Hey Guys.
We've done a thread like several times and they've been helpful I think. Thought I might start another one with a clean slate here. I'll do one in the Shark Pool and one in this forum. I've got a few points to ramble on and then you guys can throw out what you're seeing, what you like and what can be better.
The imminent death of message boards in general and this board, in particular, has been a topic as long as I can remember. This thread had me thinking today and it's several years old. It's something we've become quite used to seeing and hearing. Not sure what that means.
I do think message boards have been dramatically impacted by the multitude of other social media platforms available for people to communicate with each other. I think that's great. More options and choices for the consumer is hardly ever a bad thing. It becomes an issue of time. You have ___ minutes a day to spend on this kind of stuff. If you start adding time spent on Twitter or Instagram or something else, that time is likely taken from somewhere else. It might be the old message board forum.
Obviously, there are huge boards like Reddit. But my take is most boards are not growing a lot. I think it's the normal progression for most things where a platform becomes "mature" and kind of levels out. Our data bears that out. I don't sense a ton of new folks coming in. But I think it's awesome we have so many "regulars" that are here a ton. Many for years and years.
I completely reject the common internet business idea of "grow or die". For me, I think of the board sort of like a neighborhood and this model feels just about right. If I could wave a magic wand and control how many people live in a neighborhood, I'd like it to be mostly stable with some new people coming in. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but it feels pretty right to me. I think our board here is similar.
Now of course I don't have any magic wand and I can't really control who moves into the neighborhood. For that, what "control" I have is trying to set up the rules so it's a desirable neighborhood and people want to be here. Those rules aren't popular with everyone. I get it. And that's ok. I fully get I'm maybe not "normal" by internet standards. And neither is this board. You guys have to trust me when I say I've never begrudged a poster who says this is not what he wants and moves on. I want people, including the ones who think I'm wrong, to be happy. Community is so important. We're no different than any other group or community. If the rules are such that you're not comfortable, the right thing to do is find a place where you are comfortable. I've apologized as I've been insensitive in the past and sounded too flippant about this. But it's truly something I mean. I want people to be happy. I hope it's here. But if it's not here, find somewhere where you will be happy. I just want you to be happy somewhere.
And I realize sometimes the neighborhood rules change. And that leaves long time "residents of the neighborhood" conflicted. I get that. But I'd say it's pretty much like life in general. Just like rules or laws or what's acceptable in society change. There are things one could get away with saying or doing in some neighborhoods 20 years ago that aren't appropriate today. Hopefully, that's for the good. Not to be dramatic, but we've had some changes too. In the past, we allowed the "who's hottest" threads which sometimes turned into locker room talk and guys making crude comments. I've asked that we please don't do that. I've asked that we not turn things like one cheating on their wife into jokes or make light of it. That's a change. Allowing those were mistakes I made and I've learned.
The biggest challenge with changes though is sometimes not everyone knows the "rules". And the trouble of course is there's lots of gray area. I'll try to do what I did in the "cheating on your wife" thread and be proactive about asking folks to avoid certain things and being clear with the rules. It's not fair to penalize someone when they don't know the rules.
Last thing, and I think the most important reason why message boards in general and our board in particular thrive are because I think we as humans are wired to desire community. There's a desire for people to gather and share. Sometimes it's pointless and light. Sometimes it's super heavy. We've seen a treasure of both over the years. And that's been because of you folks. I realize me posting on the boards is sort of like the goofy high school history teacher trying to talk to the cool kids in the lunch room. This is more about you folks. What I'll do is try to create the environment where you folks can thrive. That's my role in this.
That's a little of where I see us in May of 2018.
If you've got things you see that are positive, it'd be great to hear them so we can do more. If you've got things you see we can do better, that's great too. I'll try to understand the "other" side. But you have to know me understanding the other side doesn't necessarily mean we'll do it your way. But it's always good to have understanding.
Bottom line is thanks for being part of the boards. They are you folks.
J
We've done a thread like several times and they've been helpful I think. Thought I might start another one with a clean slate here. I'll do one in the Shark Pool and one in this forum. I've got a few points to ramble on and then you guys can throw out what you're seeing, what you like and what can be better.
The imminent death of message boards in general and this board, in particular, has been a topic as long as I can remember. This thread had me thinking today and it's several years old. It's something we've become quite used to seeing and hearing. Not sure what that means.
I do think message boards have been dramatically impacted by the multitude of other social media platforms available for people to communicate with each other. I think that's great. More options and choices for the consumer is hardly ever a bad thing. It becomes an issue of time. You have ___ minutes a day to spend on this kind of stuff. If you start adding time spent on Twitter or Instagram or something else, that time is likely taken from somewhere else. It might be the old message board forum.
Obviously, there are huge boards like Reddit. But my take is most boards are not growing a lot. I think it's the normal progression for most things where a platform becomes "mature" and kind of levels out. Our data bears that out. I don't sense a ton of new folks coming in. But I think it's awesome we have so many "regulars" that are here a ton. Many for years and years.
I completely reject the common internet business idea of "grow or die". For me, I think of the board sort of like a neighborhood and this model feels just about right. If I could wave a magic wand and control how many people live in a neighborhood, I'd like it to be mostly stable with some new people coming in. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but it feels pretty right to me. I think our board here is similar.
Now of course I don't have any magic wand and I can't really control who moves into the neighborhood. For that, what "control" I have is trying to set up the rules so it's a desirable neighborhood and people want to be here. Those rules aren't popular with everyone. I get it. And that's ok. I fully get I'm maybe not "normal" by internet standards. And neither is this board. You guys have to trust me when I say I've never begrudged a poster who says this is not what he wants and moves on. I want people, including the ones who think I'm wrong, to be happy. Community is so important. We're no different than any other group or community. If the rules are such that you're not comfortable, the right thing to do is find a place where you are comfortable. I've apologized as I've been insensitive in the past and sounded too flippant about this. But it's truly something I mean. I want people to be happy. I hope it's here. But if it's not here, find somewhere where you will be happy. I just want you to be happy somewhere.
And I realize sometimes the neighborhood rules change. And that leaves long time "residents of the neighborhood" conflicted. I get that. But I'd say it's pretty much like life in general. Just like rules or laws or what's acceptable in society change. There are things one could get away with saying or doing in some neighborhoods 20 years ago that aren't appropriate today. Hopefully, that's for the good. Not to be dramatic, but we've had some changes too. In the past, we allowed the "who's hottest" threads which sometimes turned into locker room talk and guys making crude comments. I've asked that we please don't do that. I've asked that we not turn things like one cheating on their wife into jokes or make light of it. That's a change. Allowing those were mistakes I made and I've learned.
The biggest challenge with changes though is sometimes not everyone knows the "rules". And the trouble of course is there's lots of gray area. I'll try to do what I did in the "cheating on your wife" thread and be proactive about asking folks to avoid certain things and being clear with the rules. It's not fair to penalize someone when they don't know the rules.
Last thing, and I think the most important reason why message boards in general and our board in particular thrive are because I think we as humans are wired to desire community. There's a desire for people to gather and share. Sometimes it's pointless and light. Sometimes it's super heavy. We've seen a treasure of both over the years. And that's been because of you folks. I realize me posting on the boards is sort of like the goofy high school history teacher trying to talk to the cool kids in the lunch room. This is more about you folks. What I'll do is try to create the environment where you folks can thrive. That's my role in this.
That's a little of where I see us in May of 2018.
If you've got things you see that are positive, it'd be great to hear them so we can do more. If you've got things you see we can do better, that's great too. I'll try to understand the "other" side. But you have to know me understanding the other side doesn't necessarily mean we'll do it your way. But it's always good to have understanding.
Bottom line is thanks for being part of the boards. They are you folks.
J
Things change 
