Why is the forum so quiet?

[Vox Clara]

I expected things to pick up after Lent, but activity has actually gone down. Thoughts?

[Kaesekopf]

Because I'm a bad forum administrator.   

[Jayne]

For many of us, we live in places where we are finally getting some nicer weather, so some people may be wanting to be outside.

Personally, I have been putting a lot of time into studying German lately.  This uses much of the time that could otherwise be used for the forum.

Because I'm a bad forum administrator.   

I suspect that Joseph is posting less due to dissatisfaction with the forum (and I think he has some valid criticisms). 

For what it's worth, I think you are a rather good admin/mod when you are able to put the necessary time into it.  You would probably be great if this were your full time job, although I am not sure what that would do to your sanity.

[Vox Clara]

Because I'm a bad forum administrator.   

Unless you think you've gotten worse, that can't really account for a change in activity. 

Be that as it may, I think once a year you should do a Feast of Fools where you let the least competent member run the forum.

[james03]

Trads won.  A few years back there was a lot of opposition.  Now no one from the neoCatholic side has anything to say, as they know they are ridiculous.

There's also the move to social media.

[Jayne]

There is currently an ongoing thread at Fisheaters about a lull in posting on that forum.  While this is not necessarily occurring for the same reason as the one here, I prefer explanations that account for this on both forums.  Such as my theory about the weather.

[diaduit]

Well sometime back it was said that those of us who were 'acidic' in tone were the cause of others who were of a quieter nature not taking part.  That theory has been proven wrong I think.

[Jayne]

Well sometime back it was said that those of us who were 'acidic' in tone were the cause of others who were of a quieter nature not taking part.  That theory has been proven wrong I think.

There are definitely people who do not participate here who have said it was because of nasty, belligerent posts.  The problem goes far beyond "acidic tone".  What makes you think that this has been proven wrong?

Some examples:

One of the reasons I don't post here that often is that this place has gotten even more conspiracy minded, anti Jewish and white nationalist.  I'm not down with that.  I think it's possible to critique Jayne's views without saying anti Jewish remarks.

I’m just tired of a certain few posters who dominate the forum, and think they know everything about everything, when they haven’t a clue.

This why I remain mostly in the rafters.

I guess today I’m feeling feisty.

[Acolyte]

For many of us, we live in places where we are finally getting some nicer weather, so some people may be wanting to be outside.

Personally, I have been putting a lot of time into studying German lately.  This uses much of the time that could otherwise be used for the forum.

Because I'm a bad forum administrator.   

I suspect that Joseph is posting less due to dissatisfaction with the forum (and I think he has some valid criticisms). 

For what it's worth, I think you are a rather good admin/mod when you are able to put the necessary time into it.  You would probably be great if this were your full time job, although I am not sure what that would do to your sanity.

Yep, weather has to be a factor. I bought a nice bicycle Tuesday and I'll be riding it a lot more than the old Schwinn cruiser I bought in 2020.

I hang out on a few musicians forums and they all slow down after spring kicks in.

[MundaCorMeum]

My two cents, which is probably worth even less  .  Personally, I am in probably the busiest season of parenthood.  I've got a seventeen year old on down to two, and just about everything in between.  We have precious little free time, so when I do, it's spent fostering family time.  It's a big year for milestones for us, too:. Graduation, First Communion, and two Confirmations....plus, there always a birthday to celebrate. 

TL;DR:. it's not you, it's me 

[andy]

I personally never been super active on here besides a few threads pertaining to topics of special interest to me. But even with that, I recently started moving toward more person 2 person interaction within the local Church - you can say a traditional way of building catholic social relationships  - so sooner or later I will probably stop checking the forum out completely.

There is still a unique information you can find only here.

[Tennessean]

Real life.

[beev_bove_biv]

Well sometime back it was said that those of us who were 'acidic' in tone were the cause of others who were of a quieter nature not taking part.  That theory has been proven wrong I think.

There are definitely people who do not participate here who have said it was because of nasty, belligerent posts.  The problem goes far beyond "acidic tone".  What makes you think that this has been proven wrong?

Some examples:

One of the reasons I don't post here that often is that this place has gotten even more conspiracy minded, anti Jewish and white nationalist.  I'm not down with that.  I think it's possible to critique Jayne's views without saying anti Jewish remarks.

I’m just tired of a certain few posters who dominate the forum, and think they know everything about everything, when they haven’t a clue.

This why I remain mostly in the rafters.

I guess today I’m feeling feisty.

"Nasty belligerent quotes" = doesn't believe the government and/or CNN

[Jayne]

"Nasty belligerent quotes" = doesn't believe the government and/or CNN

The "nasty belligerent" bit referred to things like people who expressed their disagreement with me by claiming that I was sneaky and manipulative and blaming it on my Jewish ancestry.  This is the context for the statement "I think it's possible to critique Jayne's views without saying anti Jewish remarks."

The "evidence" that I was sneaky and manipulative, by the way, was completely imaginary.  They claimed that I had gotten Joseph to post here as some sort of plot to disrupt the forum.  One of the people making this claim had himself befriended Joseph in chat and encouraged him to start posting in the forum.  The chat logs showing this were posted.

Things like this should not be minimized as "acidic tone".  There have been many vicious personal attacks involving various people, behaviour that would have been quickly addressed back when we had a moderation team.  The lone moderator gets around to them eventually, but they have time to poison the atmosphere of the forum before he does. 

[Melkor]

'Cause LTC got banned. 

Seriously though, I think the time of year, (fishing season is upon us, let's gooo) and the fact that most people are finally able to do stuff again after 2 years (thanks covid)is the biggest reason. Plus forums are, sadly, dying.