, confuse myself and end up trying to communicate by going "....you know?" and gesticulating wildly.
Conversations via forum or email, you have time to respond; you can draft what you're going to say, you can go and look up and reference something you remember reading somewhere.... etc. That tends to make me feel more at ease and more able to express myself. But then again... maybe this is just because I don't really know any other Pagans in Real Life. If I knew more, and felt at my ease with them, maybe I'd have awesome and fantastic conversations about it rather than answering any question as generally as possible, turning bright red and changing the subject.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:34 am
I like your idea of a project that we could all work on, Esiris. I'd be more than willing to do that while still seeking.
Actually, the fact that I'm seeking is what my problem is - paganism is such a huge collection of faiths that I honestly don't know where to start. I guess that's why I don't really say much...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:17 am
I know for me that part of why I tend to go inactive somewhat on here is that so much of what my Path has become is UPG and that I have a hard time expressing. I am just now getting to a point where I would feel comfortable actually talking with people about my Path and doing up my thread for it and all that.
That being said I think that a project might help. And perhaps that variety, that 'seperation' could be used to fuel discussion by having threads like that one we had about hospitatlity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:58 pm
I've been keeping busy with other things. Not to say that I've been busy, but I'm finding stuff to do. I hope Gaia manages to get my interest again sometime soon. Even if it is just a guild that's being revived. <3 I haven't had any ideas or questions lately. But I'll try to come up with some.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
