Continuing the discussion from A conversation gone wrong:
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Sanity check of my reality against someone in the outside world.
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What we have here… is (the opposite of) a failure to communicate…
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I’d be interested in art projects, parlor games and other opportunities to participate in something creative.
I’m currently jealous of the 4chan crowd for having thought up the idea of an art-based cryptocurrency, only to have executed it in the ugliest way possible.
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Not sure if this is the thread to talk about what becomes the front page / blog to draw people in, but I’ll toss out 2 ideas that I’ve seen before and liked:
One was a sci-fi/fantasy e-zine in the 90’s that had a Question of the Week. In addition to the discussion thread on the question itself, and an editorial to give some background on it, there were a few articles and fiction stories by different authors based on exploring it from different angles. There may have been an illustration or cartoon as well, I can’t remember. But the point was one topic with multiple different angles, with the topic changing frequently enough to keep people coming back.
Another was a debate site. A question was posted along with possible answers and people voted on the answers but had to comment to support/explain their vote. There could be ‘dueling bloggers’ writing long-form blog posts supporting the opposing views.
The e-zine had difficulty because the short timeline (weekly), the costs of paying authors, the editing, etc., was too much for a part-time hobby. The debate site opened up to let anyone post whatever and quickly became a cesspit of mostly political and religious arguing with some celebrity gossip thrown in. 
But in both cases, setting a topic and providing multiple angles on it to make it interesting and to stimulate conversation was a great idea. It’s something that we just don’t see - most sites are just a series of unrelated and one-sided articles. The question is how to do that in a way that isn’t too much work and doesn’t lead to trolling and flamewars. I think that the “let’s explore this idea together” format is better than the debate format, but beyond that I don’t really know what to suggest.
Edited to add:
Once in college, my Philosophy class was studying Socrates and Plato at the same time my English class was discussing the allegory of the cave and my History class was on Ancient Greece. I managed to write one essay that I could submit to all 3 classes. 
But the cool thing was seeing the topic discussed from different angles and fitting them together such that the whole was more than the sum of its parts.
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My personal thoughts about what I want this site to be are that it currently is meeting my strong need for safety. I used to be concerned that the internet trolls being brought into the other site in reaction to articles about GamerGate and other similar hot button issues would hunt through my profile and dox me.
In this space, I want to be able to be me. That’s why I posted a photo of myself in one thread. I want to be able to open up a video chat with anyone on this site and know that we are all friends here.
I want to go to meetups IRL.
I want to deepen friendships.
I’d also like to co-create with people here and create a space where people can express themselves creatively through writing and art, as their real selves. I think for that to work, there needs to be some revenue, some audience that people can bring in, because my experience is that it’s tough to go on creating when there isn’t someone buying or paying.
People who publish on the 'Net face risks because they have to put themselves out there.
Having conversations about things like sex, gender, love, it means revealing details of your life.
I believe it’s possible to create a place on the Internet that is both open and also creates an environment of safety and love and protection for the people who contribute. That’s what I want.
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Some years back a site I was a regular at had a “Holiday Cookie Exchange”. The bakers all made sweets and traded them amongst each other.
I thought that was awesome.
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Pretty sure that is the only way 4chan can do anything.
true that and I agree with what you said.
As for me, I’m good with this being a place where we can be ourselves. I’m on the other site and it seems to be going downhill pretty quick. I’m pretty sure it’s a lost cause, but there are still people there I like talking to (Papasan comes to mind as one) so I’m not completely ready to cut the cord.
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I’d be interested in art projects, where art is very loosely considered to include any of the home arts and technical arts, as well as any of the fine or performance arts. I would like to have a way to coordinate working on projects, including science projects, with you lovely folks, if you want to. Blogs, vlogs, podcasts, diy and how-to.
I’d like to have the internet be that lifelong learning environment that was promised. As a woman, I’d like to feel as safe and confident online as men do.
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I’d like that too. How can I help?
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As a straight cis white middle class, middle aged guy I want this too. As @mdh_AcerPlatanoides said, How can I help?
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I like this idea a lot, and it sounds like something we could try now, as a discussion thread. Of course, to be realistic for the BBS the responses would have to be short form—flash fiction, sketches, etc.
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Maybe we can find an official poacher who keeps a regular presence there.
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Amen to that
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In order to participate in group projects, I think it would be useful to have a private spot to discuss project details and to coordinate with fellow project participants how to proceed with the desired degree of self-revelation or pseudo-anonymity. (Please note that I have myself given up on actual anonymity, knowing what I know and being who I am.)
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That sounds possible. Do you mean a space restricted to maybe TL3 users, or one where the participants in a particular project are the only ones to access that corner of the board while in progress?
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Both actually.
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it is my understanding that’s possible within Discourse, though it may be an add on to a basic instantiation.
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