2012 - a retrospective

[odeon]

I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

This implies a conscious, site-wide policy, which in turn implies moderation. How would you go about achieving this?

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less. Also, I'm not about to start treating members differently based on their age, and I'm not about to change the site itself based on some probably misguided conception of what the so-called youth might expect to see here.

Interestingly, no-one's explained what that might be or, conversely, what an old person's topics might consist of. 

[Al Swearegen]

I'll try and explain things from my POV. A lot of you will disagree, but this is just an opinion.

In the past, when the site was good, some of the younger members, myself included, felt that there was quite a bit of bias towards the older established people on the site. Basically, it felt to me that younger people were very welcome, but the established oldies could do what they wanted with impunity, while the younger members would quickly be torn to pieces for fairly minor stuff.
With Odeon and the mods being of similar ages, and Odeons friends being a similar age, it kinda felt like there was an elite class on this site, with one set of rules applying to the "establishment," and another set of rules for the rest. (BTW. This is not meant as a criticism of the mods, or Odeon, who do a good job.) This was never really a big deal for me in the past, as I felt that I had a good relationship with most members. Also, most importantly, there was always enough young people here that it was easy enough to avoid the worst of the fuddy-duddyness.

Now that there are so few young people who are regularly active here, it feels impossible for me to see this site as anything other than an old-persons site. Yes, I'm deeply fond of a lot of these oldies, and I'd love to hang out on a site with them, but for that to happen, there would need to be a good mix of people.
In the past, I feel that the relative diversity on the site kept it good. We may only have averaged around 25-30 members per day, but in that small group of people, we had a great mix.
In a funny kind of way, I felt that the interaction between the older, more stable members, and the younger, drama producing members, was one of the sites biggest strengths.
We tried to get Zomg running, and IMO, part of the reason it failed was because few of the older sensible people chose to be really active members. It could have worked with only the young, and young at heart, but it would have been an uphill struggle.
This place seems to be having a similar problem, but in reverse. The site appears to be in a self-perpetuating cycle, where the more that it becomes a wrinkle-fest, the less appealing it becomes to younger people.
Also, I don't think it helps that the "establishment" keep getting older When this site was new, the "oldies" like Odeon and Callaway would still have been quite young. 5 years from now, they will be practically elderly As the average age of the "establishment" increases, the age gap between them and the new members increases. Not many people under 30 would want to join a site where the "establishment" is so much older than them

OK, I think I'm finished with my stream of consciousness ramble for now, but to sum thing up for those who cant be arsed reading my essay , I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

I am with Odeon on this.
Besides, I can remember just how much fun it was when the "youth of the forum" was "engaging the forum" actively and trying to take shots at "the establishment". It culminated in a call out by Parts on you and I.
If you are using this thread that talks about declining numbers/views as a subversive platform to try to trot out the want to infuse the board wirth the same kind of bullshit drama in a rebranding of "engaging youth on the site", I don't think that is a great idea.
Do you?

[TheoK]

Papiliones fortes sunt! 

['Butterflies']

I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

This implies a conscious, site-wide policy, which in turn implies moderation. How would you go about achieving this?

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less. Also, I'm not about to start treating members differently based on their age, and I'm not about to change the site itself based on some probably misguided conception of what the so-called youth might expect to see here.

Interestingly, no-one's explained what that might be or, conversely, what an old person's topics might consist of.

Unfortunately I dont have the answers. I certainly feel that this site has little to attract younger members, and the only obvious solution is to get more young members. I dont know how to achieve this though.

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less

I think you've misunderstood me. I am certainly not criticizing the older people for being old. Far from it. They are the people who are keeping this site active. Im criticizing the fact that there is no longer a good mix of older and younger members to keep the site vibrant.
I think its natural for people to want to hang out in a place where there are people of their own age. Your closest friends on this site appear to be a similar age to yourself. It doesnt mean that you dont like a lot of the younger members. Its just human nature that we kinda need to have people of or own age around.
I think if you want to see things from my POV, you would have to imagine how you would feel if it was most of your friends who staged an exodus, leaving the site full of a bunch of annoying, dramatic, under-30s.

['Butterflies']

Papiliones fortes sunt! 

et fortis

['Butterflies']

I'll try and explain things from my POV. A lot of you will disagree, but this is just an opinion.

In the past, when the site was good, some of the younger members, myself included, felt that there was quite a bit of bias towards the older established people on the site. Basically, it felt to me that younger people were very welcome, but the established oldies could do what they wanted with impunity, while the younger members would quickly be torn to pieces for fairly minor stuff.
With Odeon and the mods being of similar ages, and Odeons friends being a similar age, it kinda felt like there was an elite class on this site, with one set of rules applying to the "establishment," and another set of rules for the rest. (BTW. This is not meant as a criticism of the mods, or Odeon, who do a good job.) This was never really a big deal for me in the past, as I felt that I had a good relationship with most members. Also, most importantly, there was always enough young people here that it was easy enough to avoid the worst of the fuddy-duddyness.

Now that there are so few young people who are regularly active here, it feels impossible for me to see this site as anything other than an old-persons site. Yes, I'm deeply fond of a lot of these oldies, and I'd love to hang out on a site with them, but for that to happen, there would need to be a good mix of people.
In the past, I feel that the relative diversity on the site kept it good. We may only have averaged around 25-30 members per day, but in that small group of people, we had a great mix.
In a funny kind of way, I felt that the interaction between the older, more stable members, and the younger, drama producing members, was one of the sites biggest strengths.
We tried to get Zomg running, and IMO, part of the reason it failed was because few of the older sensible people chose to be really active members. It could have worked with only the young, and young at heart, but it would have been an uphill struggle.
This place seems to be having a similar problem, but in reverse. The site appears to be in a self-perpetuating cycle, where the more that it becomes a wrinkle-fest, the less appealing it becomes to younger people.
Also, I don't think it helps that the "establishment" keep getting older When this site was new, the "oldies" like Odeon and Callaway would still have been quite young. 5 years from now, they will be practically elderly As the average age of the "establishment" increases, the age gap between them and the new members increases. Not many people under 30 would want to join a site where the "establishment" is so much older than them

OK, I think I'm finished with my stream of consciousness ramble for now, but to sum thing up for those who cant be arsed reading my essay , I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

I am with Odeon on this.
Besides, I can remember just how much fun it was when the "youth of the forum" was "engaging the forum" actively and trying to take shots at "the establishment". It culminated in a call out by Parts on you and I.
If you are using this thread that talks about declining numbers/views as a subversive platform to try to trot out the want to infuse the board wirth the same kind of bullshit drama in a rebranding of "engaging youth on the site", I don't think that is a great idea.
Do you?

Im not sure that rebranding is the answer, but I do feel that the site is badly struggling right now. Im sure that different people will have different ideas on where its all gone wrong, and I'm also sure that there will be some who prefer the site as it is now.
Clearly the active membership has declined over the last year or so, and that does coincide with the time that a large amount of younger members stopped posting, or left altogether.
I can also say that as a young person myself, the relative absence of other young people on the site is the main reason why I think I dont find the site very interesting these days.

[Al Swearegen]

I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

This implies a conscious, site-wide policy, which in turn implies moderation. How would you go about achieving this?

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less. Also, I'm not about to start treating members differently based on their age, and I'm not about to change the site itself based on some probably misguided conception of what the so-called youth might expect to see here.

Interestingly, no-one's explained what that might be or, conversely, what an old person's topics might consist of.

Unfortunately I dont have the answers. I certainly feel that this site has little to attract younger members, and the only obvious solution is to get more young members. I dont know how to achieve this though.

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less

I think you've misunderstood me. I am certainly not criticizing the older people for being old. Far from it. They are the people who are keeping this site active. Im criticizing the fact that there is no longer a good mix of older and younger members to keep the site vibrant.
I think its natural for people to want to hang out in a place where there are people of their own age. Your closest friends on this site appear to be a similar age to yourself. It doesnt mean that you dont like a lot of the younger members. Its just human nature that we kinda need to have people of or own age around.
I think if you want to see things from my POV, you would have to imagine how you would feel if it was most of your friends who staged an exodus, leaving the site full of a bunch of annoying, dramatic, under-30s.

I remember that aroud the time of the launch of Spasticity, some of the younger members were making similar claims but in a much more negative and condemning fashion, as to how IntensitySquared was inactive and full of old folk and non-interesting, etc.
They started a new site to cater for younger and cooler members.
Whatever happened there? Surely it would have florished with the activity and vibrant mood?
Personally i believe that this site has and will always have florishes. ups and downs, activity-wise.

But I may be being a bit dismissive here. Who are the active younger members that have stopped posting recently, that the site would benefit from having here?

[Adam]

tbh I get the feeling the old fogeys like Les are happy for it to just stay as it is . The nice little Intensity Squared Autistic Retirement Home

['Butterflies']

I remember that aroud the time of the launch of Spasticity, some of the younger members were making similar claims but in a much more negative and condemning fashion, as to how IntensitySquared was inactive and full of old folk and non-interesting, etc.
They started a new site to cater for younger and cooler members.
Whatever happened there? Surely it would have florished with the activity and vibrant mood?
Personally i believe that this site has and will always have florishes. ups and downs, activity-wise.

But I may be being a bit dismissive here. Who are the active younger members that have stopped posting recently, that the site would benefit from having here?

I remember that aroud the time of the launch of Spasticity, some of the younger members were making similar claims but in a much more negative and condemning fashion, as to how IntensitySquared was inactive and full of old folk and non-interesting, etc.
They started a new site to cater for younger and cooler members.
Whatever happened there? Surely it would have florished with the activity and vibrant mood?
Personally i believe that this site has and will always have florishes. ups and downs, activity-wise.

As Ive said several times. I feel a small site needs a good mix of people, of all ages. I2 currently has a problem in that it struggles to attract younger people. Zomg and S2 didnt really attract oldies, and I feel that was every bit as big a problem. We all saw how Zomg and S2 ended, so Im not really sure that they are a very good example of why I2 should never change.

But I may be being a bit dismissive here. Who are the active younger members that have stopped posting recently, that the site would benefit from having here?

I'm not really comfortable answering this question, but if I had to name a few young people off the top of my head, who have either left or severely cut back on their posting I would say, Squiddy, Eris, Adam, Schleed, Scrappy, Binty, Penty, and myself. Thats not including people like Trigger or EBM who dont seem to be around now, and who could probably fall into the "young" category.
That is at least 8 people, all young, who were very active members. A very rough look at the figures suggests that the average amount of members online each day has fallen from around 31, 18 months ago, to around 16 now. I can understand if you arent bothered by the site losing these people, but I think it would be downright silly to suggest that the site hasnt suffered badly for their loss.

[TheoK]

Iuvenis in corde sum 

[Al Swearegen]

I remember that aroud the time of the launch of Spasticity, some of the younger members were making similar claims but in a much more negative and condemning fashion, as to how IntensitySquared was inactive and full of old folk and non-interesting, etc.
They started a new site to cater for younger and cooler members.
Whatever happened there? Surely it would have florished with the activity and vibrant mood?
Personally i believe that this site has and will always have florishes. ups and downs, activity-wise.

But I may be being a bit dismissive here. Who are the active younger members that have stopped posting recently, that the site would benefit from having here?

I remember that aroud the time of the launch of Spasticity, some of the younger members were making similar claims but in a much more negative and condemning fashion, as to how IntensitySquared was inactive and full of old folk and non-interesting, etc.
They started a new site to cater for younger and cooler members.
Whatever happened there? Surely it would have florished with the activity and vibrant mood?
Personally i believe that this site has and will always have florishes. ups and downs, activity-wise.

As Ive said several times. I feel a small site needs a good mix of people, of all ages. I2 currently has a problem in that it struggles to attract younger people. Zomg and S2 didnt really attract oldies, and I feel that was every bit as big a problem. We all saw how Zomg and S2 ended, so Im not really sure that they are a very good example of why I2 should never change.

But I may be being a bit dismissive here. Who are the active younger members that have stopped posting recently, that the site would benefit from having here?

I'm not really comfortable answering this question, but if I had to name a few young people off the top of my head, who have either left or severely cut back on their posting I would say, Squiddy, Eris, Adam, Schleed, Scrappy, Binty, Penty, and myself. Thats not including people like Trigger or EBM who dont seem to be around now, and who could probably fall into the "young" category.
That is at least 8 people, all young, who were very active members. A very rough look at the figures suggests that the average amount of members online each day has fallen from around 31, 18 months ago, to around 16 now. I can understand if you arent bothered by the site losing these people, but I think it would be downright silly to suggest that the site hasnt suffered badly for their loss.

Were we to entertain this as being problematic and so forth, we would look at each of the people in turn.

Squiddy? Some miss him. I don't.
Eris and Binty? They left recently after a big meltdowns. It seems as if they had a bigger problem with the younger members than the older members. 
Scrappy was in his forties and not a younger member. He was ridiculous and almost a caricature
EBM and Eris  and Trigger are in their 30's and are not that far removed in age from me.
Penty? Dunno what happened with him and had not realised he was not posting until you mentioned it,
I see no real drop in post with Adam.
I see you back, but then I did not miss you when you were gone nor was I bothered by your return.
Shleed? Again whether he posts or not ....meh.

You missed out on Calvera. He was in age probably younger than Trigger, EBM and Eris.

In fact Trigger could well be my age or older

['andersom']

For me anyways it doesnt matter if a messege board is popular or not. I'll post on here until something in the real world captivates my attention more, I also think topics like this were made out of resentment because they secretly want to post on more active forums.

but either cant, 
Or have the secret to turn everyday common water into gasoline.

In a few decades, clean common water may be more expensive than gasoline. 

[Adam]

lol Les have you not been reading what Butterflies said?

She's not talking about biologica/legal age

['Butterflies']

Iuvenis in corde sum 

et quoque anus

[odeon]

I think that the site needs to make a serious effort to start to engage with the youth.

This implies a conscious, site-wide policy, which in turn implies moderation. How would you go about achieving this?

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less. Also, I'm not about to start treating members differently based on their age, and I'm not about to change the site itself based on some probably misguided conception of what the so-called youth might expect to see here.

Interestingly, no-one's explained what that might be or, conversely, what an old person's topics might consist of.

Unfortunately I dont have the answers. I certainly feel that this site has little to attract younger members, and the only obvious solution is to get more young members. I dont know how to achieve this though.

You don't have the answers but still feel there is little to attract younger members? Do you know what younger members would like? Do you know what younger members WOULDN'T like?

I'm confused. I2 doesn't have what you want, yet you don't know what you want or what others in your age group want? Yours seems like a very confused generation, tbh.

Me, I'm content with the pub-like atmosphere we do have, and quite a few of the other grumpies seem to accept it, too. True, not every young folk is allowed into a pub, but then again, that is why they invented latte houses and placed McDonald's restaurants in every corner.

I'm not about to apologise for my age, nor will I start acting in any other way than what feels comfortable and right to me. If somebody thinks I'm not young at heart or whatever, quite frankly I could not care less

I think you've misunderstood me. I am certainly not criticizing the older people for being old. Far from it. They are the people who are keeping this site active. Im criticizing the fact that there is no longer a good mix of older and younger members to keep the site vibrant.
I think its natural for people to want to hang out in a place where there are people of their own age. Your closest friends on this site appear to be a similar age to yourself. It doesnt mean that you dont like a lot of the younger members. Its just human nature that we kinda need to have people of or own age around.
I think if you want to see things from my POV, you would have to imagine how you would feel if it was most of your friends who staged an exodus, leaving the site full of a bunch of annoying, dramatic, under-30s.

Don't get me wrong either. I'm not criticising kids for being kids; I'm simply saying that I don't have a clue about what you want and it seems neither do you.