What gives?

[Motokid]

I see TBF/BAR as having morphed more into a message board, and moved farther away from being a discussion board.

There are a lot of posts here, but few discussions.

Maybe that's the nature of a forum dedicated to something like books.

And maybe that's the way most here want it?

When I joined this forum was much more of a discussion board in my view.

Lots of people talking about all kinds of things. There was rarely a day when you would not log on to find less than 50 un-read posts since your last visit.

Sure, much of that was non-book related, but it still kept the place lively.


Now, from what I see, people post once on a subject, then move on.

Again, that's fine if that's what most here want, but I also think that's why others have migrated to forums that are more geared towards discussion.

 

[StillILearn]

The Hell Hole's a hell of a lot more fun (except if you want to talk about books), in which case The Fallout Shelter is the place to go. I'm grateful to this place because I met a lot of really great people here. I left because it was beginning to get grouchy.

 

[Libra6Poe]

I see TBF/BAR as having morphed more into a message board, and moved farther away from being a discussion board.

There are a lot of posts here, but few discussions.

That's what I was saying.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

My perception is that the board has been in a steady downward spiral since before I even joined. Breakaway boards might have accelerated the process somewhat, but it was already happening.

If I had to put my finger on one reason, I'd probably go for a lack of direction and push from the admin, who rarely seems to post. That and him not listening to the membership, so some left to set up the other boards.

I still have fond memories of when the place was busier and check in occasionally to see if anything interesting is being said, but it rarely is. I suspect that quite a lot of the older members who used to post more heavily do the same.

Of course I could help things out by posting again myself. But if the admin doesn’t seem to care that the board is drifting down into nothing, why should anyone else?

Regards,

K_S

 

[StillILearn]

If the only purpose this place serves is to make your and Stewart's links available, then that's purpose enough.

 

[Ronny]

Like a lot of others, I check in from time to time, I may post once or twice a month and my reasons are the same as the others mentioned above, mostly the members I really liked discussing things with are gone or no longer posting, some of them I see at other forums but many just seemed to disappear. There are many forums that have more going on (even other book forums) and have a more active and reliable admin/member base, I am sure there are many reasons why the BOTM & the new Romance section have not been handled but if they aren't here I can always go somewhere else that has them. I also think that many don't invest much in a forum that seems to be neglected by the admin, you start to feel it could be gone any day.

I really think the forum lost a lot due to delays and bad judgment in the past, like when it tried so hard to banish all but book discussion, I know this is a book forum but if I know a little more about members then I know if I might like the same books as them, I feel more comfortable discussing things with them and I think it's just part of the natural flow of discussion to get off topic from time to time, I think the more confined you are to just the one topic the less discussion you're going to have. All the shying away from controversy didn't help really, flame wars are bad but some good honest debating helps bring out personality and posts some of are most popular threads are the more edgy ones. I may not of always liked some of the older members or their opinions but I liked having different points of view, some of our most controversial members also read and discussed great books, had a lot to say about them and sometimes I even learned a bit here and there, I liked coming here and never knowing what I may find. That has been missing for quite awhile.

 

[sparkchaser]

For a forum to be successful it needs to have a critical mass of members, a core group of regular posters, and a dedicated admin team. Whatever that critical mass might be for a "typical" forum I think would be substantially less than what the critical mass for a book discussion forum would need to be because of the number of different genres a book discussion forum would need to accommodate.

I don't read as fast as I would like and average 1-2 books a month. I'd love to participate in the book of the month discussion but my TBR pile is too large to justify buying and reading a random book that falls outside of my typical reading fare.

 

[Motokid]

For a forum to be successful it needs to have a critical mass of members, a core group of regular posters, and a dedicated admin team.

Admin team? Would that be moderators?

Doesn't a forum like this need active and engaging morderators?

Not enforcers, but a core group that is invested in creating and producing some kind of action or activity to keep things lively?

This is not a stab at Stewart, at least he's here.

Where are the moderators?

Where are the people with a vested interest in keeping members interested in coming back?

 

[cmbroom]

I originally joined for the book of the month, and nobody seemed to really participate in that. So, now I mostly lurk. But I am starting to respond to a some things.

 

[sparkchaser]

Admin team? Would that be moderators?

No, there are Admins and there are Moderators. Admins are the ones that are supposed to generate traffic to the site and the Moderators moderate the traffic by making sure it stays on topic.

Doesn't a forum like this need active and engaging morderators?

Not really. A moderator's job is to make sure things stay relatively on topic and stay civil. If the forum members do a good job of moderating themselves then moderators don't need to step in. It helps if the moderators take part in the discussions but it's not absolutely necessary.

Not enforcers, but a core group that is invested in creating and producing some kind of action or activity to keep things lively?

That's the job of the members and admin. Moderators can and probably should join in (since they're members too) but it's certainly not required. Ideally, moderators are members who have demonstrated that they have the maturity and judgment that an Admin would have with regards to moderation.

This is not a stab at Stewart, at least he's here.

Stewart is always here. There are other moderators?

Where are the moderators?

I don't know. Aside from Darren and Stewart, are there other mods?

Where are the people with a vested interest in keeping members interested in coming back?

Counting their Euros?

 

[Stewart]

I don't know. Aside from Darren and Stewart, are there other mods?

There are two more. One, as far as I know, became a mother and understandably has other priorities right now. I'm sure the other has life admin, too. Christ knows what Darren's playing at. But there will be reasons.

 

[sparkchaser]

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

I'll talk to you any day.


I've noticed the traffic has picked up in the past week.

 

[saliotthomas]

JEEEESSSUUUUSSSS!!!!!! stewart !
what happen to your avatar,have you had a operation or something,?is it expensive ?you look way younger ! love the jacket,real cool !say keep it this way ,there should be a crowed on the forum.

 

[Leyland]

May Mackenzie: Wow, you've turned into a right sexy wee bastard. Do you know that?

 

[Leyland]

I've noticed the traffic has picked up in the past week.

I'm an accountant. It's tax season. I've got just over a month more of 55-60 hour work weeks and I'm taking a class at university one night a week. I'm firing major posts out on certain days as I try to maintain a certain level of mental balance! This is one of those days.

 

[Libra6Poe]

I'll talk to you any day.


I've noticed the traffic has picked up in the past week.

Thanky!

Yes, I've noticed that as well!

 

[abecedarian]

JEEEESSSUUUUSSSS!!!!!! stewart !
what happen to your avatar,have you had a operation or something,?is it expensive ?you look way younger ! love the jacket,real cool !say keep it this way ,there should be a crowed on the forum.

Some of us already knew what a handsome Reader Rabbit he is.

Fortunately, he's also modest....

 

[Stewart]

Fortunately, he's also modest....

Yes, I am.

 

[Motokid]

Can we get back on-topic here?

Perhaps mods should not have to "drive" the activity?
Perhaps they should?

They should at least be active and available.

 

[fabkebab]

I saw a hilarious "ad" at the side of this forum- it was basically for a service that will post messages to your forum to create the illusion that you have more members than you really do...
Not suggesting anyone here wants to use it, but I thought it was funny and pertinent to your "driving traffic" discussion!