Hello!

[emporer]

My name is Gabrielle. I chose the username emporer because look at how he’s stanced up in the Morgan Greer deck

https://images.app.goo.gl/GTQ7yNzAxu1JVXSn7

Just radiating BDE who wouldn’t wanna be that. Anyways, I’ve been reading tarot for about 15 years and I’ve found the forum postings on aeclectic tarot to be incredibly helpful. Unfortunately you can no longer post on that forum. I tried a forum called “tarot, tea and me” but found the atmosphere to be stodgy and restrictive. This forum has a sick name and I love the old school look of the website so we’re already off to a good start. Looking forward to expanding my tarot studies with you!

[Joan Marie]

This forum has a sick name and I love the old school look of the website so we’re already off to a good start. Looking forward to expanding my tarot studies with you!

Thanks for joining us. So glad you appreciate our vibe. It's really good to have you here.

[archimedes]

Hi Gabrielle! It seems a little quiet around here... I've just come back myself. A lot of folk tend to be members of both groups, I think. There are a few ' old hands' around who have quite definite opinions ... I've learned to express myself more carefully and always with the 'just my personal perspective YMMV' caveat.

CoT is a great little community. We need to get people posting! It's so quiet!

[Joan Marie]

CoT is a great little community. We need to get people posting! It's so quiet!

So good to see you again!

It's been a little quiet, yes.

There are some things afoot though.

I just completed an upgrade to the forum and rebuild of the Library of Decks.
Next stop is a bit of re-organising and putting more emphasis on reading activities with a more free kind of style.

We've had discussions about it in other threads, here is one: https://www.cultoftarotforum.com/viewto ... =14&t=3833

One thing about this forum though, it might be a bit slow at times, but we always stay in the right spirit keeping with the cards.

[archimedes]

So good to see you again!

It's been a little quiet, yes.

There are some things afoot though.

I just completed an upgrade to the forum and rebuild of the Library of Decks.
Next stop is a bit of re-organising and putting more emphasis on reading activities with a more free kind of style.

Thank you I was away from the cards for a while, but I miss the community.

The library is terrific! I think forums can get a little overcomplicated at times - you want to keep things organized, but also not to have too many folders to navigate. One suggestion - I don't know if you can filter the adverts, but when I arrived not-logged-in, there was a very off-putting earwax advert. Possibly this is a Google algorithm targeting me because of age, but it's pretty awful - it'd be nice if the adverts were more on topic. This is something I hate about the modern internet. You used to get site-related advertising selected by the site owner. Now the same handful of Google adverts stalk you everywhere.

[Joan Marie]

One suggestion - I don't know if you can filter the adverts, but when I arrived not-logged-in, there was a very off-putting earwax advert.

That's a big motivator to join the forum and become a member: no adverts.

There are filters that can be set, for instance I've blocked all political ads. Ads run regionally and in the US they were getting bombarded with those. And many were very offensive to a lot of people. I didn't even know it though until someone told me because they weren't running here where I live.

I'm not sure "gross" is a category, but it should be.

I bought a sports watch recently and now I am seeing nothing but fitness product ads of every kind all over the internet. It's exhausting!

I will have a look to see if I can block stuff like you mentioned, but to anyone out there annoyed by ads, just join the forum (its free!) and you won't see any.

[archimedes]

That's a big motivator to join the forum and become a member: no adverts.

Oh, for sure. And I understand that's important. Just thinking about having a nice first impression.

Forums are *so* difficult these days now that a lot of the general chit-chat that can keep the connection going has been siphoned off into Facebook. It used to be that forums were the only place I found like minds, and as well as on-topic chat, there'd be a fair bit of general discussion too. This is one of the reasons I dislike the 'oh let me google that for you' and 'read the manual' types of responses that people sometimes give on technical forums. Often a question is how people connect or start a discussion, especially if they're new. Yes, the question has been asked before, but we need to engage. I get that it gets verrrrry boring for old hands, so having a separate forum for new people can be a good idea... people can engage at will.

Anyways I'm just blethering on here, not saying anything you don't know already lol.

And THANK YOU Joan Marie for creating a space for people to connect. I know it must be a lot of work. You are appreciated.

[Joan Marie]

Oh, for sure. And I understand that's important. Just thinking about having a nice first impression.

I just blocked all those ads, and in the process I had to see them and you were right, pretty gross. Thanks for reporting them.
It's actually pretty easy to block specific ads, so when they are offensive I really appreciate when people let me know.

Regarding the more open chit-chat options, I have to respectfully disagree with you that we need that here.

I think Facebook is a fine place for discussing recipes and grandchildren and all that.When you open up those doors on a forum like this 2 things happen. One, is the forum gets derailed and as I've seen on some, overtaken to a large degree, by a bunch of off-topic stuff which changes the whole vibe of the place. It never just stays in the designated area. And it shows up in the "recent topics" list and so on and before you know it, you're moderating a sewing circle.
Nothing against sewing circles. I just think Facebook is a better place for them.

Second, and more insidious, is those off-topic threads tend to lead to the formation of what everybody hates about forums which is cliques. All kinds of inside-y stuff being bandied about excluding and turning off anybody not in. I've seen it happen where those cliques turn into almost something like a "gang" where they dogpile on people they disagree with and it's just boring and unpleasant.

All that said, there is no reason one couldn't take the topics of grandchildren and recipes and the like and relate them somehow to a tarot topic. I highly encourage that. I love that kind of creative thinking.

I really feel that our "brand" here is the cards. I will always preserve that. If it means less "activity" so be it.

What is more interesting, and challenging, is to find new ways to encourage engagement that is useful and on-topic.
I feel strongly that there is plenty of opportunity for that given the vastness of the Tarot, the massive numbers of people coming to it new every day, and the creativity and curious minds of the people here.

[Ciderwell]

Second, and more insidious, is those off-topic threads tend to lead to the formation of what everybody hates about forums which is cliques. All kinds of inside-y stuff being bandied about excluding and turning off anybody not in. I've seen it happen where those cliques turn into almost something like a "gang" where they dogpile on people they disagree with and it's just boring and unpleasant.

It always amazes me how a textual medium can make such direct human contact. Its so sad when gangs start messing with this, corrupting the language and context of meaning. I've always thought duplicity is best served in the subliminal power of words, like subtext, not as the main focus of communication. That then becomes the rot in the root of internet discussion - a very real danger that can easily fuel mental dis-ease in the hands of cliques, trolls, and proxy-trolls.

[archimedes]

I think Facebook is a fine place for discussing recipes and grandchildren and all that.When you open up those doors on a forum like this 2 things happen. One, is the forum gets derailed and as I've seen on some, overtaken to a large degree, by a bunch of off-topic stuff ...

Second, and more insidious, is those off-topic threads tend to lead to the formation of what everybody hates about forums which is cliques. ...

That makes sense, and I can really see where you're coming from on this.