is boards dying in popularity?

Akrasia · 07-03-2014 08:54AM

Charlie19 wrote: »

I find boards.ie is a bit of a taboo, I've only ever met about a half dozen of people that openly admit to using it.

You can't meet boards.ie users in real life, you have to go on the internet

That's where we live

o1s1n · 07-03-2014 09:01AM

Eight Ball wrote: »

Only here a few months but there seems to be a bit too much censorship of ones opinions. Maybe that has something to do with it?

buckfasterer wrote: »

Too many people on here with the holier than thou approach. Mods far too scared of legalities doesn't help either.

Blame Irish defamation law. The owners of the site can only work with what is available to them.

I really have to laugh at threads like this. I've seen several generations of posters come and go on this forum. At some point they all go on about how the place is 'dying', how it's 'changing for the worst,' how the new posters are all 'trolls and ruining the real discussion'.

Afterhours has always been like this. Seriously. It's on a bit of a larger scale now as there's more broadband penetration in the country, therefore more users (and more idiots), but it hasn't really changed that much.

If Afterhours was the only forum on boards I'd have left years ago. Thankfully there are countless more (and better) ones. Go searching OP.

Davarus Walrus · 07-03-2014 09:17AM

In the case of AH, it just gets really tiresome having to read the opinions of morons and mouth-breathers. And the place is full of them.

Wibbs · 07-03-2014 09:49AM

Zascar wrote: »

What's dying is the frequency of actual decent discussion - it's just really bad puns and stupid jokes derailing threads most of the time. Maybe we can see the statistics I'm sure it's doing just as well if not better than in the past - but proper discussion of topics and events has certainly been going downhill for a long time.

the_monkey wrote: »

This is true for After Hours

I disagree with this in a big way. Go back deep in the pages of history on AH and there are far more "worthy" discussions today than even a few years ago. You'll notice thread titles tended to be shorter a few years ago and there were a lot more frivolous threads and subjects. Then go into those threads and the "your ma", "make me a sandwich" and "blast with piss" type replies are very common. You may also note a helluva lot more moved threads. If anything the success and breadth of AH has taken traffic from other forums. Humanities an example that springs to mind. It used to be pretty busy, now it's pretty dead. When Boards dies back as is the nature of things, AH will be the last forum standing. I like that idea, especially as too many regard it sniffily.

Is Boards itself dying? I doubt it, but numbers do feel/are down alright. In some ways it's grown like a person and it's in middle age now. More conservative, self protective, less likely to think outa the box. The sense of a wider and personal Boards community has certainly diminished, if not vanished. I think that peaked in numbers and vibe between 2009-2010. Local forums can certainly have that feeling though and private forums definitely have it. Obviously I don't have access to the stats but I'd bet the private forums are far more popular than is publicly evident. I've only been a member of a couple but I noted that in each one the number of posts comfortably exceeded many public forums(even some "popular" ones) and there were only a couple of dozen members. At most. I was in one private forum where after a year of existence it had more threads and posts than many "front page" forums and that was from a membership of 10-12.

Actually that's another aspect to this. The bald stats that the interweb relies on for advertising etc on sites like this are mostly BS IMHO(BS google and the like will back up with esoteric stat massaging for obvious reasons). The actual core number of contributors and content providers is actually much smaller than the front page stats might suggest. I read quite a few forums on here where if you removed two or three posters they would be essentially ghost towns. You may have a varying number of rotating posters on top of that, but the two or three are the keystone members. With a few of these folks they're keystone members in more than one forum.

In other forums that are larger, or appear so, that number of keystone members would actually be still quite small. 20 or 30 kinda levels. Some forums keep busy because of their chat threads(which many mods dislike, often for good reason). Remove those chat threads and the numbers would plummet. Even here on AH, the biggest forum on Boards by a margin, I'd reckon the number of these keystone content providers is "only" a couple of hundred. That's fine though, it means it's in no danger of dying anytime soon. I reckon when that number drops below ten a forum is on life support and very sensitive to any pressure.

anncoates · 07-03-2014 10:24AM

Like most people, I like jokes/puns as much as a serious topic and there is - and always was - plenty of both in AH. In fact, there's even more serious stuff here now than ever as the guidelines has tightened up considerable in recent years. A scan of the first 2 pages of this forum is instant testament to that.

I joined in 2006 and there was always a vocal minority of sanctimonious whingers that were presumably afraid of the serious forums and wanted to purge AH of what they didn't like and, ironically, always harked back to a imagined era when everybody knew each other; topics were all suitably serious and you didn't have this dastardly thanks system that allowed normal users to show non-clique types and - shock - new users that their posts were appreciated by the community.

One thing that's also contributed to the perhaps slowdown in main forum traffic is the proliferation of private forums, I would assume.

Baze · 07-03-2014 11:07AM

Charlie19 wrote: »

I find boards.ie is a bit of a taboo, I've only ever met about a half dozen of people that openly admit to using it.

I was browsing Boards on the Luas yesterday and this woman noticed.

She gave me this look of disgust and pulled her children closer to her.

Friend Computer · 07-03-2014 11:42AM

anncoates wrote: »

Like most people, I like jokes/puns as much as a serious topic and there is - and always was - plenty of both in AH. In fact, there's even more serious stuff here now than ever as the guidelines has tightened up considerable in recent years. A scan of the first 2 pages of this forum is instant testament to that.

I joined in 2006 and there was always a vocal minority of sanctimonious whingers that were presumably afraid of the serious forums and wanted to purge AH of what they didn't like and, ironically, always harked back to a imagined era when everybody knew each other; topics were all suitably serious and you didn't have this dastardly thanks system that allowed normal users to show non-clique types and - shock - new users that their posts were appreciated by the community.

One thing that's also contributed to the perhaps slowdown in main forum traffic is the proliferation of private forums, I would assume.

I'm one of those people from before your time (2003) who make no bones about missing the "good old days". It's not even the more laid-back tone (I like light-hearted threads) or thanks system, I just miss when AH didn't have quite so many of the drooling simpletons who chant "PC liberal do gooder :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:" or whatever their phrase of choice is.

I suppose it's just a symptom of Boards' own Eternal September; the kind of people who talk like that wouldn't have known about it or wouldn't have been interested in online forums at the time. Nowadays everyone and their dog come through here.

Does that make me sound elitist? I'm sure it does but I'm not going to apologise for it.

BillyMitchel · 07-03-2014 11:53AM

Eight Ball wrote: »

Only here a few months but there seems to be a bit too much censorship of ones opinions. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Quiet there now!

I say bring back the Man City kid. Solves all the problems

anncoates · 07-03-2014 11:55AM

Friend Computer wrote: »

Does that make me sound elitist? I'm sure it does but I'm not going to apologise for it.

At least you managed not to show a gathering card, I guess.

jimgoose · 07-03-2014 12:00PM

I miss USENET, Flatfish++ and Dave Tholen.

maguic24 · 07-03-2014 12:01PM

BillyMitchel wrote: »

Quiet there now!

I say bring back the Man City kid. Solves all the problems

Is that the...

Thread Closed

Guy. Hilarious! :pac:

BillyMitchel · 07-03-2014 12:16PM

maguic24 wrote: »

Is that the...

Thread Closed

Guy. Hilarious! :pac:

Could be him alright. Think he wanted to be a mod too. He could be in boards legends, if he isn't, he should.

Chairman Meow · 07-03-2014 12:26PM

In the early-mid 2000s i think boards was alot more active and you could easily waste a full day reading and posting stuff here. but i think as the net itself has grown boards just seems to be a bit of a relic, at least IMO. Discussion is spread across far, far too many forums and sub forums. This might have seemed like a great idea in 2004 (more forums = bigger and bigger always means better! Irelands largest forum!! etc), but it just means discussion is spread far too thin across too many forums and gives the impression that alot of the sub forums are dead (which alot of them are).
My 2 big hobbies are gaming and MMA, and both forums on here for those subjects move at a snails pace, so i dont even really read them or use them as other, smaller forums on the net have much better, more active threads for such discussion. I dunno, im not even gonna go down the route of complaining about moderation or censorship killing discussion or blah blah, i honestly just think the site is a bit or a relic of an earlier time of the internet.

I guess adverts is good tho, ill give it that.

catallus · 07-03-2014 12:31PM

Private forums detract from the main page that is visible to all users. Sometimes threads pop up in AH that have run their course in private forums and then are moved to Ah. This can't attract more traffic to the site. I know some private forums are necessary (vital, even), but as stated above, it fragments the site too much.

GLaDOS · 07-03-2014 12:34PM

Some would argue that boards has gotten too popular, if anything. I reckon it's fine the way it is, though some of the smaller forums do seem to be dying off a little.

Have to agree with a few other and say I hate the reddit style layout, not that it'll ever be implemented on boards.

P_1 · 07-03-2014 12:44PM

It has certainly lost something over the years alright. Sadly that tends to happen once something gets bigger though.

Perhaps the growing regulation of the internet might be to blame too. People are more likely to think before they post (in most cases anyway) and the mods and admins have a bit of a tightrope to walk between encouraging debate and protecting the site from legal issues.

Private forums might have also slowed things down too but that is natural if you ask me. People are more comfortable chatting away in private spaces with people they know than in a more anonymous public sphere.

TheMilkyPirate · 07-03-2014 01:17PM

Being able to close your account and the Thanks system have done nothing for boards.

Closing your account was a stupid option people just get bored close their accounts and open new ones. Posters lose their identity and we're left with hundreds of newly opened accounts with stupid "funny" usernames.

GLaDOS · 07-03-2014 01:20PM

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

Being able to close your account and the Thanks system have done nothing for boards.

Closing your account was a stupid option people just get bored close their accounts and open new ones. Posters lose their identity and we're left with hundreds of newly opened accounts with stupid "funny" usernames.

Boards were forced to create a close account option, due to the data protection act I think. IIRC Devore says he doesn't agree with it but has no option.

Setun · 07-03-2014 01:47PM

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

Being able to close your account and the Thanks system have done nothing for boards.

Closing your account was a stupid option people just get bored close their accounts and open new ones. Posters lose their identity and we're left with hundreds of newly opened accounts with stupid "funny" usernames.

If you have the right to create an account you should certainly have the right to close it too. I don't think you can fault the boards admins or data protection laws for that.

I do think that there used to be more 'characters' on AH in the past - posters who actually had individual and original personalities - which helped to create a healthy sense of community and consequently discussion/debate too. Perhaps I'm not as bothered about AH as I was, but it seems to be the same crap half-dead memes going round and round again that disrupt most opportunities for a thread to develop.

DeVore · 07-03-2014 01:52PM

Yes, the "right" to close your account was somewhat forced upon us. We fought to have it moulded into something reasonable and I think its just about ok now.

People have been predicting the death of boards since year 1. We're now on year 16.

Boards will one day die I guess, like all things, but for now I feel like we have made an undeniable impact and that feels good. If it ended tomorrow it would still be a major event in my life and its impact (for better or worse) would be undeniable on Irish society and the Irish Internet. That gives me quite a bit of satisfaction.

The truth is that while the site is slightly down from its highest ever point (in terms of page impressions), its not by much. Certainly much less than other "discussion" sites which are all seeing a drop off. Other metrics remain stable.

Remember, Facebook and Twitter have come along now (last 3 years) and there are only so many hours in the day for everyone. So "leisure time" sites like Boards and others have to make room for them. I'm actually really pleased how we have held our own in this regard.

Boards will evolve of course, I was only in a meeting yesterday about possible directions to evolve in!

Oranage2 · 07-03-2014 01:57PM

I Don't think boards is as good as it use too, I reckon boards is the exact same but I've just got older.

CaraMay · 07-03-2014 02:00PM

I think there are certain forums where the pack mentality puts people off posting. I know I have tried to give an alternate view of issues such as abortion etc only to be shouted down by the masses. When this happens all the time, people move on.

Akrasia · 07-03-2014 02:02PM

DeVore wrote: »

Yes, the "right" to close your account was somewhat forced upon us. We fought to have it moulded into something reasonable and I think its just about ok now.

People have been predicting the death of boards since year 1. We're now on year 16.

Boards will one day die I guess, like all things, but for now I feel like we have made an undeniable impact and that feels good. If it ended tomorrow it would still be a major event in my life and its impact (for better or worse) would be undeniable on Irish society and the Irish Internet. That gives me quite a bit of satisfaction.

The truth is that while the site is slightly down from its highest ever point (in terms of page impressions), its not by much. Certainly much less than other "discussion" sites which are all seeing a drop off. Other metrics remain stable.

Remember, Facebook and Twitter have come along now (last 3 years) and there are only so many hours in the day for everyone. So "leisure time" sites like Boards and others have to make room for them. I'm actually really pleased how we have held our own in this regard.

Boards will evolve of course, I was only in a meeting yesterday about possible directions to evolve in!

I think boards.ie should evolve that electroreception thing that hammerhead sharks have

Either that or echo location. that's pretty cool as well.

SmurfX · 07-03-2014 02:04PM

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

Being able to close your account and the Thanks system have done nothing for boards.

Closing your account was a stupid option people just get bored close their accounts and open new ones. Posters lose their identity and we're left with hundreds of newly opened accounts with stupid "funny" usernames.

If you wanted a new account why would the ability to close your old one make a difference? You could just ditch it and never log in again.

Akrasia · 07-03-2014 02:06PM

SmurfX wrote: »

If you wanted a new account why would the ability to close your old one make a difference? You could just ditch it and never log in again.

Multiple accounts are against the charter.
So is not reading the charter

I'm afraid I've no option but to report you to the authorities :P

md23040 · 07-03-2014 02:07PM

Setun wrote: »

I do think that there used to be more 'characters' on AH in the past - posters who actually had individual and original personalities - which helped to create a healthy sense of community and consequently discussion/debate too. Perhaps I'm not as bothered about AH

By the end of this year boards.ie should have passed the milestone of 40 million posts with over 2.5 million threads, so it's fair to say that everything that could have been said has been said and regular poster eventually just move on.

Still the AH forum remains diverse, very eclectic, and odd genuis thread like "just found a safe buried in my shed" are absolute brillant and worth lurking around for, as gems like these will always crop up amongst the rest of the dross and this is what really retains my interest.

SmurfX · 07-03-2014 02:10PM

For the reasons already mentioned I think boards is on its last legs as a place for quality discussion with all the thanks whoring, bad puns, thread derails, pack mentality and personality grandstanding. There's serious, probably fatal issues with it as a social community.
But it's still my go to place for information on specific things and the people on the more topical boards tend to be very helpful and knowledgeable on that subject. It's unrivalled for that.

SmurfX · 07-03-2014 02:11PM

Akrasia wrote: »

Multiple accounts are against the charter.
So is not reading the charter

I'm afraid I've no option but to report you to the authorities :P

I-I knew that, I was just testing you. As you were, fellow charter abiding citizen. :pac:

UtopianWarlord · 07-03-2014 02:14PM

After hours is certainly less appealing, the thanks system hasn't helped. Threads usually start of with the first page or two filled with 'hilarious' quips, of which about 1 in 15 is funny. Usually the exact same joke gets repeated, then you have someone slow who repeats the same joke for the fourth time on page 5. Some good discussion can come about. Over zealous mods don't help, one in particular gives the impression he's on a power trip.

I don't think boards will die though. Its still the best site for getting Irish opinions and some of the technical forums are great for information. The biggest threat I think is that boards.ie can't allow anything that might lead to legal threats, so people will go to other sites to discuss anything controversial

Setun · 07-03-2014 02:17PM

md23040 wrote: »

By the end of this year boards.ie should have passed the milestone of 40 million posts with over 2.5 million threads, so it's fair to say that everything that could have been said has been said and regular poster eventually just move on.

Still the AH forum remains diverse, very eclectic, and odd genuis thread like "just found a safe buried in my shed" are absolute brillant and worth lurking around for, as gems like these will always crop up amongst the rest of the dross and this is what really retains my interest.

Yeah that's true - actually after I posted I looked at the threads on the first page of AH and tbh it's pretty good today. There's a significant number of some long-running discussions with 1000+ posts, and a few genuine public interest/newsworthy threads have just started in the last 24 hours or so. Threads like the current Ukraine one or Fukushima for example are improtant not only as an information source (people here seem to get the news faster than a lot of agencies, not sure how!) but also as a cultural document. The safe thread was great entertainment, I have to admit that when it goes right on AH it really goes right

is boards dying in popularity?

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