What keeps you here?

[Locutus of Bored]

I like it here because it affords you the opportunity to have an ongoing dialogue with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and nations; more so than you could probably even meet if you traveled extensively. Seeing something you find fascinating or entertaining discussed from another perspective is helpful, and also gives you the chance to be exposed to things you hadn't been made aware of yet. I've learned a great deal from my time here, often more than what you'd learn from just the news alone, which often gives an incomplete picture that doesn't address the effect on the individual.

Plus, you get to interact with a lot of nice and fun people. Yeah, you can get burned out by drama, certain people, or repetitiveness, but often that can be solved by taking a break for a while.

Anyway, I hope you stick around, but I understand if you want to move on, and wish you good luck if you do decide to go that way.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I have to admit that I have been having the same feelings as RoJenHen. To me this place isn't the same as it used to be when I first became a member back in 2001. I can't put my finger on exactly what has put me off (various posters certainly but that is just one aspect) but have found myself feeling frustrated over the last few weeks and months here. Maybe I'm just message board burnt out I dunno. As to what keeps me here? Well quite frankly it remains one of the only outlets where I can discuss topics and issues that are important to me and that I find interesting. My friends and I rarely discuss current events.

 

[RoJoHen]

Anyway, I hope you stick around, but I understand if you want to move on, and wish you good luck if you do decide to go that way.

My hope is that my new job will force me to spend a lot less time here, so hopefully I will begin to miss it and enjoy the moments I actually get to spend here.

I wish there was a way to smack people. I don't want to set everybody to Ignore, but I really wish I could just reach through my computer screen and whack certain people in the face.

I'd agree with Jadzia upthread in that I'd prefer it if it were busier (but with more posters, rather than the current posters posting more frequently). It used to be, but has slowed down over the past 3-5 years.

I actually prefer a smaller number of posters. The problem is that I still get nostalgic for the small group of posters that was here 10 years ago. Even many of the posters who remain from that era have gotten to be a lot less fun to be around.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I wish there was a way to smack people. I don't want to set everybody to Ignore, but I really wish I could just reach through my computer screen and whack certain people in the face.

Probably not as cathartic, but just PM them one of these, old school Batman style.

 

[RoJoHen]

Very nice, but I have a feeling the people I would send that too wouldn't understand the point of it. They need to get smacked in the face just as much as I need to smack them.

 

[tharpdevenport]

It can go good for some humor. How super nerdy is it to have a thread several pages lon arguing over whether Kirk's shirt is green/yellow?


Though it would seem to me that many Trek show/movie forums have become nothing more than arguing over little naunces, pointing out infrequently/never mentioned plotholes and wondering why writers under the thumb of constant studio preassure to crank out a script, didn't notice it before. Or boring conversations on mundane facts. I'd make a quick guess and say 90% of each forum is garbage you needn't waste your time with. 5% just fun or interesting reads, another 4% just weird stuff, but still interesting nonetheless, and then the final 1% required Trekkie nerd knowledge in order to earn your Trekkie badge of Nerdum.

 

[RoJoHen]

and then the final 1% required Trekkie nerd knowledge in order to earn your Trekkie badge of Nerdum.

And really, most of the Trek forums are full of newbies anyway. The rest of us have spent our time in Trek and have moved on.

 

[CaptainStoner]

The contrast of going from TNZ to silly 5-word stories. The intelligence of the posters. And of course the shared geekdom. Mostly the personalities.

I don't at all see the quality diminishing, but have seen a number of bigoted, poor posters flame out or get banned which has greatly improved the quality of the board, unless you're one that's addicted to the circus that kind of posting brings.

 

[tharpdevenport]

The Enterprise and Trek re-boot are full of newbies, but it's still a good mixture in the other forums, plus ... if one moves on from the reason of TrekBBS, then why even post at a Trek board?



For a few recent years now I've also noticed a decline in interest posts in Miscellaneous, or even ones with robust debate that doesn't dwindle into trolling/flaming/name calling/potical agenda wars, so forth. I haven't a clue what to do about it.

 

[RoJoHen]

I don't at all see the quality diminishing, but have seen a number of bigoted, poor posters flame out or get banned

Not enough, I'm afraid.

The Enterprise and Trek re-boot are full of newbies, but it's still a good mixture in the other forums, plus ... if one moves on from the reason of TrekBBS, then why even post at a Trek board?

Because after 11 years, I have nothing more to say about Trek. At least until the next movie comes out.

For a few recent years now I've also noticed a decline in interest posts in Miscellaneous, or even ones with robust debate that doesn't dwindle into trolling/flaming/name calling/potical agenda wars, so forth. I haven't a clue what to do about it.

I agree. There was a time when Misc could handle some pretty elaborate debates about very serious issues, but nowadays it seems that threads get taken over by two or three assholes and just end up getting closed.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I think, without some serious thought about it, things started to go down for a couple years after the "Week That Was" thread head decided to stop doing those threads (I can't recall who that popular poster was, now).

We would have pages & pages of debate on topics of religion, sex, so forth. Though we also did have thread on dong length, frequency of masturbation, so I think we're not all calling for a return to things as they were completely. Oh, and occassional threads on Superman pooping/masturbating.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think, without some serious thought about it, things started to go down for a couple years after the "Week That Was" thread head decided to stop doing those threads (I can't recall who that popular poster was, now).

We would have pages & pages of debate on topics of religion, sex, so forth. Though we also did have thread on dong length, frequency of masturbation, so I think we're not all calling for a return to things as they were completely. Oh, and occassional threads on Superman pooping/masturbating.

Katie and Jethro are easily the two posters I miss the most. They gave this place a completely different atmosphere, and almost made us all seem like family.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I got a terrible thing to admit: I never check in and read the Stalkin' My Peeps thread (well, actually it says I made a post in there November of last year) and have no clue about the majority of newbies.

I click on my user name on rare occassions to check for old posts I made, and I see who's been clicking to read my profile (odd number of MODs checking it from time-to-time) and I see names of people I dont' recall even a single post by. Names I dont' recognize.


Maybe if we had a thread about posters Trek likes, general stances on life, with a "Make A Comment/Statement" section to write anything to introduce themselves, so they just don't fall into newbie obscurity.

 

[Scout101]

Inertia, mostly. Nothing really driving me to leave, so stick around and enjoy what it is. Take a break here and there, but in moments of boredom, wander back again.

Plus, it IS a nice, centralized place to talk about a pretty big variety of subjects. Star Trek (obviously) the book lines, general TV and movie news, and then flinging poo with the other monkeys in TNZ for entertainment value. Tough to get all that from one place, and am already established/comfortable with how things work here, so I stay...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I also tend to come here out of habit. However, my affinity for the BBS has waned considerably recently, and, say, compared to about 4 years ago, I don't have a strong compulsion to stay on the BBS.

When I last had a sizeable absence from this place (due to being too ill to get out of bed) I didn't have much of an urge to go back for a while, as there was little to attract me back on a personal level. Some days, especially of late, I still feel like the place wasn't like home to me, and that I was like a stranger here. Then again, I think of the good things and the good people here, and my mind changes. I also think of how other places can be infinitely worse: either more dull and uninteresting, or openly hostile and unwelcoming.

At times, this place can be banal, trite, and irritating, with little to interest me. Yet, on the occasions when the time is right, the moods are in sync, and everything clicks into place, the BBS can be glorious.

Ultimately, it's all down to ourselves: how we see it, what we do with it, and how we react to what we've made for each other. Sometimes it takes just one person to put me off the place for a long time, and sometimes it can take one person to keep me sticking around for longer. (Very often, the same person does both. )

 

[tharpdevenport]

For some reason your post reminds me of the Neutral planet lkeader's comments from "Futurama"

 

[LitmusDragon]

As far as message boards go, as a way of interacting with others non-formally and somewhat anonymously for entertainment purposes, this is one of the top 3 boards I belong to. This is also the only board I would actually post an "advice" type thread on, because the people here are pretty thoughtful compared to the unwashed masses of the internet as a whole.

The other two boards I frequent are:
Fark.com - my main source for snark and funny images. People there are incredibly rude, but I enjoy the atheism versus religion threads that crop up on an almost daily basis.
ragebox.com - Osensibly a Guided by Voices message board, this is where I go to discuss indie rock ephemera. I'm nearly as big a fan of indie rock as I am of Star Trek, and I find the two demographics don't really overlap all that much.

 

[trampledamage]

I like it here because it affords you the opportunity to have an ongoing dialogue with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and nations; more so than you could probably even meet if you traveled extensively. Seeing something you find fascinating or entertaining discussed from another perspective is helpful, and also gives you the chance to be exposed to things you hadn't been made aware of yet. I've learned a great deal from my time here, often more than what you'd learn from just the news alone, which often gives an incomplete picture that doesn't address the effect on the individual.

This sums it up - this is an international board, and the discussions are so wide-ranging. There's always something to pique my interest.

 

[Orac Zen]

[...] Maybe this place is just getting too big. [...]

Interesting. To me (and to a couple of others, it appears), it seems to have gotten quite a bit smaller over the past few years. As for it not being like it was waaaay back in the beginning...well, that goes without saying, and of course you can't go back to the past.

I'm also approaching my 11th anniversary. () This was the first board I joined and while there have been plenty of others since TBBS is the only one that's consistently kept my interest. As a few others have said, the international perspective is very appealing - it's always healthy, and much more interesting, to get a variety of viewpoints on an issue. It's not a niche-type board; a lot of ground is covered here, without being too much. I've discovered a few TV shows I probably wouldn't otherwise have watched, and I have somewhere to read about and discuss them afterwards. But ultimately, I'm here for the lounges and (most of) the posters in them. The other things I've mentioned are great but had I not discovered the lounges I'd probably have left TBBS long ago. I have phases where my interest in the board as a whole dwindles to a greater or lesser extent, but the posters are why I return.

 

[6079SmithW]

I am required to post here as part of my long term therapy.