: 32-bit Cafe survey
Below adapted from my response to xandra’s thread with some questions about shaping the future of the 32-bit Cafe.
Are you tired of hearing about AI? For some reason I never seem to tire of arguing about AI. I honestly think it’s just a super fascinating topic with so many different ethical, technological, and social dimensions to consider. As soon as I think I have heard it all, I discover a new argument (or a newly inane presentation of a familiar one) that I haven’t considered.
Perhaps it’s because the problem is big enough that you can easily project any belief framework onto it. I can see why that makes the discussing exhausting for some. I have a few posts about AI on my dumpster but I usually refrain from sharing those in the blog thread because I suspect people have heard enough.
Likes/dislikes about the forum: Fundamentally, it’s nice to have a like-minded community that is committed to civility and helping each other out. But “like-minded” is a blessing and a curse. This forum tends to gravitate around certain dogmas like that static sites are “better” (it depends on your use case) or that you can infer someone’s politics from their platform (true in some cases?), but of course there are minority voices too. I just worry that, to a newcomer, it might feel tribal or gatekeepy.
On a related note, I find the indieweb aesthetic to be a bit cliche sometimes. I would love to see more personal sites that try to be beautiful in a way that’s original or modern rather than statement/throwback pieces (although I recognize the beauty in those too). I guess I shouldn’t complain since it says “32-bit” in the name, after all—but to me 32-bit means more to the early internet ideals of DIY and personal expression than a specific aesthetic or toolchain.
Regarding the forum’s 18+ rule: I like this rule mainly because it absolves me of the sense that I am a creep. But the truth is that I spent a lot of my early teen years lingering in internet spaces with people older and wiser than me and learned a lot from the experience. I am not so confident in others’ implication in the thread that an age cutoff promotes a “mature” or civil tone of discussion—it can just as easily be taken as a license to fly off the handle. But yes, this forum feels safe and welcoming in a way that others don’t, and I hope it can remain that way without having to acquire too many rules or a super heavyhanded moderation style.