SF/C Forum is a lot quieter than it used to be?

[lismore]

Has anyone else noticed that the forum seems to be a lot quieter these days?

Not so many members online. Not so many replies to the posts.

What can we do to make people feel at home here?

 

[JimB]

　
IMO, when we went for each others' throats more people tuned in to watch, just like they tune in to watch a NASCAR race or a cage fight ... they want to see a crash. Of course, they complain about the ruckus and the way we tussle, and are very free with their lectures on how we aren't behaving as Christians ... but they keep returning, hoping their point of view will win out and the other side will hit the wall.

That's JMO, but I think that's why so few people hang around. The combatants are not trying to prove their point these days and the spectators have gone away.

What this forum needs is a good fight.

~Jim

Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber​

 

[Optimax]

　
IMO, when we went for each others' throats more people tuned in to watch, just like they tune in to watch a NASCAR race or a cage fight ... they want to see a crash. Of course, they complain about the ruckus and the way we tussle, and are very free with their lectures on how we aren't behaving as Christians ... but they keep returning, hoping their point of view will win out and the other side will hit the wall.

That's JMO, but I think that's why so few people hang around. The combatants are not trying to prove their point these days and the spectators have gone away.

What this forum needs is a good fight.

~Jim

Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber​

A good fight, Huh!!

Well, MY scripture can spank Your scripture!!!!!

 

[pdudgeon]

it's Summer. people are on vacation, kids are not at school, etc.
the population usually picks back up in the Fall.

 

[Biblicist]

Hey, its not Summer its the middle of Winter for one half of the world.

 

[probinson]

Many people just got tired of the strife, having the same, tired, pointless arguments day in and day out.

IMO, most Christians aren't all that fascinated with fighting and put downs as some would have you to believe. In fact, they're quite tired of it, and simply want some grown-up, respectful, honest discourse. When people couldn't find it here, they moved on.

 

[Yitzchak]

I have been occasionally posting on three other message boards and I have seen dozens of former Christian forums who used to post in the Charismatic section. They all seem to have the same story. They left disillusioned and or frustrated with Christian forums. I hope that the management of the board are doing some exit interviews to find out what the problems are.

I also have noticed there are quite a few lurkers who only post if it gets interesting to them.

Also the summer is the slow time.


So several factors working together have created this slow time. I wonder if we are getting new people to replace the ones who have left ? Something we take for granted is that there will always be a Charismatic section. It might be that Christian forums will continue but if the Charismatic section dries up because we consume one another with bitter fighting then the message board will continue minus this sub forum.

From a business standpoint , the message board has to be willing to cut it's losses and invest where the interest is.

Anyway , just sharing thoughts off the top of my head. The best way to rekindle interest is to post interesting threads.

 

[LinuxUser]

Well you all got more traffic than the sub forum I haunt. A Charismatic ghost town it is

 

[gratefulgrace]

I also have noticed there are quite a few lurkers who only post if it gets interesting to them.
This makes sense to me why would you post on a topic you are not intersted in?

 

[Biblicist]

Being new to this forum I'm not all that sure that my comments accurately address the situation but the Australian/NZ region forum has reached the stage where it has become virtually unusable due to the influx of trolls.

The intriguing thing about it all is that in spite of their inflamatory remarks toward posters and with their hatred toward God they have been allowed to slowly derail this forum. Is the main issue with a lack of moderators and considering the complexity of the CF site this may be a legitmate reason.

Even though moderation will always be a contentious issue, if trolls are allowed to populate specific forums then people will simply stay away.

 

[gratefulgrace]

I haven't noticed may trolls challenging christian faith on these forums but of course I only visit a few subforums. But controlling that should be a priority.

 

[JimB]

Personally, I have not noticed much of a difference in the number of people who come here. We’re just a little quieter than we used to be.

I still say that people came here when they smelled blood. People sure didn’t go away when we were engaged in the Holy Wars. They came here because they wanted to see a good fight. It’s human nature, IMO. People love to see a spirited contest. That’s why contact sports draws people by the thousands and friendly chess matches draws them by the ones and twos … or not at all. They went away when things quieted down. I would guarantee that if we locked horns again we would draw the same old crowd of blood sport spectators who would come here if for no other reason than to lecture us on how we should all just try to get along. The irony is that the thing that draws them to the forum is the thing they want to stop and when it stops they drift away.

Like I say, it’s human nature.

~Jim

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. ~C.S. Lewis​

 

[HIM_In_Me_In_HIM]

.....i'm guessing that its just a cyclical kinda thing.

that is, u get a bunch of new folks that come on here

(or other subforums too) for awhile stirring things up

for a "season" and then get what their looking for OR

realize they're spinning wheels against some veterans

&/or cliques who arent budging an inch.

"they're baaaaaaackkk !" u'll be saying soon enough.

 

[lismore]

Many people just got tired of the strife, having the same, tired, pointless arguments day in and day out.

IMO, most Christians aren't all that fascinated with fighting and put downs as some would have you to believe. In fact, they're quite tired of it, and simply want some grown-up, respectful, honest discourse. When people couldn't find it here, they moved on.

I agree

I miss a lot of the old faces.

I remember a couple of years back, you could post on a thread, come back later the same day and 10+ pages of new posts on the thread could have appeared.

Now it's like a ghost ship.

 

[probinson]

Personally, I have not noticed much of a difference in the number of people who come here.

Really? If you honestly think that's the case, you ought to go back and read some old threads. There are countless people who used to post here very regularly that are now long gone. What once was a thriving community is, as lismore put it, now a ghost ship. Time was I couldn't keep up with all the posts if I was gone for more than half a day. Last weekend I was gone from Friday-Monday, and when I came back Monday night, there were only a dozen threads that had any activity. Some days, I log on in the middle of the day to find myself all alone. That never used to be the case.

I still say that people came here when they smelled blood. People sure didn’t go away when we were engaged in the Holy Wars. They came here because they wanted to see a good fight. It’s human nature, IMO. People love to see a spirited contest. That’s why contact sports draws people by the thousands and friendly chess matches draws them by the ones and twos … or not at all. They went away when things quieted down. I would guarantee that if we locked horns again we would draw the same old crowd of blood sport spectators who would come here if for no other reason than to lecture us on how we should all just try to get along. The irony is that the thing that draws them to the forum is the thing they want to stop and when it stops they drift away.

If you say so.

Personally, I believe most people got tired of the strife and left. Most people aren't looking for more strife; they're looking for respectful discussion.

 

[SharonL]

Has anyone else noticed that the forum seems to be a lot quieter these days?

Not so many members online. Not so many replies to the posts.

What can we do to make people feel at home here?

I keep checking back and it is really sad to see what has happened to this forum. I don't have an answer, but will try to help if I can.

 

[Yitzchak]

I also have noticed there are quite a few lurkers who only post if it gets interesting to them.
This makes sense to me why would you post on a topic you are not intersted in?

One would think that people would only post in what they are interested in. But some people post sometimes and say they are not interested?? There are people who come on here daily and post on everything. which I do not mind at all.

But my point was that there are probably more people who come on here than are shown by the daily posts. If we got them all together on here at once , it would be a higher number than it appears.

 

[Alpine]

Really? If you honestly think that's the case, you ought to go back and read some old threads. There are countless people who used to post here very regularly that are now long gone. What once was a thriving community is, as lismore put it, now a ghost ship. Time was I couldn't keep up with all the posts if I was gone for more than half a day. Last weekend I was gone from Friday-Monday, and when I came back Monday night, there were only a dozen threads that had any activity. Some days, I log on in the middle of the day to find myself all alone. That never used to be the case.



If you say so.

Personally, I believe most people got tired of the strife and left. Most people aren't looking for more strife; they're looking for respectful discussion.

Much of what you say is true, but the bottom line is that the whole site is dying. The activity isn't even close to what it was when I first joined on the whole site.

 

[whatfor]

I am still here lurking.

Nothing much happening in my life to post about, and I am not sure where I stand on most issues, sounds weird I know.

 

[JimB]

Really? If you honestly think that's the case, you ought to go back and read some old threads. There are countless people who used to post here very regularly that are now long gone. What once was a thriving community is, as lismore put it, now a ghost ship. Time was I couldn't keep up with all the posts if I was gone for more than half a day. Last weekend I was gone from Friday-Monday, and when I came back Monday night, there were only a dozen threads that had any activity. Some days, I log on in the middle of the day to find myself all alone. That never used to be the case.



If you say so.

Personally, I believe most people got tired of the strife and left. Most people aren't looking for more strife; they're looking for respectful discussion.

I do say so.

And sure, I read those posts whining about the bloodletting but the irony is they kept coming back day after day to see us duke it out (and whine about it). When the bloodletting stopped they went away, not before. The “thriving community” you imagine was once here were just spectators at a prizefight. My guess is, they lost interest and drifted on when the forum morphed into the “I agree with you … well, I and you … and you … and you” tone of the current forum.

I am not saying we should return to our heated arguments but if we did I am sure we would see our lecturerers return to the forum.

~Jim

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. ~C.S. Lewis​