Linguaphile wrote:What happens in those spaces that doesn't happen here? I haven't used Whatsapp, Discord or even irc so I've never looked into whatever Unilang is doing there at all, but I have to say the aspects of Unilang beyond this forum have always been a bit of mystery to me. What happens there? Can anyone join? How do you find them? How active are they compared to what happens here? How are they different from here? Are they talking about me?
But seriously, it's always seemed a bit strange when once in a while someone mentions "the Unilang Discord" or something and I'm like... oh... we have that? What am I missing?
Honestly, they're not that different from any other social media group on the respective platforms - it's a group of like-minded individuals who've come together to use that platform to share their shared interest.
More specifically, I guess the fact that they are social media groups means there's more opportunity for real-time interaction, though there's also the usual delayed-response interaction. The Discord server has a channel for memes and one for videos. The Whatsapp group tends to also get memes posted. By virtue of a Whatsapp group being what it is - a single group space for posting - there are times where 2 or more members are having a convo which you're not part of, too busy to participate in, or on a topic you have no interest in, but you'll still get the ding.
Keep in mind, both of these are unofficial. So, it's not so much, "oh, we have those", as it's one or more current/former Unilangers deciding to create a social media group on a specific platform and others have joined. Actually, there's also a UniLang Facebook group (or page, but I think it's a group). But, as a result of how they came about, there are people on each of those 3 social media platform groups that are either formerly active forum members, or perhaps even some who aren't forum members at all - though, I think this last possibility might be more the case with Whatsapp and possibly Facebook.
As for activity, I would say there is generally more activity on the Whatsapp group, secondarily on the Discord server, and thirdly on the Facebook group. I believe the FB one is less active than currently on here (the forum), the Discord one is maybe about equal, and the Whatsapp one is more active. But, that's from my perspective which factors in the amount of threads I keep up with on here. You might be part of more threads on here which could result in greater activity for you.
If you're interested in joining, for the FB one, just search for it. For the Whatsapp one, you'll have to give a group mod your number so they can add you. For the Discord one, someone will have to send you or post an invite link. I guess since I'm on all, if anyone is interested in joining, the best might be to PM me and I can add you or get you added.