So, I've spent a good bunch of the past years dwelling into imageboards for about 12 hours per day. I've put so much of my free time and interest on them that it just became a default thing for me, even when I wasn't actively checking any specific boards. But lately I've been finding it hard to feel interested on the sites I was part of, or even those new sites like 8chan on its time with the promise of "Freedom".
Even now I still feel it very difficult to check this or other small places like lain or neo-sushi, or even to look up for new ones. It's a mixture of things. For example, here on ubuu the userbase is too different to what it used to be. The content isn't as interesting as it was just 4 years ago. Even though I'm constantly trying to input things I consider interesting and commment as much as possible on potentially interesting threads. But when I look at the new content generated now, I don't get surprised about people leaving and even I sometimes do wonder why I keep coming. I can't put exactly my finger on what we're lacking (aside from a greater/more actice userbase), but something is really amiss here. And it isn't just happening in ubuu. Many other sites such as sushichan are also discussing the topic of "The decaying of chans".
(There's also the fact that ubuu is now 100% shitposting, but we can leave that for another thread.)The fact we had 8ch and /co/ refugees is just another proof of this.
Imageboards changed drastically over the past 6 years. There are many factors and many variables to blame, but this is a fact and actually kind of obvious; transition is just a byproduct of the flowing of time. However, normally (and specially when there are so many communities fighting for the same goal), one would expect things to improve one way or another. Maybe a new chan will rise, maybe some of the existing chans will improve and become great again. But I don't see this happening, at least for a good while.
For this very reason I started to become more and more passive. Now I only lurk on places where I used to post actively. When I go to the frontpage/catalog/fresh post section, all I see either disgusts me or I find it utterly uninteresting. And it makes me feel anxious. After lurking the same kind of places for so many years, I've grown attached to sites that barely receive any input now, and when they do, it's no good. The sensation it gives me feels like knowing someone really d
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