Are you a LURKER?

[WebSlave]

The discussion forums here on this site have never really done well. I'm not holding my breath thinking that they ever will at this late date. I have tried to put in specific moderators to try to put some life in the discussion forums, which did not pan out well. So I'm just not losing sleep over that failure.

Over the years I have eliminated some forums, and merged others to cut out the unused ones and stop wasting screen real estate. That will likely continue, and perhaps so much that eventually all of the snake and lizard related general discussion forums will be combined into only two forums, one each for snakes and lizards. And perhaps even those will eventually be combined to just be a general reptile discussion forum. Depends on whether some forums are earning their keep either with traffic or sponsors.

I will try to adapt this site to make sense based on what traffic dictates. Obviously, all forums here are subject to a USE IT or LOSE IT rule. Up to, and including, the entire site itself. Maybe FaceBorg will take over the internet and make all other sites a thing of the past. If that proves to be what people what, who am I to argue and fight against the tide? But it's just not for me. Personally the structure of FaceBorg makes my skin crawl, so I doubt I will ever surrender and hook up the electrodes myself.

So in a nutshell, this site is going to be what the users make it. We, as admin and moderators, will only have a limited influence over that. Or if I am just wrong about this, and I am making some dramatic mistakes, then let me know. Lord knows I've made mistakes in the past here.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

eventually all of the snake and lizard related general discussion forums will be combined into only two forums, one each for snakes and lizards.

That's not a bad idea. Each section in snakes and lizards does have a recent post within this month but overall usage and replies in the discussion forums are minimal and always seem to have been. I'd leave the business & general discussion forums as they are (since people seem to look at this site as being focused on business, BOI/classifieds mainly). Maybe combine Crocodile and Amphibians?
Just some thoughts.

 

[Helenthereef]

I used to post more frequently in discussion threads when I was new to the site (and to my snakes) and had more questions to ask and things to discuss. I post less now because most of my issues found answers, for which I was very grateful.

I have noticed a similar pattern with some new members who often start out posting on practically every forum they can find, but then drop off, I think either because, like me, their main questions have been answered, or, I'm afraid quite frequently, they meet an abrupt or less than friendly response.

I also think that the discussions forums seem to have dropped off as we shed the more disruptive members. I agree it has made for a more peaceable BOI, but we lost some very active characters.

I'm not a typical member as I am outside the USA and don't trade through the site, so I use the forums differently from most - but personally I'd be sorry to lose the specific discussion forums - they are a good place for new members to start and meet people keeping their particular species.

 

[PythonMan89]

This site gets alot of visitors. I've watched the traffic in a variety of our forums - and some threads get a lot of views, but minimal response. So, my question to you is: What does it take to get you to make a post? What is holding you back? I really want to know. Please take just a moment to respond to this poll. Then, when you get a few minutes, stop by the forum that deals with something that you keep & make a post...it can be a response to a current thread, or you can start your own (even something as simple as mentioning an animal you keep and how long you have had it).

More often than not, the posts I read tend to be outdated, so if I have questions and check the date of the post, I generally won't pose my question there. I actually posted something about a month ago, it's gotten a few views but no one has posted anything, aside from one other user on here. I'm mostly just wandering through the classifieds and forum pages about subjects/animals that I'm interested in to gain some more knowledge.

 

[Crazyscales]

Pythoman89 hit it on the head with that last post. I'm very new here but not to the herp hobby. Unfortunately it's the same with most of the forums I've joined. See a topic I want to get into but see that it's a post from 4 yrs ago. Not to many people around me into herps and would love to pick people's brains on how the do it . Maybe even helping some else if I could.

 

[Randall Turner]

I think the pruning of overall forum page numbers down to a condensed format might help with posting. I regularly come by a post that I overlooked previously, simply because of the sheer number of individual topic groups/pages.