Whitechapel - Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Horrible Warning Si — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:25:02 -0700

So here’s a thought.

The “best pub in the Universe” thing still stands. That’s what this forum is, that’s what it will continue to be.

Later: darts.

But the analogy breaks down when you come to the other splendid function this place serves, and that’s as a hub: a library, a drop-in resource, a re-up store for Junkies Of Wrong. I think Whitechapel’s at its shiny best when everyone’s getting involved in the making, collecting, hoarding and discussing of Nuggets of solid neoculture. (A wanky term. You know what I mean.)

Sketch threads, reinvent/redesign, tell-us-a-story and so-on: those puppies aren’t going anywhere. But I also want people – strangers! non-members! webnauts from the outside! – to see this place as an unbeatable goto-site for their knowledge-building, time-killing, opinion-forming needs. At the moment we’ve got the “Around the Web” thread, among others, and they’re a pleasure from start to stop.

I’m thinking about formalising it. Chopping it up a bit. Say, one thread for NEWSFACT, one thread for SCIENCEMAKING, one thread for MEMELOVE. Maybe there are others. Maybe start one each week, refresh them after a month… something like that. I ponder onwards.

You know that thing where you email a link to your officebound mates – (today it’s an article about a woman who severed her husband’s pizzle and fed it to the garbage grinder; or a study of a time-dislocated particle which revolutionises invisibility tech; or a picture of RainbowCat firefucking its way through the twin towers like an Apocalypse Angel) – and the bemused recipient replies: “Where do you get this stuff?”

I want the answer to be, always always always, “I heard it off someone in a pub in Whitechapel.”

Discuss/Suggest/Improve.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Alan Tyson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:40:20 -0700

I am liking this idea in general - I do want to ask, though, what would be the benefit of cutting up, say, the Around the Net thread? Seems like a lot of stuff gets directly cross-pollinated there, which you might lose if you split things up. Someone looking for a meme might miss an interesting bit of news, because they don't normally look at news, etc.

I predict that once the U.S. Election swings into full Mass Ultimate Panic Mode, this place will really grow wings as a news source, but that's a response to a specific event, albeit a pretty drawn-out one. I can see threads for that sort of thing, but a general New Weird Shit thread seems to work best as a singular entity, at least to me.

Then again, let's experiment with the split-up model a bit, and see what happens! It's very likely that I'm wrong, and we're missing some part of the Anti-Boring Equation but keeping everything in one cesspool. Maybe we should make this coming Autumn a testbed season, and try out new things with forum format and thread organization - what works, we'll keep, and what doesn't, we'll forget.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Andre Navarro — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:11:29 -0700

My concern regarding threads such as the proposed NEWSFACT is that they tend to become unfriendly to newcomers after a few days, with hundreds of posts piling on top of each other, some talking about a certain post while another post sparks another conversation that overlaps with other conversations and some posts deserving of discussion end up being ignored in the mess and then there's the thread shutdown at the end of the month that might happen during an interesting conversation. Ultimately, it doesn't organize things. Some threads are suited to this format -- "Around the Net" is an endlessly entertaining stream of madness, for example -- but I've always felt that something being given its own thread sparks more discussion and maintains the focus better -- such as a particularly shocking piece of news or a delightful new invention. And it keeps the front page dynamic and interesting. Also funny, especially when a thread went wrong and Warren closed it with "SHUT UP NOW" as the last post.

So I suggest creating more categories instead of monthly threads. We've got Main Junction, London Zoo, FREAKANGELS, Music, Printheads, Art and Moving Pictures, Internet, Mad Science, Fantastika!: SF & The Weird and Blogs. Perhaps a Politics category? Or just News? And a category for the art threads would be interesting as well, organizing all the original content created here.

I might be misremembering, but during WC's first years, the front page just refused to stay still. There was always a new thread about a specific subject, some of those threads going past a hundred posts, others not even past three. WC's lost a bit of that over time, and it's one of the many things I always loved about this place.

*shakes walking stick*

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

infomancer — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:04:35 -0700

This place is definitely a good source of "Where do you get this stuff?" items. I'm reminded of the old Newskrusher threads we used to have that were filled with whatever deviant news items we came across. I liked them a lot, but I recall Warren having a reason for discontinuing them. Perhaps we could check up on those reasons and try to correct the problems? I'm definitely in favor of this info-dump/crowdsourced weirdness sort of idea, Si. I think Alan is right that this is generally what our Around The Net thread is for at the moment (which I've already professed my love for), though I'd be fine with splitting them up a bit more topically.

I'm also okay with the above suggestion of "new item, new thread" though that may create a headache for you mods to be constantly monitoring those threads, large or small, and always making decisions about relevance and/or wankery.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

texture — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:40:32 -0700

I definitely agree with Andre - some things need their own threads, and making more categories would possibly make this easier to manage. However I would also say that were there a thread called MEMELOVE, I'd be on it all the time. I think as long as we can avoid duplication (MEMELOVE sounds a lot like ATN / IDNNTST) then having one long uber-thread on a topic, which then generates tendrils into single-issue threads, could really work. I think what pulls in new people though is things like Webcomics Week and the Art Challenges. That's when you see an influx of newbies - when Warren gives people a chance to parade their fancy bits of whatever kind.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Beamish — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:12:17 -0700

Would it be possible to make a small group of sticky directories? You could have a news link that opens up to a set of threads, that way there wouldn't one stupidly long threat about everything news instead new topics could start their own, while still being contained and not polluting the main thread. That there can be NEWS - ART - COMICS/PRINT - HUZZAH's - SOCIAL, but still leave some threads to fend for themselves on the front page, like Around the Net.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Cat Vincent — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:29:13 -0700

Can I suggest NEWSKRUSHER returns, but as a category? Make it a distinct home for actual news items - as opposed to memes, videos and cat bukkake GIFs. Keep one thread for general small news felch, option for threads of deeper import.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

mister hex — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:04:14 -0700

I once proposed a "Best Of Whitechapel" thread, to kind of acclimate newcomers into the Whitechapel Way Of Doing The Internet, show them what's been done, how it's been done and what not to do but Warren told me to fuck off and go back to work.

... Which is what Si will probably do.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Horrible Warning Si — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:07:23 -0700

I'm simply not mean like that.

Buy me a drink, then fuck off.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Fauxhammer — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:42:46 -0700

Weekly and monthly "appointment threads" are a good way to go, I think. Less clutter on the front page, less clutter inside each thread.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Neila — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:27:56 -0700

It might be interesting, since Whitechapel is already sort of "that place you hear/learn things" sometimes not always things you wanted to, and usually stuff that gets seared into your brain and may never leave. D:
On many occasion I have mentioned something I saw on here and cited Whitechapel as the source.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

imaginarypeople — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:09:16 -0700

i miss the remake/remodel art threads. when are we gonna get another one of those?

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Beamish — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:06:29 -0700

@imaginarypeople I agree, I hope Warren hits us with one more before he goes.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

vandalhandle — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:56:49 -0700

we need a Warren related remake/remodel as a send off

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Alan Tyson — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:24:30 -0700

@vandalhandle: Yeah.... but if I know Warren, he'd probably hate that.

ANYWAY BACK ON TOPIC: This'll sound odd, but with some of the recent discussion that I've been participating in, about Whitechapel being the home base for a whole colony of von Neumann Whitechapels (one of Facebook, one on Google+, one on Turntable.fm, etc.) that the forum should play around with that idea more - maybe have a "we should infect this next" thread going, which stands to be on the lookout for more ways to spread Whitechapel to the wider internet.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Horrible Warning Si — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 05:10:55 -0700

I approve of infection.

All good comments and suggestions, folks. Keep 'em coming.

(P.S: I'm a huge fan of the remake/remodel threads too. They will return.)

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Darkest — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:58:14 -0700

Sort of a contact details for Whitechapel. We can be found at...

We have the Around The Net thread for most of the random stuff from the the net.

The only thing close to a good idea is a sort of thread that people can keep everyone updated on their projects.
I've been using the Weekend threads and Vile Hugging but truth be told I'm not that great at it. Izzat what MEMELOVE is?

Anyway I have procrastination to catch up with.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Azabith — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:05:04 -0700

not sure if MEMELOVE is the sort of thing we want to setup, we do post the occasional meme in AROUND THE NET thread but that woudn't be Whitechapel's main attraction point. I say the remake/remodel threads get plenty of traffic when they happen and is a great way of getting more people on here.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Darkest — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:23:45 -0700

Ah I was adding a space, Me Me love, ha.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

frenchbloke — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 05:23:42 -0700

I prefer to use the term "as found on Whitechapel"

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Jason A. Quest — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 08:13:31 -0700

For those who need their remake/remodel itch scratched, there have been a few "playtime" challenges which are still open on the new Sequential Workshop site, a new one just posted, and more to come. They don't offer Warren's trademark madness, but they're a bit more open to things such as writers describing their ideas, not just artists illustrating them. (I might add that, as a descendent of The Engine, the SeqWork forum itself is also a helpful place for pros and wannabes to talk shop... less "the best pub in the universe" and more "the coffee shop downstairs from the studio".)

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

256 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:32:02 -0700

Interesting to see different ideas for Whitechapel+.

I don't have any idea how, but I've always wished there was more movement in Mad Science - it seems to be a bit forgotten, which is sad since SCIENCE MAKES THINGS WORK.

Thoughts?

(P.S: I'm a huge fan of the remake/remodel threads too. They will return.)

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Nil — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:36:00 -0700

Perhaps an "Ask Whitechapel" thread for those little questions which don't quite merit a thread of their own ("Dear Whitechapel, what is the sample in this song taken from / what is the best way to insult someone in Finnish / where's the best place to get a pint in Electricity Pylon, Kansas?"). In a lesser place, this would quickly devolve into "does this look infected to you?" but here I think we could make it work with a few ground rules (no asking for medical or legal advice springs to mind).

Just a thought. We've got a lot of very smart people here with a lot of odd bits of knowledge floating around in their massive brains.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Fauxhammer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:21:38 -0700

That's one of Whitechapel's selling points--the fact that, compared with other spots on the Internet, there's a very broad, very deep pool of knowledge. Were this community in physical space, I'd say it's disaster-proof.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Beamish — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:36:20 -0700

I love that idea Nil. We should start ine now.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Kieran — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:58:39 -0700

I love Whitechapel and I love the fact that somebody, yes you, is taking over.

From the huge amount of cool and/or interesting stuff I somehow managed to miss two thingies ...

1) Film/Vidéo ... Off course, in Whitechapel there is a lot of good drawing, painting, writing, photography but regarding film/video work it is mostly only talked about. Off course there is sa need for a twist in this or Whitechapel would be crowded by abstract short movies ...

The next one may be missunderstood easily ...

2) Art -> Yes off course I mean "Art" in a somehow wanky, non illustrativ or narrativ form ... this one is hard, because Whitechapel is more about culture vs. neoculture (your word).

Now I'll pour some gazoline one me and look for matches ...

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Internaut — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:30:35 -0700

I worked on a project sort of like what you're aiming for, and I believe the solution was tagging. An elaborate tag system based on basic human needs, agreed upon categories and such and then a search algorithm built into the website that searches these specific tags in order to better organize thoughts and ideas without the need for a specific "Categories" design-space.

I mean you could post something and then at the bottom tag it with "SCIENCEWANK" and the search here would already turn it up. All of a sudden you have every post with "SCIENCEWANK" in the body and there's your category. We could do a rudimentary version now as the site stands as long as everyone agrees to tag with certain, specific terms.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

mister hex — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:36:41 -0700

@ Goddamn Batman Whatever - we talked about you, Si. About how you bought us from Warren for thirty cents on the dollar. In Toronto. It happened. I was there.*

*It was a vicious rumour I tried to start but nobody bought. Besides, Warren wouldn'a pay tuppence for us and we all know it.

COME TO TORONTO. I WILL BUY YOU A DRINK. If you DON'T come to Toronto, I'll still buy you a drink.

You might not LIKE it but it'll be PAID for.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Beamish — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:24:09 -0700

Another thought, adding mobile capability to the site, I can pull it up in my phone, as I am right now but it could be a lot easier and as the world continues to go mobile it may be a good idea to upgrade.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Azabith — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:32:37 -0700

Good point about going mobile, definitely a point to look into

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

celan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:01:01 -0700

Ditto(s)

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

imaginarypeople — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:25:41 -0700

i always thought it would be cool to get all the artists to collaborate on a cool project like a never ending comic strip, or a crazy weird collage or something

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Horrible Warning Si — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:32:28 -0700

[Note, oh splendid groinmoppets, that my silence doesn't imply inattention. Several excellent suggestions, several things I'm going to sit down and think about when I get some time, several things I callously shit upon from afar. At some point I will cast the digital runes and attempt to summon our techno spiderqueen, see what she's got to say about all this.]

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Yskaya — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:07:54 -0700

Internaut: that's a solid solution right there. seconding the tagging system. :)

Edited for smiley. didn't like tone of the comment without it

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

mister hex — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:12:09 -0700

"ASK WHITECHAPEL" would need its own category, which might actually be good and uncluttery. "ASK WHITECHAPEL ABOUT": Pottery. History. Fuckery. Whatever-y. They'd be like blogs, maybe. How to Make Wine. Or Tea. Or a Shed. Or Love. Or Whatever. Moderated, of course, so you don't get "HOW TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT" and we're all rounded up that day.

Like London Zoo, only London Zoo would likely get more "Swampy - (ie. Mad Ideas What Don't Quite Fit, Like)" and "Ask Whitechapel" would be more practical knowledge, rather than Catch-All Category of F-ed Feces and Also Good Things. As we all know it to be.

Just an idea?

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

sellmeyoursoul — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:26:31 -0700

I could see ASK WHITECHAPEL containing threads like the current beer thread, which has degenerated from "I drank a lovely bottle of 99.9% ABV beer... I think. Or at least I woke up in the ER with the broken top of the empty clutched in my hand, covered in what I hope was my own blood" to "here's the best book/tool/hops for home brewing." If I were ever to try and brew my own beer or want to impress a lady by sounding like I did, that would be the first place I'd go.

I don't know if it would turn Whitechapel into some sort of internexus, but would probably be a great reference point/primordial idea-ooze pit for a lazy writer, like myself.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Luke — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:00:32 -0700

The key to such subject-sensitive time-locked topics is strict laser-like focus and strict laser-wielding punishment. Remake/remodel and the like worked because anyone taking the piss got nuked, double-because any open space on the internet will devolve into wank without moderation. Unfortunately that means each such thread would require a vigilant moderator, and the problem with competent smart people capable of such is that they're normally busy doing other actual work.

That said, surely you and/or WhiteChapel can rustle up the capable sort of soul to stand guard over each thread.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Jason A. Quest — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:31:02 -0700

any open space on the internet will devolve into wank without moderation

While that's true, the type of moderation doesn't necessarily have to be "strict laser-wielding punishment". I've participated in some highly functional forums with little (or light-handed) moderation for extended periods of time, and I continue to do so. They operate more like Mayberry, with generally accepted standards of conduct enforced by the local culture (and a guy carrying a gun around just in case), and less like Mega City One.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

joe.distort — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:40:17 -0700

...given how slow WC moves these days, i dont exactly have a whole lot of hope for the future iterations unless there will be some new blood.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

D.J. — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:04:35 -0700

We should start a cult.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

warrenellis — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:56:56 -0700

...given how slow WC moves these days, i dont exactly have a whole lot of hope for the future iterations unless there will be some new blood.

New webcomics will doubtless bring new people here. I'm sure Si and Avatar etc will keep it ticking over.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

UCLGeogPhD — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:11:29 -0700

@Warren
I am new here here, hello by the way, and probably overstepping boundaries, but may I suggest perhaps if you want more web-traffic to the board and more new blood that you put a direct link to the forum from your main website warrenellis.com (as well as the one to FreakAngels). To me that would make sense. But anyway its just a 'thought out loud' kind of suggestion.

Best Wishes

Nick

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

warrenellis — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:43:19 -0700

You're new here, so you probably don't know that I'm leaving Whitechapel in less than two weeks...!

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Beamish — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:27:15 -0700

@joe.distort when SI builds it they will come. There are a lot of Crossed fans out there.

@UCLGeogPhD that's not a bad idea but it would be Si's site and we should probably pimp new feeds on twitter more, even through most of my followers are WC as well (and pretty much all of my G+ folks).

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

texture — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 02:50:33 -0700

I'm sure Whitechapel having a link on Warren's front page would drive a lot more people here, and I'm certain Si's efforts and the new Crossed comic will upthe numbers. One idea that springs to mind though - we all have websites / Tumblrs / blogs too. Couldn't we make some sort of widget to post on our own front pages, advertising the forum, to encourage new members? Sort of like the old Freakangels widgets Avatar used to do? I know we don't exactly have the same draw as a celebrated writer, but We Are Legion. I'd definitely be game for something like this... put the recruitment drive at least partly in the hand of the community, after all all, it is in our interests to see Whitechapel thrive.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

sneak046 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:45:09 -0700

@†3X†UR3 - that's a good idea dude.

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Denari — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:07:32 -0700

I like Texture's idea. A blog aggregator is a grand idea. That's a whole bunch of content right there, from Robin's beer blog, to fiction on Weaponizer, Kelsey's musings and my own genre-related fuckery.

As for new blood. I've been on here a year a half and I still feel liek a newbie at times. I think it's all about engagement. The more you put into Whitechapel the more you get out of it. I think the SPIT threads are good, because if you don't do art, or music or have a ton of ideas and opinions to share you can at least show your face (figuratively and literally) on a thread like that. Plus putting a human face to electronic communication is invaluable.

Sad to see to the Swami go. Work commitments I assume. I missed the memo...

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

hmobius — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:27:47 -0700

A little while ago, I asked whether or not it would be possible to have a feed for posts in a single category rather than a feed for all posts or none. I couldn't help noticing that the latest release of Vanilla which runs Whitechapel seems to support this....

I suspect that Ariana will now hit me for suggesting that a changing of the guard might be a good time to upgrade the platform we all use, but I'm a geek, so

Whitechapelling All Over The World: Thoughts on the future.

Cat Vincent — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:19:05 -0700

Slogans for the Whitechapel Widget...
"Come for the conversation, stay for the ass eels"?

But yes - good idea for little nodes of the Chapel's disease sprayed all over the web, like... well, like bukkake, really.