I know we love to hate on ATRL for the right reasons, but I want to give it some love for a moment

 

I joined here when I was 12 or 13 after another local forum closed down. Social media took off and forums kinda dwindled, it was all Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and so on. And I never really liked that you had to expose yourself with face and name, you can't really have discussions and you just post into the void of a million others doing the same. It doesn't feel like social media to me, it feels like lurking on "friends" and staging your own life networking tool. 

 

I've had so many good discussions about culture on here throughout changing times, anything between pop culture, politics and just everyday problems users on here have. A large part of the userbase here are gay men, it has really helped me not only becoming more aware of many LGBT issues, but also broaden my horizon and put more perspective into my own life as I grew older.

 

ATRL have giving me so many laughs (I joined around the ARTPOP roll out), I love that I'm getting tagged in Horror Movie ratings even when I don't participate because I don't have the time, all the lingo that has sneaked into my language throughout the time, I love when I close this site and it stays online, the other social medias insist on invading itself into my everyday.

 

Now I'm sitting here in 2025, and feel like forums like this aged so well. Mainstream social media might get overtaken by bots and AI, and people might want to migrate back to smaller forums and interact with actual people. No addictive algorithms, no cloud casing, just people discussing things that we like 

 

I know it's cringe to express emotion this day and age, but idgaf, may this site keep on going just a little longer 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this forum. I think social media doesn't build a sense of community which is funny because it should be the opposite, unlike ATRL and such.

I've been on this forum for many years and have lived 3 decades on here it truly has became a home here 

 

 

It has its bad moments too but I'll always have love for this broken unstable site since we both have the same personally broken most days but still kickin

13 minutes ago, Princess Aurora said:

I love this forum. I think social media doesn't build a sense of community which is funny because it should be the opposite, unlike ATRL and such.

Exactly how I feel cooked down

 

7 minutes ago, Alldeezy said:

It has its bad moments too but I'll always have love for this broken unstable site since we both have the same personally broken most days but still kickin

Yes, this site is messy, but it's truly a reflection of its userbase so 

 

I've been a lurker for like 5 years since I discovered this site around 2017

 

pretty much same sentiments, I've learn so much here. Thanks ATRL 

 

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by Odette Violet

Honestly there's nowhere else with the same sense of humour as this place. All the little ATRLisms like "Boiled as in turned to gas?" and "Somehow she always stays here, I can't stand it". The gays revealing the details of their messy personal lives in the lounge. The celebrities with a single stan who makes weekly threads about them.

 

Also ATRL is always quite quick to pick up on pop culture news I've noticed. This was the first place I saw anyone talking about Liam Payne's death for example, long before my country's media was talking about it.

 

There's so many artists who I love now that I would've never heard of if not for this website.

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by glitch

i've had many great laughs and met amazing people thanks to this forum 

10 minutes ago, glitch said:

Also ATRL is always quite quick to pick up on pop culture news I've noticed. This was the first place I saw anyone talking about Liam Payne's death for example, long before my country's media was talking about it.

Thiss, people used to be shook at how I knew **** before it was even reported by local media, but I gatekeep 

It's good that you made this thread. ATRL members are funny af I be wondering how you all even come up with such funny posts and it's not just a few but a lot of members here that are funny af also ATRL is very fast with reporting a lot of stuff pop culture or other news cause ATRL is global so someone here will pick up the news and report. Also, I get into new and old artists because of ATRL and I love the games and ranking the members do here and not just normal but they invest a lot of personal time to make games and ranking great experiences too so I love that. while I can't thank everyone here individually, I'm thankful for you all here because you made ATRL a much better place. 

I completely agree with this! ATRL has been such a unique and valuable space where real discussions can thrive without the performative nature of social media. The anonymity allows for more open and honest conversations without the pressure of curating a perfect online persona.
 

In a time when social media and honestly almost the entire internet has become extremely commercialised and algorithm-driven, ATRL proves that forums still have value. Here's to hoping it keeps going strong because these kinds of spaces are more important than ever! 

I love this forum because it was the first place I joined in English. It was my English crossover, like Shakira with Laundry Service.
My English is not great-very mid, to be honest, and I've made so many basic, embarrassing mistakes back then and today, but people weren't rude about it. Now, I feel more confident exchanging views with people outside my Southamerican-Latino sphere. So, I'm just thankful for ATRL. 

I also love the diversity of personalities and worlds here, even if we have real different views sometimes. There's such a dope exchange of ideas—all ideas are valuable.
The gifs and funny comments are unique, and I always wonder how some people can be so naturally funny-charismatic. It's like their minds are too strong here.
I'm more of a cold serious type of person, so I have to try harder if I want to be funny  
 

I was a member in the 2010s, but I forgot the password to my old account. I moved to different places and eventually came back two years ago, so I was able to experience a bit of that golden age of this forum.  I remember so many things—old iconic members, JessieJHeartbeat comeback, some messy moments and blogs and even celebrities visiting the forum decades ago. 

One thing I like about ATRL today is the mods. In the past, there were some mods with really nasty attitudes—bullies-xenophobic who were always targeting certain members. I'm glad they're gone, and we have better mods now, even if today feels a bit more restrictive to some  

I'm not just an ATRL user; I'm in different pop forums and spaces all over the web. But this is definitely the best one.   I'm also on Popheads on Reddit, where I post regularly and have tons of upvotes, but people there are overly triggered about everything all the time. They can be very egocentric, self-centered,self-righteous and posh sometimes, so I don't enjoy it as much as this forum. This forum feels more laid-back and free 

In this new age of hate, with disgusting abhorrent psychopatic tech leaders and politicians worldwide, I'm glad we have a space where we can be safe and be ourselves. 

Thanks to Ryan and everyone helping to make this forum a good place. I've had so much fun and learned so many things about pop music. Some of our conversations should be preserved for real 4 eternity—we have thesis-level discussions about pop music, the genre with the most longevity in history  sorry for the overly long post*

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by AvadaKedavra