Christine wrote:
There are a lot of members on that thread whom we haven't seen for ages. Where have they all gone?
Well - a number of factors have caused the activity to plummet, in my opinion.
Firstly, what I might call 'natural shrinkage'. It's common for people to move on, after a few years, due to stuff that happens 'in real life'.
Secondly, the Facebook Factor. Not only Facebook, of course, there's Bebo and MySpace and various other sites. But Facebook offers many tempting applications, such as games, etc.
Thirdly, Big Brother. It's not what it used to be. Some of the older fans are no longer interested, and if they think of a site like this as primarily 'Big Brother' related, then they just forget to check the place, every so often.
And lastly - personality issues. People leave forums every day of the week, because they think the people on there are too argumentative/boring/nice/nasty/liberal/faschist - you can literally pick your own label. As any 'community' gets smaller, there's less variety of opinions, and it's a bit of a viscious circle - if people don't find posts on which they want to comment, then they don't post, and it goes on. I know some people who left here because they thought that diverse opinions were 'shot down', in an unfortunate manner. So they move on and find a different place, where there are more like-minded people. I suppose it's a bit like choosing a pub - or a church! - where you feel 'at home'.
No getting rid of me, though.
