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Why is the MAL forum better than the Anilist forum?

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May 17, 2022 4:00 PM
#1

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Jan 2020
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Before I start, no, I'm not making a thread about a rivalry between MAL vs Anilist or something like that. I'm talking specifically about forum users

No matter how toxic you may find the MAL users, you can't deny that the users here really like anime. Everyday there are topics here about "which anime is better or worse?" or "do you like this kind of anime?", and these threads have many posts with different opinions. While Anilist has absolutely NOTHING, it's always the same posts on user profiles saying "oh, I hope this anime stays in your favorites", like a common social media.

I know that the average age of MAL users is higher than Anilist, with adults who already have a critical sense, but even here there are teenagers interested in discussing anime and manga.

So my final question is: why are MAL users more interested in talking about anime and manga than Anilist?

Is it Anilist's layout that doesn't favor new discussions?
Is it because the new kids and teens, who are the majority on Anilist, have no interest in discussing anime like the last generation?
Do you disagree with me and think that Anilist's forum is good and better than MAL's? Then post your opinion here :)

Enjoy the thread

May 17, 2022 4:18 PM
#2
lagom
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Jan 2009
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because MyAnimeList has the first mover advantage thus more popular among anime fans overall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-mover_advantage
May 17, 2022 4:24 PM
#3
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Jul 2018
561871
I honestly couldn't say. Maybe it's because users on Anilist can have more interactions with users by posting publicly within the Global feed than within forums. I will say MAL has an edge over Anilist in the sense that discussion forums are always active and there's a variety of topics. But at the same time, some discussion topics on MAL can be quite repetitive. And the users on Anilist don't seem to get in drama as I see with some users here on MAL.
May 17, 2022 4:29 PM
#4
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Jul 2018
561871
Seems like mal is a lot spicier, easier to post on (I personally prefer this layout). I agree with FireNinja that the global feed seems to create more interactions compared to the forums there.
May 17, 2022 4:30 PM
#5

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Mar 2022
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I would say it's because here people have more freedom compared to Anilist.
If you want to know more about the censorship that is infecting all forms of media, the following links may interest you.

https://varishangout.com/index.php?forums/censorship.41/
https://varishangout.com/index.php?threads/poor-localization-compilation-thread.31/
https://varishangout.com/index.php?threads/shitty-localizers-general.553/
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/10576967-Cut-Content-Police/

HH✋ "Do You Want Total War?" - J.G
          "Our Patience Has It's Limits" - J.G                                                                                                            
                                       
May 17, 2022 4:32 PM
#6

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Jan 2020
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deg said:
because MyAnimeList has the first mover advantage thus more popular among anime fans overall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-mover_advantage


I don't doubt about that, but the Anilist popularity keep growing and the forum still like a desert. Maybe the Anilist's layout is bad for discussions.

May 17, 2022 4:33 PM
#7

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Jul 2007
5307
Probably something to do with modern web design attracting the mentally impaired babies that populate Twitter and the like.
MAL's design appeals to handsome intellectuals, such as myself.
May 17, 2022 4:40 PM
#8

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Jan 2020
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TheFireNinja said:
I honestly couldn't say. Maybe it's because users on Anilist can have more interactions with users by posting publicly within the Global feed than within forums. I will say MAL has an edge over Anilist in the sense that discussion forums are always active and there's a variety of topics. But at the same time, some discussion topics on MAL can be quite repetitive. And the users on Anilist don't seem to get in drama as I see with some users here on MAL.


The Global in Anilist looks like a Twitter of anime. People probably use like a social media.

And the discussions on MAL are repetitives because every time comes up a new member creating a thread "overrated and underrated anime" like a revolutionary topic. But the old members are not repetitives.

May 17, 2022 4:42 PM
#9

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Jan 2020
835
Oswald_Mosley said:
I would say it's because here people have more freedom compared to Anilist.


That is a good argument. The Anilist mods are like totalitarian (who tf ban the word "trap" like offensive? This isn't even used IRL. Is just a anime meme)

May 17, 2022 4:54 PM

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May 2021
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I don't know, I would say that small regulated communities with positive feedback mechanisms (Like likes) are normally homogenous as they reinforce certain behavior, but I dont know how big AniList is, it is just something that I have seen in Reddit



May 17, 2022 5:45 PM
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IgorPsc91 said:
Oswald_Mosley said:
I would say it's because here people have more freedom compared to Anilist.


That is a good argument. The Anilist mods are like totalitarian (who tf ban the word "trap" like offensive? This isn't even used IRL. Is just a anime meme)


Right? MAL is its own brand of chaos, and probably one of the more entertaining forum boards I've been on. The pissing matches over pointless bullshit you find here are more fun to watch (or participate in, if you're feeling spicy) than any other forum drama I've ever witnessed. You just can't get this kind of content anywhere else, it's incredible really.
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May 17, 2022 6:08 PM

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Anilist is just another conquered format by Twitter dipshits who constantly need to feel victimized or outraged.
Go ahead, reply. I'm not going to read it.
May 17, 2022 6:13 PM

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14387
To list a few reasons
Mal lets you personalize yourself far more as you get a good big pfp allowing gifs and a signature. Mal is way more organized, and has a superior layout. Finally, mal is not woke enough to ban the term traps.
May 17, 2022 6:20 PM

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Sep 2019
3799
- More active users and larger userbase in general

- Less strict modding compared to Anilist at least

- Anilist's forums aren't the main attraction, It's the Facebook/Twitter like profile activity status


There's more but I feel like those are the main ones. I haven't used Anilist in a while so I don't know if things have changed or not.
May 17, 2022 6:47 PM

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Nov 2017
1159

I have noticed there are not as many discussion threads in anilist, and if there are, barely any people discuss anything.

Some reasons might be:
- Some people discuss using their "activity" section instead of the forum itself. I see many discussing episodes/chapters/manga/anime in there. I think people don't feel the need of replying to a discussion topic when they can just write a status discussing something.

Zayvex said:

- Anilist's forums aren't the main attraction, It's the Facebook/Twitter like profile activity status

Exactly this ^

- MAL has a bigger userbase. Most people use MAL, and it's not that they don't like anilist, a lot don't even know that anilist exists. I had no idea anilist existed till last year and it was because of a youtube video that I found out about it. The first thing that appears when looking for anime listing sites is MAL after all.


- Anilist is way more strict. So people might not be able to freely discuss. Say something or post an image that does not sit right with the mods and u get ur ass banned (or warned). For example, I posted a picture of myself yesterday that apparently went against the community guidelines so they made me place it behind a spoiler warning.
*Apparently, anilist is more strict because most of their funding is based on ads, and if guidelines are not met ads get taken off their site. (well, that's what I was told yesterday by a mod)
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but he won't let go of my head
and I puke on his cock bitch" - Boy by Fishball 
May 17, 2022 6:57 PM

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TheFireNinja said:
I honestly couldn't say. Maybe it's because users on Anilist can have more interactions with users by posting publicly within the Global feed than within forums. I will say MAL has an edge over Anilist in the sense that discussion forums are always active and there's a variety of topics. But at the same time, some discussion topics on MAL can be quite repetitive. And the users on Anilist don't seem to get in drama as I see with some users here on MAL.

This. Though they have had some big scandals regarding the mods.

Oswald_Mosley said:
I would say it's because here people have more freedom compared to Anilist.
That's very true.

Scud said:
Probably something to do with modern web design attracting the mentally impaired babies that populate Twitter and the like.
MAL's design appeals to handsome intellectuals, such as myself.

You're not wrong, Scud.

A_Morbid_Shadow said:
IgorPsc91 said:


That is a good argument. The Anilist mods are like totalitarian (who tf ban the word "trap" like offensive? This isn't even used IRL. Is just a anime meme)


Right? MAL is its own brand of chaos, and probably one of the more entertaining forum boards I've been on. The pissing matches over pointless bullshit you find here are more fun to watch (or participate in, if you're feeling spicy) than any other forum drama I've ever witnessed. You just can't get this kind of content anywhere else, it's incredible really.

Yeah that's the brilliance of it. It's a real train wreck of a shitshow. Or maybe it's a shitshow of a train wreck.

rohan121 said:
To list a few reasons
Mal lets you personalize yourself far more as you get a good big pfp allowing gifs and a signature. Mal is way more organized, and has a superior layout. Finally, mal is not woke enough to ban the term traps.

Gotta love it.

Zayvex said:
- More active users and larger userbase in general

- Less strict modding compared to Anilist at least

- Anilist's forums aren't the main attraction, It's the Facebook/Twitter like profile activity status


There's more but I feel like those are the main ones. I haven't used Anilist in a while so I don't know if things have changed or not.

Yeah that's about the gist of it.

May 17, 2022 7:48 PM

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Jan 2017
3851
Huh? We discuss anime here? I always thought this was a place for hot takes and wasting time discussing pointless bullshit lmao
May 17, 2022 7:59 PM
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1375
I'm surprised these forums ever still exist after all this time and could possibly be better than A N Y T H I N G after all this time

like xinil sold this website out years ago that's when it went downhill
May 17, 2022 8:06 PM

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Because I am on it. Any more questions?
May 17, 2022 8:24 PM
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I disagree but to each is own. I guess.
May 17, 2022 9:55 PM

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I find Anilist hard to navigate. I couldnt even find their forum to look lol
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May 18, 2022 12:42 AM

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AL forums are just organized kinda weird. Plus, I don't like that there's no way to count your posts.
"Molly Ringwald" out right now - check my Linktree!


May 18, 2022 3:25 AM

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Sep 2010
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You already said it yourself, mal users are a bit older on average, many people here grew up with bulletin boards and know how to express themselves with more than just a few words and they also know how to behave on the internet. Remember netiquette? I haven't heard that word in years.
May 18, 2022 8:31 AM

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Jul 2013
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It's easy to think that when you don't pay attention to AniList's forums. AniList is not a complete forum site and it's gonna stay that way.

Anime Planet and AniList's forums are also relatively inaccessible, so it's easy for the OP to assume that.

By the way, I use all three of those said websites and my least favorite forum site is Reddit. A breeding ground of the most rotten zoomers I've ever seen and I hate Californian sites.
May 18, 2022 9:24 AM

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Scud said:
Probably something to do with modern web design attracting the mentally impaired babies that populate Twitter and the like.
MAL's design appeals to handsome intellectuals, such as myself.
I couldn't imagine using a website for 15 years and seeing almost no design change. You're a warrior and a legend @Scud.
May 18, 2022 10:16 AM

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Jan 2020
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Kurt_Irving said:
It's easy to think that when you don't pay attention to AniList's forums. AniList is not a complete forum site and it's gonna stay that way.

Anime Planet and AniList's forums are also relatively inaccessible, so it's easy for the OP to assume that.

By the way, I use all three of those said websites and my least favorite forum site is Reddit. A breeding ground of the most rotten zoomers I've ever seen and I hate Californian sites.


Just because isn't a complete forum, don't mean that the forum don't should have nothing.

Repeating: the problem isn't the Anilist's forum don't be like MAL's forum, the problem is the forum be like a desert.

MAL didn't was made for be a social media like Anilist, for example. But that does not prevent that people make friends in profiles comments, exactly like in Anilist.
IgorPsc91May 18, 2022 10:22 AM

May 18, 2022 12:46 PM
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Aug 2011
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Gween_Gween said:
I don't know, I would say that small regulated communities with positive feedback mechanisms (Like likes) are normally homogenous as they reinforce certain behavior, but I dont know how big AniList is, it is just something that I have seen in Reddit


AniList is probably a very small operation compared to this site. They source their list entries from other sites, while MAL have actual translators who translate the industry news from Japan, and use that as the basis to make entries.

Example: Anilist's entry for FMA, notice they didn't even remove the "Source MAL Rewrite" part of the synopsis. Whether that's them being honest about their sources of information, or just lazily automating the ripping of entries is a matter of perspective.
https://anilist.co/anime/5114/Hagane-no-Renkinjutsushi-FULLMETAL-ALCHEMIST

EDIT: I have a few issues with their design, it sacrifices usability and ease of finding information in favor of being pretty, but I won't go into detail here, since it's not the thread for it.

As for their forums, I think they take an iron fist approach to banning keywords since they're too small to have much in the way of actual human moderators. Banning keywords is easy to automate.
cipheronMay 18, 2022 1:03 PM
May 18, 2022 3:45 PM
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Jul 2018
561871
You have a larger amount of MAL users making for more interactions, I suppose?
May 18, 2022 3:46 PM

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813
Anidb is the best given that Banned users from Myanimelist go there.
Die like you did by the lake on Naboo.
May 18, 2022 4:21 PM

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mwinner said:
You have a larger amount of MAL users making for more interactions, I suppose?
This as well. Forum Games, for instance, is always pretty alive on MAL; on AniList, not so much.
MeanMrMusicianMay 18, 2022 4:24 PM
"Molly Ringwald" out right now - check my Linktree!


May 18, 2022 4:44 PM
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561871
MeanMrMusician said:
mwinner said:
You have a larger amount of MAL users making for more interactions, I suppose?
This as well. Forum Games, for instance, is always pretty alive on MAL; on AniList, not so much.


True, I went on AniList one time to try out their forums (I was inspired by your activity there) and their FG section was really disappointing.
May 19, 2022 7:31 PM

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Aug 2021
114
My personal opinion from lurking on the forums on both websites.
Anilist Community >
MyAnimeList forum format and forum discussions >
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