Maybe you can’t talk about web traffic, but it seems like activity on the forums has slowed over the years. Am I wrong about this?
https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/straightdope.com
the exact numbers are behind a paywall, though
I am astonished that we appear to have 3.2% of our visitors from Japan.
I was introduced to social media when I was 16, and discussion sites were the medium back then (1998). Since there was no Facebook or Instagram or whatever, it was pretty much the only game in town. Now, with all of the other forms of social media available, discussion sites have dwindled dramatically, which is to be expected.
However, discussion sites still fulfill a valuable purpose. Facebook isn’t designed for discussion, it is designed for, “look at me and then praise me”! I found that out the hard way when I actually disagreed with someone’s post on Facebook. It was as if I had betrayed some sacred law or something.
The dying Straight dope.
I have spent 1/3 of my life posting here. Man I miss the old day.
I believe The Powers That Be have said that changes to Google’s search algorithm mean that SDMB no longer appears as high as it did in search results. Previously, it was the top of the first page for many searches. That’s gotta hurt. And in fact, as I remember, right after this change, TubaDiva provided the option of donating to the board, which is something they refused previously. She also openly solicited suggestions as to how to improve the board and its appeal.
Boards in general are fading.
Recently I’ve looked around so see if there are other boards that have activity in areas of interest that are not popular here.
Let me tell you, there’s quite a few boards just straggling along.
If those boards can somehow still survive, this place has a lot of life left in it.
I’ve often wondered why; it seems to me that even today in the age of social media and instant online gratification, message boards are still the best platform for things like hobbyists and special interests.
I wonder if they’re easier to set up and run than in years past. That would explain why in some special interests, there’s not ONE omni-board that has the lion’s share, but rather 3-4 boards, and then vendor-run boards, and comment sections. Same amount of information, more or less, but spread out so that none of them are particularly healthy. Could it be simple dilution that’s causing forums to be somewhat anemic these days?
I mean, I do something called “wetshaving”, which is a twee term for basically shaving with something other than a modern multiblade razor and/or can of cream/gel. It can mean anything from using that multiblade razor with a brush and shaving soap, to using an old-style double-edged razor with a can of Barbasol, to using your grandpappy’s straight razor, a badger brush and artisanal soap. To a lot of participants it’s a hobby, complete with all the silly gear nitpickery and silly proclamations of the superiority of someone’s pet thing over the mass market stuff.
You’d think that one, maybe two boards/forums would probably cover the enthusiasts and devotees of this particular hobby. But no, there are like 4-5 boards (Badger and Blade, Shave Nook, Shave Den and the Sharpologist Forums), and a subreddit devoted to it. There are probably more that I forgot or didn’t Google.
Same thing for homebrewing - just googling comes up with 8 forums and a subreddit.
A once-popular set of gardening forums (GardenWeb) has lost considerable traffic in recent years.
And I see that CureZone, host to many wacky alt health forums is but a shell of its former self. No one has posted to Parasite RX or Morgellons’ Disease in a week or more, and the once exuberant anti-vaccine forum hasn’t had a post in 16 days!
:(
The Dope will be fine. It just needs contests. And t-shirts.
All forums are declining because there are alternatives. Reddit, Facebook groups, etc. There are also wikis for fandoms and Stack Exchange for asking questions and so on.
Whether we’re facing further decline, I don’t know. I do know we skew older, and that Reddit skews younger. So we just may lose older people without gaining new people.
I would suspect at least one other force is at work: the decline of newspapers and thus the decline of the newspaper column, which eventually led to the end of the Straight Dope news column. I would bet that decline coincides with ours.
The only other thing I can think of is a polarization in types of online communities. There’s the mostly unmoderated “freedom of speech” style, and the more heavily moderated ones with nothing like the Pit or allowing any bigotry and such. We’re in the middle, and so wind up frustrating people on both sides.
well things like proboards.com doesn’t help it was originally for sports groups but sinceopened up t o almost anything you wanna make
its point and click board making you can make a nice looking board in 2 hours tops ……… and yeah there cookie cutter boards
I’m doing all I can do folks. I have eat and sleep sometimes;)
Geez, me too. Kinda pathetic when you think about it like that. :o
I know, should be at least 1/2.
Reddit isn’t a cause for message boards declining, because Reddit is itself a message board. Or a whole bunch of them, depending on how you look at it.
Though Reddit skews very heavily young, white and male so there’s room for things that don’t skew that way. But niche marketing and presence is always going to be the way to go in the current climate.
And I’ve been here about 40% of my life, now. Way to go me.
But there are subreddits for virtually every demographic imaginable. If you want to learn about anything or be with people who share any interest, that is the place to be. I’m here because I have been here for nearly two decades. If I just discovered this place today, I wouldn’t have any reason to join. Granted, there are certain topics where the discussion here is much better in my opinion but a newbie is very unlikely to find them.
I have been very active on reddit for the last five years and I like it a lot. Anyone inclined to message board style communication will end up there.
Reddit’s social features make it virtually impossible for opinions contrary to the majority to be heard. If I went to some liberal subreddit and argued like I do here, I’d be downvoted into oblivion.
Interesting. I did a quick search to see if one can see traffic stats over many years but came up short. Do you know of any?
Aren’t the Alexa results based only on those who have the Alexa toolbar installed? How representative is that of Internet users as a whole?