LogFAQs > #980365873

The_Korey posted...

Wasn't following the plot all that karefully, but wasn't Sterolizer directly asking for this kind of thing?

In any kase, I think it's safe to say regulars of this board were the main reason, one way or another. Should send an emissary to go around and apologise to other boards.

Oddly enough, in all my diatribes in how GameFaqs could in theory go about restructuring itself to attract more users, and become more financially viable...I don't think I ever actually concentrated on the "horny posting" aspect of it. I never even heard the term before Fandom used it.

I guess you could lump "horny posting" in with my "be less internet weird" types of rants. But, I was one of the more active members of the "sex" board, and I was campaigning for that to morph into less "horny posting" and more sexual health and relationship advice.

I even at one point teamed with another user to make our own community board called "adulting" to talk about that type of stuff. But, that was a disaster, it got alot of traffic, but people weren't really mature enough on GameFaqs to talk about things like raising a family, or trying to balance your checkbook. So, we wiped the board clean at one point, and started over...which is what you see now...just a literal ghost town.

Still, after three plus years, I did more or less achieve my goal in changing the vibe of the "sex board". When I first got there it as full of literal incels (as in people who identified, and called themselves incels) trying to sway users into their cult like they were campus recruiters for the military. The rest of the board was a lot of porn discussion, and just in general, misogynistic nonsense. But, when the board was shut down a few weeks back it was full of topics about sexual health, relationships, maintaining a marriage, overcoming mental health, learning to be more social, and just general adult stuff. All sandwich between community topics, playing games and just generally chatting.

In the end I definetly do support the "no hornyposting rule" -- I don't think everything related to sex counts as hornyposting. But the reality of the situation is that the demographics of GameFaqs is primarily male users over the age of 35. So having that demographic making of bunch of "horny posting" related topics just stiffles any user acquisition campaign by Fandom to attract a newer, more casual audience.

Businesswise it was the right move, and I don't think any one person is to blame. In essence, Fandom has made the decision (of which I agree with) to give GameFaqs a more social media-esque atmosphere, and run it from a more corporate standpoint, and less like an independently owned community website.

There are alot of places on the internet that still push forward with the "internet culture" mindset -- and its pretty easy to go join one of those platforms if "horny posting" is your thing. There are tons of subreddits for that purpose. But if Fandom is going to make an effort to grown GameFaqs into something akin to its 2010 self (something that makes a profit) then hornyposting has to go.

I mean, it's easy to hate "shareholders" and what have you, especially as a long time community member that just wants to continue using the thing they've been using, in the matter they've been using it. However, if you just take one moment to reflect on the situation as a whole, and draw on your common sense, then its real easy to understand why a company like Fandom would be attempting to appeal to a wider audience with the platform -- $$$

But I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing, because it means GameFaqs had a chance to live on into the future and thrive. I'm of the opinion that if you are a fan of this platform you shouldn't want it to just wither away and die.