This place used to be so lively...what happened? 9 9

[goldust40]

On 11/25/2023 at 4:20 PM, JMcLean said:

I'm relatively new here but active on other forums for other hobbies of mine, this forum seems a lot more active than other forums... Of course old members will remember "the glory days" but I'm glad to be here and read all your posts.

First and still best forum for me.

[Cat]

On 11/26/2023 at 1:46 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

I’m trying to rekindle my interest in these forums.

 

Trying…..

Beyonder! Hey mate! 

[goldust40]

As for nostalgia for the old boards - yeah, it was a wild and crazy place.

The dancing never stopped.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:30 AM, Cat said:

Beyonder! Hey mate! 

[MAR1979]

I may be wrong, but unofficial data collections have shown that during times the starter of this topic @VintageComics is suspended, there is significantly more forum activity, both in quantity and quality.

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by MAR1979

[VintageComics]

On 11/24/2023 at 9:52 PM, Paul (GG) © ® ™⚽️💙 said:

Maybe its the fact that we just lost a decent nice guy Boardie, that people don't feel like chattering like chaffinches?

 

In the spirit of thanksgiving, I'm thankful that I'm never as miserable as you are. 

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 1:13 AM, stormflora said:

Like many have said, social media has significantly changed the landscape of the Internet, especially for the younger generations, as people seek instant gratification, social acceptance, and go karma hunting. Besides the typical household names, platforms like Reddit and Discord are huge due to their massive population and ease of access for users, while forums are dated and feel like exclusive meet-and-greet groups.

Gen Z and newer also have different interests than millennials and older, and feel that the hobbies that they are interested in are old-fashioned and banal. They also require a specific interest and often times monetary investment, when things on a computer screen/mobile phone/game console are far more convenient and straight-forward.

There isn't much of a "cure" for the declining popularity and use of these kinds of forums. But enthusiasts will always stick around.

I actually find that younger generations don't communicate as much. 

Gen X and possibly Y (and possibly only X) are among the last generations that really enjoy longform communication. 

Newer generations are just about the "likes" and memes. I watch social media posts for this specifically and having people type their thoughts out is a lost art. 

Even worse, when they type them out they're usually rife with all sorts of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (tho? wut? wya?). I know I make mistakes too, but I generally try to fix 99.9% of that stuff. Most online statements are atrocious. 

I think that people's communication skills and mental faculties are going to be a real problem moving forward. Shortening attention spans, illiteracy, lack of social will to engage (young people have record high anxiety levels and they don't even know why, but certainly answering a phone is problematic to them) and many other reasons are reducing true online social interaction and trading it for, again what I call the quick sugar / serotonin fix rather than the long form, complex carb serotonin fix. 

We're becoming a society of knee jerk reactions, incapable to communicate properly and therefore unable to problem solve. 

Are you guys aware that Tik Tok in China is completely different than Tik Tok in the USA?

In the US Tik Tok is full of dumb stuff like Tide Pod Challenges.

Apparently, in China Tik Tok is nothing like American Tik Tok. It's full of old fashioned communication and personal accomplishments. Almost something you'd read out of a Golden Age comic book. 

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 7:52 AM, SeniorSurfer said:

I think the points mentioned have merit:  It is a holiday weekend and many have family obligations, 

I wasn't making a holiday weekend observation. This place has been a ghost zone for years now. 

[aardvark88]

On 11/24/2023 at 8:27 PM, Buzzetta said:

There seems to be such a glut of avenues to purchase comics between dealers individual sites, eBay, Heritage, Comiclink, Comiclink Auctions, Comic Art Fans Classified, Hakes, Facebook, Instagram, WhatNot... and more...

I fear that it has diluted this place for sales. 

 

If USA back issue sellers opened up their mail order shipping to Canada or international, they may be able to sell through more.

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 8:07 AM, CAHokie said:

How much of that peak is just when Roy posts though? 

You're joking, but it's absolutely true. 

When I post everyone comes out to play. The haters and the lovers. Those peaks are probably during my peaks on the boards, no joke.

On 11/25/2023 at 8:13 AM, Namtak said:

So...theres more activity than before?than why does it seem for many as less?im lost

Bots, more "activity" with the "like" features, but much fewer actual posts. 

This punctuates my point that long form communication is being taken over by other social media tools, which are NOT a good thing. It's actually quite bad. Proper communication is evolving out of the human race due to these digital tools. 

[Gaard]

[stormflora]

On 11/25/2023 at 12:44 PM, VintageComics said:

I actually find that younger generations don't communicate as much. 

Gen X and possibly Y (and possibly only X) are among the last generations that really enjoy longform communication. 

Newer generations are just about the "likes" and memes. I watch social media posts for this specifically and having people type their thoughts out is a lost art. 

Even worse, when they type them out they're usually rife with all sorts of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (tho? wut? wya?). I know I make mistakes too, but I generally try to fix 99.9% of that stuff. Most online statements are atrocious. 

I think that people's communication skills and mental faculties are going to be a real problem moving forward. Shortening attention spans, illiteracy, lack of social will to engage (young people have record high anxiety levels and they don't even know why, but certainly answering a phone is problematic to them) and many other reasons are reducing true online social interaction and trading it for, again what I call the quick sugar / serotonin fix rather than the long form, complex carb serotonin fix. 

We're becoming a society of knee jerk reactions, incapable to communicate properly and therefore unable to problem solve. 

Are you guys aware that Tik Tok in China is completely different than Tik Tok in the USA?

In the US Tik Tok is full of dumb stuff like Tide Pod Challenges.

Apparently, in China Tik Tok is nothing like American Tik Tok. It's full of old fashioned communication and personal accomplishments. Almost something you'd read out of a Golden Age comic book. 

Yeah, social media has been rotting away at the brains of younger people for years now, making them seek instant gratification and fast consumption of content.

On 11/25/2023 at 12:45 PM, aardvark88 said:

If USA back issue sellers opened up their mail order shipping to Canada or international, they may be able to sell through more.

To be fair, a large part of the blame goes to USA's USPS and Canada's CP. If shipping costs were more reasonable, people would be buying across the border more. But they aren't.

And according to many American sellers I've spoken with, USPS has been gradually raising the postage cost to ship to Canada. So much so that they'd rather not sell to them. Yikes.

On 11/25/2023 at 12:53 PM, Gaard said:

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 8:15 AM, Namtak said:

Sure is quiter without @kav

Kav was very generous here with his efforts but was driven out by haters.

The majority of people here are "agreeable", which is a proper psychological definition. It means they're kind and easy going. Agreeable people don't like conflict and conflict drives people away. 

Nobody can dispute that there's a correlation between people who can't ignore what they don't like and driving those people away. 

Someone can only take so much before they've had enough and not come back and people complained about Kav all the time.

They would constantly notify on Kav, and by weaponizing the notify button, it made him look like a nail that constantly needs a hammer to moderation's eyes. 

People often leave just because some boardies can't ignore what they don't like or use the ignore feature because they can't moderate themselves.

Edited November 25, 2023 by VintageComics

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:53 AM, Gaard said:

I was going to write a long, rambling post about how the communication abilities of the younger generation differ from the older ones who are already here, and that they are used to obtaining information instantly without any interaction - but you beat me to the explanation with a handy, easy-to-consume visual graphic.

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 1:01 PM, stormflora said:

To be fair, a large part of the blame goes to USA's USPS and Canada's CP. If shipping costs were more reasonable, people would be buying across the border more. But they aren't.

FedEx ground is so cheap (or at least used to be). Nobody uses it.

[SeniorSurfer]

On 11/25/2023 at 12:45 PM, VintageComics said:

I wasn't making a holiday weekend observation. This place has been a ghost zone for years now. 

I didn't mean your opening remarks or general intention in starting the post, rather this particular point which had been mentioned by JollyComics and PointFive seemed to have merit.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:01 AM, VintageComics said:

Kav was very generous here with his efforts but was driven out by haters.

I left here about 6 months after @kav arrived back in 2015 and he put a crazy amount of effort into being part of the community. I don't know the inner workings of why he's gone, but it's a bummer to lose someone who tried to be part of the whole by participating.

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:43 AM, skypinkblu said:

I keep hearing one or two people saying things have slowed down here, that SO many people left. I think the OP mentions this often.

Actually, it's friends of mine in PMs that were making these observations. I just started a thread about it.

Remember, over the last two years I've hardly been here for various reasons. 

So my experience is different than others who are here constantly, much like watching erosion of your favorite beach day and in day out, compared to coming to visit once a year. 

There is definitely much less conversation going on among boardies, and that is what I was referring to. 

 

[VintageComics]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:30 AM, goldust40 said:

First and still best forum for me.

I didn't mean to imply this forum isn't great. It's legacy value is absolutely priceless.

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/25/2023 at 1:01 PM, VintageComics said:

Kav was very generous here with his efforts but was driven out by haters.

The majority of people here are "agreeable", which is a proper psychological definition. It means they're kind and easy going. Agreeable people don't like conflict and conflict drives people away. 

Nobody can dispute that there's a correlation between people who can't ignore what they don't like and driving those people away. 

Someone can only take so much before they've had enough and not come back and people complained about Kav all the time.

They would constantly notify on Kav, and by weaponizing the notify button, it made him look like a nail that constantly needs a hammer to moderation's eyes. 

People often leave just because some boardies can't ignore what they don't like, and use the ignore feature because they can't moderate themselves.

His need to respond to every single post got very tiresome.