As many of you know, we've been merging and reinstating many groups.
While the most popular groups should be covered, some of you may have old favorite groups that haven't been reinstated yet.
I'd like to ask you what old Groups you'd like to see reinstated.
And also, if there are new topics that aren't yet covered by any existing Group, feel free to suggest too :)
Topic > Category > Group 🎙️
We have recently restructured the way Groups work on Similar Worlds, to help reducing fragmentation (often times, there were +1000 groups on the same narrow topic) and help users finding more posts based on their interests (by us improving the Feeds, or users going directly to the category of their interest). We can, finally, soon start promoting and growing SW more. We did not want to promote a site that was so very disorganized and fragmented.
The organization consists in 3 levels:
📡 Topic - Broad general topics/areas Example: Entertainment & Music https://similarworlds.com/entertainment-music
📺 Category - Slightly broad topics and interests, within a specific topic Example: Entertainment & Music > Music https://similarworlds.com/music
🎞️ Group - Very specific single subject Example: Entertainment & Music > Music > The Beatles https://similarworlds.com/music/beatles
How can you find Groups 🔎
You can find all Topics and Categories by pressing the [Topics] menu in the SW header, or by accessing this page: https://similarworlds.com/topics
To find Groups, you can either use the Search or by accessing the Associated Groups of a specific Category.
Example: Associated Groups under Music https://similarworlds.com/music/groups
Mute Groups 🔇
One of the most requested features by our Members is to be able to mute groups.
It wouldn't make sense for us to implement this feature, when there could be 1000's of groups of the same subject that users could post on. You may be muting several groups, but there could be many more that you may have missed.
However, with the Groups consolidated, it's much easier to block a specific subject that you aren't interested on. It is important that users post on the correct Category/Group, for this to work, and as respect to other users.
To Mute a Category, press this button in the Category page:
To Mute a Group, press the same button (worded "Mute/Report Group") in the Group page, and follow the same process.
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Thank you for your support and we hope you continue to stay with us.
We are constantly listening to your suggestions, so please keep giving them to us, as they are very important to the future of Similar Worlds.
Can I have "I Will Want to Become Someone of Great Power Faith and Wisdom Spiritually to the Point of Doing Miraculous Things For Example Taking Out Demons and Healing As I Feel That Is It My Destiny Or a Good Destiny" back please?
Nuno can't you see by people's answers how much they liked their favorite groups on SW then you guys take away the enjoyment of people who loved certain groups now you want to put some back ?
You guys, are just going around in circles making changes just for the sake of it If you guys are really listening to us just stop or you will find yourselfs with even less users If it ain't broke don't fix it, it's not rocket science
@Miram Exactly. This exposes the fact that groups are not hierarchical, instead they overlap. Any attempt to put them in a hierarchical structure is doomed to require the admins to make value judgements about which attribute of a group is to be used to justify its position in the hierarchy.
I seriously think you need to reevaluate the LGBTQ group. There is only one main group left and not everyone will identify or fit into such a broad category.
You need to look at not only the groups that were posted in the most but also at how the groups were used before. Many of us used them as a community for support and encouragement as was the original intention of this site.
Having one broad group where there is no distinction and where anyone can just post and talk about anything does border on discrimination and I don't think that's what you want.
@SW-User @questionWeaver @adorbz thank you all for the support and comments. I know I am just one person who belongs to a very niche group, but if something does bother me, I do feel the need to speak up. Especially when I and others have worked so hard to make our little communities and groups not only a safe place for ourselves but also a place where whe can inform, promote and talk about who and what we are without being segregated and stereotyped. I can only speak for myself so I am really happy that others have chosen to speak up too.
@Nuno thank you for reinstating the various groups. I know each community will really appreciate it, even if they don't show it. And like I said, I am only one person and only fit into a couple of categories so I can't speak for everyone. It looks like you've covered most of them, but I hope whoever feels like they have been overlooked will speak up too. So thank you again.
At the very least, I would like to see some of the days of the week groups reinstated. Like, say,
I Don’t Want to go To Work on Monday
I got through Monday
I Love Thursdays
I Am So Glad It’s Friday
I Hope Everyone Having a Wonderful Friday
I Love Waking up And Realising It’s Saturday
I Love Saturday Nights
I Love to Go To Church on Sunday
I Am Lazy On Sunday
I’m not sure what broader category these would fall under, but perhaps Life or Events or something like that.
Also, for a website that allows the posting of Nudity, there should be an actual Nudity topic or two, like say, Lifestyle - Nudity - I love to be Naked or something like that.
While I get the desire to organize posts as "Topics" ... you all are missing the connection between "WHY" people post.
We DO NOT, as in NEVER, post on TOPICS.
We have no reason to post on topics ... if we want to do that, we can skip to a 100 other sites set up "topically", like a Library or a newspaper.
I and WE, post to our personal characteristics (which somebody termed "groups").
I do not post to the topic "Beer" ... I post to the characteristic "I like ice cold beer".
I care ZERO about all those topics y'all built.
I post to MY characteristics.
It is the MAGIC of SW
And you all are destroying the magic, forcing us into narrow generic topics.
We really do not need to block "groups" ... and it truly makes no sense to block groups (cause there is 1000 ways around that)
You all need to get with 300 years of writings and history ... IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ORGANIZE THOUGHT AND PASSION ... it has been attempted hundreds of times and has failed EVERY TIME.
The minute you organize it ... you destroy innovation and creativity.
You all need to embrace the richness and value of the diverse set of "groups". The millions.
You need to let us add more groups.
You need to kick the topic idea to the curb.
You all are going to a place with nobody following.
You got miopic with blocking groups and lost a sense of the therapy value which writing provides members.
Step back and reevaluate.
SW is not a mess ... it is as DarkHeaven described ... we are all "uniquely similar".
Bring all the groups back. Having a bunch of different groups was never the problem. If you want to consolidate them under broader categories, just make them subgroups instead of eliminating them entirely. What this site really needs, and has needed since day one, is to make it so people's group posts don't automatically go to the main feed of the site for everyone to see. The way it does that now, anyone posting anything personal or niche is automatically exposed to ridicule because their post is thrown directly before an audience it wasn't meant for.
@piggo88 possibly we could use a post option to post without sending it through the everyone feed, have it only appear in the groups/circle feeds, not a bad idea. Although potentially bad for the community to report illegal content but it’s a minority of people who actually bother doing that tbh and they’d find it anyway.
I might also use that option for some stuff that I don’t need everyone to see straight away, it would be useful for some posts in my games. But I hope people wouldn’t overuse that and make the feed completely empty, the site works best when we are all one community
This might be a bad time to ask considering my comments the last few week But seriously you need to put back I love extremenext group It was by far the most popular and so many users had to seek therapy including myself when this group was so unnecessary taken away Now is the time to make things right again You know I'm correct as I'm the most loved and talked about user on SW
It was a good idea to have a 'tidy-up' since there were so many duplicated groups on the site. The way topics have been introduced, however, is taking away from the creativity and essence and as someone else put it -the magic of SW, to the point where some prolific writers have stopped posting.....and many people have already left 🤷🏼♀️
Many members have already listed hundreds of groups to be reinstated. Please consider reinstating the pared-down version, which would make much more sense and bring back the individuality of SW.
So much work goes into developing and monitoring a site of this size, and for that, the majority of us are appreciative. We don't want a Facebook/Reddit style of site. That's why we're here. Please put your well-intentioned energies into addressing the suggestions of those people who've been here pre-SW and who have witnessed all the changes; some for the better, some not, as well as the ideas of new blood coming in. Change is needed, yes, to make SW more streamlined and efficient but please, not at the expense of your long-standing and loyal members.
I Will Want to Become Someone of Great Power Faith and Wisdom Spiritually to the Point of Doing Miraculous Things For Example Taking Out Demons and Healing As I Feel That Is It My Destiny Or a Good Destiny
@MrBrownstone very true. In past year they changed things that didn’t need to be changed. If it’s not broke why fix it
SW-User
Please can I have a group called “I’m a proud little piggy” under food and drink for those posts where I need to confess just how much food I’ve munched my way through
i think at the very least all the groups should be 'i' statements. its super weird how some of the groups are that ('i love awesome song lyrics' for example) while others are just a vague phrase (somehow im now part of a group that's just called 'doing good').
honestly, i liked it more how it was. i dont think there was a problem with overlapping groups. also, can we start our own groups please??
Respectfully, I'd like all the groups I took the time to post in to be reinstated, please:
I Still Remember September 11 I Enjoy Listening To Music, All Kinds Of Music I Need Advice I Am Looking For Friends I Love Seeing Messages In My Inbox I Had An Aha Moment I Work Full Time I Think Everyone Deserves To Be Loved I Believe In Doing Good I Want to Wish Everyone a Merry Christmas I Avoid Talking Politics I Am Divorced I Want To Thank You For Being My Friend
I think the food category looks pretty empty tbh https://similarworlds.com/diet-food-drink/groups like there could be a food photos group, baking group. Vegetarianism and veganism don’t seem to have their own groups yet and they could go in here, and I suppose there would have to be a meat eater group to go along with them.
@Nuno oh! Awesome, I didn’t realise that. Could you link them up on those pages somehow so that people can find them easier? Like maybe a See Also tab. It’s maybe a bit awkward having them in two separate places 😅
I'll create the Technology/Programming ones later.
SW-User
@Nuno I have some requests - none of them are serious, but all will be loved, well used and bring a positive contribution to the community…
“I am a greedy little piggy” a group to share the delights of eating far too much good food and not being ashamed of it “I’m a barbie girl” for those of us who identify as a barbie “Leprechauns smell” now this one might not seem so positive, but I want somewhere for my little friend @SW-User to belong
Hey, Nuno. My dear friend @PerchingDove says that there are now no Native American groups to post in. Could you please reinstate one Native American group for her. Thank you. 🌸
@Nuno ooooooh, they must have been before I was here! Yeah I guess you’re right 😅🤪
SW-User
Its going to be unpopular but I have been through traumatic experiences I can’t find groups to write it in that fits it I would like to find some were I can open up about it without it being sexualised
Hey omg why haven’t I asked for The Owl House group :D I post about that fairly often 😍🤪 and tbh I would more if I felt like there was a place for it. The old EP groups are too broad and obviously had nothing for newer shows
or at least a western animation group and a Disney group. Right now we only have anime/manga which doesn’t cover it all! 🤗
I'd like to see "I Write Song Parodies" or "I Like Song Parodies" restored.
Writing song parodies is something I enjoy doing and it's one of the few talents I have. Posting them under a broad "Music" category without a specific group of their own doesn't work as well. But I suspect few people are likely to join me in urging the reinstatement of any song parodies groups, so my expectations for this are pretty low. 😕
"I write what I feel" "I love kissing" "I love nature" "I love the changing of the seasons" "I love sensuality and eroticism" "I enjoy the intimate moments" and/or "Intimacy is delicious".
I am glad to see many of the redundant and trashy groups gone actually. And reinstating some of them as you are doing will bring more specificity and individualism back.
Could you please restore the "I Like Mashups" group?
This was one of my favorite groups and I occasionally posted some videos there that I thought were particularly well done. It's a unique genre of music that is deserving of its own group and fans of mashups will be able to find them more easily if the group is reinstated.
The fact that you can mute a category to me diminishes the need to add a down vote option , if you don't agree with a group then just simply mute it so you don't see it in the feed then you don't have to even worry about down voting it. I know this has nothing to do with this post but I just thought I'd mention it since I saw the mute group/category option
I’d like all my groups back. Should not have changed them in the first place. Trying to find an appropriate group has become too difficult, so I just post in the nearest one I can find that may or may not fit my topic.
Okay, but then your answer on my post does not make sense to me. However, this is not the post to speak of it. Have a good evening v@LunadelobosIAMTHEDRAGON
