115 replies to this topic

[rurupedia]

IKRRR i randomly found it while reading old threads a few months ago and i was so confused why it was buried like that lmao. now i'm curious wtf went down to get it locked cuz that's sketchy af

[minaeshi]

I'm gonna be honest about 85% of forum users that created the beloved h!o community here, have now moved onto twitter to discuss everything h!p related lol 

This forum has become sort of an info dump, all the community discussion on pretty much everything h!p related gets talked about on twitter. 'h!o veterans' and 'newbies' that joined around 2014-18, and actual new h!p fans alike, all have a huge community there so if it's that you're looking for i would say just move there lo l

 

that being said, i would love to see everyone come back to h!o... it was so fun back then

[rurupedia]

ye i know that which kinda sucks but that's just how internet is nowadays. rip

[Saburo]

2004: the domain of message boards, chat protocols (IRC very relevant but I miss AIM the most), blogs, and even a few podcasts.

 

I've saved my bookmarks from the late 1990s and still browse a few BBS sites regularly. Still part of my M.O. It's why I've embraced this website again, post-tracker. We all need an outlet in isolation.

[mizukingdom1]

I think this forum would still be somewhat more active if that big server down and issues didn't happen last year...

That really killed the site because the site was down for a few days and there were reside issues for weeks afterwards...

I remember before I created this account, I was a lurker for so long because this site was so active and there were so many people and I was so not comfortable talking to random people, even after I created my account I didn't really comment much. Only in the past like 2 years I have been more "active" because there are less people 

[Juandalyn]

Maybe I'm using H!P twitter the wrong way (to be fair I don't have an account and just lurk), but there aren't real discussions over there either. At least not like there used to be in this forum.

 

The forum is in a big generational change. Many older members left because they aren't as attached to the group or they don't like the way discussions are held nowadays, while younger members might think the forum is stale (and maybe filled with old people who have questionable views every now and then; from what I've seen twitter does discuss the whole "objectifying young women" topic which has always been shut down on this board). And yeah, the forum was badly broken until recently, with some bugs being fatal:

 

- the quote option didn't work

- you couldn't change your avatar

- and, the worst of them: you couldn't log in with your twitter account despite this way being the only way some people could access their account. If they created another account they'd go against forum rules, but there was no password to access it in another way. I know a lot of people have mentioned it before but the mods couldn't do anything because it was a system bug. That probably drove away lots of people.

[Doraleous]

Gotta pick your time to become active, wait until the Ballads Boredom Fest Garbage is over and the forum will explode with activity. (Probably not)

 

Heh,  but I like coming back for the elections.

[dreamcastegirl]

For what's it worth, I came back. Yay me, lol. H!O seems a bit friendlier now than it was in the early '00s. Please forgive me for saying this, but the board kind of had a reputation for being sort of creepy at times, and I know that it was a different time and a lot of use were far younger back then, but when you saw stuff at like anime cons—I'm specifically thinking of London Anime Con—that was kind of gross, and difficult, and you didn't know how to speak out about, coming online and seeing some of those attitudes here too meant that it was just easier to not engage, to shut up and just leech on the tracker, which isn't really honourable, but, you know, hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

 

I like to think that Western idol fandom has grown up a bit, that it's not such a horrible space as it was at times back in the day when we first were introduced to this stuff. I would like not to be proved wrong on this.

[Juandalyn]

Welcome back! Things have definitely changed. I feel that in a lot of forums the general tone has become friendlier and more understanding. Maybe we really grew up lol

[dreamcastegirl]

Welcome back! Things have definitely changed. I feel that in a lot of forums the general tone has become friendlier and more understanding. Maybe we really grew up lol

 

ah, thank you, thank you!! Yeah, I think H!O has definitely improved over time, even if it might have lost some of its members. But, you know, at the same time, I think it's okay to lose those guys. >_>

[ulises]

The sad thing is a lot of people out there still talk shit about H!O cause they think this place still is a toxic as hell, and that´s not truth. 

[dreamcastegirl]

The sad thing is a lot of people out there still talk shit about H!O cause they think this place still is a toxic as hell, and that´s not truth. 

 

that is super sad! But I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc, and as I've said, I think it is so, so much nicer here now that it was back in the day. Even though i'm not as up to date with MM/AKB stuff as i should be, this place seems a lot more welcoming and friendly with the current staff/posters so I'm really happy I got persuaded to come back.

[beyooooonk]

I was super active here in 2009 and then in 2014-2016. This place used to be so vibrant and a huge resource for file sharing, translations, and an outlet for discussion that wasn't strained by a character limit. But many users became doubly active on Tumblr, and when that site died down for idol chatter, switched to Twitter. H!O was less accessible with the torrenting being axed and forum use in general going down. From 2018-2020, when the BEYOOOOONDS hype was super high, I jumped to Twitter and instantly found a following and group of people I associated with. I later had to delete my account because irl people found it and I didn't feel comfortable with them seeing my posts. I made another new account with a different name and everything, but I found the major flaw of Twitter compared to this forum. It's so much easier to jump into a discussion on here. Someone says something, you respond, and the focus is less on your identity and more on your words. But on Twitter, your content will only be available for others to see if you network and collect a group of followers to insert yourself with. You can't just follow a topic like on the boards- you have to seek out those that talk about that certain idol or interest. I still haven't re-entered the "bubble" I had on my beyooooonk account, because the more anonymous you are like I now want to be, the less attractive you are for interaction and stuff. Sorry for the rambling, but I just wish the board wasn't so stale for now.

 

However, maybe when H!P recovers from the current global crisis we'll have more content to discuss?

[Juandalyn]

The networking part is a pretty good point. Of course you can search for hashtags and stuff, but it is difficult to find a discussion at once (especially when people vague-tweet, then you really can only find it when you're already following them).

 

Forums are a bit more conservative, like double-posting is looked upon, usual forum etiquette expects you to actively contribute to the topic with your posts, etc. (not that this is enforced here). But it has the big, big upside that you have pretty much everything in one place.

 

I remember when I tried to get into twitter I felt too lonely, screaming into the void.

[RobianMoon]

I used to have a twitter acount but I also felt lonely, later I discovered this blog and was like: are blogs still a thing?, so I signed up but I was just a silent member because there are a lot of senior members, I been a harowota since 2016 that I feel awkward talking about how much I love the actual h!p, I hope this blog shines again because is the only place where I can read and share things about h!p.

[carl Turh]

I remember when I tried to get into twitter I felt too lonely, screaming into the void.

 

Interesting... I have my Twitter on private just to scream into the void.

 

You could try to follow people you know from H!O and other people you are interested in, there is also @hpfandominfo, the person who runs the account helps new fans to get into the fandom.

 

I used to have a twitter acount but I also felt lonely, later I discovered this blog and was like: are blogs still a thing?, so I signed up but I was just a silent member because there are a lot of senior members, I been a harowota since 2016 that I feel awkward talking about how much I love the actual h!p, I hope this blog shines again because is the only place where I can read and share things about h!p.

 

I had the same feeling, even nowadays to be honest, it also doesn't help my English isn't good and I'm ashamed of it, but even if I've never commented that much before, this place made me a H!P fan, I have always loved to read the discussions here, which is a thing that almost never happens on Twitter. I hope one day the community will migrate back to H!O.   

[RobianMoon]

I had the same feeling, even nowadays to be honest, it also doesn't help my English isn't good and I'm ashamed of it, but even if I've never commented that much before, this place made me a H!P fan, I have always loved to read the discussions here, which is a thing that almost never happens on Twitter. I hope one day the community will migrate back to H!O.

I'm glad that i'm not the only one feeling that way, feel free to talk with me don't be ashamed.

[Celedam]

Since the question has been asked…

 

I got a two-week suspension in July 2009 for calling out mod bullshit (hi Mattthecat, Kuno, and Krushna!). As far as I was concerned, it was a ban so I moved on to other forums.

 

And then YouTube and the iTunes Store made the tracker obsolete. And then H!O went heavy on AKB48.

 

Things are a little better now. The individual member threads are good sources for info that might not be important enough to get picked up elsewhere, and I know many veterans bounce between H!O and the other forums. But generally speaking, most fan activity has moved to Twitter and Facebook, and forums have become refuges for people like me who hate Twitter and Facebook.

[sukibeam]

See... I'm sad that a lot of discussion has moved to Twitter simply because I refuse to use that platform (for various reasons). I also feel like a lone thread on here are much easier to follow a flow of information than a variety of hashtags.

 

H!O has been through many ups and downs since I started lurking on here ~15 years ago, and I've seen many fans (anywhere from straight up toxic to wholesome unicorns) come and go. I try to check the site at least once a day to see what's up, and I maintain my Google Doc as well as I can, so that keeps me up-to-date on what's happening with H!P. I also used to do translations of various blogs on here until the blog hub took them up and my own personal time was limited after college. I started off fangirling as a teen and now I'm a married 30-something, so it's been a ride.

 

rurupedia, I think of it like this - a lot of the time, you have to be the change you want to see. It's also a weird time to be a fan because there's far less happening with H!P nowadays due to COVID. Fewer albums and singles weren't helping prior to 2020. We also have different places to access information nowadays which used to be here on H!O through discussion or the torrent section: youtube, various wikis, project hello (for lyrics translations), blog translation hubs, member instagrams...  If you're looking for active discussion, I would suggest joining the H!O discord server. I've joined it a few times, but it's a bit too active for me to really follow anything, but might be right up your alley.

[gobzilla]

See... I'm sad that a lot of discussion has moved to Twitter simply because I refuse to use that platform (for various reasons). I also feel like a lone thread on here are much easier to follow a flow of information than a variety of hashtags.

 

H!O has been through many ups and downs since I started lurking on here ~15 years ago, and I've seen many fans (anywhere from straight up toxic to wholesome unicorns) come and go. I try to check the site at least once a day to see what's up, and I maintain my Google Doc as well as I can, so that keeps me up-to-date on what's happening with H!P. I also used to do translations of various blogs on here until the blog hub took them up and my own personal time was limited after college. I started off fangirling as a teen and now I'm a married 30-something, so it's been a ride.

 

rurupedia, I think of it like this - a lot of the time, you have to be the change you want to see. It's also a weird time to be a fan because there's far less happening with H!P nowadays due to COVID. Fewer albums and singles weren't helping prior to 2020. We also have different places to access information nowadays which used to be here on H!O through discussion or the torrent section: youtube, various wikis, project hello (for lyrics translations), blog translation hubs, member instagrams...  If you're looking for active discussion, I would suggest joining the H!O discord server. I've joined it a few times, but it's a bit too active for me to really follow anything, but might be right up your alley.

I'm definitely interested in joining the discord, can I have an invite ? TIA