53 replies to this topic

[CreeperUniverse]

I've wanted to give all ant keepers an easy way to communicate in real time. So, I made a Discord server just for that! We have a bunch of channels for different things like identifying and chatting. We have different roles for different participation levels. We don't have any people though, so I'm looking to start growing a sort of community. Ant keeping is super fun, and I think it would be even more fun with everyone talking to each other in real time. Discord accounts are free, which is also nice so it's accessible. If you want to join, you can use this invite link: https://discord.gg/WwbhPgZ. Please leave any feedback if you have it! I'm looking forward to getting a few members.   Thanks!

 

P.S. Here's an image of the Discord (you can click it to go to the page):

[T.C.]

There already is one.

[LC3]

https://discord.gg/w5mQEhe

 

The one TC is talking about^

[Reevak]

https://discord.gg/w5mQEhe

 

The one TC is talking about^

I already told him about it/gave him the link

[drtrmiller]

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

[Aaron567]

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

 

except it's useless

[T.C.]

 

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

 

except it's useless

 

All chat you might say is "useless." However that doesn't make discord anymore useful.

[Aaron567]

 

 

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

 

except it's useless

 

All chat you might say is "useless." However that doesn't make discord anymore useful.

 

 

ok.

[AnthonyP163]

 

 

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

 

except it's useless

 

All chat you might say is "useless." However that doesn't make discord anymore use

I've gone on the chat for help a few times and it's never worked, while I always get answers on the Discord... It's a huge server of 600 people. Someone has got to have the answer.

[Mdrogun]

I don't know how anyone can think that the Formiculture chat even remotely compares to the Discord.

Edited by Mdrogun, November 2 2017 - 3:37 PM.

[T.C.]

This forum has a perfectly fine chat room.

 
except it's useless

All chat you might say is "useless." However that doesn't make discord anymore use

I've gone on the chat for help a few times and it's never worked, while I always get answers on the Discord... It's a huge server of 600 people. Someone has got to have the answer.

We have a forum for that?

Certainly not gonna argue over which is better.

[drtrmiller]

A chat room is best for meeting people and discussing a wide range of topics, it is not an appropriate platform for the dissemination of technical scientific information regarding ants. The nature of a forum, in contrast to a chat room, is such that the discussions are stored in perpetuity, and can be referenced with appropriate context years after a discussion took place. Forum messages can be carefully crafted and formatted for readability by users who take the time to do so. Ultimately, the quality of the information disseminated in any community is only going to be as good as its users; and something tells me that a chat room would attract an even more juvenile audience than we tolerate on this forum.

Edited by drtrmiller, November 2 2017 - 6:53 PM.

[T.C.]

A chat room is best for meeting people and discussing a wide range of topics, it is not an appropriate platform for the dissemination of technical scientific information regarding ants. The nature of a forum, in contrast to a chat room, is such that the discussions are stored in perpetuity, and can be referenced with appropriate context years after a discussion took place. Forum messages can be carefully crafted and formatted for readability by users who take the time to do so. Ultimately, the quality of the information disseminated in any community is only going to be as good as its users; and something tells me that a chat room would attract an even more juvenile audience than we tolerate on this forum.

Exactly. If I could like this a thousand times I would.

[Aaron567]

The main discord chat has been managed for nearly a year, and it is moderated very well (by adults ). Nothing wrong with having a chat that you can go to (that is almost constantly active) and asking a quick question that can be answered in a couple seconds..

[T.C.]

The main discord chat has been managed for nearly a year, and it is moderated very well (by adults ). Nothing wrong with having a chat that you can go to (that is almost constantly active) and asking a quick question that can be answered in a couple seconds..

No one said anything negative about it? We where defending the formiculture chat you said was "useless."

[drtrmiller]

One day, I intend to develop a chat bot that will make your Discord "useless" when it comes to getting many questions answered quickly. I just need to find someone to program it in IBM Watson software.

[sgheaton]

I think its more of a "check back for an updated response in between class," kinda deal. 

[Serafine]

That wouldn't make the Discord useless at all because the Discord is much more than an FAQ database.

On the Discord you have many experienced antkeepers and there's a high chance that someone keeps the exact same species you have and has a broad knowledge about it and experience with it that not even Google can provide you with. Antkeeping is a very neglected scientific field and to a large degree still learning by doing (and sometimes failing).

 

It's also a platform to discuss and share stuff.

It has a channel were you can share pictures and videos (of ants).

It has an ID channel where most of the time you can get a pretty quick response.

It has a reddit feed for r/antkeeping (so you can see when there are new topics posted on the reddit page).

It (obviously) has an off-topic section where you can talk about other stuff (games, life, whatever you want) and it even has a debate channel as a quarantine zone for the heated discussions.

A voice channel is also available if you actually want to talk to someone instead of typing.

 

It basically has all the infrastructure a forum has but in a much more dynamic and volatile version.

 

 

And Discord, despite being a free service for private use, is actually really good. They live from special payed services (like commercial company servers) and user subscriptions - many computer games companies have their own Discord servers as a more easy-to-access alternative to their forums that also improves userbase interaction and allows players to team up or found/join clans more easily (and obviously the Discord provides Voice Chat channels for their communities which is vital in online gaming).

Edited by Serafine, November 3 2017 - 5:06 AM.

[T.C.]

That wouldn't make the Discord useless at all because the Discord is much more than an FAQ database.

On the Discord you have many experienced antkeepers and there's a high chance that someone keeps the exact same species you have and has a broad knowledge about it and experience with it that not even Google can provide you with. Antkeeping is a very neglected scientific field and to a large degree still learning by doing (and sometimes failing).

 

It's also a platform to discuss and share stuff.

It has a channel were you can share pictures and videos (of ants).

It has an ID channel where most of the time you can get a pretty quick response.

It has a reddit feed for r/antkeeping (so you can see when there are new topics posted on the reddit page).

It (obviously) has an off-topic section where you can talk about other stuff (games, life, whatever you want) and it even has a debate channel as a quarantine zone for the heated discussions.

A voice channel is also available if you actually want to talk to someone instead of typing.

 

It basically has all the infrastructure a forum has but in a much more dynamic and volatile version.

 

 

And Discord, despite being a free service for private use, is actually really good. They live from special payed services (like commercial company servers) and user subscriptions - many computer games companies have their own Discord servers as a more easy-to-access alternative to their forums that also improves userbase interaction and allows players to team up or found/join clans more easily (and obviously the Discord provides Voice Chat channels for their communities which is vital in online gaming).

All information put into that discord will be lost. Questions, pictures, answers, etc. When I go to research the same thing it is going to take me to this or another forum. Like I stated, all chat is useless. Any information put in any of them will be lost. So they are just for fun. Of course they still are good for a quick question, but that frequently can be answered here as well. I won't put great detail in my answers in chat however, because no one else will ever be able to see it.

[sgheaton]

What does this do?