Are we pau with HT?

[memorylane]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

No. No. No. Not pau now. Not pau eva.

[anapuni808]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

as another member of the "base core"- what Leo says works for me too.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

Well, even cum-cakes 'stimulated' conversation, low-brow as it was, so basically threads just need to be started if we're gonna toss it.
Engaging your excellant guidelines are merely the... frosting.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

Still, just amongst the base HT core we should be able to do this forum better.

As one of "the base core," may I suggest we all take steps to "do this forum better," such as:

Avoid vague postings - no clever/incomplete/not-understandable-at-a-glance thread titles followed by an equally incomprehensible posting, or little more than a link and an encouragement to open it. When you post, think of the rest of us as a busy, distracted audience, and give us a compelling reason to read/link/comment on your thread. Tell us a bit more what you want us to read about; draw us in with detail.

Consider your topics carefully for a new thread - is it something you'd be comfortable having your boss, your partner, your minister, your tutu knowing you were trying to trigger discussion about? Or are you just bored and want to talk about poop? Post something that will stimulate creative discussion, rather than just make you giggle when you have the mental munchies.

Enough pissing on each other - yeah, I don't like your politics/religious demands/choice of TV viewing/musical tastes/dinner options, and you don't like mine. So let's not engage each other on those topics. You want to talk political or social issues? Excellent - but that means more than one of us telling the other "you and your (insulting term here that's only clever to you) kind are fulla crap."

Bottom line - you want HT to be a better forum? Take it upon yourself to make it one, and THINK BEFORE YOU POST.

Yep - I'm guilty of most of the crimes stated above. I thought I was being clever with some of my comments, when no one else thought so. OK, I haven't posted about poop, but I've sure derailed many a conversation. And I'm clean outta piss for this forum. If someone riles me now, I try to walk away from the thread and not respond in kind.

Think about your audience. Think about a total stranger reading your post (and admit it, except in a handful of cases, we are total strangers to each other). Would what you posted stimulate a respectable level of discussion, if you were the person on the other side of the screen, reading it for the first time?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

Yeah, almost any forum considered has lowered it's participation ratio in recent times, not just HT.

Isn't reaching out, and engaging with friends, e-friends still reaching out and engaging?

There is a reason people tend to stay within their "circles", its because they are more comfortable. 85% of society surrounds themselves with like-minded people, it's human nature.

It's a forum. Things come and go. like all good meals, this too shall pass.

Perhaps it is exactly the opposite of your hypothesis. . .perhaps folks are too tied up with REAL world stuff, and finding time to engage on HT has just become a lower priority.

To a minimalist degree.

A less sociable form of human nature?

I think this thread has sparked a sudden albeit slight upturn, without it we may have watched it pass with lilies across it's chest.

Some maybe, maybe an equal number have less ties, what's their excuse?

Still, just amongst the base HT core we should be able to do this forum better.

[Honoruru]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

I think the reason for this current state of affairs (of HT) is due to all of the above. And probably more.

A lot has happened to me personally in the last year, which has curtailed my desire to post. Things that happen in the “real world” somehow have a way of affecting the “virtual” world, which is not very real.

When I first joined HT, this was as vibrant a place to cast your net as anywhere on the WWW. So many voices, so many personalities, so many views. You could choose which funnel cloud you wanted to be whooshed into. It was a virtual landscape of whirlwinds. But now, there are fewer voices, fewer personalities, fewer views. Defection to Facebook and Twitter certainly contributed to less participation. But forums are but part of the parade. Like Tat says, “Things come and go. Like all good meals, this too shall pass.” And it will.

I am also a member of another forum (a literature forum) that was as vibrant as HT (maybe even more so, if you can believe that), but it quieted down quite a bit recently (coincidentally, about the same time as HT did), for much the same reasons offered here. In the last two weeks it shut down completely because the site was hacked and infected with malware. I feel at a loss. Funny how we grow attached to ephemeral things.

If you love this forum (and I do), just keep plugging along. It’s all you can do. Nothing lasts forever.

[TATTRAT]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

I think it boils down to a cell phone/facebook society walling itself from all but the comfy familiar and exponential isolation against others. Too many are no longer reaching out and engaging anybody but those within their little circle.

Oh, you mean like every "clique" since the beginning of time?

Isn't reaching out, and engaging with friends, e-friends still reaching out and engaging? There is a reason people tend to stay within their "circles", its because they are more comfortable. 85% of society surrounds themselves with like-minded people, it's human nature.

It's a forum. Things come and go. like all good meals, this too shall pass.

Perhaps it is exactly the opposite of your hypothesis. . .perhaps folks are too tied up with REAL world stuff, and finding time to engage on HT has just become a lower priority.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

I think it boils down to a cell phone/facebook society walling itself from all but the comfy familiar and exponential isolation against others. Too many are no longer reaching out and engaging anybody but those within their little circle.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

While I still see some activity here, I've noticed that another message board I frequented (one that I discovered through the postings of a number of folks who rarely pop in here now - we'll call it "the lanai") has pretty much died off; weeks will pass before there is a new posting there. I know BookFace has stolen the attention of quite a few of those regulars.

[mel]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

But now, many online newspapers require a subscription.

Does having less access to free internet news cut down on thread ideas?

One thing I don't like is a link back to an article that requires payment to view. So yes, perhaps there is less posting here because a link back to the source article may only frustrate people when they hit the PAYWALL.

I make it my policy never to link back to paywall articles.

[lensperson]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

I have read the comments here carefully and will try to improve my posting
style.
Sorry if I annoyed some. That was not my intent.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

Since there were no posts by escondido in your thread link, fm, what exactly was the point?

Never said that Escodido posted in the thread that I linked to. Merely that he touched upon what was previously discussed.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

Since there were no posts by escondido in your thread link, fm, what exactly was the point?

esco, please continue posting as you may, I for one might not always agree but still appreciate your pov.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

aloha, i used to make a few contributions on a few topics that were of interest or i would post a new topic. it seemed that my contributions were not tolerated but flamed. I tend to have fiscally conseravative views but am quite liberal on social issues.there are a few here that seem to go out of the way to make anyone with a different take on an issue feel unwelcome to the conversation. I admit i maybe breached BB etiquitte a time or two but i think i have learned from those mistakes. the number one thing that life has taught me is to be tolerant of others views and ideas.....not agree always but respect them. if someone has a kooky idea, it doesnt make them a kook...just on a path like the rest of us.

Quoted for truth.

This goes hand-in-hand with what was talked about just a few months ago.

As we can see, some lessons are never learned.

[escondido100]

Re: Are we pau with HT?

aloha, i used to make a few contributions on a few topics that were of interest or i would post a new topic. it seemed that my contributions were not tolerated but flamed. I tend to have fiscally conseravative views but am quite liberal on social issues.there are a few here that seem to go out of the way to make anyone with a different take on an issue feel unwelcome to the conversation. I admit i maybe breached BB etiquitte a time or two but i think i have learned from those mistakes. the number one thing that life has taught me is to be tolerant of others views and ideas.....not agree always but respect them. if someone has a kooky idea, it doesnt make them a kook...just on a path like the rest of us.