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As Cubers Cube

Rubik’s cube. Yes, the infamous toy that drew obsessions among people of all ages back in the 1980s. After briefly phasing out of public view in the 1990s, it came back full force at the turn of century with the help of pioneers like Dan Knight and Jessica Fridrich.

The founding of World Cube Association (WCA) in 2003 was arguably the definitive moment for the current cubing community. By creating rules and regulations for competitive cubing and recognizing competitions that abide by them, the WCA provided a solid framework for cubers to interact and mingle.

But aside from competitions, another more expansive network of cubers is built on SpeedSolving.com.

With over 14,000 members, 40,000 unique visitors every month, and 99% of the visitors owning a Rubik’s cube, this forum is now a vibrant community with thousands of threads being viewed or posted upon everyday. Members post about their cubing lives, chat about different methods to solving the cube, and share other relevant news. These posts can be as general as competition advertisements and local television interviews, and can get as personal as shouting in joy with new personal records and raging in dismay with personal records that could have been broken. Rubik’s cube is not the only puzzle discussed; 2x2x2, 4x4x4, 5x5x5, Pyraminx, Megaminx, as well as other official and unofficial puzzles recognized by the WCA all have their niches on the forum. Even for each puzzle, there are threads debating which brands have the best features such as turning speed and ability to cut corners. Finally, the forum wiki stores a comprehensive compilation of topics pertaining to cubes.

A devoted cuber too, I find myself wandering on the forum from time to time. While I do not actively participate in posting, I have always used it as a source of reference when deciding which brands to purchase for new puzzles or which new methods to learn to become faster. Being involved in the Cornell Cubing Club, we used the forum as our main way of advertisement for our competition this April. With the help of a WCA delegate, we hosted a successful competition, with competitors coming from more than 2 hours of drive away. The resulting event then, served to form ties between cubers who otherwise would not have known each other. The Strong Triadic Closure Property is often seen at work in the cubing world. This property is very beneficial especially for beginners, who can befriend a faster cuber because they share a good mutual friend, and thus become quickly exposed to the discipline. The tendency to befriend other cubers is not only present on the forum – I admit, I have accepted friends on Facebook simply because they are cubers and we have mutual friends who are also cubers.

As the cubing community continues to grow, records continue to be broken almost on a monthly basis. But making it to the top of the world is no longer the only thing that matters. Cubers have turned their attention to the social aspect of the hobby, and make ties with people from other parts of the world who have the same interests. SpeedSolving.com has long since become a place for people to hang out, and are all connected with their enthusiasm for the Rubik’s cube. Who would have thought that such a simple yet frustrating puzzle would be holding together a network of people even almost 40 years afters its creation?

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