Other places to chat

[Mtemprell]

Other than this forum does anyone one know of any other places on the net to go talk Airsoft (other than Facebook or Reddit as I don't use these)? 

I have an Instagram but that isn't a good tool to chat and meet others. I feel forums are a slowly dying thing but great to see this one is still going well and people interacting. 

 

[Tommikka]

Don’t do it!!!

Keep this forum going 

However, there are many Facebook groups

This forums Facebook is linked below.  That doesn’t have chat going on as it acts as a touch point for the forum and is likely to be used for the status of a major outage etc.

It can be handy to have it anyway, for both its main purpose and for the Facebook algorithm to top up

tour interest in airsoft, thus then suggesting others

https://www.facebook.com/share/18gojAvwDN/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A thing that Facebook compliments well along side forums is for sub groups - especially local region and/or site groups, that gets the opportunity to see what’s going on, meet like minded local people etc 

Next is the niche parts of airsoft - MilSim, speedsoft etc - good for like minded people and finding things further afield for your preferences (or discovering the local one that you have never heard of)

It goes bad when the dispersed groups take the world away from the forums, which was the cause of the fall of forms, but followed when Facebook added more rules and people trickled back to forums (mainly for a sale)

I suggest searching Facebook for local site names, sub genres and then seeing what else the algorithm comes up with 

I know that you say that you don’t use Facebook, but along with Reddit it is where chat happens 

Consider making a basic account just for airsoft that does not need to be your real name

 

[Cannonfodder]

There are loads of airsoft groups on faceache, unfortunately 99% of the content is usually the same crap. It's either people pushing their YouTube channel, the same questions or bad advice answering them. 

While forums have their problems I find they're far better for information and there's less egotistical bellends

 

[Adolf Hamster]

I feel forums are a slowly dying thing but great to see this one is still going well and people interacting. 

that's the dead internet talking.

forums remain a bastion of actual enthusiast dialogue, and whilst this place has a particular feel (read: if you're a kickingmustang alumni you may not feel so welcome) it remains a safe place to chat airsoft related topics without the usual internet plague of adverts and bad opinions.

 

[Galvatron]

While forums have their problems I find they're far better for information...

Case in point was one chap who waded in and asserted with such swagger and confidence in his first post that a defence isn't at all necessary for a private purchase/sale of RIFs. He has lurked ever since he was disabused of that falsehood with short shrift.

 

[Mtemprell]

This is definitely a great place to chat and discuss Airsoft was never doubting that. Just with me being fairly newly returning was curious if there was any other methods people use to chat. 

I hate Facebook with a passion so not bothered about joining Facebook groups added I deleted my profile few years ago so I'd have to rejoin. Place is just one big massive advertising platform full of trolls and bots. Use to be handy years ago especially for buying and selling till they updated their policy on firearms and that died off. 

 

[Galvatron]

Unfortunately, that's the cesspit that Facebook has turned into with intrusive ads and its Scunthorpe problem censorship of the word "gun". There were a few decent pages but because of words and images  picked up by the algorithm that seemed to know best, they kept being shadow banned, flagged and even shutdown because of self-righteous policies that don't understand airsoft isn't about shooting up schools in America.

Reddit isn't bad but I'd say forums are the best platform. There are a few Whatsapp chats that can be handy for advice but some people become the missing link when they utter all sorts of nonsense under "banter".

 

[Tackle]

Unfortunately, that's the cesspit that Facebook has turned into with intrusive ads and its Scunthorpe problem censorship of the word "gun". There were a few decent pages but because of words and images  picked up by the algorithm that seemed to know best, they kept being shadow banned, flagged and even shutdown because of self-righteous policies that don't understand airsoft isn't about shooting up schools in America.

Reddit isn't bad but I'd say forums are the best platform. There are a few Whatsapp chats that can be handy for advice but some people become the missing link when they utter all sorts of nonsense under "banter".

I got told off by FB for using the word "pikey" , but it's OK apparently to call people "c#ck sucking c#nts" all day long & share graphic images & videos of real people suffering horrible deaths.

Absolute shithole.

 

[Mtemprell]

I got told off by FB for using the word "pikey

I can believe that. I got a telling off from Facebook because I called my mate a twat when I was on it. He laughed at it as I couldn't post for 24hr. 

 

[Anonymoose]

Reddit isn't bad.

Reddit's the arsehole of the internet, full of uninteresting vapid attention-whoring cunts. Can't stand it.

 

[Mtemprell]

Reddit's the arsehole of the internet, full of uninteresting vapid attention-whoring cunts. Can't stand it.

Glad I'm not only one to agree. Too much moaning and bitching going off on there. Full of geeky gits out to mega troll or abuse others. 

 

[Anonymoose]

Glad I'm not only one to agree. Too much moaning and bitching going off on there. Full of geeky gits out to mega troll or abuse others. 

"Hey guys, look at my gun/cat/car and give me upvotes because my life is empty and meaningless!"

It's a circlejerk of the most dull people out there.

 

[Mtemprell]

"Hey guys, look at my gun/cat/car and give me upvotes because my life is empty and meaningless!"

It's a circlejerk of the most dull people out there.

Or I hate so and so just because I do and I hate change and won't give it a chance. 

Seen that one alot lately especially about some bands I followed on there for a while. Especially with linkin park, people saying I hate them because they aren't linkin park without Chester bla bla bla bla. I just feel like saying give them a chance man but there's no point as you get shot down with a bullshit excuse. 

 

[Galvatron]

Reddit's the arsehole of the internet, full of uninteresting vapid attention-whoring cunts. Can't stand it.

My experience is evidently different. I consider Twitter the insertion point for the internet if it needed an enema.

 

[Holly Wallace]

Reddit's a pretty consistent hellhole for people asking for advice/help, I've seen. Anyone not omniscient about the subject at hand? Dislike bomb 'em and give a few sarcastic comments for good measure. Non-contradictory good advice is somewhat uncommon.

Granted, I rarely use it, But I think some of the subs are alright for advice seekers.

Oh, And stay away from the airsoft subreddit's comments.

 

[Cannonfodder]

Another plus this place has over faceache is that members can have different opinions and discuss or debate them without acting like a bunch of teenage girls talking about  their favourite boyband. Sure, we might use slightly spicy language but that's totally different to just throwing childish insults around because the other person disagrees

 

[Lyndication]

Honestly the more Enshittification sets in on social media, the more I'm going back to forums and similarly curated spaces. 

I think the biggest space I'm in nowadays is the HRC, and that's mostly to ask people which end the BBs come out of and how much green gas it takes to fill a badger.

 

[TheFull9]

Forums (well, forum singular I don't know of any other active ones in English) are my main go-to, always have been. Not perfect but the highest overall knowledge and maturity levels and simply by far the best format/layout of discussions. I'm always on my desktop though and the hardware change is a big factor in the move from website forums to social media apps.

I like the main airsoft sub-reddit quite a bit in terms of the builds and loadouts etc that you can see, a lot of nice guns and the like getting up-voted most days with (imho) better discussion attached than FB. Personally I've seen many a niche piece of kit or gun part on there that I found very interesting. I've also often found answers to questions or useful pics on the reddit when I've google-d for things, as google actually indexes reddit in some meaningful way whereas 99% of IG and FB doesn't seem to come up in google results (that or the content just doesn't exist on those platforms).

As mentioned there's quite a lot of decent sub-hobby/niche groups on FB where the people will hang with the most knowledge on NGRS MP5s or a specific family of GBBRs or pistols, or whatever.

Use each platform appropriately to take best advantage of the content which they host.

Oh and there's discord, pretty sure there's tons on there, but I almost never use it so couldn't really comment. Again not sure that layout is good for growing a depository of info in the way a forum layout is. It's more like an old school internet chatroom, where a forum is like a series of mini blog posts.

 

[Jaylordofwaargh]

there's less egotistical bellends

Yeah, just the same ones... ?

There are a couple of Half decent face ache groups, but the actual "knowledge" and experience is much easier to distil in forums and this style of format

There is one place I can think of where you can talk unashamedly about the hobby; I will get a little hate for this, airsoft sites, physical ones.

Although that does kick up the awkwardness of interacting in real life, with strangers, that like dressing up in costumes and playing soldiers....wait 

 

[ruskitseller]

OP, hi mate, I think a few lads may echo this who have been around the airsoft block a bit - this forum is about as good as it gets. People have been 'feeling' that forums have been dying since the days they were first created in the early ages of the internet...but alas...they persist. ?

This is a decent platform, especially if you have a tech issue. There is a helpful knowledge base here and a buoyant well regulated classifieds section. The team behind the forum do a good job to manage it. You won't get 'downvoted' for asking a simple question (no matter how many times it has been asked) and refreshingly - you also won't get banned for having a different opinion. 

Cheers