Every Friday I'll be posting about a particular dAmn channel and forum, giving you a brief overview of each, and finding out why people keep coming back*. The chats and forums have something to offer everyone, as this series aims to show; and hopefully you'll feel inspired to get involved with them!
If you have any suggestions for the chats and forums, please share them with a Community Volunteer! Your opinions matter, and will be gratefully received.
#devart
The #devart channel is for general discussion. One of the most popular channels on dAmn, I often visit it to ramble about my love of cats!
Before participating, it's important to read the channel rules and etiquette policy, linked to at the top of the channel. The rules are intended to keep everyone safe and to answer any questions you may have.
I asked some of the regulars of #devart why they keep coming back:
"What #devart does so well is it constantly throws new participants and new topics into the fray so it's much more rare for the conversation to stagnate [...] You're always exposed to novelty, and it gives you a chance to learn new things about others, and yourself, at a pace that I've yet to see matched outside of other similarly random chatrooms." [Full comment here.]
"SEX, DRUGS, AND UNICORNS!!!"
"Simply, the participants. The new and the old. You can't help but smile at the various conversations going on. Have you ever just observed #devart from the shadows? As weird as this sounds but it is brilliant! I sometimes go into shadow ninja mode and just read through the conversations. You'll noticed a number of deviants from various backgrounds [who] get excited over art or a new game that has been released or share their taste in music or even laugh at (or with) a new deviant who blames their younger sibling or a cat for spamming in the chatroom. I for one can simply not stop talking about food. It's a myriad of conversations which is what makes devart super special. "
"hm... that's a tough one. I remember joining #devart oh... 6 - 7 years ago now when I first joined and I remember the atmosphere was so relaxed that I stuck around for 4 years. I enjoyed meeting new people and they helped me though the time I was being targeted on dA. After returning after 3 years of absence in February, it was nice to see so many familiar faces still in #devart and it was great to know some of them still remembered me 
. Even though #devart's changed slightly over the years, it's still the place on dA i'll go and talk to old and new people alike. "Deviants Forum
The Deviants forum is one of the most popular forums. Here people can talk about pretty much anything, from eating cat food to posting the first ever forum thread! The rules are located at the top of the forum and are indicated by the (!) symbol; it's a good idea to read them before participating.
I asked some of the regulars of the Deviants forum why they keep coming back:
"I love the forum. It is easy to communicate with others and make friends. It also allows you to share experiences with others and really get the most out of the community. I really enjoy the forum and will keep coming make to hopefully make more friends."
"It's a bit of a mixed bag, but overall, I come back to the Deviants forum for the freedom."
"The Deviants Forum has been an excellent use for me. I've been using it for a couple of weeks & have got to know a lot of people around the globe. I keep returning to the Deviants Forum because of creating new bonds & challenging people with interesting questions. One of the reasons I use it to give people a positive perspective of life. (Since a lot of my questions are related to psychology.)"
"Its cool there, and fun talking to people. But most importantly, I like taunting the mortals there."Please bear in mind that some people have been visiting the chat and forum networks for years. It will be worth your while to watch how the others behave, to get a general idea of the place, before diving into discussion. And if a particular channel or forum turns out not to be your cup of tea, there are plenty of others, some of which are bound to cater to your tastes! Feel free to explore and to look out for more articles promoting chat rooms and forums. communityrelations and projecteducate are good places to start.
And you may find the following information helpful:
FAQ #287: What rules apply to the Chat Network?
FAQ #801: Are there any rules for the Forums?
Breaking Into Chatrooms
Advice for Forum N00bs
And that's it for this week! Here are some points you might like to consider: if it's your first time visiting the channel or forum, what did you think to it? Can you identify one good and one bad thing about it? If you like, share your experiences with the rest of us!
And thank you to Astralseed for her sage advice.
Please note: Quotations may be edited for presentation purposes.
