Anyone who has any kind of online presence and would maybe possibly at some point in the future like to make a buck off of it knows that it’s all about building community.
Building community is how I went from an average of 2 viewers on Twitch to actually having regulars who enjoy it when I stream. It’s how I managed to go from sub-1000 view YouTube videos to almost hitting sextuple digits with one. It’s how I managed to get my name on the title screen of The Electric Zine Maker.
But as someone recovering from Avoidant Personality Disorder, building community is not something that comes naturally. Hell, even just engaging with community is something I had to fight tooth and nail for as I learned to crawl out of my shell. That is how The Underscore was created. Not this The Underscore, but the Discord server. Like this forum you’re on, the goal was always to create an environment, an identity that is bigger than myself, that can encompass more than people who enjoy what I put out. That’s why it’s not called The Alien Bob Server, and this isn’t The Alien Bob Forum. I have big, big plans. And I’m really happy with what I built there, and if I’m going to be perfectly honest, I have no complaints about running a Discord server.
So far. And that’s really the crux of it, I think. This forum exists because Discord is a tech company owned and run by Silicon Valley tech types and in the year 2025 I cannot trust them to make the right decisions for me or my community. As a company they’ve already shown themselves time and again to make choices based entirely on profit motive, and worse, as an American tech company in the year 2025, I just cannot take it for granted that they’re not gonna start making decisions that directly hurt my community.
So I wanted something that was entirely in my control. I wanted to go back to the kind of community I grew up with. A goddamn forum. Old school. Safe. Inclusive, inviting, and in my hands. And EU-based server, open source software, and me with the admin rights. And I had to learn things for this, my friends. How does a Virtual Private Server work? How do I install Discourse through Docker? What the hell even is Docker? And then once I have it all set up, how do I build community again? How do I juggle this and the Discord?
Some of these questions were answered with the gracious help of community members, and others are questions that won’t be answered for a while, but I know what I’m going for. I’m going for a vibe. I’m going for a place to call home that feels safe to people. The internet is absolutely worse right now than it was 15 years ago, but it doesn’t have to be, and this is my own little attempt at contributing to that. I’m blessed to have the knowledge, skill, and community to build upon, and I’m excited for the potential of this place.
Today is the day.