Do you feel like all your passions are too niche?

[Slime_Punk]

IRL, it's all niche. I don't know too many people who are hardcore nerds like me (although I might have some crossover with more people than I realize, but this is quite a stretch on my part and I'm not always that malleable), especially around where I live.

On the internet? Completely different story! You can find your 'tribe' pretty much everywhere, but they're usually geographically-scattered, oftentimes being in completely different countries or continents. Of course, it can be wonderful to join enthusiast forums or chat networks for your favorite niche interest, but there is that sense of longing for IRL collaboration and community.

I mean, I mostly post on this forum just to talk about niche stuff, since I seem to have a lot of crossover territory with many users on here (even ones who have stopped by and are no longer with us) and the conversation is always great. Better yet, I always learn something new when I start yapping away about stuff and it usually leads to an even cooler deep-dive. So, FWIW, the internet is pretty good for those niche interests after all

 

[ElvenNeko]

IRL, it's all niche. I don't know too many people who are hardcore nerds like me (although I might have some crossover with more people than I realize, but this is quite a stretch on my part and I'm not always that malleable), especially around where I live.

On the internet? Completely different story! You can find your 'tribe' pretty much everywhere, but they're usually geographically-scattered, oftentimes being in completely different countries or continents. Of course, it can be wonderful to join enthusiast forums or chat networks for your favorite niche interest, but there is that sense of longing for IRL collaboration and community.

I mean, I mostly post on this forum just to talk about niche stuff, since I seem to have a lot of crossover territory with many users on here (even ones who have stopped by and are no longer with us) and the conversation is always great. Better yet, I always learn something new when I start yapping away about stuff and it usually leads to an even cooler deep-dive. So, FWIW, the internet is pretty good for those niche interests after all

Lucky you... i searched for decades and still haven't found people willing to speak about my interests even in the internet.
IRL - not even mentioning that, interacting with people irl is pointless. They never have anything in common...

 

[Luca]

My interests are very niche so I actually don't talk about them a lot irl.
I actually made a thread very similar to this one a long time ago because I have the same issue.

The thing that's weird about my interests is that the subjects aren't that niche (dogs, art, books, music, Youtube videos, for example) but those are just the umbrella categories, my actual interests are more like "subgenres" of those interests (professional dog training and dog biology, very specific mediums for artwork, vintage nonfiction books, EDM and dubstep, Youtube podcasts about the paranormal.)

I don't always have trouble meeting people with interests in those categories, but what separates me from most people is the subgenres. I don't even talk as extensively on here about my interests as I used to, because I feel like they really are too niche for the general population and I don't want to infodump too much and alienate people.

I totally understand how you're feeling though, because being unable to find people with shared interests is really frustrating.

 

[Slime_Punk]

Lucky you... i searched for decades and still haven't found people willing to speak about my interests even in the internet.
IRL - not even mentioning that, interacting with people irl is pointless. They never have anything in common...

This might also be 'luck' (and I would definitely think so) but I've been able to rope a lot of people into really specific rabbit-holes (willingly, and usually for the sake of creating artwork together) and it usually attracts interest even from NTs, provided I'm already inside the circles where they hang out.

These are projects that they most likely wouldn't have discovered on their own, but I feel like this is a testament to our (as humans) desire to bond over really niche stuff in general. I think it's becoming more and more common everyday, honestly.

 

[Wolfnox]

My interest in Trilobites seems niche in Paleontology. These are sophisticated crustaceans which filled many aquatic niches and saw the beginning and end of the Paleozoic (during the great dieing).

Tell me have they discovered the eating habits of that species?

 

[ElvenNeko]

willingly, and usually for the sake of creating artwork together

That is also really cool. As a writer, i always wanted someone to collaborate on stories, and it seems like pretty mundane desire. Yet i wasn't able to find such person even in game writing groups and communities.
And when i try to discuss stories with person who are not into writing, i usually getting limited feedback that's 1-2 sentences long.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Tell me have they discovered the eating habits of that species?

Good preservation of appendages in some species have provided good information on eating habits. There are pelagic trilobites that are evidently filter feeders. Some, like the Harpetidae have shield like heads that evidently rested on soft surfaces that allowed them to dig and filter out tiny organisms. There is Olenellous and Elrathia that were shredders, and those like the Phacopids had an inflated glabella to house extra features that allowed them to process and digest prey.

This is a good place to start A Guide to the Orders of Trilobites I have about 40 museum quality specimens that will go to a university

I have been to the Fezouta Shale that preserves soft body details and met the Ben Moula family who collect there and have supplied research institutions with amazing specimens.

In another twist, two researchers looked at Walliserops trifurcatus and by mapping the morphological space determined that its appendage likely was used in sexual competition, like horns on rhinoceras beetles. Below is a pic of one I have. In species like that, one will expect sexual dimorphism and I think the short fork Walliserops to be the female. I discussed this with a curator at the Smithsonian and he agrees.

 

[Progster]

Progressive rock is quite niche. Collecting records has started to become more mainstream. I don't think it's too niche though... too niche for what? Or whom? I like what I like, other people like what they like.

 

[Wolfnox]

Good preservation of appendages in some species have provided good information on eating habits. There are pelagic trilobites that are evidently filter feeders. Some, like the Harpetidae have shield like heads that evidently rested on soft surfaces that allowed them to dig and filter out tiny organisms. There is Olenellous and Elrathia that were shredders, and those like the Phacopids had an inflated glabella to house extra features that allowed them to process and digest prey.

This is a good place to start A Guide to the Orders of Trilobites I have about 40 museum quality specimens that will go to a university

I have been to the Fezouta Shale that preserves soft body details and met the Ben Moula family who collect there and have supplied research institutions with amazing specimens.

In another twist, two researchers looked at Walliserops trifurcatus and by mapping the morphological space determined that its appendage likely was used in sexual competition, like horns on rhinoceras beetles. Below is a pic of one I have. In species like that, one will expect sexual dimorphism and I think the short fork Walliserops to be the female. I discussed this with a curator at the Smithsonian and he agrees.

View attachment 116482

Fascinating. I wasn’t aware of the multiple species. Are each similar in reproduction habits?

 

[Wolfnox]

Yeah. I'm obsessed with Batman's dead parents.

Who isn’t? Would be cool if they were secretly crime fighters too.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Fascinating. I wasn’t aware of the multiple species. Are each similar in reproduction habits?

That is unknown. Some like the Triarithus specimens from New York are found with fossilized eggs. Then, some are found with brood pouches, indicating re
roductive diversity. Then, as I indicated with Walliserops trifurcatus, there is evidence of sexual competition for mates.

 

[Catwoman]

Some are niche and it can be nice to have more people to talk about them with.

Others were niche, but--due to the internet--are more easily accessible. Like certain music tastes. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's a little alienating. It's a little weird to have people love stuff that they probably would have mad fun of you for 20-30 years ago.

?

 

[Slime_Punk]

That is also really cool. As a writer, i always wanted someone to collaborate on stories, and it seems like pretty mundane desire. Yet i wasn't able to find such person even in game writing groups and communities.
And when i try to discuss stories with person who are not into writing, i usually getting limited feedback that's 1-2 sentences long.

Out of curiosity, do you hang around communities like this (the ones you were referring to) over the long haul and try every now and again? I find that there's probably like a 25% success / general interest rate, so throwing stuff at the wall every now and again really increases those odds.

Also, I should mention that in my experience, it only works if I'm able to give that lengthy feedback and constructive criticism to others many times over, and to be the type of person who I'd want to be on the receiving end of my spitballing. Being there to even collaborate on others' projects (even if I'd rather be doing more self-indulgent ones) is a major factor in the process. Heck, sometimes that even means playing helpdesk when nobody else wants to for the people in need.

One of those 'you get what you give' things, karma, or whatever you want to call it.

 

[Swansong]

I'm a huge nerd about geopolitics and global affairs, always have been. I'm not sure if I'd characterize that as niche but it's certainly no conversation starter.

"Hey, what do you think about Azerbaijan's renewed hostilities against the Armenia backed Nagorno-Karabakh and the likely ethnic cleansing that will come out of it?"

Yeah, no wonder I haven't had friends in many years lol.

 

[Ken]

Never thought about it that way. Perhaps I am selfish? All my passions are deeply niche. No one has ever shared my interest. They all find it boring. But, I never cared. It is my passion. My passion belongs to me. It is who I am. I never considered my passions to be communal. It is my escape. My secret private safe place. My haven. My escape. I guess I don't really want to share it.

 

[undertheradar]

Hahaha yes

 

[ElvenNeko]

Out of curiosity, do you hang around communities like this (the ones you were referring to) over the long haul and try every now and again? I find that there's probably like a 25% success / general interest rate, so throwing stuff at the wall every now and again really increases those odds.

I do. But the problem is that today most of the communities are super small, meaning - there isn't much chances to find "right" people there.
And the few bigger communities that are left are basicly totalitarian. For example, i am a game writer. For all my life i worked on stories for video games, but when i realized i won't be able to make games out of them, i decided to publish some so at least gamers would read them. On reddit, in all biggest gaming communities automod deleted my posts. I asked mods to add them back, but most of them simply ignored me, and others said that that won't do that because my post belongs to a writing subreddit. And when i tried to explain that i want the gamers to read the story, they just ignored me. Somehow everywhere i go i run into that kind of powertripping mods who delete all i try to post even if i don't break the rules, but because mods dislike it.

So i just got really tired from either not having any meaningful responce at all because community are too small, or my posts being deleted because community's mods are assholes.

 

[Slime_Punk]

very specific mediums for artwork, vintage nonfiction books, EDM and dubstep, Youtube podcasts about the paranormal

For a second I was thinking to myself, "Everybody likes these, right?" but I guess it's actually rarer than it seems. Solid interests, though!

 

[Luca]

For a second I was thinking to myself, "Everybody likes these, right?" but I guess it's actually rarer than it seems. Solid interests, though!

Lol, you are actually one of the only people I've run into who also likes this stuff! And I have yet to meet anyone in real life who does.