David, for years now the show threads have been to me a subcommunity that I'm not part of.

David, for years now the show threads have been to me a subcommunity that I'm not part of.

I know, and I don't participate in the fic writing threads or Canadians or very much in Minearverse. Perhaps my concern is baseless. But it just seems to me that it would become increasingly difficult to enter a community that was driven solely by personalities than one that had on-topic discussion. Besides, I like the analysis and want it to have new and useful outlets.

I'm only really interested in the quality of discussion here - that's the lifeblood I think. What fosters it and what quells it? I don't know if there are definitive answers, but I do think how we structure the board affects it.

David, for years now the show threads have been to me a subcommunity that I'm not part of.

I'm trying to come up with a way to articulate the distinction between subcommunities and factions that I think David is trying to make. Not speaking for Hec, but my take is this: Of course there are subcommunities, and that's not a bad thing. But those subcommunities are widely overlapping, so while I'm not likely to run into Jesse in the show threads, or David in the music (cuz I'm not there), I do feel myself to be a part of one or another subcommunities here that do intersect with you. [My inner poli-sci geek wants to start talking about cross-cutting cleavages and civil society now, but I'll spare you.]

Without the topic-specific threads (or with fewer of them) it's more likely that I'll spend the bulk of my time in a particular subcommunity, and my linkages to people whose primary relationship is with another one will wither. There, I think, is where David's factions come in - not subcommunities so much as separate communities. (This, it should be noted, is not where we are, or where we're necessarily headed in the short-term, but I do think it's worth discussing as a potential long-term issue.)

I posted this and then the board went wonky and ate my post, so maybe that's my answer, but I shall attempt repost, nonetheless.

Is factionalization bad?

I understand that, ideally, the board is one big happy family. But, the reality is that we're a large group with varied interests. Historically, we shared a common interest in Buffy/Angel, but even that has changed. Over the years, we've morphed into more than just Buffy/Angel devotees.

Is there a concern that we won't be as cohesive with more threads? Or that new thread topics will bring in new people who don't share our original common interest?

I think it is fallacious to say that we're a cohesive group now. Also, right now not everyone here is a Buffy/Angel fan.

But it just seems to me that it would become increasingly difficult to enter a community that was driven solely by personalities than one that had on-topic discussion.

I think this is right, though I don't think there's any particular evidence that it's a problem currently. Just on the general point, it's much, much easier to join a community via a topic--okay, for me it's much easier--than via Natter.

I'm probably your outlier on that question, though; I'm a big fan of topic. I mean, I'm not subscribed to Bitches because the idea of trying to scale those walls intimidates me, and I've been posting here for... God, over two years now.

Without the topic-specific threads (or with fewer of them) it's more likely that I'll spend the bulk of my time in a particular subcommunity, and my linkages to people whose primary relationship is with another one will wither.

But honestly, that's already true. There are tons of people who mostly post in one (or three) threads. There are people in the Angel thread who I don't know at all.

I think what I'm trying to say is, I don't get the difference between someone who only posts in Angel and someone who only posts in Natter, in terms of the Buffistas As One Community notion.

Just on the general point, it's much, much easier to join a community via a topic--okay, for me it's much easier--than via Natter.

I agree with this general point a LOT.

Though I have no real answers/ideas/dictums for The Future Shape Of The Board.

I'm interested in your previous experience because I'm approaching this as an issue of board/community dynamics. What happens when it gets too big? What happens when all the satellite groups lose the center?

It's not really applicable. Either things were highly topic-focused, with massive police activity (racing boards), or they were personality-focused with a few key areas of specialized stuff like we have here. In the former case, the only real factions were racing board vs. breeding board. In the latter, we're talking pre-WWW, local stuff, and a busy board had maybe 80 active posters.

Without the topic-specific threads (or with fewer of them) it's more likely that I'll spend the bulk of my time in a particular subcommunity, and my linkages to people whose primary relationship is with another one will wither. There, I think, is where David's factions come in - not subcommunities so much as separate communities. (This, it should be noted, is not where we are, or where we're necessarily headed in the short-term, but I do think it's worth discussing as a potential long-term issue.)

Yes, this is exactly my point and Brenda's spicy brains can feel free to speak for me on this topic.

But honestly, that's already true. There are tons of people who mostly post in one (or three) threads. There are people in the Angel thread who I don't know at all.

I guess my feeling is that while this is already true to some extent, that if we don't foster more analysis/topic threads, that if we don't actively nurture a core of some kind that the drift will be to separate communities instead of subcommunities (as Brenda said). For me, that would be a negative.

Subcommunities -- inevitable. Separate communities? Problematic.