Does PopMalt need a re-brand?

[Doc]

So I was throwing this idea around in my head lately about the focus of the forum and lack of activity.

The core of Popmalt is all Millennial. It was founded and run by a Millennial, staffed by Millennial, and the existing discussions are entirely relevant to that generation. We've grown out of touch with the "Pop" part of culture and now relate more to the "Malt" side of things. When we were General Forum you knew exactly what you were getting: a forum to discuss anything.

Therefore, I suggest we go from being PopMalt to General Millennial Forum in spirit with a name that appeals to that group. We should be a forum that caters to the generation that started off on the internet, grew through the forum burst of the early 2000's, stuck together through the advent of smartphones and memes in the 2010's, and now don't have a place with the TikToks and Snapchats of the world.

Tl;dr: This forum is run by and inhabited by people too old to care about a pop culture focus.

 

[Mirage]

I’ve actually seriously considered moving just the forum back to the name General Forum recently and having it be a sub brand of PopMalt, but I worry that GF as a name has zero appeal to new members nowadays because it sounds so boring. Even back in our better days, that was a constant complaint.

And strictly from a branding perspective, the Pop in PopMalt was never meant to be exclusively pop culture, however pop culture as a base does allow for a wide range of subject matter ranging from video games, nerd culture, lifestyle (a very popular category from the GF hay days), movies, more mature real life discussions, etc. It could theoretically run the gamut of anything that’s on people’s minds and in public discourse.

I always saw the Malt side of the name to imply a more mature and sophisticated tone.

All that said, I’ll admit the place is in the midst of somewhat of an identity crisis. It was bound to evolve though. the challenge for me has been that as I mature and go through different experiences in life, I tend to shift the site towards what I relate to. That is good if members are all going through life at the same pace, but can lose people if they are in different places in life.

All that to say, in GF’s best years, we always had a wide range of ages. I was 27 or so when it was doing the best. Almost 10 years later, there are plenty of things to consider if we want the place to stay relevant.

 

[Millz]

I think that's a good idea actually...I still call it GF half the time anyway haha

 

[dDave]

General Forum may be a rather unspecific and unexciting name in comparison to PopMalt but it also emphasizes what the site is about, general discussion. A place to discuss anything. How many forums (or even fb groups) out there where you can actually talk about anything you want? We aren't like other forums that focus on a really specific subset of discussions and topics (stuff I can think of would be things like IGN forums, Blizzard forums, LTT forums, TomsHardware, etc.). We, as a site, do not exist for a specific purpose as most forums do and that's actually the brilliance and beauty in this place.

We aren't a community centered around a topic. We are( /used to be) a forum centered around community, unique among forums. It's a place to hang out, not just a place to nerd out on WoW (or whatever your thing is). That's why features like the arcade, poker, mafia/survivor, and chat were so central to the experience of being on GF.

I remember being opposed to changing the name years ago because I felt the name was adequate and actually fit the site.

Just my $0.02

 

[Bubbles]

Here's my take on this, make of it what you will. I don't post often anymore (I have my reasons which I'll get into in a bit) but I was one of the people who posted religiously to GF when it was, y'know, still GF. I made a lot of friends for life here... and that wouldn't have happened if not for GF.

First of, is the aesthetic of PM. There's nothing wrong with it but I personally feel like the forum lost a lot of its charm when the layout was changed. There was a very sweet nostalgia about it. But that's a very, very minor thing. It's so miniscule that it doesn't even matter.

The real issue I have (and this is long so please bear with me here) is that for about 2-3 years, the only thread that was active here was politics which would be fine but it was filled with hateful rhetoric and liberal bashing for days. I legit reached my boiling point when mental illnesses were being thrown to disregard other people's opinions. As someone who had an undiagnosed case of depression and anxiety for years and as someone who has lost friends and family to suicide because of said mental health problems, I can very confidently say mental illnesses are not something for you to weaponize to prove your point. That is a low fucking blow. You don't like me because I lean left? Cool. I'm okay with that. A lot of people don't like me. But don't bring mental health into. Stahp it.

Let's also address the blatant racism that flew under the radar and DID NOT result in a ban. A poster here made tons of anti-black and horrifically racist posts. I have the screenshots to prove it but I'm pretty sure the thread is still up somewhere. So not only did this person make a disgustingly racist post, he wasn't reprimanded or banned but a mod actually liked his post. When I told this user that I wasn't black and you don't need to belong to a race in order to speak up for them, he told me I should tan myself to look black or something along those lines. Again, was he reprimanded? Nope. He's still an active user who posts from time to time. Even sadder is that I was the only person who called him out on his racist post. Not a single other person called him out. We used to ban people like that. What happened? Why did we stop infracting people like this?

Any decent person who saw those posts wouldn't wanna be a part of this forum. I hate to say it. There's a small vocal minority here that makes all the hard work you guys are doing equate to nothing in the end.

If you ask me, it's not so much the branding that made me leave. It was that small minority of people. This is just one person's opinion, though. A lot of us just moved on to Reddit, Facebook and our Discord server. It was better than being attacked or feeling unwanted here.

Again, do with it what you will. My only feedback is that infractions and bans should be handed to people are being racist and unnecessarily aggressive towards others, just for simply having a different opinion.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. I'm off to slumber for another 100 years... Maybe not... I haven't decided what to do yet.
<.<

.>

<.<

Byeeeeeeeee!
(for now )

 

[CaptainObvious]

I’ll address the first issue because it’s directed at me. I said “liberalism is a mental disorder”.

First off, it was a flippant comment, a joke, not directed at anyone in particular. Don’t like you because of your politics? It wasn’t directed at you.

Secondly, that’s NOTHING compared to what’s been said to me over the years. I’ve been called names, I’ve been made fun of, I was even called “a fucking idiot” by a member of staff. Do I complain about it? Did I stop posting about it? No, because I’m an adult.

Third, I recall YOU ridiculing a former member saying he has ASS-burgers. You laughed at him, you said it on more than one occasion. For the record, my cousins son has aspergers. I didn’t get offended by it and stop posting because I knew you didn’t mean anything evil by it. But it’s ok for YOU to weaponize a condition, but I’m the bad guy for making a flippant comment not directed towards anyone.

You know what I find the most interesting? You choose THAT to judge me. Not, oh I don’t know, me buying you multiple VIP’s just because. I’m not a friend of yours and I’m the reason you aren’t posting because of a joke, everything else be damned, right? But it’s ok, I’ve come to expect that from people. I judge people as a whole, that’s why I bought those VIP’s, and would again to this day. Others choose not to, and judge people based on one comment. What can you do? That’s mankind for ya.

 

[Mirage]

I’d just like to step in here and say that at this point, it becomes pretty difficult to go back and compare all all points scored against other members, warranted or unwarranted.

What would I personally like to see?

A community where people can enjoy themselves once again. I think the time is ripe for a relaunch of the brand of sorts, but with that I’d like to see some forgiveness and grace all around.

Many members here have been here for 5, 10, and even 15+ years in some cases. Most of us have been hurt at times.

I hope people can remember the fun times and choose to let other things go.

I for one, really enjoy being a part of this place, despite the challenges it has brought me and the staff over the years.

There are some issues that people simply are not going to agree on. If we can’t be respectful of other opinions, whichever side of any political aisle they may lie on, it’s going to be difficult to make this place fun again.

I hope those of you who have dedicated time here see the long term benefits of letting some things go and helping me turn the page on a new chapter for this place.

Seriously. Who’s with me?

 

[CaptainObvious]

I’m with you. I let it all go. I don’t hold a grudge against anyone here.

 

[Doc]

I had no idea there was a Discord :-/

 

[Bubbles]

Yeah, I'm gonna address a few things before I let "bygones be bygones."

I’ll address the first issue because it’s directed at me. I said “liberalism is a mental disorder”.

First off, it was a flippant comment, a joke, not directed at anyone in particular. Don’t like you because of your politics? It wasn’t directed at you.

Secondly, that’s NOTHING compared to what’s been said to me over the years. I’ve been called names, I’ve been made fun of, I was even called “a fucking idiot” by a member of staff. Do I complain about it? Did I stop posting about it? No, because I’m an adult.

Third, I recall YOU ridiculing a former member saying he has ASS-burgers. You laughed at him, you said it on more than one occasion. For the record, my cousins son has aspergers. I didn’t get offended by it and stop posting because I knew you didn’t mean anything evil by it. But it’s ok for YOU to weaponize a condition, but I’m the bad guy for making a flippant comment not directed towards anyone.

You know what I find the most interesting? You choose THAT to judge me. Not, oh I don’t know, me buying you multiple VIP’s just because. I’m not a friend of yours and I’m the reason you aren’t posting because of a joke, everything else be damned, right? But it’s ok, I’ve come to expect that from people. I judge people as a whole, that’s why I bought those VIP’s, and would again to this day. Others choose not to, and judge people based on one comment. What can you do? That’s mankind for ya.

Just a couple of things and then I'm done with this thread and you are more than welcome to block me.

1. You cannot tell me that you're not aggressive towards people who disagree with you when it comes to political discussions. I can pull up threads of you being unnecessarily hostile towards me and BR for simply stating an opinion you didn't like. When you take that into consideration, a "flippant comment" starts to look like a personal attack. If you didn't mean anything by it, then I'm sorry I took it that way.

2. I'm not a not a staff member. Until that "liberalism is a mental disorder" post, I had never so much as called you out. You don't get to put that one on me. Sorry.

3. Please provide me with a screenshot or a link of me making fun of someone with Asperger's Syndrome. I just went through 79 pages of my post history for the past 2 hours and did an advanced search with my name and the word "ass burgers" and found NOTHING. It was Tucker who made a thread poking fun at Asperger's Syndrome in Sub-Talk back in 2011, not me. The only person I've been extremely hostile with was NewGamePlus because he was borderline harassing me and blowing up my inbox. I have no problem owning up to and apologizing for anything I said when I was younger, but show me the receipts.

The only other thing I can think of is Wade and I getting into an argument that went back and forth for pages but in the end, it doesn't matter. The guy is also one of my closest friends and drove up to Canada for my wedding a few months ago. And there was no mention of Asperger's in any of those posts.

4. I never once asked for anyone to buy me VIP ever. If I wanted VIP privileges I could have easily purchased them for myself. I don't like the idea of people buying me things and then holding them over me. That being, I have always been grateful that you bought it for me out of the kindness of your heart. I'd love return the favour. If you'd like, I'll be more than happy to pay you back or buy you a Lifetime VIP.

With that said, I'm done. I've said my peace. The only other time I'll be checking this thread is if someone shows me receipts of me making fun and/or laughing at someone who has Asperger's Syndrome or was in any way on the Autism Spectrum.

Edit: spelling bcuz I don't spel gud