Is there actually a point to "Following" someone anymore?

The old site allowed you to see when the people you were following were also on the site, which was pretty cool. You could also go onto your profile page and see the most recent updates of people you were following. But I don't see any of this now. Am I missing something or is it all gone?

There seems to be zero point to following except as a way to say, "hey, I think you're cool." Or as a way to show off how cool you are to other people. This means I currently have 121 cool points. And that's too low, damn it!

there now you have 122 cool points

(also I have more cool points than you)

Personally I find the concept of following someone on the internet creepy. 14 year old best buddy Jimmy Joe might be some 40 year old sexy predator. You don't know who is at the otherside of the screen. In general I think most forums should force users to put in personal details that legitimize them as who they say they are.

I'm going to be honest, ever since they took away any way to see other user activity from your profile, I think the site has felt much more isolated, and I don't think it's good for the community. As far as I can tell there's not really any reason to follow other users any more, but the staff seemed to take away the "Activity" feature after it broke, maybe it'll be back when they can fix it.

Nope, all gone. It's like everyone is marooned on their own desert island =( This must surely be temporary, though, but until an update arrives, status updates, followers, and blogs (least the ones you wouldn't want to post on the forums) are completely useless. There was initially a ''follower activity'' feed on your profile, but even that was removed too!

And I didn't even get a notification when you did. And I just followed back. Should have a long time ago, but, you know, none of it even matters. :(

You have articulated exactly what I was feeling, a more sense of isolation. I don't like it.

In other news, I just found out that you can send yourself a PM. I'll never be lonely and PM-less again =D.... =(

..... so people can be creepier and target young kids? GREAT PLAN.

For the low price of 4.99$ i can send you a personalized PM about the topic of your choice!

Knowledge of different topics may vary.

alright that seems like a bug more than anything else.

It boosts my already overly inflated ego. I think that's reason enough.

We definitely don't get notifications anymore when someone follows you. Since the new site launch i have had 3-4 new followers and never got a notification.

@pr1mus: Think of them as stalkers rather than followers, and the site features are all fully functional again.

When the activity stuff was working during the beta I thought it seemed like an improvement over the old site, but since it's turned off I do think following someone at this point in time doesn't really provide any benefits. I'm sure stuff will all get sorted eventually, but for now it's a bit of a bummer.

Although I always disliked the idea that others could see when I was online. Because I'm online a lot... And even if I'm not on the site at the moment, I almost always have it open in a different tab or something.

@yummylee said:

In other news, I just found out that you can send yourself a PM. I'll never be lonely and PM-less again =D.... =(

I've known of this awesome new functionality since the beta.

I'm no longer PM-less but I'm still lonely...

I have 116 followers...

Why?

If you are a hot gaming girl plz follow I am super hunky and good looking and love videogames.

@humanity: Works like a charm.

@wrighteous86: I try to learn from the best!

@humanity: I followed you for two seconds until I got to the end of your post and found out you liked video games.

sorry <3

I did enjoy the who's online function next to the PM icon, sad to see it's gone.

To absorb a better sense of the community, I followed a ton of people who seemed cool upon joining the site. Now with my 7 followers, and 62 deep following list. I look like a big creep. Or a bot. Or a creep-bot.

There used to, back when I wrote about video games. Now, since no one can actually see my blogs, they stagnate... wandering through space and time with naught but a single comment.

@animasta: b-b-ut the popular phenomenon Big Bang Theory has taught me hot girls love a socially awkward, borderline autistic, adult that plays video games?!

As usual @gamer_152 laid it out as well as anyone could.

I really hope this feature is coming back soon.

without it (and the other lost features, guides, achievements, quests, buggy wiki and lists, lack of forum on the front page) there is a definite loss of the sense of community that used to be here.

I feel bad for the bloggers and reviewers on here. They are basically invisible now and the time and heart they put into what they do goes largely unnoticed. It feels as though a quiet exodus of some the community's more passionate and colorful personalities has already begun.

As it it is now GB is just a forum and place to watch videos of the GB crew. That's about it.

I have no idea what the Following thing does now.

I used to have this thing at the top of the page that let me know when people I followed was online to message. I liked that. Now that is gone too.

Being able to see what other people you follow are commenting on or whenever they put up a blog or a reviewer was really helpful. It build a sense of community. It was cool. Maybe their just waiting for the site to become more stable and then it will be back.

Crap. So as it turns out, if you edit any of your user-reviews, even if to just fix a typo or something, that'll reset your recommendations... That sucks too. While I've mostly gotten accustomed to the redesign, the site in its current state is still so bloody busted. I miss old Giant Bomb.

Plz fallow me I'm a hunky sportsman but unlike Humanity I H8 video gamz and the nerds who play dem.

Yeah, I miss seeing the most recent Statuses and Blogs of the people I followed, I miss the Activity Feed of people I followed, I miss seeing who I followed is online, and I miss the forums on the front page. I know some are coming back, and some were barely used, but these features really helped this community feel more connected and helped it stand out from the others. I just made an account at Polygon, and aside from their comments/forums being a total wasteland of nothingness, there's no way to see if someone has responded to you or liked your comment aside from going through your posts. You can't follow anyone either. This is a step back. I miss the community of people I followed.

And I want to be able to alphabetize my game collection List. My OCD is killing me.

There never really was a point to begin with.

I don't like it. Slightly related, does anyone get PM's if they get a comment on a blog or a recommendation on a review? Cause I sure don't.

It's cause none of you kids play nice so now you're being separated. You go sit on that couch and you go sit on the other one and don't move till I tell you to. And if I hear so much as a peep I'll be back and you'll be sorry, you understand??

It's just social networking brought into the GB community. I like it, there are a bunch of awesome community members who constantly contribute content on par with the normal editorial stuff. I love the people I follow.

@daneian said:

yeah all the time. Well on the old site anyway.

Haven't tried yet on the new one.

Yeah, I mean this one in particular.

Blog notifications work I think, but review and list notifications don't. Oddly enough I have somehow recommended my own user reviews multiple times, though... I'd like to think that's just the site's fucked up way of letting me know that someone else has recommended it, because while the ability to recommend your own user-review is available for whatever reason, I've somehow recommended my Dead Space 3 user review 3 times which is impossible.

I feel like there's a Persona 4 reference hiding somewhere in all this.

@yummylee: That's not just you. I auto recommend my own reviews every time I post a new one or edit an old.

@daneian: Same here, but after that you still can't recommend your own review again, where I have 3 times after. My initial 'self-recommendation' happened when I first posted it, but once I made an edit it then reset my recommendations for the review to zero. And then over the course of a couple of days, I noticed on my feed that it would sometimes tell me I've recommended my own review again... The site's just all kinds of retarded right about now.

Yeah, it's a real bummer. People have talked a lot about missing the home page forum activity feed, but the user activity feed is what I really miss. I went there pretty regularly on the old site, and it's really a shame to lose it.

I need to know what @animasta is saying about Crusader Kings II damn it!

Nope, not really. I think most people use it as sort of a "hey, you're a cool duder, here is some e-points for you" button.

I need a hug.

I feel lonely now ._.

I don't like it -- site's way less fun these days without the social features.

I miss you guys! :( I really miss the activity feed and interacting there with you guys!

@cathryn: I miss reading your updates. : ( Especially when shoujo manga was involved!

124 Cool Points and rising.

I miss the activity feed too. With the removal of quests, achievements, alignment colors to usernames, pictures on reviews, etc, the site has lost so much personality and sense of community. It makes the site seem a bit claustrophobic, almost.