How Relevant Are Message Boards In The AIO Community?

[Bren]

I have been apart of the AIO message board community for 6 years. In that time I have seen message boards come and go. For a while, The ToO was the big hangout spot. For a while it had a combination of AIO discussion and events. As time has marched on, the ToO has kind of slipped in both areas. SS has taken on the AIO discussion. Personally, I wanted CC to live up to more than what it has.

This begs the question, is there a shift in what the AIO community wants in a board? Is the desire solely for AIO discussion or is there still something that wants both. I hate to think that message boards are no longer relevant.

[darcie]

It's not a huge community we're talking about here. If it keeps trying to be split between various sites, the portions won't be able to sustain themselves. The ToO did well early on because it was THE site to go to. The Town Hall couldn't survive any longer when The ToO won its audience. But then people wanted to make more sites. Building websites and forums is fun, I get that. But consider the target audience and just what kind of numbers exist. And the way people use the internet is changing from how we used it less than a decade ago. There's more pull elsewhere, there's more things to occupy your attention span. It isn't that forums aren't relevant, it's just there's more competition.

[Catspaw]

I agree with what Darcie said about the community only being so big, but I think that the forums are less relevant for Odyssey stuff because of the way episodes are released now, as compared to a number of yeras ago. For those who were fans back during, for example, the Novacom saga, we were all listening eagerly every week (whether on the radio or online) to find out what happened next and then would quickly go write reviews and speculate together. The way things are released now, with the CDs coming so early and such a comparatively few number of people, myself included, actually listening on the air dates, reviews and discussion are naturally going to be less. More fans used to listen the same day in the past than now. I certainly don't expect AIO to conform their release system to what encourages online message board discussion, but I do think that it has had an impact on the ToO.

[The Top Crusader]

The replies herein really sum it up well. Everyone wants to be cool and have their own fan page forum, thus splitting the audience, and Focus decided to kill all anticipation and interest which fuels discussion.

[bookworm]

I personally never actually thought about this forum as an AIO message board, but as a general messsage board that happened to be cleverly AIO themed. I joined here and stay here for general discussion, not AIO specific discussion.

[snubs]

The replies herein really sum it up well. Everyone wants to be cool and have their own fan page forum, thus splitting the audience, and Focus decided to kill all anticipation and interest which fuels discussion.

^This.

I personally never actually thought about this forum as an AIO message board, but as a general message board that happened to be cleverly AIO themed. I joined here and stay here for general discussion, not AIO specific discussion.

^And this. Only when I first joined, I joined because of AIO. But that quickly changed.

[TigerintheShadows]

I personally never actually thought about this forum as an AIO message board, but as a general messsage board that happened to be cleverly AIO themed. I joined here and stay here for general discussion, not AIO specific discussion.

To be honest, I prefer the AIO discussions, which is why I joined the SS—although AIO discussion hasn't been overflowing over there as of late, there's still more going on there than here. I don't really care about the pop culture or some weird news story or the latest hot-button debate; I'll join in if it's something I care about or if I feel there's an important point to be drawn out, but it's very rarely a major issue. To be honest, I usually get on fan forums to get away from the annoying debates about social justice, not to see more of them.

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge anyone for discussing issues or talking about pop culture, but that's not something I personally want out of a fan forum. When I think of my fandoms, I just want to talk about fandoms—headcanons, speculation for future content, character discussion and analysis, and episode reviews. It's not really a thing on here anymore, unless people are complaining about the relaunch.

[Dallas R.]

This is just an idea, and probably not a very great one at that. But I'll put it out there anyway. What if AIOWiki integrated a message board feature, strictly for Adventures in Odyssey, mainly focused on the latest news and discussing our thoughts. I really miss that sort of discussion that used to be found here. I know, that just creates another board to follow, but what if that one site, already a bit of a central hub, brought all of us from the different boards together? Just a thought.
Also, I know nothing about setting up websites and the feasibility of doing things with them, but is there a way that someone can make a page where you can see the latest discussion posts and answers from several different fan sites all in one place? I imagine you would have to be a member to reply, but at least to see the discussion, would that be possible?

[SirWhit]

Honestly, I don't think that would work. I go to AIOwiki to look stuff up, not to discuss, and it just...wouldn't feel right for some reason. I dunno, just ignore me.

The second idea is a good idea, but implementing would be challenging. You could use an iframe and split the screen into four areas, but doing something like rss might be easier. I don't know, does phpbb support rss?

[EK]

How relevant is AIO in the AIO community is the real question.... DUN DUN DUNNNNN

[SirWhit]

Yeah, I would say that it is pretty relevant.

[Steve]

I literally forgot for nearly an entire year that Odyssey or its little fan community existed.

It was actually a really great year.

[jennifertwt]

As an adult listener, it is really just a matter of time. I have watched the audience here grow up and become occupied with other things. When I was unemployed for about six years on and off, I spent a lot of time reading and looking for things to comment on. NOw, I have to make an effort to remember to check. The EXClub really put me off of all things Odyssey for awhile. I will probably be more active in September when the new episodes start coming out.

[H Tide]

Because I don't listen to Odyssey nearly as much as I used to (and Odyssey was my main reason for being on the board), I am not on the boards as frequently as I was before. As well, I don't know as many users who were on back when I was a regular. But I enjoy popping in especially when interesting Odyssey news pops up every now and then.

[jennifertwt]

I think the ExClub has done a lot of damage. Those fans that are following the episodes do not have anywhere to talk about them and those that are not in the club are feeling left out. It has split an already limited fan base.

[snubs]

I think the ExClub has done a lot of damage. Those fans that are following the episodes do not have anywhere to talk about them and those that are not in the club are feeling left out. It has split an already limited fan base.

Very true. I'm afraid I'm going to get too many spoilers from the episodes before I even listen because there are a few people on the ToOchat that have been talking about them. They have been good about not giving anything away so far, but it was already hard enough staying away from spoilers when they were just airing on the radio (I usually wait to listen until I actually buy the album).

[jennifertwt]

I can understand that, but I feel that once the album has starting airing on the radio and the weekend onlne broadcast, then it is fair game for discussion (the current ep, not future spoilers). But then, I am a person that truly does not mind spoilers in tv, Movies, etc especially if it is "bad news".

[Pound Foolish]

It's not a huge community we're talking about here. If it keeps trying to be split between various sites, the portions won't be able to sustain themselves. The ToO did well early on because it was THE site to go to. The Town Hall couldn't survive any longer when The ToO won its audience. But then people wanted to make more sites. Building websites and forums is fun, I get that. But consider the target audience and just what kind of numbers exist. And the way people use the internet is changing from how we used it less than a decade ago. There's more pull elsewhere, there's more things to occupy your attention span. It isn't that forums aren't relevant, it's just there's more competition.

Topper, Catspaw, and everyone who agrees with this, while Dacie put it well, she is still incorrect.

See, The Soda Shop after all is just one small part of the Odyssey Scoop, the most popular AIO fansite. Now, there weirdos like us who aren't satisfied with Whit's End.org, we want even more discussion and trivia. So, we search for fansites and blogs. The Scoop is one of the very first we find. We wouldn't necessarily find the ToO or CC without more searching, but the Scoop is super easy to find, and you fall in love with it right away.And lo and behold, there is the Soda Shop on its home page.

So you see, we're not sucking up users from other boards. Rather, we Soda Shoppers wouldn't be part of the online AIO community at all if it weren't for the Soda Shop. In fact, I happen to be a case in point. I only found out there were other AIO boards after being part of the SS for some time, and I only joined SS thanks to the Scoop. Almost none of our regulars are primarily CCers or ToOites. And some of our users actually join other message boards, so rather than taking from the AIO message board community, we're giving it new life.

[Marvin D.]

It's not a huge community we're talking about here. If it keeps trying to be split between various sites, the portions won't be able to sustain themselves. The ToO did well early on because it was THE site to go to. The Town Hall couldn't survive any longer when The ToO won its audience. But then people wanted to make more sites. Building websites and forums is fun, I get that. But consider the target audience and just what kind of numbers exist. And the way people use the internet is changing from how we used it less than a decade ago. There's more pull elsewhere, there's more things to occupy your attention span. It isn't that forums aren't relevant, it's just there's more competition.

Topper, Catspaw, and everyone who agrees with this, while Dacie put it well, she is still incorrect.

See, The Soda Shop after all is just one small part of the Odyssey Scoop, the most popular AIO fansite. Now, there weirdos like us who aren't satisfied with Whit's End.org, we want even more discussion and trivia. So, we search for fansites and blogs. The Scoop is one of the very first we find. We wouldn't necessarily find the ToO or CC without more searching, but the Scoop is super easy to find, and you fall in love with it right away.And lo and behold, there is the Soda Shop on its home page.

So you see, we're not sucking up users from other boards. Rather, we Soda Shoppers wouldn't be part of the online AIO community at all if it weren't for the Soda Shop. In fact, I happen to be a case in point. I only found out there were other AIO boards after being part of the SS for some time, and I only joined SS thanks to the Scoop. Almost none of our regulars are primarily CCers or ToOites. And some of our users actually join other message boards, so rather than taking from the AIO message board community, we're giving it new life.

Firstly, it's ToOers, not ToOites. .and one other thing I disagree with: if you're searching for other AIO forums to join, I honestly don't see how you wouldn't find The ToO if you look up "Adventures in Odyssey forum" on Google or some other search engine. The Soda Scoop doesn't even show up on the first page when I search. Also I wouldn't be so quick to use the second person and say that "you fall in love with [the SS] right away," because I've been to it quite a few times back in its inception, and I've very much not fallen in love with it. Quite the antithesis.

Thatisall.

Actually, on second thought, darcie's point still stands: it's more competition. People can join The ToO and/or SS, so a decision has to be made.

[Tea Ess]

Firstly, it's ToOers, not ToOites. .and one other thing I disagree with: if you're searching for other AIO forums to join, I honestly don't see how you wouldn't find The ToO if you look up "Adventures in Odyssey forum" on Google or some other search engine. The Soda Scoop doesn't even show up on the first page when I search. Also I wouldn't be so quick to use the second person and say that "you fall in love with [the SS] right away," because I've been to it quite a few times back in its inception, and I've very much not fallen in love with it. Quite the antithesis.

Thatisall.

Actually, on second thought, darcie's point still stands: it's more competition. People can join The ToO and/or SS, so a decision has to be made.

I'll give my perspective on the subject. When I was younger, I found Whit's End via the web address on the back of one of my AiO albums. After quite a while of visiting Whit's End, I clicked on an ad for the Odyssey Scoop (I am fairly sure it was for a contest). I then became familiar with the Odyssey Scoop website over the course of the next few months, and read most of the material available. Jacob Isom made a blog post for the Soda Shop, which is how I discovered it. After joining the SS, I was introduced to the other Odyssey forums and sites. I'm sure it's true that the ToO is way more likely to come up in a search, but I never did that, and probably wouldn't be here if I hadn't first found the Odyssey Scoop.

A fully informed person could contribute to competition between the ToO and SS for users, but I think the large majority of SS members found it through the Odyssey Scoop, not by doing a search for AiO forums. It's more complex than just dividing a usergroup in half; we need to make compensation for the members that the SS brings in. Like Pound Foolish said, SS members have also contributed to the ToO and brought in new blood, but there's been some exchange the other way too, and that evens it out a little.