OK.. I have remained kinda quiet on the subject.. so time for me to chime in with observations, etc. I spent about half an hour writing this. I was going to remain quiet on this, but it doesn't want to go away. I spent a while reading the whole thread, and tried to cover the major points. I would prefer posts of this nature to appear in the members area from now on. This is the last thread of this nature I'll allow outside of the Member's Only area (Playful Penguin Playpen).

I locked the original thread, no more responses. Let it die.

1) January is ALWAYS a slow month. So is June-August. In seven years of doing this, that's always been a constant with the site.

2) A quick check of the thread titles in the 80s section shows 18 threads about the 80s, and two threads about regulars and lack of views... 9 threads are flaming meaning at least 15 responses. All but two threads have seen responses today. a GOOD day on the old 80s messageboard, used to see at most 30-40 posts, usually closer to twenty.  The messageboards combined right now see close to two hundred a day. Most posts are in the 80s messageboard.

3) Talk about who has been here the longest is moot. *I* have been here the longest and *I* don't care how long most people have been here.

4) This is not just a messageboard, it's a community. Entire books have been written on the subject of online communities (at one point in the dot-com boom, it was considered highly desirable to have one for ad views, etc). Most communities develop over time, we've all come here gradually, and we've all stuck around for various reasons. All communities have distinct people who hang around for specific reasons, some like to just read, some like to respond to everything, some like to be noticed, some like to cause trouble, etc.

5) Off topic posts are a fact of life in any online community. This is not the first messageboard to see it. I'd be pretty shocked if we didn't have any at all. The ultimate worth of any messageboard, is how many off-topic (or worthless as some people put it) posts there are, compared to the on-topic posts. Just a quick glance at thread titles reveals a pretty decent mix. There's virtually no spam, try looking at a Usenet messageboard like alt.culture.us.1980s where every other post tends to be spam.

6) You'll notice I tend to try and stay out of discussions like this, I don't like to dictate how things run. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony.

7) This thread is one big whine about who has been here since when, and who various people don't like. If you don't like someone's posts, ignore them. If enough people don't like someone's post, chances are, there wouldn't be any responses.

8) If you think someone shouldn't post off-topic posts, and then respond to one like, well, you're a hypocrite. I think most of the people in this thread complaining about off topic posts, have responded to at least a couple. "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" (oh, those years of Sunday school finally pay off)

8a) This is an off topic post

8b) I should have killed it by the 5th post when it started getting ugly.

9) If you think people don't like a few certain individual's posts, you should see what people think of Jon Katz on Slashdot. The guy is a paid staff member, and they actually have a filter so you don't have to see his posts (I know I use it).

10) The new software does make things easier to read more posts, and respond quicker, etc. That is one of the primary reasons were seeing more posts. The old software made things a lot harder to read entire threads. It also makes ranking a little more prominent, which helps encourage people to hang around.

11) Live chats. I've tried them in the past. It's hard to pick a time, hard to pick software everyone can use. When you do get together, usually messages are "hello. I'm leaving. Who are you? Where do you live?" with very little else. I used to spend a lot of time on IRC before the web was widespread, around 1992-1994. Most of the chat rooms were pretty useless. I've given up on the whole thing.

12) I don't need the board to thrive/survive anything. The site as a whole gets more traffic than I can handle (which is why the movies/tv/band sections went away).  The board makes it interesting for everyone who comes back, and since I no longer get to update the regular part of the site, is an attraction to itself. Advertisers don't like messageboards, they want lots of unique visitors, they don't want to keep pushing the same message in front of the same people. I run the messageboard because *I* want to run the messageboard. I almost view the rest of the site as the means to support it, not the other way around.

13) What the *BOARD* needs, is new members. The messageboard ALWAYS needs new members, because old members occasionally stop coming for whatever reason. When people feel like they can't post for the first time because they're afraid of offending someone, that's bad.

14) The attitude of this site, is supposed to be relaxed. If you care about how many posts you have, or whether people "respect" you, you're not following the rules. There's three rules. 1) Have fun 2) Don't piss off ChuckyG 3) See rule number 1

15) Priority should always be given to responding to new members. ALWAYS. If someone posts a question, it should get answered, either with what they're looking for, or how to find it. If someone with a post count under 10 asks a question that has been asked before, the proper response is not "We've already discussed that." Most people do not know how to use the search function. If Hairspray asks a question we already discussed, then you should feel free to be rude  ;D (Just kidding)

16) Me too posts.  Well, um, if you haven't got much to say, and the person isn't taking a poll (How many people ...?), then a me too post is probably not really necessary. Of course it's only one line, but I know if I'm following a thread, and I check it, and the only new post is "me too" I'm a little disappointed.

17) If you have a problem with someone, posting public messages about it, doesn't usually help. That's a plea for people to gang up on someone. That's not really acceptable behavoir from anyone.

so for my peeve:

You know, if someone asks a question that's covered by a page on the site already, it would be nice if you pointed them to it.

that's all

Me too Chucky!

Only joking! ;D
I respect what you've said and even though you've never (in my time here) 'pulled rank' I think this will hopefully prove to be a fruitful exercise.

I'd like to congratulate you (no one else post "Me too" for crying out loud...I speak for the masses ), on your unwavering efforts in making this board a special, nostalgic and interesting place to meet.  

LONG LIVE CHUCKY, THE 80s MESSAGEBOARD and that whole PENGUIN THING (the idea of which, I have to admit, Ive not quite grasped yet)...

I feel that it is possible to say "Me too" on a post. But only if, as I always try to do, one attempts to expand on their chosen thread. I think its this expansion that makes the board grow from "Me Too" to an interesting discussion.

Chucky

I have to say, as a relative newbie round here, but an old timer of three years on my own message boards, that your post was the most precise, concise, and honest one I have ever read and I wish I had your way with words.  You basically covered the entire history of forums and why they exist.
I have made some fabulous friends all over the world via my own boards and have even had a group of Americans come to Aus just to visit me.  
I felt warmly welcomed here when I popped my head in a few months ago.

Thanks for your observations and insight.
K

Chucky,  I am not posting to say I disagree with the above...you're correct.  However, I don't see where that post you mention got out of hand - especially enough to lock it?  I can understand if someone had used offensive language or threatened someone.  Maybe I'm overlooking something??  I just don't get it.  I hope this place doesn't turn out to be one of those boards that is no longer fun to return to again and again. :(

The whole reason I posted the "the old crowd" was that everytime I got on the message board I saw more and more of the old crowd saying they were taking a break from the board due to uselss posting.  And like hairspray replied we needed to start new posts and we all agreed and jumped at the chance to just have fun posting again.  I did not mean anything against the newbies...I am glad they are here and give some new insight to the board.  But I think that locking the post and not letting people say what was on their minds was not right.  I started an honest post, wondering what was happening, while I may have posted it in the wrong forum, I did get to find out what was up. So now I know to place my posts in the correct places or get locked out.  So much for that.

Well Chucky, I must say it's a good thing you're not in charge of some of the other message boards I frequent.....it would be a full time job for you! :)

P.S.  I still don't see where the other thread in question was so bad?  Oh well....

Gosh, I hope my post didn't mess anything up...

I was being sarcastic. http://www.plauder-smilies.de/crap.gif