Let's discuss the board slowing down

[armpants]

So I know there have been comments about the board slowing down, maybe we share reasons why we aren't posting as much to see if we can change something.

If course for many of us it's largely time based. With my job now I have zero time to read during the day. I take a short lunch so I can leave earlier. So I have a little bit in the morning and then after M goes to bed.

Daily randoms are one reason for me. As they are I go into the most recent day. But often discussion is continued from other days and I have no clue what is going on. So I don't comment. Because I don't want to be the person who comes in and only updates on me and doesn't respond to others (even though I find myself doing that occasionally just to post). It's better when a discussion is going, and not just a post from individuals about themselves with no interaction.

We don't discuss current events. This is a big one for me honestly. I find myself skimming the most recent randoms and then going to general discussion/ politics to read because I'm interested in reading about what's going on in the world. I don't have a ton of time for reading news, so I enjoy seeing articles posted and what others think of what's going on.

I like the individual topic threads. Then I can jump in if interested or ignore if not.

Just my thoughts, but if board slow down is really a concern discussion and action need to take place to get it going again.

[RunsforWineandCarbs]

So do we as a board shy away from current events to keep the peace so to speak?

We can always go back to 1 random thread - daily or weekly doesn't make a difference to me.

[layloo]

I haven't been around a lot because busy and no time to check at work or lunch and half of the time I'm in a funk and have nothing positive to say...
I always try to come around more and then fail.

[fierymama]

Mine has been largely time based and with the Holiday's and C's Birthday coming up quickly, it's even more difficult.

[flippinchica]

I do think weekly randoms would help to some extent. I also go to politics to see, comment on current events but I'm not sure how that would be over here. I know it can be divisive. I'm in another spin off group from the bump (private) and we had to decide not to get into a lot of that stuff after a discussion on guns.

[flippinchica]

Also over there we have monthly kid update threads, a TTC thread and a pregnancy thread for separate updates
Maybe something like that would work.

[mommabakes]

I want to be around more, but don't feel like I have time to keep up anywhere. I really don't like just posting about myself-although that's typically what happens.

[taketheshot]

I think one weekly random thread would be sufficient. I find it funny that the reason we went back to daily was because the one weekly thread became too big to manage/catch up on.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that we've slowed down. We all have jobs, kids, lives, responsibilities and if we just sat at a computer/phone all day checking the board, I'd be concerned. I typically check in first thing in the morning and then at nap time. Sometimes I have things to share and sometimes I don't.

[Betweenthelines]

Nov 20, 2017 7:11:42 GMT -6 taketheshot said:

I think one weekly random thread would be sufficient. I find it funny that the reason we went back to daily was because the one weekly thread became too big to manage/catch up on.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that we've slowed down. We all have jobs, kids, lives, responsibilities and if we just sat at a computer/phone all day checking the board, I'd be concerned. I typically check in first thing in the morning and then at nap time. Sometimes I have things to share and sometimes I don't.

This is where I'm at. I catch up while I'm on the train in the mornings. I don't comment on everything, but I read up. Then I go over and check in on other boards and do the same there. 

I've also cut back on internetting as a whole to begin with. Life is exhausting.

[Pizzaslut]

There are definitely ebbs and flows when it comes to participation and activity. I think with the holidays and everyone's busy schedule, it's just a slow time. I agree that going to weekly threads is a good idea for now. I also participate in other threads, specific ones instead of randoms, so some days I only have time to check in on those threads.

[CestLaVie]

I'm on board that I'm not too worried about the slow down. For me it has been work. I've been putting in 60 hour work weeks plus commuting and I'm just tired all the time. I agree it's a busy time but I do like coming back to check in!

I definitely think having only the daily threads contributes to it. Like I am more likely to go to the blinds where I can just read a page about survivor, put in my 2 sense and then check out again. I think the idea that we have to catch up (even though no one is enforcing this at all, its just natural) keeps up from participating at all sometimes.

[armpants]

I would love to try taking about current events because though I read many threads on other boards I rarely chime in because of time. I think we're a group of intelligent people who can discuss things without it becoming a fight.

For instance with the recent events around all of the sexual assault charges this led to an interesting discussion with layloo and booarogue about how we plan to talk about related subjects with our kids. My H even joined in (this was obviously at my house). It was really interesting and stimulating conversation.

I love this group ame interacting with you guys. I feel like we have a ton of things to discuss, but might feel trapped in a pattern at times.

[jedi]

Didn’t we switch to daily Randoms because people would miss for a few days and then felt overwhelmed by several pages in a weekly thread and daily threads made it easier to chime in? I’m up for anything. Including current event discussions.

[CestLaVie]

armpants, I agree. I realized that when we spent 6 pages talking about makeup. I think we are bored of talking about our kids and our day. I am anyway. Not that that doesn't need a space for that because we do, but just that having other things to talk about is what keeps things interesting.

[CestLaVie]

Nov 20, 2017 11:31:51 GMT -6 jedi said:

Didn’t we switch to daily Randoms because people would miss for a few days and then felt overwhelmed by several pages in a weekly thread and daily threads made it easier to chime in? I’m up for anything. Including current event discussions.

Yeah I think so. I think we can also maybe combat this by also having different threads with topical conversations that people can chime in with an opinion and not have to feel like they should catch up first because it ends up never happening lol.

[booarogue]

Hey guys. I've obviously been absent awhile. I don't have as much time to check in now and haven't been feeling great so I haven't had much to talk about. I do love the content oriented threads as I can usually chime in quickly when I have the chance.

[mrspiatt]

I think I just have a hard time keeping up with more than one place. I get try to catch up on a board and then get distracted before I even post, then never find time to fully catch up and or comment. I put a little more energy into the N17 board recently, because that’s what I needed to do for me. Today I came to A15 before I even looked on the N17 board. I agree weekly is a good idea. At the time, the threads were so huge it was intimidating and impossible to catch up. I rarely participate in anything on the General Board, that’s way too much to follow for me personally.
I like the idea of discussing current events here, other than with H- I really don’t discuss much with anyone (outside of kid stuff), a downside to being a SAHM.

[45thparallel]

I read along and comment when I can. I also have taken a big step back from my phone when I’m at home to focus on the kids. Work over runs my days and the kids overrun my evenings. It has felt great to disconnect for a few hours each day and I feel a lot less stressed bc of it. The down side is it cuts into my time on here. I think it goes without saying I value you ladies and want to stay in touch so I couldn’t step away completely. I do find myself extra excited when I see posts in the makeup and books treads bc it feels more like conversations where we discuss things/events/stories.

[45thparallel]

Nov 20, 2017 11:33:38 GMT -6 CestLaVie said:

armpants, I agree. I realized that when we spent 6 pages talking about makeup. I think we are bored of talking about our kids and our day. I am anyway. Not that that doesn't need a space for that because we do, but just that having other things to talk about is what keeps things interesting.

I get excited seeing someone comment on the makeup thread I agree, maybe it’s just the variety we need.

[armpants]

Nov 20, 2017 11:31:51 GMT -6 jedi said:

Didn’t we switch to daily Randoms because people would miss for a few days and then felt overwhelmed by several pages in a weekly thread and daily threads made it easier to chime in? I’m up for anything. Including current event discussions.

We did but a daily thread was 5+ pages are the time. They are no where near that now.

[aydee]

Late to the party as usual. I mostly have time to get on here in the evenings after I put the kids to bed. I'm also on central time so by the time I get on here no one's around anymore because most of you have gone to bed. It feels pointless to contribute to the daily randoms at that point. I think it's no secret that I would support moving back to weekly randoms.

I also agree that having content based threads would be helpful. I think people are wary of starting them because they think they'll be seen as an AW, but I don't think it would be perceived that way at all. I think a lot of interesting ideas and conversations get lost in the daily randoms and don't really go anywhere because there are so many random things being discussed all at once.

[aydee]

One more thing that I've said every time this discussion comes up: you do not need to participate every day in order to chime in on a thread. It doesn't matter if you haven't posted in months. We're always glad to see familiar faces pop back in. I know there are people quietly lurking out there!

I also wish people wouldn't put pressure on themselves to comment consistently. Sometimes we have it in us to do that, and sometimes we don't. It's okay to post and run, and it's also okay to post if you haven't had time to read or don't have anything you want to comment on. There will only be life in this place if we create it.