Why are places like this RevLeft and RevForum dying?

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on December 11, 2017

It seems everywhere a leftie might want to hang out online is dying a death, and its not like we're all busy fermenting revolution, so what the hell has happened?

We live starkly alienated and atomised lives these days, our local communities are dead, the workplace is not the hotbed of political activity and association that it once was, social movements are going through a predictable withdrawal, contraction and consolidation around Social Democracy, and the old "mass" Far Left parties that might once have absorbed us no longer even register on the radar. You'd think in times such as these internet forums might provide the politically advanced members of our class with some small point of contact, some pole of attraction.

These forums might be the only left voices many of us hear given how politically retarded the working class still is despite the crumbling ideological facade of modern Anglo-Saxon, Liberal-Bourgeois Capitalism.

Mike Harman

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on December 11, 2017

Most online political discussion has moved to facebook and twitter - there's hundreds of people with broadly the politics you'd expect to find on here talking about stuff on twitter every day.

Our facebook page sometimes has more comments in a day than the forums do for example. Also what's left of forum discussion has in large part moved to Reddit.

What used to happen on e-mail lists tends to be in private facebook groups or similar now.

There's probably a generational difference in the sense that those of us who first got online in the '90s only had the forum/BBS format to talk about things. People who hit their teens in the early 00s would have known about blogs from day one (livejournal -> wordpress -> tumblr). Anyone under 30 would have had myspace as one of the biggest sites when they were 18.

Either way I don't think it's that there's less discussion, it's that the locations where discussion is happening online have changed dramatically.

Vlad The Inhaler

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on December 11, 2017

lol, so I'm, just an old fuddy duddy and out of touch. Figures.

I don't have a clue what Reddit even is. Twitter & Facebook I use in a personal capacity. I don't think they suit political discussion, debate and the such, god knows I've tried. Conversations are fractured, lost in the crowd and just generally soundbitey.

Vlad The Inhaler

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on December 11, 2017

What are the chances? I just tried to sign up to Reddit and my username is taken. wtf?! In my naivety I assumed that it was a username sufficiently quirky to make it original, apparently not.

Mike Harman

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on December 11, 2017

Reddit is essentially a mega-forum including multiple sub-forums. I don't use it, but ones I know of:

https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/
https://www.reddit.com/r/leftcommunism/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/
https://www.reddit.com/r/anarchocommunism/
https://www.reddit.com/r/LibertarianSocialism/

I don't think anything stops people making their own sub-reddits, so some of these are busier than others and there's different overlap etc.

I don't think they suit political discussion, debate and the such, god knows I've tried. Conversations are fractured, lost in the crowd and just generally soundbitey.

They're hard for actual discussion, but people use them to share posts, critique articles other people have posted, and threads on twitter can be equivalent to a short blog (which people can then respond to) - and this sort of stuff does help people who are getting politicised figure out their ideas. It's OK to hate it, even lots of people who use it hate it, but it's where a lot of people are.

comrade_emma

5 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by comrade_emma on April 21, 2018

deleted

Serge Forward

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Serge Forward on December 11, 2017

Facebook, Twitter and and other social meeja have to be a major factor. Mind you, it'd help if a few of those still here ditched some of the cultish 'scenethink' and were a bit less arsey sometimes. That's not solely a libcom problem though.

Vlad The Inhaler

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on December 11, 2017

It seems memes are the new political pamphlets and flyers. Vlad The Inhaler is not amused.

adri

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by adri on December 11, 2017

Never thought RevLeft was libertarian-socialist-friendly despite advertising itself as being politically inclusive among the left. Could be wrong, but I read through some threads and never bothered registering there.

Vlad The Inhaler

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on December 11, 2017

I wasn't on RevLeft during its hayday but in my time there there was certainly a smattering of Anarchists and a decent number of Left-Communists but the majority were undeniably Leninists of one stripe of another. I was a Leninist at the time and so didn't see it as a problem. The problem with Revleft and RevForum (a split from RevLeft) was that squabbles often became so acrimonious that the mods and admins felt compelled to ban all those involved, from there it just snowballed to a situation where pretty much only the mods, admins & donors were still able to post on there.

jondwhite

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jondwhite on December 11, 2017

Agreed. Revleft has let a few bad apples rot the barrel. Before various purges of users in recent years it was broad and interesting.

el psy congroo

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by el psy congroo on December 11, 2017

comrade_emma

Since I hang out on political subs way to much on reddit I'll give a run down,

Tankie subreddits, very strict
https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/
https://www.reddit.com/r/communism

Anarchist subs,
https://www.reddit.com/r/anarchism

Left-communist and/or marxist subreddits,
https://www.reddit.com/r/communists
https://www.reddit.com/r/leftcommunism
https://www.reddit.com/r/ultraleft
https://www.reddit.com/r/shitleftistssay
https://www.reddit.com/r/marxism_101
https://www.reddit.com/r/communization

The most general and active sub(has been growing quite rapidly since June),
https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism

Socialist trans sub,
https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageGenderBinary

I've retired from this site and others for months now. Just want to say everything listed by emma is dominated by leninsts and authoritarians. Bordigists in the case of everything but r/communization, which is dominated by crypto-maoists.

Not sure about r/LSGB

comrade_emma

5 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by comrade_emma on April 21, 2018

deleted

Serge Forward

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Serge Forward on December 12, 2017

Yeah, the influx of idiot leninists is possibly another reason this place has gone downhill somewhat.

pat black

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by pat black on December 12, 2017

i feel the same. it's a blessing and curse that facebook and twitter became the main places for us to congregate online. they take from forums like these but also broaden the reach of our messages, knowledge, and listeners. i actually know a few people that got radicalized on facebook.

i want forums like these to thrive. i live in china. vpns are blocked and i have no way of accessing banned social media. these days, i am stuck on quora. but one can only give the basic definitions of terms for so long. if communism killed the dinosaurs, then why are antifa thugs taking money from soros and ISIS?
that absurd question isn't far off from what i've seen there.
while annoying, i do give my answers.
-liberals are not leftists
-social darwinism is based on a lie
-that's not human nature.

the rest of the questions on my feed are racist questions about china.

it's exhausting and and interesting. but not too social. just a few comment threads. so, while i sit for mandatory office hours at an early childhood development center in tianjin, china, i figured i could talk here.

jondwhite

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jondwhite on December 12, 2017

comrade_emma

You make it sound like that is a bad thing.

It is.

syndicalist

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on December 12, 2017

How to put it? I think there are prolly a few reasons for the lack of discussion here at the mo. If you look at the peak periods of discussions, there were many similar themes: organizational, workplace, the role of different organizational forms, political squabbling. I suspect, for the most part, people tired of the same thing, same debates, same everything. I mean, there's really good stuff inside many of these threads, in spite of some repetition. I would also hazard to say, with a number of splits within the various movements, many have just pulled back from some discussions as well. And simply having discussions with folks they either have disagreements with or don't much care for.

I'm glad that this is still a place to put stuff up, have a periodic good convo, maybe get some info on global happenings, solidarity campaigns and so forth. And even if Libcom is more a "resource" site at this point, the resources available are pretty good.

Just some causal and radom comments

DevastateTheAvenues

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by DevastateTheAvenues on December 29, 2017

I saw on the Libcom Twitter page that there are plans to remove the forums. If that will be the final decision of the Libcom collective then that's alright, but I think it will be sad to see the forums go.

Though I don't post often, I have always preferred to read and post in the long-form style that forums are more suited to, as well as the ability to more easily respond to multiple people; on Facebook and Twitter, unless someone is actively looking then generally they will only see the replies directed at them specifically. Long, involved discussions with multiple participants seem more difficult. Tumblr and Reddit seem to have these problems as well, though less so.

I am glad that there are no plans to remove comments on articles, but I think it is valuable when you can make a thread with some thoughts or questions that might not warrant an article but can invite discussion. I believe that starting these exploratory threads is also a good and relatively gentle way for someone to get involved with a posting community, even if the questions are ones other posters have seen many times already, without having the new poster go through the nonparticipatory experience of searching through the archives for old conversations. Besides, even old questions can produce fruitful, innovative discussions.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. I'll admit that I'm also just fond of forums because they are what I grew up with, while I am a latecomer to social media. I hope that, whatever happens, an archive of the forums will remain. While I understand that the forums have been quite tense in the past, there's been a lot of quality discussion, too, and I would hate to see it disappear.

satawal

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by satawal on December 29, 2017

RE: 'I saw on the Libcom Twitter page that there are plans to remove the forums.'

I understand why this might be done, but I would put up a plea to at least maintain the 'Announcements' forum in some way. Personally I have found this very useful as a non-partisan place to find out about upcoming events, esp. outside of my direct political concern or geographic area.

Either way, thanks to the LibCom mods - your voluntary labour over the years is appreciated.

adri

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by adri on December 29, 2017

https://twitter.com/libcomorg/status/946421744818114560

I kind of enjoyed the forums as a place to interact with others and develop one's politics through discussions. I wouldn't mind seeing the forums replaced with something similar, but to remove the interactive aspect from the site completely would be a shame imo. I don't really get the benefits of removing the forums and having comments only on articles, which is the current plan if I'm not mistaken.

Mike Harman

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on December 29, 2017

We haven't made a final decision on exactly what to do yet, but we're probably going to do something like the following:

- archive all the old threads
- keep comments on articles
- get rid of the forum layout and ability to post new forum topics, and new discussions can still happen on articles/blogs

We don't have the capacity to moderate the forums properly, and most of the admins and editors no longer post on them regularly (I only started to again recently after a several year hiatus) which makes moderating extremely difficult. It's not really a sustainable thing and the rate of attrition (usually to social media) is not matched by new forum posters. Then that lack of strict moderation means a lot of people have pulled back from the forums as well.

I do think there's a need for longer form discussion (I personally can't stand facebook, twitter is useful for lots of things, but not longer form discussion) but not sure what a good venue for that is really.

DevastateTheAvenues

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by DevastateTheAvenues on December 29, 2017

satawal

Either way, thanks to the LibCom mods - your voluntary labour over the years is appreciated.

I echo this 100 percent. A lot of the tension in the past and even recently has been about admin and moderation of the forums, so that the admins and mods have done this for so long is spectacular. I'm very grateful; I don't know where my politics would be today without the forums.

Mike Harman

We haven't made a final decision on exactly what to do yet, but we're probably going to do something like the following:

- archive all the old threads
- keep comments on articles
- get rid of the forum layout and ability to post new forum topics, and new discussions can still happen on articles/blogs

We don't have the capacity to moderate the forums properly, and most of the admins and editors no longer post on them regularly (I only started to again recently after a several year hiatus) which makes moderating extremely difficult. It's not really a sustainable thing and the rate of attrition (usually to social media) is not matched by new forum posters. Then that lack of strict moderation means a lot of people have pulled back from the forums as well.

I do think there's a need for longer form discussion (I personally can't stand facebook, twitter is useful for lots of things, but not longer form discussion) but not sure what a good venue for that is really.

Thank you for laying out the current plans and the reasoning. If the forums are no longer meant to be, hopefully a satisfactory venue can be found soon. Best of luck to you and the rest of the admins.

Spikymike

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on December 29, 2017

I suppose the Regions and Groups Forums could go but the others seem useful. Presumably comments on all library texts etc will be retained?
I suppose I will have to finally register on Facebook to answer some of the pathetic short comments on posted libcom material that appears there now whilst still avoiding adding my 'likes'.
Is there really much substantive discussion on either Facebook or twitter? Other hosted subforums seem to cater for a fairly narrow political range even if they are still broadly classifiable as 'radical!

jondwhite

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jondwhite on December 29, 2017

Mike Harman

We haven't made a final decision on exactly what to do yet, but we're probably going to do something like the following:

- archive all the old threads
- keep comments on articles
- get rid of the forum layout and ability to post new forum topics, and new discussions can still happen on articles/blogs

We don't have the capacity to moderate the forums properly, and most of the admins and editors no longer post on them regularly (I only started to again recently after a several year hiatus) which makes moderating extremely difficult. It's not really a sustainable thing and the rate of attrition (usually to social media) is not matched by new forum posters. Then that lack of strict moderation means a lot of people have pulled back from the forums as well.

I do think there's a need for longer form discussion (I personally can't stand facebook, twitter is useful for lots of things, but not longer form discussion) but not sure what a good venue for that is really.

That sounds ok but if any users wished to start up forums for themselves independently they could do so.

Noa Rodman

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noa Rodman on December 29, 2017

Spikymike

Presumably comments on all library texts etc will be retained?

That's what was said yes, and we would still be able to comment.

Is there really much substantive discussion on either Facebook or twitter?

a lot of meme/shit-posting, and even if there is substantive discussion it will be almost impossible to find within a couple of days, and deleted without notice whenever the fb group or twitter user deletes their account on a whim.

There's more activity on twitter, but then if you have time to be active on twitter (which the libcom account seems fairly to have), the main problem doesn't really seem to be lack of time for forum moderation. After all, forum activity is down is the general complaint, so it should be easier to moderate.

Is the cause for the pending decision not rather just that an inactive forum superficially looks bad to the outside.

Other hosted subforums seem to cater for a fairly narrow political range even if they are still broadly classifiable as 'radical!

If you refer to the forums of SPGB (most active), ICT, and ICC (or Redmarx), they seem fairly well moderated. It doesn't look a problem for them to admin. If the work-load is really too much for libcom, perhaps someone trusted, from like the SPGB, can be made an admin here to help out.

jef costello

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on December 29, 2017

I think it would be a shame to close the forums to new posts. Discussions under articles don't seem to go into the same depth.
In terms of moderation, I can see why the admins can't find the time, and I don't know if current posters would be willing to pick up the slack. I also understand that libcom admins wouldn't want non-admins to do moderation, because ultimately they would be responsible for it and good moderation does take time, even if it is just running something by an admin.

I could do some moderation if needed, I used to for some of the subforums on the old site. There are a few of us in the same boat.

I don't see me signing up for twitter.

Fleur

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fleur on December 29, 2017

The forums have been running on fumes for a while & I doubt if they’ll ever get back to what they were.

Shout out to the admins for putting so much work and time here. Also for putting up with me during my fighty moods ;)

If anyone is interested, you can PM me for my social media deets.

jambo1

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jambo1 on December 30, 2017

I haven't been on Revleft for years, it was an interesting place to hang out but a lack of anarchos and associated types sort of drove me out, too many Stalinist types I'm afraid. Haven't been on Libcom forums for ages either to be honest, most of my stuff seems to be on Facebook now.

Serge Forward

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Serge Forward on December 30, 2017

I don't do social media, and never will, so it'll pretty much be sayonara from me when the forums go. To be fair though, it's not just that this forum is pretty dead these days, it's also that the remnants here seem to be infected with the kind of groupthink based on twitteresque and facebooky political fashions.

Any archiving that is done, I really hope it retains some of the quality stuff from comrades like the late Knightrose and others, rather than some of the recent faddists and leninists you get these days.

jef costello

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on December 30, 2017

I think it will be it from me too, but I disagree with the faddism charge, although there do seem to be a fair few leninists, probably waiting for the central committee to approve using Facebook.

Just a few reasons not to use Facebook for everything.
https://libcom.org/news/few-reasons-not-organise-facebook-30122017

There seems to be a belief that facebook is somehow neutral (a massive misconception) and that we can fight back (we can but often lose because facebook has far more in common with the right wing than us and because building a better world is more complex that dog whistle racist memes) and that we can rebuild, every time a facebook page is shut there are a lot of people who won't notice, or won't look for its replacement. We lost loads of corrrespondents when libcom was hacked and it was a massive shame. I didn't think at the time to switch people to email, or at least get an email address and that was an error. Not forgetting that we were on a friendly organising site, not an at best ambivalent one that will happily sell our information to anyone. If they will allow advertisers to specifically target depressed and emotionally vulnerable teenagers (or rather pitch the idea to them) then why not lefties?

Agent of the I…

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Agent of the I… on December 30, 2017

The quality of discussions you can find on Facebook and Reddit are nowhere close to those that can be found in the libcom.org forum. I kind of miss the times when newbies would regularly log in and ask the questions one would ask when first getting into radical politics. Nowadays, it seems like no one is interested.

I have to add, if anarchist subreddits are anything to go by, the state of the worldwide anarchist community is pretty much a mixed bag. Its surprising how many individualists, Proudhonian mutualists, and Communalist/democratic confederalist types you'll find regularly posting there.

Left communist subreddits, on the other hand, are much, much smaller; perhaps theoretically more coherent, but unsurprisingly quite dogmatic. I mean, does anyone really want to be told that the social revolution is an authoritarian act? That's the kind of "important" debates/discussions they have.

petey

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by petey on December 30, 2017

will the pm function still work?
i have one or two to answer, maybe get about it right now :(

DevastateTheAvenues

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by DevastateTheAvenues on December 30, 2017

jef costello

I think it will be it from me too, but I disagree with the faddism charge, although there do seem to be a fair few leninists, probably waiting for the central committee to approve using Facebook.

Just a few reasons not to use Facebook for everything.
https://libcom.org/news/few-reasons-not-organise-facebook-30122017

There seems to be a belief that facebook is somehow neutral (a massive misconception) and that we can fight back (we can but often lose because facebook has far more in common with the right wing than us and because building a better world is more complex that dog whistle racist memes) and that we can rebuild, every time a facebook page is shut there are a lot of people who won't notice, or won't look for its replacement. We lost loads of corrrespondents when libcom was hacked and it was a massive shame. I didn't think at the time to switch people to email, or at least get an email address and that was an error. Not forgetting that we were on a friendly organising site, not an at best ambivalent one that will happily sell our information to anyone. If they will allow advertisers to specifically target depressed and emotionally vulnerable teenagers (or rather pitch the idea to them) then why not lefties?

Another point on why Facebook isn't neutral ground: https://theintercept.com/2017/12/30/facebook-says-it-is-deleting-accounts-at-the-direction-of-the-u-s-and-israeli-governments/

radicalgraffiti

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on December 30, 2017

DevastateTheAvenues

jef costello

I think it will be it from me too, but I disagree with the faddism charge, although there do seem to be a fair few leninists, probably waiting for the central committee to approve using Facebook.

Just a few reasons not to use Facebook for everything.
https://libcom.org/news/few-reasons-not-organise-facebook-30122017

There seems to be a belief that facebook is somehow neutral (a massive misconception) and that we can fight back (we can but often lose because facebook has far more in common with the right wing than us and because building a better world is more complex that dog whistle racist memes) and that we can rebuild, every time a facebook page is shut there are a lot of people who won't notice, or won't look for its replacement. We lost loads of corrrespondents when libcom was hacked and it was a massive shame. I didn't think at the time to switch people to email, or at least get an email address and that was an error. Not forgetting that we were on a friendly organising site, not an at best ambivalent one that will happily sell our information to anyone. If they will allow advertisers to specifically target depressed and emotionally vulnerable teenagers (or rather pitch the idea to them) then why not lefties?

Another point on why Facebook isn't neutral ground: https://theintercept.com/2017/12/30/facebook-says-it-is-deleting-accounts-at-the-direction-of-the-u-s-and-israeli-governments/

i dont think anyone thinks facebook is neutral, its just where people are

DevastateTheAvenues

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by DevastateTheAvenues on December 30, 2017

radicalgraffiti

i dont think anyone thinks facebook is neutral, its just where people are

Oh yeah, I don't disagree, just adding some more info to jef costello's point. That where people are is so slanted against left and anarchist organizing should be a big argument for keeping our own spaces, though, so that we can bring people from where they are to where we are, away from where Facebook can control the conversation.

jef costello

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on December 30, 2017

Agent not available

I kind of miss the times when newbies would regularly log in and ask the questions one would ask when first getting into radical politics. Nowadays, it seems like no one is interested.

I rmember when I was starting out there were lots of discussions, perhaps it's because people just don't come here first any more. I sometimes wonder if we only get new posters when something blows up on twitter and people set up accounts. It does show that people value sources, at least to the extent of attacking them.

rg: perhaps neutral is the wrong way, but people see it as a fact, like a street being a place where you walk, and that is dangerous because we need to think beyond it and unlike a street, or even a shop or even a military base we cannot really occupy or subvert it.

Serge Forward

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Serge Forward on December 30, 2017

Never bought the "it's where people are" argument about Facebook etc. In the 1980s, Militant used to say we should all join the Labour Party because that's where "the masses" were.

satawal

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by satawal on December 30, 2017

Yes, and its goodbye from me too then.

Thanks again to both the admins and forum contributors. Your work over the years has been very helpful both re political projects I have been involved in and for me personally.

Re the personal, for some years a while back I had a pretty depressing period of estrangement from anarchist circles IRL due to work and domestic pressures. These forums made me feel somewhat still connected, and that was important for me at the time re my happiness and sanity, and it allowed me to maintain (an admittedly precarious) self-vision as an anarchist, and that was a definite bridge to my present reengagement IRL.Thank you all.

Uncreative

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Uncreative on December 30, 2017

Serge Forward

Never bought the "it's where people are" argument about Facebook etc. In the 1980s, Militant used to say we should all join the Labour Party because that's where "the masses" were.

Saying Facebook is where "people are" is more like saying we should leaflet at city centres rather than empty fields in the countryside because thats "where people are". Its a comment on the availability of an audience, unlike the line from Militant - no one is "at" the labour party.

Serge Forward

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Serge Forward on December 30, 2017

No problem with groups having a Facebook profile, but any more than that is futile. There seems to be a correlation between the increase in social media use and the decrease in meaningful political activity... unless social media is your political activity, and I'd bet it is for more than a few. Put it this way, a fight for control of the streets might be worthwhile; a fight for more likes or friends on social media is not.

radicalgraffiti

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on December 30, 2017

fairly sure the labour party never had 2 billion active members

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/27/facebook-2-billion-users/

darren p

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by darren p on December 30, 2017

Serge Forward

No problem with groups having a Facebook profile, but any more than that is futile. There seems to be a correlation between the increase in social media use and the decrease in meaningful political activity... unless social media is your political activity, and I'd bet it is for more than a few. Put it this way, a fight for control of the streets might be worthwhile; a fight for more likes or friends on social media is not.

These days if you want to organise any kind of successful public event you pretty much *have* to promote it through social media and Facebook. That's where people get their information and, with targeting, that is where you are most easily going to find people that might be receptive.

Mike Harman

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on December 30, 2017

petey

will the pm function still work?
i have one or two to answer, maybe get about it right now :(

If it doesn't we'll try to make sure there's some kind of replacement. Also in general there'll be plenty of warning before any of this happens - lots and lots of work involved on updating the site in general still to be done.

radicalgraffiti

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on December 31, 2017

me: i'm going to the pub, my friends are there

Serge Forward: this is like when militant told people to join the labour party because thats where the people are

me: ???

radicalgraffiti

6 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on December 31, 2017

DevastateTheAvenues

radicalgraffiti

i dont think anyone thinks facebook is neutral, its just where people are

Oh yeah, I don't disagree, just adding some more info to jef costello's point. That where people are is so slanted against left and anarchist organizing should be a big argument for keeping our own spaces, though, so that we can bring people from where they are to where we are, away from where Facebook can control the conversation.

yes agree, one reason i am interested in mastodon is it makes it possible for us to run our own social media, although its more like twitter than facebook

Spikymike

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on December 31, 2017

Well I know the future belongs to the youth but I fear too many changes that pass as 'modernisation' to this website may see a number of us 'oldies' disappear into the mist of time no more to make our valuable contributions based on our experience. Like so many other things it is the case that we older pro-revolutionaries are as likely to be victims of social isolation as the rest of our kind, but then maybe it's just the time of year and a bad cold that's bringing me down! Too ill even to sink my sorrows in the pub.

Spikymike

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on January 2, 2018

Getting rid of all the old Forums would it seems sideline a number of the otherwise useful discussions based on linked longer articles in other journals and blogs that sometimes get posted here but don't reappear in the admins controlled selection of material on Facebook. Less registered user input more admin control perhaps?

Mike Harman

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on January 2, 2018

SpikeyMike

linked longer articles in other journals and blogs that sometimes get posted here

If they're interesting and not in a publication that's going to hunt us down for copyright, why not post to the library and discuss underneath?

klas batalo

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by klas batalo on January 6, 2018

libcom killing the forums is idiotic its the only reason I come to stay up to date with latest updates on current events and analysis like rebellions and things. I mean the library is super great resource. but the thing that brings me and I bet a lot of other regulars here is the feed of forum posts. but idk you all know your site better than us.

probably should start a libcom based reddit if you do nix them

Wayne

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Wayne on January 10, 2018

I am by nature nostalgic and would be very sad to see the libcom forums close. I posted quite a bit in enrager Web 2.0 days (often in a way that, now online communication has developed and behaviour has become related to real world activity and etiquette, is pretty embarrassing). But I've no idea how much work goes into sustaining forums that - purely due to how people use the Internet - are not used anything like they were 10 or 15 years ago.

Steven.

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on January 10, 2018

Just to say, as mentioned in the other thread the plan is not to close the forums as such. Just get rid of the forum structure (like news, UK, blah blah blah) which most people don't really use (most people use the tracker) and which don't really make much sense (as forum topics overlap).

Nor is the plan to delete stuff. It is to simplify the site by combining forum threads into a single section called Discussions, which people can navigate using the tracker, or a Discussions-only tracker.

We did discuss potentially closing the forums to new posts, especially as historically we have got more shit from people about the forums than the whole rest of the site put together, primarily because of stuff posted there by users, often which we may not have even agreed with. But because it is on our site we get held responsible (in a way which people do not do with sites like Twitter or Facebook, where people acknowledge that individual users are largely responsible for their own behaviour)

that said, we haven't come into much criticism in that regard for a while, and as people have pointed out there is a space for Discussions, for example for new people who have questions which they would like answering, or for discussion of current events which we don't yet have a news article about.

But anyway appreciate people's comments here, and people's feedback generally!

klas batalo

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by klas batalo on January 11, 2018

ah that's a relief

Tarwater

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Tarwater on January 11, 2018

Seeing as I don't use twitter, reddit or any social media, I wonder if anyone could speak more in depth as to the quality of discussion on any of these forums. When I have dipped a toe in they've seemed poor but I don't have enough experience to say for certain.

Vlad The Inhaler

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Vlad The Inhaler on January 11, 2018

Tarwater

Seeing as I don't use twitter, reddit or any social media, I wonder if anyone could speak more in depth as to the quality of discussion on any of these forums. When I have dipped a toe in they've seemed poor but I don't have enough experience to say for certain.

Agreed. I did experiment with reddit a couple of weeks ago but it just isn't the same. Twitter and Facebook have always been absolutely useless as centres of discussion.

radicalgraffiti

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on January 11, 2018

Tarwater

Seeing as I don't use twitter, reddit or any social media, I wonder if anyone could speak more in depth as to the quality of discussion on any of these forums. When I have dipped a toe in they've seemed poor but I don't have enough experience to say for certain.

it depends who you follow and on facebook what groups you are members of

Spikymike

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on January 11, 2018

That's right but there are problems with so many often 'self-contained' separate facebook groups some ostensibly with the same objective or purpose. That doesn't apply to the libcom Facebook which the admins seem to solely! control but then discussion doesn't seem great there either if I'm not mistaken?

Mike Harman

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on January 11, 2018

Our Facebook is a page rather than a group, a group would directly compete with the forums here.

Shorty

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Shorty on January 11, 2018

Have had a similar experience with Reddit as well, both the anarchist and the communist subreddits really are "a mixed bag" *ahem*. Still really like LateStageCapitalism though.

Would be great if there was a libcom subreddit but I guess that would also compete with the forums here.

klas batalo

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by klas batalo on January 19, 2018

the thing about here is there's a very long term user base that are versed in libcom basics to help deal with all the newbies... these other spaces are way more open to just 101 discussions etc.

Agent of the I…

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Agent of the I… on January 21, 2018

A few months ago, I saw Russell Brand on his YouTube channel, in a conversation with David Harvey, equate anarcho-syndicalism with Gandhi's vision of village socialism. Unsurprisingly, Harvey saw nothing wrong with that definition and the conversation moved on. And I didn't expect much more from the two of them, since neither of them identifies with anarchism.

But I have come across that kind of mistake in defining anarcho-syndicalism in an anarchist subreddit thread, where it was basically reduced to a 'model' or type of future, post-capitalist society. And to my surprise, I didn't come across anyone disagreeing with that at all. It seemed to be some kind of shared 'consensus'. Now you can argue that 100% of everyone posting there are newbies, but I still find it incredible that in a 101 discussion such as that, no one stopped and say, "hmm, that doesn't sound right".

Like how does that even happen? Especially when there's so many resources available online for learning about these things.

Jay_S

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Jay_S on January 21, 2018

People posted in the libcom forums or RevLeft because those places were the only game in town for the types of conversations that happened there. But don't mistake that for people actually liking them. RevLeft had a bad reputation for heavy handed, sectarian moderation and it having a lot of Stalinists there. libcom had a reputation for free for all, immature posters with hands off moderation. If I remember correctly, there was a seperate forum started by platformists because they despised the style of libcom discussions.

On social media, you can really select the political crowds you want to engage with. If you don't want to engage with the aspiring deathcamp guards of Workers World or some tiny ultraleft sect whose activity is mostly posting online, you don't have to.

The integration with mobile is also a big thing, as well. Most forums do not work great on a smartphone. With Facebook, you can easily rattle of stream-of-conscientiousness rants while sitting on the toilet.

Somewhat more interesting I think is how did forums affect how discussion happened? Political development? What influence did it have on organizations? Same with social media. It seems obvious that social media has affected political tendencies and organizations quite a bit. I'm not entirely sure its been more good than bad.

Khawaga

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on January 21, 2018

I'm not entirely sure its been more good than bad.

I am entirely sure it's been more bad than good, indeed, I'd say most of it has been quite bad. In many cases, I've seen Facebook become a substitute for actual organization.

Rommon

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Rommon on January 22, 2018

I was on Revleft years ago, Things got weird there. I use facebook, to keep in touch with specific biblical scholars who are interested in specific subjects, I did once join a facebook leftist Group ... but it again got weird, maybe it was just the time period I joined but it was basically just a big fight over racial/gender issues, getting to the point where People were pretending to be a different race and being called out for it and so on, so I got out of there quick.

What I appreciate about libcom is People are rather thoughtful, I don't post much here but I do read, and it's often Clear that People know what they are talking about and care about getting Things right and keeping Things interesting.

Red Marriott

6 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Red Marriott on January 22, 2018

It may be that the shift from forums to other more compressed form of social media reflects a wider shift; that, as class struggle and its revolutionary potential has for so long seemed so elusive, even many supposed 'anarchos' have moved their faith into hardened simplistic positions of identity politics, pro-national liberation leftism, anarcho-Corbynism etc. So all that's needed is a medium for parroting rigid snappy soundbites restating positions with no need for space to explore themes. "The medium is the message" is an old 60s cliche but does seem relevant to social media as regards how form moulds content.

People seem to be assuming a permanent decline. But forums may at some point make a comeback; after all, social media seems to encourage short attention spans and people may come to find that inadequate, and new struggles may encourage new forms of debate.

ziq

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by ziq on January 31, 2018

Any interest in teaming up with us at https://raddle.me ? We've been around for a year now and have grown consistently every month. The community is both built and managed by its users.

Noah Fence

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noah Fence on January 31, 2018

ziq

Any interest in teaming up with us at https://raddle.me ? We've been around for a year now and have grown consistently every month. The community is both built and managed by its users.

Couldn’t seem to access the comments?
Anyways, it was worth a look - very pleasing to find out that Remy the dog bit the cop that was arresting her owner! A gravy bone for that guy!

ziq

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by ziq on January 31, 2018

Noah Fence

Couldn’t seem to access the comments?

Not sure what you mean, when there are comments, they're listed under every submission. Click "xx comments" to see them. Or you can go to https://raddle.me/comments to see all the latest comments on one page. Fair warning: a noxious troll is currently arguing with everyone.

Khawaga

Is it some leftist reddit?

https://raddle.me/wiki will answer everything you could possibly want to know about the site and how it functions. It was built from scratch by leftists to be free and open source, so any similarities to reddit are skin deep.

Edit: See this too:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm3wbj/radical-leftists-built-their-o...

Khawaga

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on January 31, 2018

ziq

https://raddle.me/wiki will answer everything you could possibly want to know about the site and how it functions. It was built from scratch by leftists to be free and open source, so any similarities to reddit are skin deep.

Thanks, that looks like it will answer all kinds of questions I may have.

Though when I said "like reddit", I meant in form and function, in the sense that reddit was like Digg, in the sense it's still link sharing site with the possibility of upvoting and commenting.

ziq

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by ziq on January 31, 2018

Yeah, we took everything we liked about reddit and ditched everything we didn't like (the forced hierarchies, the tolerance for fascism, the closed source code, the sharing user data with law enforcement/advertisers, etc.)

Fleur

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fleur on January 31, 2018

Alas, Remy the dog murdered by the state as she went to a kill shelter and no one adopted her in time.

So I'm going to the totally derail this thread and ask people that if they are planning on getting a dog, get one from a shelter, not a pet shop or some dodgy geezer on Craigslist. Also, Remy was a pit bull, which are the most awesome of awesomist dogs, so if you're thinking of adopting give a pit bull a thought because they're usually put straight to the top of the kill list because human beings are terrible. And they're also the best cuddlers too.

That is all, PSA over, as you were.

cactus9

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by cactus9 on February 9, 2018

Agent not available

A few months ago, I saw Russell Brand on his YouTube channel, in a conversation with David Harvey, equate anarcho-syndicalism with Gandhi's vision of village socialism. Unsurprisingly, Harvey saw nothing wrong with that definition and the conversation moved on. And I didn't expect much more from the two of them, since neither of them identifies with anarchism.

But I have come across that kind of mistake in defining anarcho-syndicalism in an anarchist subreddit thread, where it was basically reduced to a 'model' or type of future, post-capitalist society. And to my surprise, I didn't come across anyone disagreeing with that at all. It seemed to be some kind of shared 'consensus'. Now you can argue that 100% of everyone posting there are newbies, but I still find it incredible that in a 101 discussion such as that, no one stopped and say, "hmm, that doesn't sound right".

Like how does that even happen? Especially when there's so many resources available online for learning about these things.

If you have time could you briefly unpick why that's wrong? I'm definitely at 101 stage and that's exactly the kind of thing I want to understand. I appreciate that's a bit off-topic though. Thanks. Maybe not why it's wrong but why people think it sounds right. That's probably a paper in itself though.

radicalgraffiti

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on February 9, 2018

anarcho syndicalism is an anarchist way of organising unions, its not an end goal

pi

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by pi on February 9, 2018

Cactus9

If you want to read more beyond radicalgarffiti's fantastically succinct response, this was recommended to me last year. I found it a useful history and intro to anarcho syndicalism.

SolFed: Fighting for ourselves
http://libcom.org/files/Fighting%20For%20Ourselves.pdf

adri

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by adri on February 15, 2018

So how's the site upgrade coming along?

DevastateTheAvenues

6 years 1 month ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by DevastateTheAvenues on February 23, 2018

Twitter is...hard.

Riou Sora

5 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Riou Sora on July 27, 2018

Revforum was shut down and lost domain.

I want to revive that website because I have so many memories there, precious memories.

Please help me contact people from Revforum. I also liked Libcom and will panic if Libcom was shut down like that.

Please help me contact admin or people from Revforum

Riou Sora