Should the forum be closed on mondays?

[tertiaryapocalypse]

i like the forum closure, personally! i find it helps to almost decrease how much i'm online, even if it's not on mondays, and like a lot of other folks said it gives the impression of a real life space, you know? ive also found that it encourages me to visit other spaces online! though i do think that, for those who want it, a break-in mode would be fun to implement 

[VelvetSoul]

Honestly, I feel like my want for the forum to be open and available 24/7 is part of the problem when it comes to being chronically online.
I mean seriously think about it, this is a forum; it's one website, on the vast entirety of the internet. Can I really not handle it being closed for 24 hours every week? That feels a bit extreme when you say it like that doesn't it?
The forum being closed gives me a sort of feeling of "well then, what should I do with my day?" Which I really like, since most of my time online is spend endlessly scrolling or searching for the next hit of dopamine from a notification saying I have something to interact with. I'm trying to sort of break away from that, and the forum being closed helps a lot.

I'd argue that the forum is becoming my new social media of choice; it's nice here and I feel way more free and respected than I do on most social media. Not to mention I can take my time (sometimes weeks) to think over a response to a post or something and give my genuine and honest reply to what is being said. It's not something that demands my immediate response all the time, I like that.

I really do like the idea of the forum being closed on Monday, it's something I didn't care for when I first got here (doesn't help that I got here on a Monday lol), but I came to appreciate it the more I used the forum. Now it's something I almost look forward to as weird as it sounds, like I'm excited to do something fun on Monday and then maybe make a post about it on the forums after or something.

I also do admit that I'm in a bit of a lucky situation as for me, the forums goes down around 5 PM on Sunday and opens about 5 PM on Monday. Meaning it doesn't necessarily cause me the biggest inconvenience since I sleep during most of the down time.

All in all, I voted to keep the system as it is; and I think it's important to note that had you asked me this same question when I first started using the forum having just came from centralized social media; I'd have likely said no open it. I think the big thing to remember for anyone saying they'd like to forum to be open on Monday is this...

The world is a huge place, bigger than the internet on it's own. The little blurb of text you're welcomed with when you try to access the site is a great reminder of that. Just saying "you go to the local petrol station and get a slushie, everything is cool." It's a great way of telling you basically "hey go on and do something with your day, it's fine." Mondays as a break day for the mod staff is important, but it's also a great reminder for you as a person in the world that you don't solely exist as a member of this forum.

You could work on your website on Mondays, you could make a new piece of art, you could go for a hike, you could watch a TV show you like; you could play that game you've been putting off. Not to mention, every other website is likely still up and running; so if you're REALLY craving the need for socialization you could still use other social media sites; there's even more forums out there. Mondays are a great excuse to go explore the wider web, check out people's websites, maybe you could even find another forum to be a part of if you want (that's not saying you have to/should leave, I'm not saying GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, I'm saying you could absolutely find other forums to be a part of AS WELL as Melonland; don't think I want any of you guys out of here.)

Plus the Minecraft server stays up on Mondays and I've met some pretty chill people on there, it's cool to hang out and work on a build or something. There's so much you could do on Monday, and it's not like the Forum won't be here for you on Tuesday.

Take your time, enjoy your life.

[CableCat]

I get frustrated when the forum is closed on Mondays... But that is because often on Mondays I will come to Melonland Forum as an escape when I really should be focused on more important things!

I love that it is closed on Mondays (Or at least one full day a week) because it reminds me not to habitually come here the way I would scroll through social media and lose myself. And that little reminder to go to the Petrol station is a great reminder to physically go do something else besides be online.

I'm just old enough to remember when people had a better balance between electronic time and physically living their lives. But I'm also young enough to have experienced the rise of social media and people (especially teens) who were chronically online. That reminder of impermanence, and that we need to go live parts of our lives physically elsewhere is soooooo important for our collective mental health. Nowhere else does this (as far as I know). Every other site wants to keep you on and keep you numb and consuming so you can be pushed ads and they can make money off your presence as a user. MelonLand actively going against that grain is such a gift.

Plus, it's not like the whole internet is down, and we also have the Everything Site for those who want some kind of participation and interaction on Mondays.

And if you see information that is important, you should note it down! You can copy and paste information you find helpful from the forums into a document locally stored on your machine.

I like the idea of a "Read Only" day as an alternative if enough people use the forum that way to support it, but I'm also content with the forum being inaccessible for a full day.

[candycanearter07]

I get frustrated when the forum is closed on Mondays... But that is because often on Mondays I will come to Melonland Forum as an escape when I really should be focused on more important things!

I love that it is closed on Mondays (Or at least one full day a week) because it reminds me not to habitually come here the way I would scroll through social media and lose myself. And that little reminder to go to the Petrol station is a great reminder to physically go do something else besides be online.

I'm just old enough to remember when people had a better balance between electronic time and physically living their lives. But I'm also young enough to have experienced the rise of social media and people (especially teens) who were chronically online. That reminder of impermanence, and that we need to go live parts of our lives physically elsewhere is soooooo important for our collective mental health. Nowhere else does this (as far as I know). Every other site wants to keep you on and keep you numb and consuming so you can be pushed ads and they can make money off your presence as a user. MelonLand actively going against that grain is such a gift.

Plus, it's not like the whole internet is down, and we also have the Everything Site for those who want some kind of participation and interaction on Mondays.

And if you see information that is important, you should note it down! You can copy and paste information you find helpful from the forums into a document locally stored on your machine.

I like the idea of a "Read Only" day as an alternative if enough people use the forum that way to support it, but I'm also content with the forum being inaccessible for a full day.

Same, I usually use these forums to like escape and read how other ppl are doing and stuff, and it feels off when I can't just pop in to chat on the message box..

Though I do see the whole appeal of "it being inaccessible partially makes it feel more special"?

Also, whats the everything site?

[renyoi]

i'm a still a newbie, so grain of salt and all that, but i agree with this point:

but maybe Monday is not the best day for it? In my timezone it closes starting Sunday evening; since it's the weekend I often want to visit the forum during this time. Maybe having it close on Tuesday would be better?

the idea of it closing one day of the week is a really good one for reasons everyone has already mentioned, so i did in the end vote to keep it closed; however, i do think making sure that close time doesn't overlap with the weekend is a good thing  given that is when, i assume, people are going to be more active simply because they are better able to be. it doesn't seem very worthwhile, practically or philosophically, to force people who may come on during their designated free time to not be able to. those who need the reminder to step away from the computer are more likely to be habitually coming on every day of the week, so if part of the goal is to gently encourage those people to do something else, a monday-that-is-still-sunday-for-some-of-us close might not be the best way to go about it.

[1dkreally]

the idea of it closing one day of the week is a really good one for reasons everyone has already mentioned, so i did in the end vote to keep it closed; however, i do think making sure that close time doesn't overlap with the weekend is a good thing  given that is when, i assume, people are going to be more active simply because they are better able to be. it doesn't seem very worthwhile, practically or philosophically, to force people who may come on during their designated free time to not be able to. those who need the reminder to step away from the computer are more likely to be habitually coming on every day of the week, so if part of the goal is to gently encourage those people to do something else, a monday-that-is-still-sunday-for-some-of-us close might not be the best way to go about it.

i agree as well, while i may be one of the lucky ones for whom the limit starts at 00:00 on monday, i definitely think that moving the free day to a day in the middle of the week would benefit the many people who have the limit start during the weekend :(

[CableCat]

Also, whats the everything site?

Did I say "Everything?" I meant "Everyone", my bad.

The Everyone Site is accessible by one of the buttons at the top of the Forum. It's next to the black cat face "Entrance" button. It is a picture of a pink rabbit character with a sunflower that say "Everyone". It will take you to a website that you, as a member of Melonland Forum, can edit!

A bunch of us are editing in that site and people are adding all kinds of things and "rooms". It's a collaborative website Melon opened for all of us to play in.

[nintendowii99]

I also wish the forum was closed a different day of the week. My week is very busy with work, family, and hobbies. Sunday nights are my scheduled "computer time," but the forum is always closed. Sometimes I go weeks or even months between visiting just because it's always closed when I try.

While I get the sentiment, I don't think it should overlap with a weekend day. Why not have the forum closed on say, wednesdays?

I've been around here long enough that I remember before Mondays were closed, I don't think the Monday closure has really added much to the fantasy feel/vibe of the forum. That's just my personal opinion, though!

[Melooon]

I think maybe its important to remember that the purpose of inconvenience is not to be convenient! 

The forum closes on Monday because its an inconvenient day; its deliberately an impactful day to close.

I've been around here long enough that I remember before Mondays were closed, I don't think the Monday closure has really added much to the fantasy feel/vibe of the forum. That's just my personal opinion, though!

This one is a really interesting point and for the most part I agree with you; but the counterpoint Id say, is that I feel the Monday closures have helped preserve the vibe here. In the early days the forum was like a quiet country road; as more cars started to use it though it got a lot less quiet; the monday closure have been like adding speed bumps to the road! Its not the same as it being quiet, but it does at least slow things down a bit 

[cmdr_nova]

When I was trying to join the forum I was a little taken back by the fact that it was closed. I thought "what do you mean closed? It's a WEBSITE." and now I'm in, just a day later. And that's the thing, it's only a day? I think forum closure to give people a break is kind of a neat idea. Of course, I'm brand new here so I'm not really entrenched in the community and I don't have ongoing conversations with people

but ay, that's my two dollars

[crow-queen]

Plus, it's not like the whole internet is down, and we also have the Everything Site for those who want some kind of participation and interaction on Mondays. 

I personally don't love that I can't edit the everyone site on a Monday if I was automatically logged out of the forum, though that's probably more of a complaint with the everyone site than the Monday closure

Like others, I feel I would probably prefer a different day than Monday

[xixxii]

i think it's great that the forum is closed on mondays! i think more websites should close! if anything, it should be closed more often!
websites being closed on a regular schedule is an idea i'd never thought about before but i love it! there's nothing on melonland that anybody needs to see on monday that can't wait until tuesday. and i think it's good for people to be forced to reconsider the expectation that everything will always be available just because it's online and be forced to take time to think about what we want to post. it was good for me!

also, making a forum is free, so if a lot of melonland folks feel strongly that they need to post on a forum on a monday, then that is an option! 

[Melooon]

I personally don't love that I can't edit the everyone site on a Monday

This is something we should fix; the everyone site should be the focus of mondays; and if people do need something to do on that day, it should be a day they can sit down and edit their site and/or the everyone site ~ particularly if the everyone site is their first step into web editing!

[candycanearter07]

This is something we should fix; the everyone site should be the focus of mondays; and if people do need something to do on that day, it should be a day they can sit down and edit their site and/or the everyone site ~ particularly if the everyone site is their first step into web editing!

That would be a cool idea, going from direct talking to more of a "public bulletin" approach ^^ Though you would need to also add a link to the everyone site from the closed page.

[Historia-Q]

Tbh I'll just stay neutral on this because while I do appreciate the need for mods to take a break, my timezone usually fucks it up and instead have the forums closed from Sunday evening to Monday afternoon. Therefore, it just generates confusion for a lot of people that don't live in the timezone this site uses.

I think it would be nice if the "this forum is closed on mondays" thing gets renamed so it doesn't confuse people who live in different timezones, but it's up to you.

(I didn't get the chance to read the whole OP, because I rushed in to type all of this on my phone and this site is not very phone-friendly, so my apologies if a point is being missed here.)