MM, I think the staff gets that, it's just hard to remember all the time, especially when we're trying to dispel the myth.

I was talking to someone tonight about not being social, a few years ago we met in the rooms and she didn't really feel like she belonged there. People talked as if they knew each other, there were similar threads and stories being told. After time, she eventually did. She left that room and came back recently only to have that same feeling again since new people came and old people left. As she described it to me, I could only think of how it was so similar to this situation. It's not endemic to forums, it's endemic to human beings interacting. I likened it to coming into a conversation midstream and until you had some of the lay of the land, you generally didn't participate unless you forced yourself.

Oliver, I've been enjoying your soundtracks posts. I just don't know how to leverage that into discussions, in some ways some of the videos is a little easier since the title of the video is searchable and comes up with a relatively relevant title. I'd like to figure out how to do that with some of the image threads. I think I have a manner of doing it and it will take some work from either staff or a community member.

We're due for looking at our subforums and paring them down again. Thanks for the suggestion.

---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/general...2-30-30-a.html

something I whipped up...

Ahem. She was very clearly talking about me.

/double rimshot of irony

...

As with both the heavens and microorganisms, things expand and contract over time. TFP may have had a period of intense activity and a million subforums, but now it seems like hibernation mode is a good idea. Cut the number of subforums, combine like things, trim costs, etc.

That and having more than like four people donate to the board each month might help.

...

Seeing that I'm the dumbest rock here, I shall remain forever perplexed by the idea that it's difficult to post on an anonymous forum. I just don't get it. I may be garrulous and glib and other G words (but not a genius) but I see it as an easy rite of passage to hit the post button. Deep breath. It isn't hard.

I wasn't under the impression that TFP was about helping people who can't nut-up enough to put some text on the screen get to that point.

But what do I know? I'm so gauche it hurts.

I'm not sure how many others - new members reluctant to dip their feet or old ones that mostly stay quiet - this will apply to but I've found myself put off quite a bit in the past by how North American oriented a lot of the discussions are in General. Looking in there today brings up a prime example. I don't live in the US or follow their politics so I have no clue what the OP is about. In these sorts of threads that are US specific a line or two of preamble providing some brief general context wouldn't hurt - just for the sake of courtesy if nothing else, and so it seems less like a USA only club. If I was to start a discussion about some election or other where I am (if they even have them here) without an explainer I suspect there would (rightly) be WTFs all round. I think to automatically assume that a thread's readers are all in the USA - and already up to speed on whatever subject's being discussed - is insular, and I'd even go so far as to say that seems to go against the grain of what TFP is about.

(the election thread was just a convenient example and no offence was intended towards its author)

5 pages and no solution. I say we treat it like a Rubic's cube, peel the colored stickers off and put them where they need to be. Cheat. Let's all just keep posting and until everyone else catches on.

I went back and read -after changing the thread range, thanks Jazz- 20 pages of threads on TFpolitics. I don't recommend it. I may have a permanent twitch as a result. However it did shed some light on some of my own misconceptions. Jazz is absolutely right, comparing TFpolitics to the rest of the forum is unfair. And try as I might I could not find a single thread that even slightly resembled my 'frog' example. What I did discover is how I came about that idea and it has nothing to do with inappropriate interaction and everything to do with the relative IQ of this group. If you don't know what you're talking about going in, you will coming out. Like it or not. Basically the 'frog' was what was running through my mind each time I made a post in that forum without due diligence. I have not found any other area of the forum to be that way.

I know everyone hates the emoticons, but I have to say :thumbsup: to Cyn for the 30 in 30 idea. I'm in.

Another realization occurred in reading this thread through several times. I think Cateyes mentioned it earlier. Most forums have a specialty that binds the members. Be it hunting, tech, crafts, etc.... It's a single thing enjoyed by the membership. In rereading this thread I felt a sense of community I've not felt in another thread. I'm not saying it doesn't exist in other threads, I just haven't felt it. I think I felt it here, because we all really enjoy TFP and don't want to see it go away. We all have our own reasons and that diversity is what makes it great. That diversity is our specialty.

Logically, diversity itself should drive the numbers. Like Wally World opening a store and devastating the surrounding competitors. Why go 6 places, when you can get it all in one. Did I just call TFP the Wally World of the internet?? :orly: Anyway, having that to offer, it comes down to making everyone feel welcome. What we need is a 70 yo greater at the door with a smile and a sales flier. I think a 'welcome' email to new members could fill that position. Nothing big, just a simple "Hello, welcome to the forum. Come in, sit down, relax and join the show. Maybe drop a nOOb post to tell us something about you, and while you're at it read something about us." Easy.

This too was mentioned earlier and I've seen it on other forums as well. It, in fact, prompted me to sign up on one forum I frequent. Limit which sub forums can be viewed by non-members. The forum that got me is a Fishing forum. I could only see General discussion, classifieds and sticky threads until I signed up. I wanted catch reports and hot spots, so I signed up. Fuckin' tight lipped pricks still didn't give up any good holes, but I met a lot of cool people, learned a lot of techniques I didn't know, caught my first Steelhead after 5 years of fishing for 'em, started posting my experiences with the techniques and even hooked up with some killer fish folk in the RW. So dangling the carrot worked on me, maybe it will with others. I would have joined TFP just to read the Sexuality sub if I couldn't see it otherwise. I still haven't figured out how to get into the rumored 'post yourself' section of the forum and have almost given up on it. But I'm still here.

I'd also like to give a little stretch of the imagination and offer an opinion on the decline. Several have talked about it being a tread on the web, but I think it's more of a societal real world mood affecting the majority right now. The world and life in general is pretty fucked-up for a lot of people right now. I think everyone is feeling it in their own way, but the world climate is causing a mass withdrawal from greater social interaction. Retreating into home and family, safety.

That's how I see it anyway.

Brock

There is no solution. You can't 3 - 2 = X a forum. Admins have a vision and make decisions that they think will get them there through user participation. It's not cleaning a toilet or baking a cake, it's people talking about life and sex and pork rinds. This isn't an exact science; it's like wrestling pudding.

Word on the street is that Tilted Exhibition is a vaporware, a rumor spread by those sultry individuals who wish to generate interest in the board by means other than posting. Despite being an active member / constant annoyance for three years, I have seen no actual evidence of such a subforum.

Well, maybe you're right. But, isn't that kind of the point of this thread?

I think it's possibly wrong to assume that because someone is reticent about putting themselves out there (anonymously or not) that they are pathetic losers. Just as experience has proven that not all people who come in like gangbusters are what they seem to be.

I'll admit that it was very hard for me to start posting on forums about 10 years ago. And it wasn't easy for me to start posting when I came here. But, I did have strong convictions, some writing skills and a healthy enough ego to get past it. If one of those three elements were missing and I didn't post, it wouldn't mean that didn't have the same opinions, the same things to say. Therefore, I see nothing particularly distasteful about possibly helping some people get over that hump.

And on that note, I'll leave ya'll to the rest of this discussion. I'm not mad or anything (I promise :)), but I never intended to get involved in the first place.

Well, my argument is that how can we, as the TFP community, help people that we aren't even aware of because they just lurk around?

Are we, TFP users, supposed to chaperon new people into the community via blunt force trauma or just make ourselves more amiable?

And, yeah, nobody is a "loser." That was never an issue. To title losers is to suggest winners and nobody has picked up a cash prize yet.

My commentary is about the posts themselves more than the posters. The binary here is post or not post, not Good Poster or Bad Poster.

...

Don't be a stranger, MixedMedia.

personally, i'd hate to see the forum go.

i've been on a lot of sites berfore, but because of users not logging in, the admins just never bothered to log in anymore.

1 time there was a forum with at least 10000 members, and only 6 were still active

i'd hate to see that happen here

The solution is now and forever will be 42.

Suggested Thread Topics

I repurposed a dead forum to put some RSS feeds. Right now it's NYTimes, Consumerist, The Philosopher's Magazine, and Nerve Advice.

I'll be happy to add more if people actually use it and take a topic from it and post a new thread.

I think we're focusing on new (registered) members and giving them the opportunity and motivation to voice their opinions, Plan9. No blunt force trauma, and not necessarily more amiable-just more welcoming. I guess that might be considered the same thing, but whatever

Hmmm...but see, those of us who've been here for a few years or more, were, at one point, new. I never felt *un*welcome, but I also didn't really warm up to anyone (or anyone to me) until I'd been here for a bit. There were discussions back then with just as many inside jokes as there are now, and I'd be puzzled, then move on.

Maybe this comes off as harsh, but we've all paid our dues in the newbie department. I don't think we really need to hold anyone's hand.

I don't disagree necessarily cinna -- I mean, my early days are a bit hazy now, but I don't remember any particular special treatment. It takes time to get the swing of a community.

But at the same time, it's getting to the point where it can't really be ignored anymore. I used to think that we'd hit equilibrium, that our community was just sort of destined to be a smaller one. At this point though I'm starting to wonder if that truly is the case. Old names and faces have moved on, and we're not getting enough new blood to replace them. If we can't figure out a way to attract new folks here and keep them here, the community is going to eventually die. Whether it burns out or fades away is almost irrelevant.

As an aside, can we maybe move this into the playground? I'm not sure a thread like this is going to give the best impression to the new users we're attracting now.

I agree on the move. I've actually considered this a couple times before, but forgotten to suggest it.

You're not alone. I've considered it to. And I've got the power to actually do it. However, there are several new folks that participated, and I don't think that it's fiar to shut them completely out at this point. This version of this discussion has been more....civil than we usually see, so it's not a complete embarrassment like some others have been.

Hi

It was an email from this forum which got me over here a couple of days ago. I had happened on this forum six months ago and had seen 'Evolution' and 'Philosophy' some months ago and joined. Various other things, eg computer breaking, interrupted my trains of thought.

Last couple of days, I have been sampling threads and posts. This evening, I read this thread in detail.

I suppose it Could shake the confidence of some potential members, however, IMO this depends on the extent to which people prefer to see 'no problems' or to see 'quality in handling problems.' I'm of the second variety.

I'll say a few 'hello' things in the newcomers' section when I've had a bit of sleep.

All the best

Z

Thanks for your input, Zenda. I hope most of us agree that this issue is being handled well, and I look forward to seeing you around the forum =)