The herd is growing

[Ezynell 2,037]

I.. I just don't know what to think right now. Everyday, I get back from school, and we have at least 3 new members. The herd is growing so much faster then the week I first joined which is less than a month ago. What does everypony else think of it?

[D1SC0RD 987]

(: I'm happy. The more the merrier. Plus it's nice to know that I'm not the only new kid here.

[Finesthour 7,287]

The more ponies the better.

 

Spread the love and tolerance.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

The infection is spreading!

[FLARE 952]

Hmm. I have very mixed feeling about this and I know I will get many to disagree with me when I say this, but I like this community because it is small and everyone knows everyone.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Flare

[Crispy 5,563]

Hmm. I have very mixed feeling about this and I know I will get many to disagree with me when I say this, but I like this community because it is small and everyone knows everyone.

 

I think it depends on the speed of the growth, but either way. This community is comprised of pretty solid, nice ponies that gets to know each other pretty quickly. Trolls thus far (there's only been one or two, I think) have been disposed of with a swift iron hoof of Mod flavored justice.

 

Things will probably continue to improve.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Hmm. I have very mixed feeling about this and I know I will get many to disagree with me when I say this, but I like this community because it is small and everyone knows everyone.

 

I know exactly what you mean.

 

I know about everypony here, and with more people, it would get much harder.

[Ezynell 2,037]

Hmm. I have very mixed feeling about this and I know I will get many to disagree with me when I say this, but I like this community because it is small and everyone knows everyone.

 

I made a thread with this exact concern earlier. I like the expansion of the herd and all, but... the society we have formed here... our friendship and how tightly knit we are...

[Twi Rubix 726]

Its gonna keep growing....

 

But the question is: How big?

[kanzer713 5]

I also like the community to be small and close. It's also nice to have more people who share the same interest though. The problem is the trolls that come in with the new wave of bronies.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Oh trust me, trolls are INEVITABLE.

 

But it shows how strong our fanbase is when we ignore them.

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

I had no doubt from the beginning that this community would grow but I never expected it to grow as fast as it has. Just... awesome.

[Finesthour 7,287]

I had no doubt from the beginning that this community would grow but I never expected it to grow as fast as it has. Just... awesome.

 

Remember October?

 

We got like 30 people in a day.

 

Now it is like 50 a day.

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

I know exactly what you mean.

 

I know about everypony here, and with more people, it would get much harder.

 

I see new people posting nearly everyday and it's already making it a little difficult for me to keep up with all but the top posters, but I don't mind. I think more people will bring in fresh ideas and more creativity and talent. I think it's only going to get better. But I'm generally optimistic anyway.

[Finesthour 7,287]

I see new people posting nearly everyday and it's already making it a little difficult for me to keep up with all but the top posters, but I don't mind. I think more people will bring in fresh ideas and more creativity and talent. I think it's only going to get better. But I'm generally optimistic anyway.

 

Do you think it is easy for me to post so much everyday? xD

 

I get like nothing done in my life!

[Braeburn 52]

I made a thread with this exact concern earlier. I like the expansion of the herd and all, but... the society we have formed here... our friendship and how tightly knit we are...

 

He has a point. New members could slowly decay our friendship as the forums will be up in flames... Idk about you guys, but I enjoy all the coversations we all have together atm... eventually, once you post something, it'll be on page two.

nix that, just remembered there's a follow this button... If you want to keep up with a topic, click that!

Edited December 15, 2011 by sobadnomad

[Finesthour 7,287]

He has a point. New members could slowly decay our friendship as the forums will be up in flames... Idk about you guys, but I enjoy all the coversations we all have together atm... eventually, once you post something, it'll be on page two.

nix that, just remembered there's a follow this button... If you want to keep up with a topic, click that!

 

I see what you mean too.

 

I would love to see new ponies here, and they all become friends with me.

 

And btw, I follow every topic.

[Braeburn 52]

I see what you mean too.

 

I would love to see new ponies here, and they all become friends with me.

 

And btw, I follow every topic.

 

Yeah, the more ponies, the better... it's just... sooner or later, we'll be like tom from mysace, getting messages by the minute...

[Street Comedy 327]

This is a good thing and bad thing. The good is that lot's of more people realizing how awesome the show is, and how they get to join this wonderful community! I was sure stoked with all the welcomes I got when I joined. But the bad part is maybe it's getting too big... maybe so big that not everyone s here for the ponies! Lot's of parasprites(trolls), advertisers, and hackers would come here because of how popular the site has become.

 

This is just my two bits though, you may have different opinions.

[Ezynell 2,037]

When I first joined, it was an average posting of about two to five new threads a day. Now its always around ten. Most of them being "New Member" threads.

[Jay6 29]

The way I see it, it's just a community with people who have a common interest. There are also other subcategories, like with people who are interested in gaming, anime, movies, art, etc.. It's a mixed bag, but we all like ponies for whatever reason. But every time I see a hater (I have a few friends that are), I get a little disappointed since I know that they are missing out in something pretty epic.

[Nah 3,182]

Alright! Now try to get my bro to join the herd, probably the biggest hater yet!

[Finesthour 7,287]

Get's my friend on xbox to convert from sonic fanboy to Brony.

 

I win.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

Its gonna keep growing....

 

But the question is: How big?

 

I wouldn't intentionally place any kind of limit on how large we could grow as a site. At the moment, most of the growth is happening organically (through people finding us in search engines) and via word-of-mouth - growing through those two methods is every forum owner's dream; and the latter method in particular tends to bring in the best kinds of members.

 

I also like the community to be small and close. It's also nice to have more people who share the same interest though. The problem is the trolls that come in with the new wave of bronies.

 

Oh trust me, trolls are INEVITABLE.

 

But it shows how strong our fanbase is when we ignore them.

 

This is a good thing and bad thing. The good is that lot's of more people realizing how awesome the show is, and how they get to join this wonderful community! I was sure stoked with all the welcomes I got when I joined. But the bad part is maybe it's getting too big... maybe so big that not everyone s here for the ponies! Lot's of parasprites(trolls), advertisers, and hackers would come here because of how popular the site has become.

 

This is just my two bits though, you may have different opinions.

 

I don't understand why so many forum admins let trolls and spammers roam free on their boards, but I promise you I would never allow them to deface a community I own. Kurtiss and I are well aware of our own rules and will continue to enforce them no matter how large the site grows. So that's a concern you don't need to have.

 

As for hackers, nothing is 100% secure. However, the following spoiler contains some information on the lines of defense we have against potential cyberattacks. Security is one of my primary concerns, and this is the perfect opportunity to share a few of the things I do about it.

 

• We use IP.Board, one of, if not the most secure forum scripts available. There isn't a single known security loophole in the software; and on the rare occasion that one is actually discovered, the developers patch it pronto. No major IP.Board forum that I know of has been hacked in years. Most hacked forums I've seen so far use vBulletin, a script that is notorious for security issues.
• I rent my server from a hosting company that specializes in fully managed, high-end enterprise and business hosting. Right out of the box, their servers are secure enough to handle huge corporate databases. You can find a partial list of their security features here. In addition to that, I've made a number of tweaks myself to further enhance security at the server level.
  • The server is a VPS fully controlled by myself. On a cheaper "shared" server (the most common type of hosting), there are hundreds of other websites on it. A major exploit in any single one of them could potentially compromise the entire server. The few sites I host that aren't mine are owned by trustworthy friends - and even then, their accounts are locked down as tight as I can make them.
• I've purchased an SSL certificate for the the site and configured the ACP to only be accessible through an encrypted connection. I'm setting the login form up to run through SSL, too. SSL encrypts sensitive information like your password so it cannot be "eavesdropped" on at some point in transit between you and my server. This is a further barrier between attackers and things they shouldn't have access to.
• Three backups are available to us at any given moment in time (one of which is nightly). Should a catastrophic attack ever actually happen that destroys or corrupts part (or all) of the database, we can be up and running again in a matter of hours.

With all that said, no system is unhackable and I wouldn't deny that a sufficiently skilled and patient hacker may find a way to break through. But we can put up quite a fight against them, and I really doubt they'll find much worth stealing from a pony forum, anyway.

 

 

 

I see new people posting nearly everyday and it's already making it a little difficult for me to keep up with all but the top posters, but I don't mind. I think more people will bring in fresh ideas and more creativity and talent. I think it's only going to get better. But I'm generally optimistic anyway.

 

This. Really, growth is usually a good thing, provided the administration and management of the site is ready to cope with it. And trust me, we are. Kurtiss and I both have larger forums than this one on our resumes.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

I HAVE DIBS ON MAKING THE "IT'S OVER 9000!!!" JOKE WHEN WE HIT MEMBER #9001

 

*ahem* yes. *hops inside the TARDIS and vanishes*