Thoughts on Witch Online Communities (and Having Better Experiences Online)

[@Artemis583]

What a timely video. I have been feeling quite discouraged by the online communities in the witch/pagan spaces and it's been taking a toll. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this topic, this is very helpful

[@Holly-tw6bt]

You're not alone.

[@kharikrishna1117]

your thoughts and words most practically as per my experience

[@Pmugf]

I like how dynamic social media has turned into, however, also a bit dangerous... I entered on Instagram for a photography space and passed through all its changes, even affecting me when I didn't realise how it started to be. I'm still there, but I learned how to adapt. Discord is great, but for me also complicated. Social media are people and not everyone knows what they're looking for... Specially by ego. Hahaha. I think this is what human experience wants to respond to and let's hope everyone gets it. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@SheriLaFay]

Yes, agree with this commentary! Hope it helps people post more engaging comments, too. :)

[@jaspergoesrawrr]

So interesting. I remember the days of geocities message boards.

[@poisonparadise13]

Good advice!

[@WithMarianneMoore]

Have you tried Ascend? I have been on their for a few months. It just started in February, and it is a great place to express your magical practice. It’s very interesting, and I’d love to see you on there.

[@adrienvanore5690]

As always, an insightful message, so thank you! What you said about the "expert in the room" hit very close to home for me as I am NEVER the expert, but often know more than said "expert." The commentary about ego and authority is also spot-on (I have to admit that I've been guilty on a few occasions). This is, frankly, exactly why I have avoided online communities. Thank you for giving me hope. I think I might try again. Blessed be!

[@ashenwalls3558]

That's so funny, I just finished reading the section on groups and communities in The Witch's Path!

[@YvonneAburrow]

Totally agree regarding small talk. Remember those mailing lists which died because of all the people just going “hello it’s me, Unicorn Sparklepants”?

[@drawingKenaz]

omg yes. After I made this I thought, “Is this too mean? Am I being mean?” But no. The people need to hear it-this is for the greater good. No more small talk! We’re not colleagues in an office-I want to hear about your spooky stuff, not say “hey” back and forth.

[@YvonneAburrow]

@@drawingKenaz someone had to say it! That online behaviour drives me up the wall.

[@maudality6998]

Love it! Loool I was the one who posted hi! 😆😆😆 I prefer youtube for info and instagram for connection, pple comment and you can have really cool conversation on DM with likeminded or not pple. One thing I would had: don't hesitate to apologize if your post or comments doesn't reflect your thoughts and is misunderstood. You'll be surprised by the change of tone in the conversation.

[@tyson7687]

I just got read to filth... definitely miss connecting with people and have been in and out of depression/anxiety through this whole pandemic. I know I'm not alone with this and I see it impacting my interactions with others in groups. In some cases it is great and in other cases, I think that others that feel the same can become defensive easily. Obviously, end of the day having common sense, manners, and an open mind is going to go a long way.

[@drawingKenaz]

Yes! I think it’s so important to remember we’re all human beings living through a global trauma, and we have different abilities and ways of expressing ourselves online, different desires and needs, and sometimes have bad days. When in doubt, kindness. 💙

[@tyson7687]

@@drawingKenaz Queue the Beatles - "All You Need is Love". Great video and now you have me thinking about Discord. This elder millennial will have a learning curve as well but admittedly excited to give it a whirl.

[@hannahgilbreth6492]

I really like and agree with what you said about not being the most talented or knowledgeable person in the room. I feel like that's good advice for a lot of situations!

[@GuffeyYT]

Thank you, Ms. Mooney. This is good advice not just for pagan online spaces, but for social spaces in general. :)

[@anthonychavez6501]

My journey continues as a seeker. Online seem to be what is now with all the platforms of the craft.

[@paganironworks3622]

Such a great video with so much take away info. I love your discord, I frequently feel like I could spend hours reading channels full of debate from the various traditions and paths that people are contributing from. And as an added point, it’s because of your discords variety of different traditions coming together harmoniously that lead me to my fantastic teacher. After over a year of studying abroad I was in the states when this video was released meeting the coven for the first time in person. All because of your discord. 💜

[@gastronomist]

Great video. Hope you're having a good day.

[@drawingKenaz]

Thank you, I hope you are too!

[@brightwitch]

This was great! Love the point about skipping the social niceties and just getting to the point of the post, the rules of in-person social etiquette don't always work in online spaces. I really want to love Discord, there's so much in those spaces that seems so valuable! But the chat streams are so overwhelming and anxiety inducing for me. Reminds me of MSN group chat days 😅 Though maybe I'm missing something about how to use it. I mostly jump into Facebook groups for the private community factor. The nested comments on isolated posts/topics/questions are easier for my brain to engage with 😄

[@beanbaghagwag]

Great advice.

[@cleverdragoness4570]

Thank you. This is really helpful. ❤️

[@RoundtheCauldron]

Discord is one of my current favorite platforms, too. Twitter gets to be too much and Instagram is just...not right for me? It's hard to put into words lol and I quit using Facebook a while ago, too. Thanks for another great video Thorn ❤️

[@sideeyeofnewt]

Thanks for this, Thorn! I'm pretty incompetent when it comes to social media so I really appreciate having some best practices pointed out. So often I find that people don't talk about these sorts of things and they remain unspoken rules and that if you aren't super literate in a specific platform you just aren't aware of them. It makes it hard for newbies like myself to break in. Will definitely be keeping this video in mind as I dip my toe into online witchcraft and Pagan communities.

[@nicklauslee3283]

Great info Thorn!

[@annieserra5191]

Thank you for this. I joined your Patreon recently and have been hesitant to join the discord as I'm not Wiccan. I also joined discord recently for something else and am still learning how to use it. I'm "old" and it's new fangled.

[@drawingKenaz]

Oh please join in! Most folks there aren’t Wiccan and you’ll be very welcome! It was a learning experience for me too, and I totally felt old.

[@jenniferthibodeaux8565]

I can’t join your discord from Patreon

[@crazy4catsRL]

Hey everyone 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love it! It’s so true, I see that and I’m just like “omg, I don’t care!!” Or the groups that welcome every new person… sorry Charlie, I don’t care lmao!!

[@drawingKenaz]

First thing I did was turn off the feature that announces new people 😭 like, let the lurkers breath before we attack them with waving animals please

[@lynnj9721]

You have the sweetest hot takes lol

[@drawingKenaz]

My hot takes are usually, “what if everyone was just nicer” 😭

[@MrsDaedalus_]

I just came across this video and I do have to say that my experience with discord, especially with occult discord was not always good. One thing that I noticed is that a lot of the people in the occult community have very strong opinions and they will fight them instead of listening to what others have to say. That is one of the reasons, why try to stay away from Discord as much as possible. Another reason is that some of these folks like to start drama with another server, just because they don´t agree with either their practices or the way they are treating their members. I mean I am all here for making people aware of a toxic environment, but you won´t achieve that by attacking them.

[@drawingKenaz]

I haven’t had good experiences on free servers, myself! That dollar paywall makes all the difference! The best ones I’ve been on have been linked through Patreon. It sucks that things like that end up costing money, but I’m happy to pay if it eliminates that sort of behavior.

[@MrsDaedalus_]

@@drawingKenaz I love the prices you have on your tiers and I might consider joining your patreon. And it's true that the only way to have a peaceful online discord environment is through some kind of regulation and Patreon is currently the only way to do it. Like you said, it filters out the bad people

[@nairbvel]

The key to Discord being good is the moderation... I've seen some truly dangerous situations headed off at the pass by moderators while some of the folks participating in the Discord have told about some truly negative experiences on other Discords where the mods simply let everyone hold forth as they pleased and/or pull younger members aside into the DM rabbit hole.