What gives?

[SFG75]

I've been here for a long time, and quite frankly, I have never seen the site as dull as it is now. it's not too uncommon to find 45 visitors on this site, all "spiderbots" and no active members. What gives? Is it just a lull or is it something deeper? I have to confess that I've been inactive for over seven months now. I'm a part of the problem as everyone else is. At the same time, I feel that a lot of folks just lurk and don't post. I think this is a huge number, confirmed only when someone posts at a rate of about twice a year.

So what's the deal?

 

[Occlith]

I don't mind the "quiet times" in this forum. They come and go.

I have been a member here for a while and find that low posting is not uncommon, it seems to be cyclic. There have been bursts of frantic posting - some actual discussion, a little (or a lot of) trolling, spam, and off topic randomness. Then there are lulls lasting days or weeks.

As for myself, although I do not read as often as when I joined this forum, I like to see what others are reading and offer suggestions.

BTW, have the currently active moderators expressed any interest in reviving the BOTM discussion?

 

[Occlith]

I have to confess that I've been inactive for over seven months now.

Inactive? You sure about that?

 

[saliotthomas]

Being new to the furom,I can't really judge.Want i can say is that there as being already a lot written about book and autor(very pertinently so) .It's hard to find some fresh sujet without babling.So i gess many are just reading,gathering information,witch is good.
Better say nothing than.....(look who's talking)

 

[eyez0nme]

No flamers to make this forum lively.

No trolling to bait readers to spur them into action.

 

[sparkchaser]

I have a few thoughts on the matter:

-the weather is getting nicer so people might be spending more time outdoors

-no new JK Rowling books to rash. Or Dan Brown for that matter.

-people are reading more & posting less

-after 5-10 posts, people get bored because it's not a high traffic site

 

[scooter13]

It's not a very high traffic site, but it's higher then others.

The reason I don't post much is because of content. If there are 20 new posts about books and/or authors that I have not read, then I have nothing to add. Part of that is not having a lot of time to read. I know people that read 10-15 books in a month. I have never read more then 45 books in a YEAR. (And that was a very good year, I am usually doing good if I make it into the 30's.) And even if I have read something that gets posted about, due to a decent amount of traffic, someone may have already said what I have to say, so why say it again?

I think the member eyez0nme though hit on a point. From the threads I do read, I see very little badgering and flaming if at all. It is very civil here. So, though there may seem like very few posts or threads, at least the intelligence of the content is higher then might be seen on other forums.

 

[saliotthomas]

As for the flaming any a...... can do that,very easy.
Just put a lighter in front of you backside,and enjoy!


I agree with the general level,quality against quantity!

 

[dele]

I'm not new here either, but I leave for months at a time, usually when life gets too busy to allow for leisure time. I've found the forum a bit dull lately too, but I think it's just that I'm not reading much at the moment.

I miss a lot of the older members from back when we were The Book Forum, but what can you do, eh? Overall, this is a great forum. I don't see myself leaving for good for a very long time.

 

[jaybe]

I am faithfully hopeful to this site. I check the new posts almost daily but there is rarely anything to say.

I'm a big reader, but no one here seems to read the same books as me.

There are always new members logging in to say hello. I rarely greet them as I can't be encouraging about the excitement of this site.

It should be a busy and interesting place to visit but it ain't. It's got to be our fault. We are the members with nothing to say. Let's get blabbing and posting.

 

[Motokid]

May I join the conversation?

 

[sparkchaser]

No.

 

[Stewart]

So what's the deal?

Quite simple. Two members created their own forums, invited this forum's members to join up, which they did, and as such this place got abandoned. And they still hang about the forum waiting for other characters to show up on the forum and, I'm speculating here, send them invitations in private messages to their forums, thus continuing the cycle of drying this place up.

And for book forums, too many people are too shy to just post about books they read. Even just to start a thread about a book they've read. Doesn't matter if it's just a couple of sentences. If the threads are there, the more the site can stretch on Google and other search engines, and the more chance people searching for those books can be found.

 

[fabkebab]

I am a big poster in a music creation forum (the muses muse) and I have watched them decline from a peak of forum activity about 2 years ago to something quieter today - They always say "things go in cycles" but I think a lot of the people who used to come to "hang out" at forums are moving to networking sites like "facebook"

 

[Libra6Poe]

I just think it sucks when you post something and no one replies.
There's no conversations really happening anymore.

 

[G4G]

Quite simple. Two members created their own forums, invited this forum's members to join up, which they did, and as such this place got abandoned. And they still hang about the forum waiting for other characters to show up on the forum and, I'm speculating here, send them invitations in private messages to their forums, thus continuing the cycle of drying this place up.

No need to speculate - that's exactly what we've been doing. Well, I have - don't know about Moto. In fact, I invited two members here to join my forum yesterday. Some join, some don't. Several members of my forum still post here, as you do. Some join, don't like it, hang around a bit and then leave.

However, I don't think you can blame Moto and I for drying up BAR all on our lonesomes. Perhaps an admin that took more of an interest in his forum might help. But then our motives for running a forum are probably very different.

Anyway, you've got thousands of members, so you're obviously not doing too badly...

 

[SFG75]

May I join the conversation?

By all means, what is your take?


On another note, I'm not certain if the recent inaction here is due to Moto and CDA having their own forums. I am a member of about six forums, two book, and the rest cigar related-I find enough time to post on all of them and am fairly active on all those boards. If a person is at Moto's or CDA's, there isn't a reason why they couldn't enjoy both. abecedarian is a great example of someone who participates on more than one forum. So if people can participate in more than one forum, then why aren't we seeing a correspondence of participation here, as opposed to other places? What makes those places more susceptible to activity?

And where are the other mods and what happened to the BOTM?

 

[Anamnesis]

Schoolwork has left me feeling lazy to visit often. I could say the same for the majority of the other forums I visit.

And yeah, are we no longer doing BOTM discussions? Not that it would be a problem for me since the only reading I've been doing is for school.

 

[Motokid]

I'm seeing a slow-period at numerous forums.

However, I'd say that the "dullness" has been a bit more lingering here.

Why? That's probably attributable to numerous reasons.

I'd be happy to discuss these things(which of course would just be my opinion), but honestly I don't think 99% of the people here give two shits about what I might think.

Which may be one of the reasons.

I'm not suggesting my opinion has any real importance to it, but more that there's never been an atmosphere here where honest critiquing of the forum itself is welcome.

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As for the BOTM thing - start one if you want to.

It does not require a mod to do that. Stewart can make it a stickie if people get involved.

What I've witnessed though is just the opposite. 10-12 people recommend books. 5-10 people vote. 2 people apparently read the book and actually post about it, but no real discussion ever happens.

 

[Isabell]

I'm still here. I post, but read more often. I love this place...you all have given me reviews on books that I may not have read and enjoyed otherwise.