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Author Topic: Forum Evolution and Current Usage Overview  (Read 17758 times)

Offline Chip (OP)

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Forum Evolution and Current Usage Overview
« on: September 28, 2019, 06:55:50 AM »
Just in case you wondered: our forum has few member postings (other than myself) but a much higher rate of lurkers.

We try to cover all areas of drug addiction, addictions in general, human behaviour and some other interests of mine (such as neuroscience, AI etc.).

Please let me know if we miss anything and welcome all input (good or bad).

Who are we and why did we start this site ?

Technically, we run on our own virtual private server in a robust and sturdy environment in the cloud.

Of course we are not Reddit, Quora, Drugs Forum etc. and cannot compete with them however we are a small and "underground" group that have evolved from the defunct Opiophile around about the time when the new owner ran off with the treasury and started to shakedown it's members near the end of 2014, eventually holding the site for ransom.

We never intended to compete with Opiophile and comparisons were made, rendering us quite unpopular. But fuckit, we persisted; the email group coordinator @Poppycop approached @nick and he approached me as I have a solid IT engineering background ... around that time @candy also became a founding member.

Note: Discord support was added in July 2023.

They are fabulous people, in case you were wondering ...

It's a big pity as the old Opiophile database was never given to us and so much rich historical threads and posts were lost forever (not our fault).

Quite a few original members have passed away (see the member's only Departed board) or click here.

Why was Opiophile such a success ?

Opiophile was a pioneer and the site was very professional. Considering it started around 2004 by Jackie and Billy, there was no other places for people with (mainly) opiate addiction to commune with each other. The people were many, wise, funny and well informed but mainly, globally connected in an otherwise unconnected environment at the time.

Technically, it used the non open source forum-ware called vBulletin (we don't, all out software is free and open).

Now, things are so much different in a hyper-connected world and that hasn't helped the traffic here.

I personally joined in 2007 and at that time, @nick was the most prolific poster.

Where did all the Opiophile members go ?

We split up into four main groups after this forum was formed as it's primary function soon became a way of reconnecting "homeless" Opiophile members as all Opiophile members were emailed about us. The bulk of the members are very experienced and aging users or ex-users.

They split into 5 main groups:

1. A closed facebook group was created by @robojunkie

2. A vibrant email chain group was started by @Poppycop

3. Some went to reddit and Drugs Forum

4. Private Discord groups

5. The rest is unknown so I assume some lost interest or perhaps built new lives and quite a few prolific posters passed away, sadly (there is a board dedicated to them here).

How long can the forum continue unfinanced ?

We have run out of donations and I am paying for it myself now so make the most of it if you enjoy the content in here. I personally put a lot of time in providing the bulk of "cut and paste" content, my personal journey and understanding and have tried to make the actual technical forum experience as rich as possible.

What can I do to help ?

Enjoy yourself, play nice and be safe; thanks for your support, what ever way it comes ..., sincerely !

How do I donate ?

Click on the image below:

« Last Edit: September 07, 2023, 07:00:00 PM by Chip »
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