Xixax Film Forum

Non-Film Discussion => Xix & Xax => Topic started by: The Ultimate Badass on June 09, 2017, 09:47:11 PM

Title: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: The Ultimate Badass on June 09, 2017, 09:47:11 PM
Is this site, which I hold near and dear to my heart, dying, or is it just growing intrinsically more exclusive?

The posts have slowed to barely a trickle. What's up?
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on June 10, 2017, 12:13:59 AM
Of course more activity would be nice. But the frequency of posts right now is about the same as it was a year ago. If not slightly higher. There were 9 posts yesterday (Friday). Activity goes up and down depending on what movies or TV shows are out.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: polkablues on June 10, 2017, 12:35:53 AM
Quote from: The Ultimate Badass on June 09, 2017, 09:47:11 PM
Is this site, which I hold near and dear to my heart, dying, or is it just growing intrinsically more exclusive?

The posts have slowed to barely a trickle. What's up?

You average eight posts a year.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Reel on June 10, 2017, 10:30:25 AM
What do you mean, state? State of California?!
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: ono on June 10, 2017, 12:59:47 PM
People grow up.  I know I sure haven't.  And when it rains, something, something...
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Reel on June 10, 2017, 03:39:33 PM
It's such a downer whenever people point out this place isn't as active as it once was, as if all of us hangers-on are losers for staying here when the site's clearly 'over'. There are so many more wildly popular options for your social media fix than there were in 2003, but I keep coming back because the people here know me much better than my facebook or twitter friends ever could. Maybe we didn't go to the same school or sleepover at each other's houses growing up, but we've found common ground in liking (or hating) the same things. I have never met a PTA fan in real life, the few friends and family aware of him only are because I shoved him down their throats as "the greatest of all time" on several occasions. It's nice to hangout somewhere that it's taken for granted that he's the best. "A fashion movie set in 1950's London? BRING IT ONNNNN!" Do you know how much of a hard sell that is for common folk under 57 years old? It's cool to have this niche little thing here, where we're buzzing about films the rest of the world has yet to understand, or maybe won't until years later. PTA hasn't needed any oscars yet to win his way into our hearts.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on June 10, 2017, 10:22:24 PM
During its heyday is when we all were much younger and could talk film film film all the time. I'm friends with many people here on Facebook and I'm at least glad a lot of those people (even if they don't post much on here - like I don't either), you can tell still they care about film to a deeper level than the casual fan ever would. Things change and things we thought we wouldn't push back to an exterior section of life, gets moved there. Like watching and writing about movies do. It's not ideal but if you don't have a career that allows the freedom to really consume all manners of film, it's hard. I keep wanting to force myself to write more about film. For a while, I got hooked on writing articles longer form but I haven't done that in a while. I should just return to xixax and front line all my opinions again so they can meet the oncoming fire of other people being able to dissect/trash them. I learned a lot from this site in developing opinions and thinking out arguments and I owe this website a lot. I owe this community a lot. I'm sure we all have some sense of gratitude for this site in some way. Regardless of what way, XIXAX will find a way to continue on.

But hey, even in its most popular days, people still complained about people not writing enough about movies, too.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: The Ultimate Badass on June 10, 2017, 10:59:15 PM
Quote from: polkablues on June 10, 2017, 12:35:53 AM

You average eight posts a year.

yeah, I get it. Ask not what XIXAX can do for you -- ask what you can do for XIXAX.

I will try to post more. Honestly, the level of conversation here is so very high I hesitate to just chime in a lot of times. I don't want to lower the bar. Admittedly, I will post garbage when I've had a few, but if it makes you feel better, I feel bad about it the next day.

And Reelist, I definitely am not shitting on the site or its members. I truly love this place and the posts here. I have always attributed these quiet periods here to a lack of PTA movies, which has become more common. PTA is what brought me here too, but what really kept me here was high level of discussion of movies in general. But lately I'm thinking maybe the quietness is a result of there being just not very many exciting new movies being made these days. Personally, I haven't HAD to see a movie since I don't know when. The Witch maybe? Voyage Of Time?

Maybe the movies have finally been surpassed by TV as a medium. There isn't a single movie on my radar that I HAVE to see, but you bet your ass I'm watching the new Twin Peaks tomorrow night.

And Polka, this is two posts in two days. My post count is on course for a 4563% increase!
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: polkablues on June 10, 2017, 11:25:43 PM
That's basically the crux of it. We're all grownups with jobs and responsibilities and it's always easier not to post than to post. But when something really does capture our attentions, the discussions here can be second to none.

And of course, we always do ebb and flow with the PTA tide. Once there's something meaty for us to chew on from the new movie, that should wake up our appetites again.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Kal on June 11, 2017, 03:35:01 PM
When I saw that the IMDb message boards were finally shut down, it reminded me that there can still be justice in this crazy world, and that Xixax is amazing. And yes, wait until there are more public news about the newest PTA film and this place will be on fire again...
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: squints on June 17, 2017, 11:27:31 PM
To be on this site every day in that magical year for cinema 2007 was such a pleasure. I'm glad it's still around
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 16, 2017, 02:44:51 PM
I don't care how slow it gets, I still check for posts a few times a week. Xixax forever.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Just Withnail on July 16, 2017, 04:06:12 PM
ctrl + t + g

ctrl + t + f

ctrl + t + x
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: polkablues on July 16, 2017, 04:11:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FPVPCGTX.gif&hash=ccde8782fc73ce45666a01a8a4da2ed0ee8086af)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F8cIVlmj.gif&hash=b84ee451a1edc3a75d71700f3ca53676ce8b592f)
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: ©brad on July 20, 2017, 02:12:00 PM
^omg. Amazing.

Agree with consensus. I just don't watch many movies anymore. But I'm working to change that.



Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Robyn on August 12, 2017, 06:29:14 AM
Could we advertise Xixax on other sites or do people like it as it is now? I do see the charm with it being a smaller forum but I also think it could be fun with some more activity.

I don't post here that much though, so I could obviously get better with that. I was just wondering what people thought about it.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 12, 2017, 08:13:29 AM
I've thought about that too. Would be open to ideas.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Kal on August 12, 2017, 10:23:32 AM
It's easy to do some basic contextual Google or Facebook ads on topics we like to discuss here. PTA is an obvious one but we can pick some other filmmakers and topics and invite people to join the discussion.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Robyn on August 12, 2017, 10:42:03 AM
How about reddit? Like on /paulthomasanderson etc.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Sleepless on August 12, 2017, 11:01:39 AM
I might be in the minority here, but I feel that if people had conversations in relevant threads rather than in the shoutbox, we'd have better engagement on certain topics - with or without new membership. Call me Mr. Old-Fashioned.

Also, while I'm not against encouraging new blood to sign up, I do like the small, exclusive feel we have now. Drumming up new members in the run-up to new PTA seems to make sense, but could also consider FB ads targeting people who follow stuff like Mubi, Film Comment, etc. to ensure we have pedigree snobs ;)

Do we have any analytics to see what sort of searches most commonly bring newbies here? JB's Inland Empire essay seems to frequently encourage new people to visit and engage, for example. If we had some other good thought pieces like that we could use as the promotional item - it's far less spammy to see a FB ad which is sharing an article like that than simply a promo to join a forum. GT has written some good stuff too, and I'm sure there's others.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Kal on August 12, 2017, 11:30:52 AM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 12, 2017, 11:01:39 AM
I might be in the minority here, but I feel that if people had conversations in relevant threads rather than in the shoutbox, we'd have better engagement on certain topics - with or without new membership. Call me Mr. Old-Fashioned.

I agree with this actually because I have never really used or looked at the conversation in the shoutbox. I always just look at the threads. So if there is anything interesting going on there I'm missing it...

Also the threads are so much better because it stays there forever. For example, I only watched all of GoT last year, and given I was binging 6 seasons and I couldn't really talk to people about it to avoid spoilers, all I could do was to follow old posts about episodes on the thread to see how people felt about what was going on. It was a great companion to watching the whole thing. Can't do that with whatever is being discussed on shoutbox.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 12, 2017, 11:40:19 AM
The shoutbox is emblematic of how the internet has changed, for all the obvious reasons. Sometimes people just want to pop in and say a thing. Sometimes they don't feel like they have a large enough thought to constitute a whole post.

To that point, I don't think we should be afraid to say a brief dumb thing in an actual post. I've done that plenty.

Originally our shoutbox was pretty garbage, but the quality of the conversation has increased so much since then. If you view the shoutbox as content, it's undoubtedly a net positive.

I guarantee a falloff in making posts would have happened regardless of the shoutbox. But the inverse is also true — a lot of stuff in the shoutbox should probably be in an actual thread. If we put more effort/thought into that, I see a good equilibrium being achieved there.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on August 12, 2017, 12:10:26 PM
Quote from: KJ on August 12, 2017, 10:42:03 AM
How about reddit? Like on /paulthomasanderson etc.

Agree with pimping on reddit, but have you been to Paul's subreddit? There are like 3 people that post there and no one comments, its sad. We should infiltrate /Kanye or or /BigDickProblems or something.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Robyn on August 12, 2017, 02:11:58 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on August 12, 2017, 11:40:19 AM
I guarantee a falloff in making posts would have happened regardless of the shoutbox. But the inverse is also true — a lot of stuff in the shoutbox should probably be in an actual thread. If we put more effort/thought into that, I see a good equilibrium being achieved there.

I think so too. If you look at the stats, the amount of posts has been in decline for the last 10 years and not just since the shoutbox.

We should have gotten the IMDB folks here while we had the chance!
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: polkablues on August 12, 2017, 02:46:02 PM
The shoutbox today is basically what the Idle Chatter thread was a decade ago. The minus is that what's posted in there doesn't add to the board in any permanent way, which lends to the perception that board activity is dying off; the plus is that it's really fostered a feeling of actual, unfiltered, almost real-time, conversation. I would be all for a push to move some of these conversations into threads, because there has been some really great in-depth discussion in there that's lost to the ages now.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 12, 2017, 02:53:36 PM
^ Agree with that. I've sometimes just quoted things from the shoutbox right into threads and continued the conversation there.

Let's take a step back, too. I've looked around... the internet is littered with dead and abandoned message boards that were once thriving. Social media and Reddit have nearly killed the platform, with only a handful of exceptions, most of which are connected to a main website that gets constant traffic. In light of those realities, I think we've done pretty well.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: jenkins on August 13, 2017, 03:30:05 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 12, 2017, 11:01:39 AM
I might be in the minority here, but I feel that if people had conversations in relevant threads rather than in the shoutbox, we'd have better engagement on certain topics - with or without new membership. Call me Mr. Old-Fashioned.

i'll call you a dreamer. there isn't evidence of better engagement from shoutbox or the forum. there's the same amount of engagement, which is limited. wilder and i for example continue to talk of movies and we have each other.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Drenk on August 13, 2017, 05:51:52 PM
The shoutbox is a nice middle ground between the immediacy of Reddit and the feeling of community that allow message boards. But I've recently tried to find a thread instead of writing directly in the shoutbox.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: jenkins on August 13, 2017, 06:36:54 PM
you guys:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FakjKw2j.png&hash=81aa84930573689abaeb44ffc0b9fdd7ecbd5974)
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 13, 2017, 06:46:08 PM
People will probably have more opinions on Grapevine movies when they're released.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: jenkins on August 13, 2017, 06:50:26 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on August 13, 2017, 06:46:08 PM
People will probably have more opinions on Grapevine movies when they're released.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FEOfEE5c.png&hash=72466aaf3e4cf0f5410c312a09a3e284b0c8891e)
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 13, 2017, 09:17:44 PM
Yes.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Axolotl on August 14, 2017, 09:46:54 AM
I don't know. While I'd love for it to be more active, and I post like once a year now so I shouldn't complain, xixax for me will always be a throwback to the old (for me) days of the internet (when I wasn't actually on here).

Remember when going online was an enjoyable and fun experience and not just an endless cycle of being angry at shit and having your beliefs reinforced? You had your roster of 10-15 sites you'd visit daily and look forward to updates/news/new posts on. Remember how Google used to be an actual search engine and not just a walled garden designed to keep you swimming in the same scummy stale waters forever? Fun times.

Xixax can/will keep on going forever as like a comfort browsing and posting place. It currently seems to be at the same level of activity as it was when I joined ~4 years ago when people were also posting about it being dated and dying.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Sleepless on August 14, 2017, 11:24:22 AM
Quote from: Axolotl on August 14, 2017, 09:46:54 AM
I don't know. While I'd love for it to be more active, and I post like once a year now so I shouldn't complain, xixax for me will always be a throwback to the old (for me) days of the internet (when I wasn't actually on here).

Remember when going online was an enjoyable and fun experience and not just an endless cycle of being angry at shit and having your beliefs reinforced? You had your roster of 10-15 sites you'd visit daily and look forward to updates/news/new posts on. Remember how Google used to be an actual search engine and not just a walled garden designed to keep you swimming in the same scummy stale waters forever? Fun times.

Xixax can/will keep on going forever as like a comfort browsing and posting place. It currently seems to be at the same level of activity as it was when I joined ~4 years ago when people were also posting about it being dated and dying.

Agree with all this.

I'll be the first to admit that I wish I posted more than I did, but I rarely get to see films until the home release because kids. But this is the place I visit almost every day. I love the sense of community here, the shared passions, the sense of humor. I LOLed at the title of Jenkin's new thread this morning, for example. Back in the day, we had some good arguments on here. People really going at it over different point of view, and that was healthy. Not saying arguments are a good thing, but I at least feel (and this is not an Xixax thing necessarily) that people nowadays oftentimes either don't openly disagree in an effort to keep the peace or else just troll.

Xixax will continue, but at the same time I don't want it to change too much. This is home to me. I wish instead of the shoutbox there was a thread where we could post that stuff, because I feel if I'm not paying attention to the shoutbox I miss a lot, and it's hard for me to keep track of what's going on and who's responding to what. Maybe I am just getting old.

How can I personally improve Xixax? Watch more movies - and make a concerted effort to watch more new releases in the cinema - and write thoughtful posts about them and engage in debates. Too much over the past few years, I've limited myself to hollow excitement about upcoming movies and hyperbolic comments on whichever popcorn flick I recently caught on Redbox. Twin Peaks is a godsend right now. I watched The Clouds of Sils Maria a couple of months ago. I adored it and it's been haunting my thoughts ever since. But I never wrote anything about it. I'll rectify that. Soon. It's rare these days I get to enjoy films that do that. But when I do see them, I need to take the time to sit and think and write. I, Daniel Blake was another recent one that had an impact on me, but again, I didn't write anything - just shared the trailer and urged you guys to watch it.

Can we reach out to inactive members and encourage them to come back some more? What about shared Mubi/Filmstruck accounts so we all have access to quality films, and maybe do a monthly film club so at least we know there'll be some discussion?
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: jenkins on August 14, 2017, 01:34:45 PM
s/o to positive emotions. i believe in the pure energy of cinema, and this place as a temple for cinema. this thread, the most popular new thread, this thread is pure human. so everything essential is covered, and as long as the bills are paid here we are.

i'm going to quote Cicero and then transition into finishing my book by the end of the month as i said i would, in fact i already said that here, and there is what i say and what i do, and what Cicero said was--

QuoteThus it turns out that the beginning of motion is that which moves itself.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on August 14, 2017, 02:00:51 PM
Quote from: Axolotl on August 14, 2017, 09:46:54 AM
I don't know. While I'd love for it to be more active, and I post like once a year now so I shouldn't complain, xixax for me will always be a throwback to the old (for me) days of the internet (when I wasn't actually on here).

Remember when going online was an enjoyable and fun experience and not just an endless cycle of being angry at shit and having your beliefs reinforced? You had your roster of 10-15 sites you'd visit daily and look forward to updates/news/new posts on. Remember how Google used to be an actual search engine and not just a walled garden designed to keep you swimming in the same scummy stale waters forever? Fun times.

Xixax can/will keep on going forever as like a comfort browsing and posting place. It currently seems to be at the same level of activity as it was when I joined ~4 years ago when people were also posting about it being dated and dying.

Pretty much me too. I check the site daily. I wish I posted more, but I only really post when I feel like I have something to offer, and I don't really check the shoutbox all that much. A lot of times I'll just see one of you guys say something and I'll nod to myself in agreement, maybe give an upvote and move on with my day. I'm never really in the mood to give a hot take on a movie, especially since I'm not really seeing a lot of movies these days. I'm more likely to post about TV or news, but something has to either really blow me away, or be flying under the radar for me to want to post about it.

But yeah people have been talking about this site being dead for over a decade now, its like saying SNL isn't what it used to be, people have been saying that shit since season 2.

One thing's for sure...when new PTA hits we're gonna be eatin, fam.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Sleepless on October 12, 2017, 04:50:52 PM
This marquee could use a refresh, no?

Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: polkablues on October 12, 2017, 05:07:38 PM
I don't know, there were plenty of parts of season three I would still apply the label to.
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 12, 2017, 05:40:19 PM
There was only one scene in The Return that I didn't like: Ben Horne aimlessly musing about his childhood bicycle.

Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: Robyn on October 12, 2017, 05:43:13 PM
change it to "some of us loved twin peaks, even when it got terrible, some of us didn't think it got terrible, but still didn't like it, and some of us didn't even watch it"
Title: Re: State of the XIXAX?
Post by: The Ultimate Badass on October 21, 2017, 09:56:22 PM
After some thought, I think there are worse things than periods of inactivity on an internet forum. The discussion among a small group of people very passionate about a certain subject is superior to the discussion among a larger group of people discussing a subject when many of those in this larger group are not especially passionate about the that subject -- in other words, the internet. Xixax has stayed pretty pure since its inception. Threads aren't mucked up by trolls and morons spewing off-topic nonsense, like most other internet forums. I think Xixax has won with its tradeoff between inactivity and purity, and hyper-activity and triviality. Sometimes popularity can kill a site. Especially a message board.