Barbelith Underground > Conversation > A transforming beam of magical rainbow energy!

If you had access to this domain name, and the large—if slightly disconnected and maybe slightly disintegrating—community of people who have been here over the years, what would you want to do with it?

Shut it down. Maybe archive it. Build something new that is not called Barbelith and is not tied to the whole late 90s Invisibles thing, but which builds on all of the things that made this place really great back in the day. Look back at what used to make it work, what used to make it lively, and on all of the positive things about Barbelith, and make something totally new that accommodates that, but isn't tied into the Invisibles comic and stands on its own feet as it should.

I don't think this board is ever going to function as the vibrant nexus point for all sorts of different interesting stuff that it was for a time, just because The Invisibles is no longer a zeitgiesty driver of traffic in the way that it used to be back then. You may get a handful of people returning for a bit, and you may get a few comics fans who have just read the Invisibles trades and come across the site. But I think the circumstances that came together to make Barbelith what it was, were very much of a particular moment in time.

Which is not to say that there isn't scope for such a thing like that to erupt into existence today – of course there is, and I would sign-up and contribute right away. But I'd hazard a guess that you would be best off creating a new project - and one that your heart is in – rather than trying to revive the fortunes of this place.

Option two is that we go back to first principles - what are we about, what would we like to exist, what should barbelith be for in the NEXT decade of its life

That's sort of what I'm getting at, but freed from the connotations of the word Barbelith. Go back to first principles and work upwards from there – adapting the initial impulse that was behind Barbelith, and all the things that made it what it was during its heyday – to the 21st century and the current web environment.

That's basically what we did with Liminal Nation. Looked at all of the things that were good about the culture of the Temple forum (intelligent discussion of magic, spirituality and religion), and all of the things that were bad about it (drive-by lunatics). Then created a new space in which we could cultivate the former and exclude the latter, building on the positive aspects of Barbelith Temple forum but transplanted to a board that provided the functionality we required, as well as fresh branding and design so it can stand on its own two feet as something new. It's great. Most of the Temple regulars have migrated over there now, and its got a steady influx of new applicants from all over the place.

What I miss about Barbelith though is the collision of good writing that would take place across the switchboard, headshop and temple, and the cross-fertilisation of interesting perspectives that came together here. I also miss getting to read the perspectives of all of those interesting contributors on telly, film, comics and books. I miss the huge social aspect of Barbelith as well. I'd be surprised if you could make that energy and activity happen on Barbelith again, just by sorting out the functionality. If the place was suddenly fixed and functional again, I doubt it would be enough to lure me back unless there was loads of good writing up on here again and it felt like an informed, fascinating, switched-on, exciting environment – rather than the shell of one, like it has done for years now.

However, if I heard that Mr Coates was going to create a new social media project, building on the original spirit of Barbelith, but drawing on all of his experience to make something truly groundbreaking and exciting... I'd be there like a shot. I suspect other lapsed contributors might be as well. This place, at its most vibrant, was a fucking amazing thing to have conjured into being, and I would love to see you do something like that again. Not necessarily here though.

Ultimately I think the success or failure of you taking on an interim project like that – either a revamping of Barbelith or a new project based on its first principles – would depend on whether your heart is in it, and whether you are genuinely excited about it and getting something out of it. If that element isn't there, I'd say you're probably best off doing something different, as an interim project like that ought to be something personal that excites you, rather than a chore that you are doing for the benefit of the six people who still post here.