how many years can a forum last? will you still be a active member in 10 - 15 years?

[Stanley Doble]

There is a real estate investing forum I started frequenting in 1997. It started in 1995 and is still operating. Unfortunately the management got pretty high handed and commercial a few years ago and I stopped visiting daily although I do look in from time to time. They gave the place a makeover last November, but it does not seem to have helped. They are getting about 1/10th the action they did in their salad days. Maybe it is the management driving people away but maybe it is the rotten real estate market.

 

[Tomasso]

Maybe it is the management driving people away but maybe it is the rotten real estate market.

It's probably the latter.

 

[Undertow]

Actually, many post while at work.

Ain't dat da trute!

The bartenders' vigilance have kept this place alive. With new people feeling safe and respected while posting here, we'll always have lifeblood. I think the major challenge will be for the older members, or more experienced ones anyhow, to impart their knowledge to us vintage-noobs so that we can continue carrying the torch for another decade.

 

[Miss Golightly]

I've been a member of a few other forums over the years but have drifted away from some of them over time for various reasons (one was, I felt, so poorly moderated, and the aggressive and vicious bullying that took place just completely turned me off it) and a few of them simply wrapped up - I don't have a huge amount of time to post here and there have been times I have been halfway through writing something and then cancelled it as it wasn't exactly what I wanted to say so I'd prefer not to post at all in that instance. Anyway, I love this forum - so many intelligent, kind and well-informed people gathered at the one spot - I hope to post here for a long time to come.....

 

[1961MJS]

"to impart their knowledge to us vintage-noobs"

Hi Undertow, that's probably the best oxymoron that I've ever seen. We're new at being old.

Back to topic. I've on several VERY old lists for my other interests. They are more self policing, but do a great job at it. We do get a little SPAM every once in a while, but since you have to get permission to join there is very little on the other forums.

Later

 

[skyvue]

I've been moderating a list about drive-in movie theatres since 1994. It's low-key discourse and we have quiet periods but things always perk up again eventually.

 

[sal]

While I am very new here....the passion that I see from folks here with regards to the Golden age would lead me to believe this will be here for a while to come

 

[Undertow]

Hi Undertow, that's probably the best oxymoron that I've ever seen. We're new at being old...

lol

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I will be here, so long as the Lounge is here. I love this place and I've been a member of many forums over the past few years. I only still go on this one and the Station Wagon Forums.

 

[jamespowers]

I will be here, so long as the Lounge is here. I love this place and I've been a member of many forums over the past few years. I only still go on this one and the Station Wagon Forums.

A station wagon forum?! I would never have guessed?
The 1957 Buick Caballero. One of the best looking station wagons ever made.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

lol I've actually been a member there a year longer than here.

No argument here on that Buick! That one's in the best color combo, too!

A station wagon forum?! I would never have guessed?
The 1957 Buick Caballero. One of the best looking station wagons ever made.

 

[jamespowers]

lol I've actually been a member there a year longer than here.

No argument here on that Buick! That one's in the best color combo, too!

For $93,000 it could have been yours.

 

[Dan Rodemsky]

Are the station wagon people only interested in vintage? That new Cadillac is one of the best cars on the planet. The American version of Top Gear tested it. It was faster than the sedan and coupe but faster than the Ferrari too! Back OT, most of my other forum prowling has been vehicle related too. Once I move on, the forum got ignored. I will probably continue wearing clothes the rest of my life so there is a good chance I'll hang around here. I keep learning new things here.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

On the wagon forums, all wagons, domestic, import, old, and new are discussed and owned by members. Our founder actually drives a fairly new wagon.

 

[scottyrocks]

Aw, you're making me blush....

Thanks, that was a sure bet.

 

[Tango Yankee]

I suppose a forum can last as long as it's members do!

I've been a member of the Internet BMW Riders list since 1994 or so. There was recently bit of noise about wanting to move from a mail list to a forum, but that died down rather quickly as there are a number of BMW motorcycle-related forums out there already.

I joined a PT Cruiser forum in 2004 when I bought my Cruiser. It was a great forum, very helpful, very friendly... until the political talk started. It got very nasty and personal. I contacted the forum owner, told reminded him of his own rules of conduct that weren't being followed, and suggested that he ban political "discussion." Then I went fishing for a week. Came back to find that the owner had not responded to me directly, but had banned political topics and the site was then generating a lot of noise about "censorship." The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth and I rarely visited after that. A year or so ago I decided to look it up again, only to find that it had been absorbed into a larger forum but that there was very little life there. I think that the political nastiness crippled it, and it limped along for a few more years with people dropping out as they moved on to different cars.

I've been a member here for five years now. I've not been as active a member as I was when I started, but that's primarily due to what's been going on in my life the last few years. I'm hoping to be able to get back into working working with the hats I have that need refurbishing, reteaching myself what I'd learned initially, and perhaps thin out the stacks of hats in the coming year.

I'm also a not-very-active member of the Fountain Pen Network. It's similar to here in that it's well moderated and the members for the most part are very respectful of each other. I think those are key to longevity in a forum--only those who thrive on conflict will keep coming back to a forum with a lot of it. Having a primary subject that has some longevity to it rather than being a fad helps, too. As much as so many loved their PT Cruisers, in the end it was just another car for most of them; the Cruiser just had a fun/social factor most cars lack which contributed to the existence of the forum until those people moved on. I do expect to be a member here for a long time, though I imaging that my participation will ebb and flow the same as others.

Regards,
Tom

 

[Pompidou]

This place should be able to last, because its subject matter isn't going to change and neither is the niche interest in it. Most of the other message boards I use are tech related, and few survive beyond the next best thing. A few are business related and those die from poor management, typically regarding the moderation of spammy posts. None of that really applies here.

 

[Undertow]

I agree, I think that's a big part of what gives this place lasting power; i.e. we're part of a niche that isn't really changing or going anywhere. Furthermore, we're able to participate at varying levels of knoweldge and/or "devotion".

I haven't seen any mention of an uncomfortable reality that sets in from time to time, namely, the fact that this board has, more or less, discussed everything there is to discuss regarding this era. This includes redundant posts like, "What kind of hat should I wear?" or "Is this suit cool or not?"

I think the redundant high-level posts, as well as the more informative detailed posts are all very helpful in keeping us here. With each redundant post, we all must reevaluate how we feel about a "solid" disposition we hold, which hopefully keeps our perspectives open to change. On the other hand, the detailed posts give us less-informed folks a look at the nuts and bolts of true vintage style.

There is some necessary redundancy with new members posting threadbare topics (good pun, eh? ), but I think it just adds to our already awesome community.