Surveying currently active GCers...

[33girl]

A lot of people went to Reddit (which is very one sided), Instagram, tik tok. Message boards in general have declined, the other one that I was an active member of has vanished completely.

There's also Greek Rank as a factor.

IMO Greek life in general has declined and there aren't as many young people here.

[Phrozen Sands]

Greek rank can eat shit and die.

[Cookiez17]

I hate greek rank. I only go there if something big happens (and sometimes they'll know if a chapter is closing then I double check with a source like here or the school's page.)

Tik Tok with the rise of Bama rush has lead to a lot of dumb takes, and even with people who have served as advisors/volunteers/etc. talking about their experiences, the public doesn't understand how recruitment works and people think every campus is a big greek campus while overlooking smaller campus where yes the chapter sizes may be smaller but you can get an amazing experience. On the flip side there has been a rise of people going into greek life out of that sort of interest.

[Phrozen Sands]

I’d never heard of it until Zach mentioned it, so I went over there to take a look. Some asshat said my fraternity isn’t a real fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha isn’t a real fraternity? wtf??? That site and everybody on it can go fuck themselves big time. I hope somebody over there sees this post too. Talk that shit over here.

[Cookiez17]

Sadly to them the amazing orgs that are part of the D9/MCGO/NAFLO are a "second thought" despite them doing amazing things on campus. I have seen a few videos about the D9 (and they're usually step shows and new member presentations) but it's nothing compared to the sorority rush content.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands

Greek rank can eat shit and die.

Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands

I’d never heard of it until Zach mentioned it, so I went over there to take a look. Some asshat said my fraternity isn’t a real fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha isn’t a real fraternity? wtf??? That site and everybody on it can go fuck themselves big time. I hope somebody over there sees this post too. Talk that shit over here.

And with language like yours commonly gracing GreekChat's pages, new fraternity members and possible GreekChat posters are encouraged that this is a website where they may read and discuss fraternal membership in a respectful manner

[Zach]

Originally Posted by carnation

FSUZeta is right. Bullying, which extended into real life, drove many posters away.

I used to post on a site called Pledge Park. It was ruthless over there. Thick skin was needed. I used to post on Black Greek Forums, too, which was really lightweight compared to old threads I’ve read on this site. Those threads are actually way lightweight, based on what I’ve read, in comparison to Pledge Park tho.

Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands

I’d never heard of it until Zach mentioned it, so I went over there to take a look. Some asshat said my fraternity isn’t a real fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha isn’t a real fraternity? wtf??? That site and everybody on it can go fuck themselves big time. I hope somebody over there sees this post too. Talk that shit over here.

Haha you’re getting all uptight over nothing. They said the same thing about PBS. Not a big deal. Who cares what they think?

[Phrozen Sands]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

And with language like yours commonly gracing GreekChat's pages, new fraternity members and possible GreekChat posters are encouraged that this is a website where they may read and discuss fraternal membership in a respectful manner

Originally Posted by Zach

Haha you’re getting all uptight over nothing. They said the same thing about PBS. Not a big deal. Who cares what they think?

Y’all are right. I’ll chill. Pissed me off though.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands

I don’t understand how somebody can get bullied on a message board.

Some of the bullying extended into real life and people were even getting doxxed.

[*winter*]

That’s insane! It’s a message board- I can’t imagine how crazy someone would have to be to try to take things into real life.

WTH is wrong with people?

[Phrozen Sands]

Originally Posted by carnation

Some of the bullying extended into real life and people were even getting doxxed.

I’m not surprised. I’ve seen documentaries about social media on this same topic. It’s actually dangerous. It can lead to somebody getting seriously injured or killed.

I didn’t see any of that when I came on board. It was still a lot of people posting when I joined. I don’t recall anybody leaving for being bullied after I became a member. I felt like people who were the most interesting and entertaining left, and other folks followed because of their departure.

[agzg]

A couple of things:

1. As I've aged and matured I've grown more wary of the opinions of older alumnae (and I include myself in this group now) as it relates to the collegiate experience. I'm less willing to share mine without a full understanding of specific contextual details that would be unlikely to be shared on a public message board.
2. Political banter/discussion is less fun now post January 6. We used to talk about a ton of stuff but everything feels so much more dire now that I'm uninterested in going back and forth with someone.

[shadokat]

My personal opinion:

1. Back in the early days, women came here to get recruitment advice and share their stories. Members became obsessive with it. THEN, we had to tell PNMs not to use real chapter names or tell where their school was because members would figure out their schools and chapters and impair their recruitment experiences. It was sad to watch poster after poster leave before finishing her story because someone PM'd them to say, "Hey, I know you're at UCF and your final two chapters are Alpha Phi and AGD" or whatever. That's CREEPY! And word gets around!

2. This place became FULL of just mean-spirited people. Someone would ask a question, and people would jump down their throats. I was often times shocked at how rude someone could be to a person who just asked a simple question about something they heard or what not. Like, touch grass people! Greek Life isn't that serious!!!

3. This forum, unlike GreekRank, is not fully anonymous. You can say what you like about GreekRank, because it's a cesspool, but it is also a pretty realistic view of a campus's greek life climate. In helping daughters of friends with recruitment, I always go there to get the lay of the land.

4. This site, while great for us old heads, doesn't seem to attract any college-aged members anymore. The posts are all by alums who are far removed from the collegiate experience in most ways. I stay because I like the recruitment thread, and when irishpipes left, I figured I'd keep it going. I know I'm not as good at it as she is, but everyone wants to know that stuff.

How do you fix it? I don't know...get some younger blood on board?

[PhilTau]

Haven't posted in a long time - but do check the site occasionally. My impression is that when a Facebook site was started, it drew people away from the greekchat website. Now I can't even find the Facebook page due to the large number of greekchat or "greek hat" sites on Facebook for those interested in Greecian culture and language.

More importantly, I think there has been a shift in how 19-22 year-olds communicate and interact with each other. To them, we might as well be using quill pens and scrolls. They likely peruse this site for rush information and what to do and not do for rush, but are uncomfortable composing a lengthy post about their experiences, when it is easier (for them) to just produce a short TikToc-style video on the same topic.

Oh - and shadokat's post is right on point.

[sigmagirl2000]

Originally Posted by shadokat

My personal opinion:

1. Back in the early days, women came here to get recruitment advice and share their stories. Members became obsessive with it. THEN, we had to tell PNMs not to use real chapter names or tell where their school was because members would figure out their schools and chapters and impair their recruitment experiences. It was sad to watch poster after poster leave before finishing her story because someone PM'd them to say, "Hey, I know you're at UCF and your final two chapters are Alpha Phi and AGD" or whatever. That's CREEPY! And word gets around!

2. This place became FULL of just mean-spirited people. Someone would ask a question, and people would jump down their throats. I was often times shocked at how rude someone could be to a person who just asked a simple question about something they heard or what not. Like, touch grass people! Greek Life isn't that serious!!!

3. This forum, unlike GreekRank, is not fully anonymous. You can say what you like about GreekRank, because it's a cesspool, but it is also a pretty realistic view of a campus's greek life climate. In helping daughters of friends with recruitment, I always go there to get the lay of the land.

4. This site, while great for us old heads, doesn't seem to attract any college-aged members anymore. The posts are all by alums who are far removed from the collegiate experience in most ways. I stay because I like the recruitment thread, and when irishpipes left, I figured I'd keep it going. I know I'm not as good at it as she is, but everyone wants to know that stuff.

How do you fix it? I don't know...get some younger blood on board?

100% this. I also will add that I stopped posting when certain moderators began imposing their political beliefs onto others and saying some pretty unacceptable things about the lgbtq+ community. They also used their power to shut down other posters and threads that differed from their views though there was nothing in the threads that would merit closure.

If this space is not safe for anyone with a differing viewpoint, then why would the next generation want to join?