the funny thing about chat servers is that they're self-contained communities. to feel comfortable in one, you need to spend enough time to both know the other people and to be known by them. you gotta learn the implications and usages of the emoji, you gotta learn the in-jokes and the history, you gotta actually put in effort to be a real part of the community! you can't skip right to the "i enjoy being here" part.

i've been in the netrunner slack server for ~7 years. i only have a handful of channels i'm in, and only some of those that are unmuted. i know the regulars, i know and have created the emojis, i am in it. i only got here because i've been chatting and contributing and reading constantly this whole time. just for my little corner! not even the "whole" server, just the channels I'm active in.

joining the discord for some new thing is not exciting, it's daunting and intimidating because that means to actually join and care about the community, i need to be willing to put in the high effort it takes to pay attention and participate. it's not a small task, it in fact might be the biggest task.

i miss forums.