It seems to me that the message boards are far less active lately. Does it seem that way to anyone else? If so, any ideas/opinion on why?
Yes. Same at trader Joe's
Very few people on this site use the boards. I mostly just read them and chime in from time to time.
It seems to me like they’ve slowed down dramatically. They used to be more active.
it would be nice to have a "like" feature on the boards. JMHO
seems to be a lack of threads that drive engagement
@wilderdude 100%
Yeah, IDK just not feeling the forum vibe like I used to, which is a shame.
Been some very odd interactions that is very off putting as well, don't want to feel like every time something is posted, I'm going to be chided for it or potentially muted for innocent things...
and I very well KNOW that makes others just not that happy to participate, because they tell me...which in turn, hurts, and does not help, the forum community.
the comradery that used to be very heart warming and supportive, is at an all time low.
I haven't even bothered much with promoting this site and all the positive things I used to share about it to others to join, participate, and educate about the community, because I can't trust large chunks of the community will be there for them.
They go through waves. That they exist at all is really a trip to me, since message boards largely went away like 15 years ago or more.
IMDb used to have thriving message board communities. Book series, radio shows, bands, movies...all of them used to have message boards on their websites, and chat rooms. Ah, the 2000's. 🤓⌨️🖱🖥
I've enjoyed the blast from the past here, though I go through waves myself, depending on life stuff. I've been mostly gone for like ten months.
A lot of regulars have deleted, if you skim older threads. That happens...people who keep these boards turning for a year will suddenly get banned, or delete, and then a new batch will become the new regulars for awhile. It's a very transient place.
~ Sunset Snuggles
🫂 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Junkie 📷 Shutter Bug
True that
don't want to feel like every time something is posted, I'm going to be chided for it or potentially muted for innocent things...
I’ve seen comments censored that deserve to be censored but I’ve also seen big deals made out of very innocent comments. Sometime I wonder if the lack of activity comes from the boards being monitored correctly by the mods which removes a lot of the trolls and non sense or if the policing is overdone which leads to a lack of desire to engage from members. I can see both sides of it.
Can't really have honest conversations without over policing. And the same group of people end up hijacking the threads and turn it into their own open mic night
@Jason1689 watch that happen to this thread. Stay tuned…
I've definitely seen less of them pop up lately, which sucks because scrolling through used to be a fun past time
@MissAdventurous ,@Jason1689, @Carrie_Anne,@Wilderdude, @Trysdet True that… My sentiments exactly! Happy Sunday Everyone! 😊 Enjoy this lovely Spring Day! 🌺
@Jason1689
And the same group of people end up hijacking the threads and turn it into their own open mic night.
Yes that’s very true.
@Morpheus or people are put in time out for having their own thoughts/opinions .. or being misunderstood .. we all have different views on different things.. 😊 I wish Everyone good health, peace and happiness! 😊
I definitely agree. When I first joined forum activity was live at 5 lol It was quite entertaining but I still appreciate what activity there is now. 🫶
I wonder if there are just fewer active members? I can’t speak for other guys, but personally the site doesn’t really meet my needs anymore. I’ve definitely moved away from the site though with the rate of pros nearly doubling over the last year and new enthusiasts being uncommon. Not saying that’s the reason, but it’s a possibility.
which leads to a lack of desire to engage from members.
@Morpheus I clearly can't speak directly for others, but as @MissAdventurous noted, I too have had conversations with folks from this site who express that lack of desire to engage when discussion gets derailed too easily. Being jumped on from all sides for having a dissenting opinion gets old quickly.
In my own case, yes, I often avoid participating in discussions - my true statements or opinions might violate a site rule or set off a shitstorm of negative responses. And I'm not about to start expressing false statements just to participate in forum threads (see "The Emperor's New Clothes"). So while I chime in on some topics, I avoid many, many more.
@Jubal
Being jumped on from all sides for having a dissenting opinion gets old quickly.
The majority of that seems to come from just a few members who seem to think they run the boards.
Sometimes lately I feel it’s safer to type out what I want to say but never hit the ‘post’ button. I need to stay out of any drama (real life already has more than I can handle). But one of my favorite things and what keeps me active on the site now that I’m not really cuddling, is reading about what others think because I always learn something new. I also enjoy finding others who I can agree with. But as long as everyone is respectful, differing opinions can be an education.
100% they are less active than they were about 2 years ago. In June 2024, this forum averaged 240 posts per day for 7 consecutive days and 205 individual members of this community posted at least once during that week. I made a thread about it called “Are you part of the 0.5%?” Because my analysis suggested 205 out of approximately 40,000 members (0.5%) were posting at least once per week. Here is a screenshot from that post in June 2024.
As to why there forum is so much less active, I suspect @Morpheus and @Jubal have identified the leading cause.
I don't post hardly at all anymore. I read occasionally. I find the forums to be the opposite of cuddly.
@everyone I think the problem the mods had is that it was becoming a firestorm. I heard you. I’ll bring it up with the others.
@stormydaycuddle Your closing post on the "married cuddles" thread sums it up perfectly.
The forums are for the most part no longer very interesting. Most of them are on trivial topics now. I suspect that many people have been put off by over-moderation and are nervous about expressing a strong opinion, or an opinion of any kind, for fear of offending an over-zealous moderator and getting censured in some way.
That’s why I rarely post I’m sure others feel the same but don’t want to say it.
@Jubal , @billiam , @jamesDC , @Kense yes 🙌 100% on Everything you said! Thank you 😊
I've only been a member here for maybe half a year but I'd have to say forums as a whole just don't hit like they used to 20 or so years ago, back when there was a sense of community. Even when there was heated and charged discussions, we didn't have grudges towards people and all it was is just a disagreement that needed to be vented.
I rarely engage in discussions because they always wind up either being political, controversial or simply rage-bait for the sake of engagement and that's sad because it makes it harder to connect with potential friends here. Me naturally being an introvert, the internet has always been a safe space of mine of sorts because back when my social anxiety had a grip on me, I struggled making many friends away from the internet. Nowadays it's the other way around in which I am much more confident talking to people out in the open because the climate of the internet has become shifty at best to hostile at worst.
the online community in general everywhere has been more polarizing with existence of bots and monetization/financial incentives. I don’t really have a problem with mods clamping down on certain inflammatory topics (politics / religion). I think that is fair. this site is not obligated to be a copy of reddit, youtube, yahoo. as it pertains to voicing opinions on general topics, when I voice disagreement on a topic, I try not to name specific people in the thread who I disagree with because that invites tit for tat escalation. I focus on the principle of the idea and not on the speaker of a disagreeing opinion (attacking his or her motives). I think that tactic may reduce likeliness a moderator will engage with your post. there’s no guarantee. otherwise, I think folks should feel free to speak there mind as long as they are respectful and reasonable in how they respond.