Should the trivial threads be removed?

[Jamiesfuturewife]

It's normally me doing the stalking Reg so it's nice for a change!

[LucienSanchez]

Tell me about it...

[horlock07]

Are you Andy King in disguise? Top bollocks. 

Well I do try. ....

[Bogus Dave]

I think the trivial threads should be shut, and they do little to help discussion. Kind of negates the point of having threads.

However, given the rise of other internet mediums for people to spout off on - particularly facebook and twitter - I don't think people feel as inclined to talk as much on here.

Things seem to be a lot more sensible and duller now than they used to be in my onion. Although perhaps that's just life.

Definitely reading far too much into an internet forum ffs.

[joteddyred]

Just the other day someone from here came up & introduced themself to me in Asda! I'll never get bored of that!

How did they know it was you? 

I often wonder if I've ever met any TEFers without knowing or know people who post on here without realising it's them.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

I served them in Melksham Asda! There's 2 people that post on here that have introduced themselves to me there actually!

[Bogus Dave]

Was it 4D? I bet it was 4D.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

Nahhhhh he's a Calney isn't he ?? As far as I'm aware I've never met him?

[Empathy Sloth]

Needs more Dostoyevsky.

[leefer]

 I like the threads...it is usually trivial stuff so instead of lots of trivial threads keep it at it is in my opinion.

[Ardiles]

The stat's tell a story, sure enough.  But if there is a decline, I wouldn't pin the blame on those two threads.  Internet discussion forums (incl football forums like this one) are essentially a 1990s innovation.  This forum and others before it (like www.myonlyswindon.com) took over about 15 years ago from the STFC E-mail List as the main way of getting STFC related gripes off your chest.  And since the late 1990s, discussion forums have themselves been superseded largely by twitter and facebook discussion.  It still serves a purpose - which is one of the reasons we're still here - but the 'heyday' has come and gone.

I wouldn't mourn it.  Everything moves on eventually.  But I'm also fairly sure that this forum will exist in some form for some time to come.  I've been posting as Ardiles for probably around 15 years on here and MOS (and a few other places).  And I'm still bumping in to people at matches and realising we've been swapping posts on here for years (most recently Paolo69 at Oldham).

All basically a long-winded way of saying I don't think the two threads in the Nev forum are to blame.

[Kinky Tom]

maybe we've just covered so much over the years that we've kind of exhausted many of the avenues we use to explore?

maybe it's a lack of new members coming through?  there was a time a few years ago that i was pretty prolific in my post count but after time i've not felt compelled to contribute so much. 

in the formative years there were new members popping up all over the place with new things to be said.  have we just reached critical mass?  we are a fairly small fanbase after all.

i often think of something i might post about but then remember that it's already been covered at some point.

i still read the forum every day and because for half the year i'm 60 miles from swindon, and for the other half in another country entirely it's still a great resource for me.

i think comparing forum life now to the 'glory days' is silly really, things always change, so long as people are still using it, whether it be to talk about manatee sandwiches, cherry popping holidays, orange hats or just bad drivers it's still a valuable outlet for us.

ardiles is right, the two threads aren't to blame, nothing's to blame it is what it is.  maybe in a years time we'll be pining for the normality of moaning about some idiot not having their money ready at the till, another fB/spacy/even fatbury might be just around the corner.

[4D]

Nahhhhh he's a Calney isn't he ?? As far as I'm aware I've never met him?

Yes you have, I trod on your foot in the Kings arms. You know of my wife too 

[RWB Robin]

I regularly read the forum, though I find the trivial threads tedious after a while....I tend to have a blitz on them when Ive got nothing better to do, just in case there's something interesting on them.  I only post very irregularly on the principle that if I'm bored by what I've got to say, so will most readers be!  And, while I like an argument, I don't like the personal abuse that often accompanies them....Trouble is I know that some posters know each other very well, and the abuse can be placed in that context, but I don't....and I suppose I've spent a lifetime trying to get people to listen before they spout...and that applies on trivial issues as well....hopeless i know; and I will go on feeding my habit for as long as TEF lasts, especially when we move on from here, which will be in the next month....

[4D]

What are you gonna change your username to now? I think I suggested the RWB one