INTERVIEW June 2021 User Interview~

[ARandomFan]

Hello Hallyu+ and welcome back to another User Interview! Another month, another interview~
But this month we mixed it up and asked y'all to vote for a club *le gasp* but which club won? Well, if you'd give me two seconds I'd say (smh). Anyways, the club that we interviewed was... STEM!
STEM (for those that don't know) means Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
The STEM club has been here on H+ since January 19, 2020 and it's a place where anyone can talk/learn more about other subjects that aren't related to K-pop/Asian Entertainment.
However, you might be wondering 'how did you interview everyone in the club?' I didn't (don't be silly)! I got together a small group to represent STEM as a whole! The representatives for STEM are @MVSica @UMJI MOODS @Seriously & @hatfelt
Without further ado, let's get into it!​

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Introduce yourselves
MVSica:

Hi! I'm MVSica. I really love my biases(Yeonjung and Jessica) and my ultimate group WJSN. I love STEM(ScienceTechEngineering and Math) and lots of things tbh. I really love my STEM friends and this forum and it's usersSersica is the best and most famous + couple:dogeLaugh:

UMJI MOODS: UMJI MOODS ready to answer questions.

Seriously: Henilo, I'm Seri, or Seriously if you wanna be formal. Brit man hag, cat dude, gg stan, muskrat, stem cell, gif gardener, nugu lady lover, 2019 Golden Pal award's joint second funniest user, the less attractive half of Sersica.

hatfelt: I am hatfelt! Yoohyeon's #1 stan! I like GGs and gifs!

How did you learn about H+? Why did you join?
MVSica: I knew it was being made because I am/was friends with most of the people who made it and made sure to invite the ops from our last forum to try and make their threads here. I made the WJSN thread and members threads and am really happy that we have made it work really well! H+ gives me a very relaxed and enjoyable feeling when I log in even tho forums in general have lost a lot of members I find that doesn't matter here as the users are really great and enjoyable. And we have some A+++ updaters who also are STEM members lol like Mr Kims Guardian and Umji Moods

UMJI MOODS: From the Discord version of STEM. I enjoy the atmosphere of a forum. It is more friendly and familiar than social media.

Seriously: The great migration, from that cursed land we no longer speak of. All my interwebz friends and fellow fandom members moved here. Aki is officially down as my referrer, but I don't think she actually told me about the site first, just scammed me into using her link like a slippery snake. Lots of my friends were recruited to be staff members, so I knew about the site happening before it went live.

hatfelt: I am one of many Onehallyu refugees. So, we were all looking for a place to go. I joined because our friend group came together!

What is your favorite thing about H+?
MVSica: It's very friendly. There is virtually no toxicity here and people are kind and fun, sure we have opinions that may differ but many here are above the things that happens on other forums and the annoyingness that can come with lots of fandoms fighting on forums. Also the staff works very hard to do things that I find are very fun! The users are pretty great I also love the plus pals dark theme so if that could make a comeback soon I would be very grateful because it's fantastic.

UMJI MOODS: Definitely the friendliness and warmth of the users. Some of whom I am only able to interact with here.

Seriously: The sense of community, we're like a smol village where everybody knows one another... For better or worse kek.

hatfelt: The people. I enjoy most of the people i come into contact with here. While we are small, we have a good collection of people.

What do you think makes STEM work?
MVSica: STEM works because there is no pressure, you can post whatever you want from Nuclear Physics to funny dog and cat gifs, we all enjoy kpop and can have fun with many various topics. As long as you treat people fair you are very welcome to enjoy and talk about anything! Come join!

UMJI MOODS: Members of the group who enjoy interacting throughout the day. Because we have members in various parts of the world it is regularly posted in. Plus we have a fun and dynamic leader in MVSica who keeps us in line.

Seriously: Strong collective interests, that then veer wildly off course on the regular, usually in the form of cute animals or Korean women, both of which I enjoy. That sounded weirder than I wanted it to, but you get what I meant.

hatfelt: It's a nice place where we can share things outside of kpop that interest us.

Wanna see a bee get slapped by a humming bird in slow motion? We got that!

Wanna see an Angry Blue Santa argue with a younger dude over a ball? Got that too!

Wanna see a cute puppy? You guess it we have that too!

Are sick of sleeping easy because you never heard of a bat volcano? Well, you're in luck! We have your nightmare fuel here!

How important do you think clubs are to a forum like this?
MVSica: I think they are important. It creates a bond amongst users who may not have had much in common besides kpop, it's just a very necessary part in my opinion. It's not the most important but to me they are a must have for just being able to enjoy yourself amongst friends without directly being about kpop groups or idols.

UMJI MOODS: As long as people are actively involved on the more visible parts of the forum and not hiding away in the clubs it is fine. Just staying in the club thread or a group's official thread makes it seem deserted elsewhere. There are users whose names I see on the list at the bottom of the home page who I have never interacted with because they hover in a single thread. It is nice to have a club as long as you use the rest of H+ as well.

Seriously: Uhhhh, hmmm. I think they help people make friends or find like minded folks, which I guess in a way is beneficial to the site? They could also become cliquey though, so it's important they remain welcoming... *giggles in Musketeer*

hatfelt: Personally, I enjoy the forum format more than social apps like discord. When you have a friend group all over the world and posting times are sporadic, forums are just better for conversation IMO. Having a club section where you can just talk about other things is very nice. So, overall, i think it contributes to creating stronger bonds outside normal kpop friendship.

How often are you in the STEM thread?
MVSica: Everyday, multiple times

UMJI MOODS: I visit it throughout the day.

I leave reactions to people's posts. I am likely one of the members who says and posts the least, mostly because I have the least to say. I generally post STEM related items and reply to certain posts of others as it warrants.

Seriously: Time zones mean it tends to move most when I'm not around, but I pop in at least once a day, to poke hatfelt if nothing else

hatfelt: I am the top poster by a lot lol

Why do you stay in STEM?
MVSica: keke I made it! Really STEM and the WJSN threads are my babies and I love them However, I stay because all of the users have become pretty special to me and I love to see them talk and post things, we are a great community within a larger great community(H+)

UMJI MOODS: I genuinely like the users who post in STEM. They are a nice bunch and I hope that they think I am okay too.

Seriously: They're fun, and dare I say educational? There's always interesting stuff being shared, theories on the future of AI, astronomical anomalies, Seulgi gifs...

hatfelt: It's the place to be!

Why should people join STEM?
MVSica: STEM is a collection of nice users that are funny and interesting(and gif pros). If you want to talk about something deep or interesting we will have some great discussions! Please come and have fun with us we are all very welcoming to new people and enjoy getting to know you! We also are best friends with the Musketeers club, Hatfelts gif garden and most of the users here. Come join and have fun

UMJI MOODS: That's up to any individual's taste of course. I would say that we are easygoing and you don't feel bossed about.

Seriously: Why not? Come say hey, Seunghee will show you his puppy!

hatfelt: If you enjoy discussing the latest tech and scientific discoveries, or space or even cute animals, then pop on in!

Also, we talk about a lot of random dumb things too!

If you had to pick a mascot for STEM, what would it be?
MVSica: Uh Stem Cells

UMJI MOODS: ???

Seriously: A talking chemistry flask, who questions his own sentience.

hatfelt: choochoo XD

@C C

JUNE 2021 USER QUESTIONS
Do you consider sharing fandoms important, when making forum friends?
MVSica: Yes and no. In STEM no it's not important, you can STAN whoever and we will get along just fine. Outside of that it's probably harder because you only see a limited amount of who a person is from them posting in group threads. I think it automatically makes it easier to be friends with me if you are a Yeonjung, Jessica and WJSN stan lmao We will be best friends. But we can become great friends in STEM regardless of yours and my favs.


UMJI MOODS: It is a Kpop(plus Jpop and Cpop) forum. We all love the same type of music if not necessarily the same groups. While nice to be friends with those who stan the same group/s, it isn't a prerequisite. I think that you can be friends with users who stan no groups in common just because they are good individuals.

Seriously: *looks at his list of chingus, comprised of 90% man stans* N- No, no I don't.
That's a big brain question, whoever asked that clearly has an immense intellect.

hatfelt: Yes. In my experience, there's not a lot of communication with anyone if you don't share fandoms.

What made you decide to join {the club you did}?
MVSica: I, with a few other people( Blue, Llama and Eunnie), created the STEM discord when the last forum we were at started to have problems staying online and went offline for 3 months. My goal was to make an ARC of sorts to make sure that all of the people who I and others had been close with in the last forum could still be friends and stay in contact. Thankfully H+ turned into my favorite place and we decided to make the STEM thread and make + our home. STEM may sound odd to some but I am a science and engineering person so it was only natural that we stuck with STEM. We really have fascinating conversations sometimes and they are really fun! I don't know why I didn't make the STEM thread here sooner as it's my favorite place to just relax and see what my friends are doing

UMJI MOODS: Most of my friends are here.

Seriously: A friend bugged me to join the STEM cord, before the site came to be, so I turned up soon as the thread went live. When we were mass ejected into the void of space, after that other site imploded, lots of users clung to the STEM cord as a way to keep together. It was super active for the period we were homeless.

hatfelt: Honestly, I don't even remember. I was just friends with the members, and now i am here lol

Does being in the same club make you feel compelled to get along with someone more than you normally would have?
MVSica: Sure! Anytime you become part of a group or team it just comes with the territory imo. It's great to get closer to people by being in a club. I think it's also important that the club you join doesn't exclude people or devolve into cliques as that can really be bad for our community as well. If you want to be a STEM member we will gladly accept you as long as you post and treat people well

UMJI MOODS: I don't know about that. We all seem to get along well. I don't have any issues with any members. I hope nobody has problems with me either.

Seriously: That's a good question. Not so much a STEM answer, but I'll talk for groups in general. I think it'd definitely make your time there easier no? I wouldn't say I go out of my way to "get along" with people I typically wouldn't, but I do try to at least be more polite kek. I can be a little blunt, and British humour sometimes doesn't translate all that well to peeps around the world. So if I'm unsure on my relationship with someone, I'll tone it down.

hatfelt: Compelled? No. I wouldn't get along with someone I don't get along with. But, being in the same club does offer you up some friendships you wouldn't normally have. So, i think that's a better way to look at it.
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Thank you to the STEM representatives for being wonderful interviewees! And thank you Hallyuplus for reading!
See ya next interview~

GFX BY @𝕋☹𝔸𝕊𝕋 & @ARandomFan
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY @ARandomFan​

 

[OutroTearTheFirst]

They could also become cliquey though, so it's important they remain welcoming... *giggles in Musketeer*

 

[Seriously]

Being interviewed made me feel like a celeb until i was reminded hatfelt was there

 

[𝐇☀𝐍𝐄𝐘]

Very nice interview!

 

[dnb]

Best interview ever!

 

[UMJI MOODS]

By the way, I forgot to ask when we were being interviewed, will the STEM official thread get a User Of The Month banner? All the other users did.

​

 

[ARandomFan]

By the way, I forgot to ask when we were being interviewed, will the STEM official thread get a User Of The Month banner? All the other users did.

​

I have no control over banners. I'd love to give banners to the people that were chosen for an interview... :glitchcrab:
Maybe the great mods will bless me with the power to give banners one day

 

[MVSica]

I had fun talking about Stem.

 

[Pandaa]

i like the interview

 

[kimsguardian]

a proud stem newbie over here, great interview from the 4 of them who are like our stem founding fathers~

 

[hatmixx]

The way all the stem members replied to this thread lol

 

[ARandomFan]

The way all the stem members replied to this thread lol

as they should

 

[Saint Ren]

@Seriously

giggles in musketeer
I see you


Seriously: Uhhhh, hmmm. I think they help people make friends or find like minded folks, which I guess in a way is beneficial to the site? They could also become cliquey though, so it's important they remain welcoming... *giggles in Musketeer*

 

[Seriously]

@Seriously

giggles in musketeer
I see you


Seriously: Uhhhh, hmmm. I think they help people make friends or find like minded folks, which I guess in a way is beneficial to the site? They could also become cliquey though, so it's important they remain welcoming... *giggles in Musketeer*

What, if you had your way, and we gave you the keys to the door, MC would only have like 4 people

 

[Baymax]

Do you consider sharing fandoms important, when making forum friends?
MVSica: Yes and no. In STEM no it's not important, you can STAN whoever and we will get along just fine. Outside of that it's probably harder because you only see a limited amount of who a person is from them posting in group threads. I think it automatically makes it easier to be friends with me if you are a Yeonjung, Jessica and WJSN stan lmao We will be best friends . But we can become great friends in STEM regardless of yours and my favs.

I'm with Sica with yes and no when it comes to this.
On one hand, it is easier to make/find potential friends who share the same fandoms since there's that common interest that you can always fall back on, but on the other hand, (at least for me) I like to know if our friendship can go beyond just sharing fandoms because sharing fandoms doesn't necessarily mean we're instantly friends ajskhdfa but like, are we able to talk about other things as comfortably as we can with our fandoms?

How important do you think clubs are to a forum like this?
MVSica: I think they are important. It creates a bond amongst users who may not have had much in common besides kpop, it's just a very necessary part in my opinion. It's not the most important but to me they are a must have for just being able to enjoy yourself amongst friends without directly being about kpop groups or idols.

UMJI MOODS: As long as people are actively involved on the more visible parts of the forum and not hiding away in the clubs it is fine. Just staying in the club thread or a group's official thread makes it seem deserted elsewhere. There are users whose names I see on the list at the bottom of the home page who I have never interacted with because they hover in a single thread. It is nice to have a club as long as you use the rest of H+ as well.

UMJI MOODS spitting out the truth! Everyone come on out!!!

But yeah, agree with Sica again. While some people may not particularly like them due to the cliques they may form, I think clubs are important, especially in the case of clubs being catered towards certain things, i.e. Fish Market (J-Idols) or Anime/Manga, since those sections of the forums aren't super active so it's harder for people to find others to talk about things with. Plus, having a place where you can just talk to others is always nice, and becomes easier for people to make new friends and interact with other users.

Does being in the same club make you feel compelled to get along with someone more than you normally would have?
Seriously: That's a good question. Not so much a STEM answer, but I'll talk for groups in general. I think it'd definitely make your time there easier no? I wouldn't say I go out of my way to "get along" with people I typically wouldn't, but I do try to at least be more polite kek. I can be a little blunt, and British humour sometimes doesn't translate all that well to peeps around the world. So if I'm unsure on my relationship with someone, I'll tone it down.

The British humour and the bluntness, I feel that but totally agree with this! There are lots of different personalities about when you're in a big club/group and you won't always necessarily get along with everyone; some you can instantly, while others it takes some time... but as long as you try and be civil then I think that's important for any group/club.




This was a great interview and lots of interesting things spoken about!
The STEM club itself and its members seem like a fun bunch. Thanks for this!

 

[Happy]

Great interview!

 

[Seriously]

I have no control over banners. I'd love to give banners to the people that were chosen for an interview... :glitchcrab:
Maybe the great mods will bless me with the power to give banners one day

a pack of +cards it is then

 

[LION]

This was fun to read but where are these clubs located ?

 

[Baymax]

This was fun to read but where are these clubs located ?

Most clubs are located in 'The Union' sub-forum, some may be quite hard to find since they're not pinned and aren't as active so the thread has been buried somewhere, there's also a lot of chat/spam threads that you've seen in the Union too like the gif garden or the cute characters spam, but for "clubs", these are ones I've seen around:

• Anime/Manga
• Candy Corner Shop
• Fish Market (J-Idols)
• Lurkercrawl (idk if this is a club but in the voting thread they were mentioned)
• Musketeers Club
• STEM