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Are you a member of any online cliques?

  • 11-03-2024 2:08pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    I was talking to a nephew of mine over the weekend. Nice lad, but a complete dork. He was telling me that him and his friends are part of some elite groups of gamers who play as a squad in some shooting game. It's almost impossible become a member of this group, they scout other players to see if they might make the grade, they have rules about conduct etc, and it generally seemed very cliquey. Neckbeard elitism tbh.

    Are you a member of any online clique? I was a member of some private forums here back around 2010-2014. They were good crack, but there was a lot of idle gossip and general bitchiness that I didn't like. Apart from that I'm in the usual whatsapp groups with old college friends, drinking buddies, golf partners, industry chat and so on. Wouldn't see myself as part of any "clan" or "tribe" though.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,949 ✭✭✭✭Strumms


    No, the only online group or anything like that I frequent is here.

    Two WhatsApp groups. One family one other social one to do with a fitness gig.

    going back 15-20 years ago I posted on the hotpress forum, plus another music based one that was excellent to start with some really nice, fun and generous people recommending / sending music, recommending gigs etc…but it’s a ghost town these days got taken over by a slightly yappy set of people and it’s purpose drifted… no topic by the end was free from people randomly going off topic and just being complete pests.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,986 ✭✭✭✭banie01


    I'm a member of an AVgeek group chat on twitter, and that's slowly migrating to Blue sky. I'm the youngest there by 25yrs or so. A couple of other group chats and perhaps the deadest discord server ever.

    **EDIT** Now that I think a little more on it? I suppose the watch sub-forum here on boards would count too. Not really cliquey, more a support group for men who spend money on obsolete timekeeping 🤣



  • Registered Users Posts: 85 ✭✭Bob Marley Park


    Try stay away from that kind of thing.

    I left Twitter because it's algorithm was foisting lots of drivel from the left and the right, mostly US based. I had tried to stay out of that tripe but I got tired of muting accounts.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,940 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


    Every thread on boards.ie where a poster is a regular poster along with other regular posters, is an "online clique" where all the views are predominately similar, and the moderator predominately agrees with said views/allows them.

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,362 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Especially some culture wars stuff where it ends up being the same people posting about and then arguing about the same topic. I'm not going to mention a topic to try and keep this thread from veering off but imagine it's people who think people who are called Joe are bad.

    And if you find someone like them on twitter, all they do is tweet and retweet about it. Their bios are just about that subject. It's a weird obsession. It's not even an interest, it's an obsession. If it was an interest there might be an occasional funny tweet of a cat, but no, every single tweet, retweet and reply is about the single subject of people called Joe.

    And they probably don't even know anyone called Joe or have ever met someone called Joe.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,362 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    On a separate note, I've been parts of communities for niche games. Some was forums, some was IRC back in the day.

    Now I just play more mainstream games. I am in a couple of whatsapp groups with guys I play with that I've never met in real life. We just use it to coordinate when we'll be online. I don't know if this counts as a clique.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,230 ✭✭✭witchgirl26


    I was about 16 years ago.....it was part of a message board site (not this one). Just found I'd more in common with some particular users. And then we became actual friends offline & are still friends to this day.

    I'm in some communities for my hobbies online but I wouldn't classify them as cliques because they are open to anyone who enjoys that hobby.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,707 ✭✭✭StevenToast


    The OP has many online cliques with himself....the anti middle aged white men brigade....

    "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining." - Fletcher



  • Registered Users Posts: 638 ✭✭✭Baba Yaga


    i wouldnt be a member of any clique that would have me as a member...


    "They gave me an impossible task,one which they said I wouldnt return from...."

    ps wheres my free,fancy rte flip-flops...?

    pps wheres my wheres my rte macaroons,kevin?

    "You are him…the one they call the "Baba Yaga"…



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,550 ✭✭✭Sgt Hartman


    I was part of some gaming cliques back in the day for Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Dark Souls. Real nerdy stuff. I designed some Morrowind mods and posted them online to download and I posted my ideas for new areas and boss characters in the Dark Souls clique. Nowadays I’m a family man so I haven’t much time for it anymore 🥸



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,487 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    I was a member of the Freemasons for a while I forgot to mention. There would have been a history of people who work in my industry having joined in the past, but that’s no longer the case. Joined anyway. Disappointing. No taking over the world or overthrowing the government. Mostly auld lads drinking tea and organising charity fundraisers.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg





  • Galway university I believe has a group of “influencers”’ who patrol social media, all in a WhatsApp group and act on behalf of a company. I wonder does Revenue know anything about this.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1 CaptainBradley


    I swore I'd never post again on this site, but the message above it just too tempting.

    The existence of the "NUIG Crew" is true. The rumour is it is a group of former students who knew some of the founders of this site. Which would make them late 30s or early 40s. Heard it was a fairly large group of posters who sort of drift in and out of trolling and winding people up on this site while also trying to influence discourse. . Also heard they work mostly in politics, media and marketing. They've had many different accounts and schticks here over the years. All some sort of injoke going on years.

    That's definitely a clique if they are still operating. Met some posters who claimed to know some of them but I fell out of contact with those posters as well.

    While I'm here, I was a member of the poker forum here. It was a proper clique. Ended up having a big falling out with the owners and admins of boards and creating our own site. The ass fell out of online poker around 2011 though and that withered away.





  • Very interesting. There’s an underground grapevine growing lots of juicy fruit. Things are getting particularly hot under the collar atm. There was a rereg the other night posting absolutely obnoxious personal abuse on another thread now duly deleted. When the raw bone starts to get exposed there is a proliferation of them. And a certain fav political party’s ship is foundering in the waves. We live in interesting times.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,996 ✭✭✭✭_Kaiser_


    It wouldn't surprise me. Boards - even in its current state - is still probably the only real Irish discussion hub left outside of Reddit and Twitter.

    I can easily see some discussions here being used as a barometer of opinion on various political, economic or social issues with kite flying or just attempts to direct or stifle certain topics being very obvious.

    Given the increasing obsession with social media in general over the past 10/15 years it's no doubt an invaluable tool for some.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,688 ✭✭✭Field east


    I do not see myself extreme in any direction. On a bell graph I would put myself not too far off either side of the middle. I often wonder who the typical boardie is. I find myself responding to the topics/comments raised rather than to individuals.

    for one to comment on boards one needs

    • an iPad or equivalent
    • time
    • interest in topics raised
    • interest in inputting into the threads
    • be aware of the site and how to access it

    • I have a number of friends /acquaintances , some of who are not aware of ‘boards’, who might be aware but have no interest, who are not very computer literate, etc, etc,

    I often wonder who your typical boardie is. IMO I find that the site is used a lot :-

    *by individuals with a ‘lot of time on their hands’

    *by individuals/groups with an agenda/s ,eg political parties, special interest groups, hidden or otherwise

    *by individuals who love to ‘get stuck into eachother’

    • individuals interested in creating division, trolling !, gas lighting, creating narrative to get traction- genuine or otherwise

    Of course your typical boardie might get involved in boards on the basis on one or a number of the above*





  • There are very few individuals (I count them on fingers of one hand and even then those fingers are counting multiple regs of the one person who is manipulating VPN) who would vex me on Boards to the point that I wouldn’t agree with them on some topics versus disagreeing on others. Hence for me it’s the topic in question I address. The handful of individuals I speak of are those who would have posted personally offensive stuff about me or others.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    Dude, boards.ie was last relevant to the “national conversation” about 15 years ago. Like it has some nostalgic appeal, but you ain’t going to find politicians, journalists and media figures hanging out here looking to gauge the mood of the people. Unless the mood of the people is represented by bad-tempered middle aged men who think the world has gone to hell and who create hundreds of deeply negative threads labouring the same point over and over again.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,996 ✭✭✭✭_Kaiser_


    I disagree. The demographic here has definitely gotten older with most posters probably now 30-50 and still here out of habit or because they don't fancy dealing with the even worse levels of nonsense on twitter, reddit etc.

    But that age group is also the one that matters to the political parties so I'm sure that this site is used for research purposes alright.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    What sort of research?

    Political gurus pouring over the posts of RogaineFailed from BallyGoBackwards to see what he has to say about “wokeness”, the plight of middle-aged white men, how modern music is crap, and how we need a new political party to represent the sort of inward looking conservation that died out around 1985?

    Nah. It’s about as relevant as Father Ted memes and Facekicker nostalgia. Different era. Trust me.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,438 ✭✭✭✭FrancieBrady


    represented by bad-tempered middle aged men who think the world has gone to hell and who create hundreds of deeply negative threads labouring the same point over and over again.

    That's exactly how I picture your good self Bobson.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    Less of the personals please, Francis. I know you spend 14-16 hours here per day, and are by far the most prolific poster on the site, but you don’t have to take everything so personally. Go out and meet a friend for coffee. SF will be fine. They might even better off without your online support tbh.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,165 ✭✭✭Lewis_Benson




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭Clo-Clo


    Boards as a barometer died a long time ago. No politician would use it as a guide to what the population think or what is going on in Ireland. The specailist forums are excellent but any of the politcial type forums are a joke. It is awash with fake accounts, multiple duplicate accounts, people using PM to tell others to go on thread to spew out their hate etc ect.

    It was long gone but then when you read into the feedback forums and see people running 10+ accounts, creating pile on's etc against other if they didnt fall into the line of supporting the agenda they want, why would a politcian even consider boards as relevant?

    even last night I posted on a politcial thread about an interesting discussion about one parties policies in another forum. What was the response? well it was to attack me and not make any reference to the actually discussion or the policies. That's the majority of politcial thread, attacked by people who are so scared that someone else has another opinion they have no other answer. Mention policies and try to have a discussion, no attack the poster.

    How would anyone think that is relevant?

    Oh it's not just boards either, most of reddit etc have the same group of online supporters, ruined every good discussion forum in Ireland. Twitter is just a f**king cesspool because of them as well.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    No. The great man is a few years dead at this stage. It was mentioned that he did an “Elvis” on it and died sitting on the porcelain throne. RIP

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭Clo-Clo


    Wasn't it TIG and NRG back in the day from boads for online gaming?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,438 ✭✭✭✭FrancieBrady


    I know you spend 14-16 hours here per day

    This shows you haven't really worked out how modern social media works. You are certainly hold the title of the most prolific bad tempered complainer about 'middle aged men'.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 911 ✭✭✭Norrie Rugger Head


    They're treating their game like a club. How's that neckbeard clique like?

    Every club will have codes of conduct and not everyone will be allowed to play senior

    They're eating the DOGS!!!

    Donald Trump 2024



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,529 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°


    The irony of a middle aged man (the OP) getting annoyed about other middle aged men being angry is mind blowing.

    The OP is a self hating angry middle aged man it would seem.

    Glazers Out!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    I’ve nothing against middle-aged men. It’s the sort of constantly irritable, contrary, “things were better in my day”, low libido, vaguely anti-women sort that hang around Twitter and so forth that I find very tiresome. It’s just one grey and gloopy mix of mediocrity. I think they all seem to imagine themselves as unique, non politically correct firebrands when their ten-a-penny conservative opinions are just like all the others. You’d wonder if the internet has affected them in some way?

    Anyway, I was a guest of a member of a very exclusive golf club in Dublin earlier today. Now that’s a clique. You won’t be getting gauche new money sorts making it past the membership committee there. Class course in fairness.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,529 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°


    Reads like some manner of internalized self loathing tbh.

    Glazers Out!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    Nah. I’m great and I love myself. Lucked out really. Good looking, great wife, stealing a living tbh, intelligent, witty, charming, liberal, open-minded, excellent head of hair. My only real flaws are I can be a touch blind to other people’s opinions, and I’m a thirsty fücker if I decide to go on the beer.

    Post edited by Bobson Dugnutt on
    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,529 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°


    Glazers Out!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,175 ✭✭✭Oscar_Madison


    Watched part of a documentary on the free masons not so long ago - a complete borefest is what I concluded



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,882 ✭✭✭Quantum Erasure


    I don't know, the poll here before the recent referendums was the only one close to being reflected in the actual result, that I saw anyway.

    As one poster put it




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 803 ✭✭✭z80CPU
    Darth Randomer


    I've subscribed on YouTube to a couple of dozen British, and Irish Model Railway Enthusiast channels and American model railroader channels in the rough ratio of 3:1:8. Approximately half of these channels are there for more recreational purposes aimed at a certain audience : I joined a livestream hosted by a US enthusiast last night and there was a lot of effing and blinding by the host including cursing about YouTube. The livestreams hosted by other Irish YouTubers than myself are keen to promote it in the family context primarily.



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,910 ✭✭✭✭Rothko


    Please stop abusing other posters. It's a very bad reflection on your character.



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,910 ✭✭✭✭Rothko


    A lot of people with low self esteem tend to lash out at others like that. It's sad to see.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,438 ✭✭✭✭FrancieBrady


    He’s the angriest middle aged man that I can see on boards. Seems to indulge in things that make him angry too. I know people like that in real life. God forbid they take a seat beside you in the local, early home time!



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    Less of the bile and abuse please, chaps. Make your point without resorting to digs. Sort of proving my points tbh.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,529 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°






  • Wearing a great middle-aged male pallor apart from redness about the cheeks and with a very stale repetitive take on the world best confined to a session in Toners.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,081 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    Toners is a great spot.

    While I wouldn’t be into meeting up with any online groups, I would have a regular meet up with a few “movers and shakers” in Dublin.

    Like IBEC, but for Media and Advertising sorts. Nothing official, obviously.

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,489 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    And if you find someone like them on twitter, all they do is tweet and retweet about it. Their bios are just about that subject. It's a weird obsession. It's not even an interest, it's an obsession. If it was an interest there might be an occasional funny tweet of a cat, but no, every single tweet, retweet and reply is about the single subject of people called Joe.

    Yes you remind me of Aidan Comerford, some random Irish dude, well a comedian/writer apparently, who's Twitter account has been for years singularly devoted to pro trans rights. Typically he posted several tweets a day, some very long winded going up to 12 tweets in one post, and he engaged in this for years every day of the week. Very odd indeed. Gone off it in recent weeks, I figure he had a mental breakdown.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,362 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Except there's a difference between an activist for a cause and some random twitter account. I believe the person you're referring to is actively involved in trans rights groups. I'd expect someone like that to be posting stuff like that. The same way I'd expect a climate activist to have nothing but climate tweets. The difference is that there are people who in real life are not part of any groups who online only post about anti trans stuff.

    Even then , I do think it's weird that you went to find a thread about online cliques, just to start making accusations about someone who left twitter, to claim that they had a mental breakdown, just because you don't like them tweeting about pro trans stuff. And I find a quick search of your boards history shows that you've posted loads of anti trans stuff. Maybe you should take inspiration from Aidan Comerford and step away from the screen for a while.



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