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Originally Posted by Halx
I just can't bring myself to sympathize with the negative attitudes regarding the idea. I might add, that in some way, this thread has infused many of you with a sense of passion for not only the TFP, but for the debate of decent governing principles. You may not like the rouse, but the TFP is merely a rock, floating in a galaxy of planets and stars - it's good to see some life here after all.
Would you believe that back about 4+ years ago, the TFP was in the top 2000 websites on the internet, by traffic? Do you know where it is right now? 126,477. We're at one of the lowest points of traffic in our history. There are many reasons for this, and I'm going to explain why this thread HELPS.
The first reason is obvious: stagnation. As great as the community is, its going nowhere. We have a slow trickle of users coming in from random searches on Google. That's all.
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I think it's more than that. Anyone with $100 and a computer and a tutorial can start a website or forum and that is what's happening. I have a plethora of sites that I bookmarked...I go into only 3. No longer is it just something a person with your intelligence can achieve. Just quoting that 126,477 should tell you something. It's staying power and TFP has stayed when others have died. Numbers don't mean crap(unless you're at the bottom of the barrel and that's always temporary, as is being on top.) Racist sites, sites that cater to specific groups all have members; if you want to be huge, you could make this an all-hispanic site or an all-Indian site and be right up there with the others. I'll take the diversity, thank you. I'd rather be small and have integrity than be something akin to DeviantArt.
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Originally Posted by Halx
Second: Isolation. We have no incoming traffic except for search engine traffic. They're not searching for an internet forum, they're searching for a specific subject, and when they find it, they move on. Nobody links us from their blog. Nobody talks about us on other forums.
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I do all the time. Tec has brought people here from other forums. /me bows in Mixedmedia's direction...
I know other members here have come from member's suggestions-I did. (and no, not telling who!) How many of us have blogs? I use the journal for that. (I'd still go with the t-shirt idea tossed around a couple years back....)
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Originally Posted by Halx
Third: Bland content. Yes, the TFP community is great, polite, intelligent and clever. But we have little to show for it. This is where C:A starts to help. This thread alone appeals, but it's going to take more. I look at other, more successful websites and they have a few things going on that I notice we have none of. Their users are just as tight, just as open, just as passionate. But they also produce content instead of just talking about news articles. When you're browsing on one site, and find a link to a forum, what does that link contain?
1) An interesting or amusing incredible anecdote that illicits laughter or disbelief.
2) A story of customer service or legal injustice with full documentation.
3) A comprehensive walkthrough or explanation on a particular subject that people are interested in.
4) A humorous list or compilation.
5) Discussions on unique events with diverse and well-thought responses.
This is the stuff that is passed along between websites. These are the passages through which users flow into a community. We have none. We are not worthy of users to just link.
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I like bland. Look what happened here. Being a Pollyanna ain't always a bad thing. I'll take that over heartburn and tears any day. I frequent a forum that is cutthroat political and would send most of the political users here running in the opposite direction(some have, actually after sending them there!) It even has a basement for flaming. Who needs that all the time? Do it long enough and one starts becoming the ass one is portraying there everywhere else....no thanks. Opinion is one thing...flaming arguing is like expensive champagne...small sips is fine and makes the good last longer.
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Originally Posted by Halx
Fourth: Rigidity. We're fighting against the grain on this one. We might think that our rules are what makes the TFP a great framework for a community, but we're also limiting our potential userbase. This is something I'm not willing to give up, which is all the more reason to work on the other things.
And while C:A is an abomination of an idea and is causing toxic conversation to spill into the TFP, it is not siphoning members away. And while some of my stakeholders disagree with its very presence, I must state the fifth reason why we are suffering.
Five: No outbound traffic. This might sound preposterous, but it's not. The most popular sites on the internet are the ones that lead you to other sites. Become a source of interesting content, both in-house and externally, and people will frequent you. From there, they will build a relationship and participate.
As I said, the TFP is just a rock, floating in a vast universe, alongside much more vast and dense bodies. We need to change a little.
I hope you'll read this and see my point. I don't expect you to agree with the C:A forum as an entity, but I hope you'll understand that it doesn't hurt. Yes, your friends may be arguing, but none of this was originated with the forum. Its good to air out some things.
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While it's not siphoning yet, it's really angering more than a few. And who you thought were friends or at least forum compadres are showing themselves to be otherwise. My hat is off to Pan and Willravel and Aberkok-they have the patience of a saint. Or they're just stonecold
I do see your points, but at least for now, CA does hurt TFP. I'm old school-if there's a problem with one person or another, air it out by yourselves, resolve the differences and misunderstandings, not use a public forum and hide it under the title 'fun'. Even the most innocuous threads there bring out such venom!!
Since the last upheaval, people here not only starting coming back in, but policed themselves quite well, not because of rules but because they wanted civility.
The world is hectic, cruel, cold and couldn't care less about you or me. Why should a forum be the same way?