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participation way down? - Page 2

post #21 of 157
6/10/11 at 12:04pm
I think it's the new format, for sure (along with a combination of smaller reasons).


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post #22 of 157
6/10/11 at 12:58pm
I'm curious to see what actual traffic numbers look like. Before and after. As pps have pointed out, it used to be that you couldn't keep up with the threads, they moved so fast. These days it can be weeks before anyone replies.

I've managed to replace all the forums I used to visit here with busier ones elsewhere online. I liked having them all in one, communicating with the same group of people about different topics but c'est la vie I guess.
post #23 of 157
6/10/11 at 1:08pm
I've heard a lot of people saying the new platform is slow and unmanageable but I honestly haven't noticed. Of course, I got a new laptop for Mother's Day, so maybe that's why?
post #24 of 157
6/10/11 at 1:44pm

I have a super dee duper new laptop, have a very fast connection, and have done everything that has been suggested by mods to speed things up but since the switchover, things are SO slow and clunky to load for me.  I've seen all of the threads in Q&S from the admin saying that they've tested things out and things are still just as fast but that is not true for me.  Trying to navigate this site is like wading through quicksand no matter which computer I am on or what type of connection.  I keep coming back as I have little to no support from IRL friends and I keep hoping that things will improve. 

 

My hope is close to dead by now. 

 

 

post #25 of 157
6/10/11 at 2:01pm
I too haven't been coming here nearly as often. It is not the same. greensad.gif
Edited by *bejeweled* - 6/10/11 at 5:32pm
post #26 of 157
6/10/11 at 2:26pm

Traffic is down but the spirit is not the same either.  I miss what Mothering used to be.

 

post #27 of 157
6/10/11 at 2:34pm
nod.gif Yes. I was always shocked and intrigued by so many of the posts here. It was intellectually titillating.


Quote:
Originally Posted by PuppyFluffer View Post

Traffic is down but the spirit is not the same either.  I miss what Mothering used to be.

 

post #28 of 157
6/10/11 at 2:37pm

I was having problems with the pages loading slowly on firefox so I went back to safari and I'm having no problems now. I know it wasn't my connection or my hardware. 

post #29 of 157
6/10/11 at 4:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ornery View Post

I have a super dee duper new laptop, have a very fast connection, and have done everything that has been suggested by mods to speed things up but since the switchover, things are SO slow and clunky to load for me.  I've seen all of the threads in Q&S from the admin saying that they've tested things out and things are still just as fast but that is not true for me.  Trying to navigate this site is like wading through quicksand no matter which computer I am on or what type of connection.  I keep coming back as I have little to no support from IRL friends and I keep hoping that things will improve. 

 

My hope is close to dead by now. 

 

 



Same for me.  New laptop, FIOS.  I now hit refresh and then go to another tab while I wait for it to load.  Sometimes I forget to come back.

 

The site redesign really put me off :(  It's hard to navigate and it doesn't look very nice.  But my usage was falling off before that.  When I first joined, I had a baby and a toddler and I liked the questions about extended breastfeeding and cosleeping and natural products.  The forum I had been on previously was very mainstream, and sometimes you got good help, but usually you were just mocked.  So it was really nice to have people here who respected my decisions and offered advice.  Now that my kids are older, I find less useful things here.  Maybe I'm not AP anymore?  It seems like most of the posts about kids my daughter's age are about how awful preschool and/or teaching your child anything is, or about disciplinary things I don't really agree with.  I think I'm into Gentle Discipline, in that I don't hit and try hard not to yell... but I am also a firm believer in rewards and saying the word "no" and I think that a time out can be a very effective tool.  I no longer cosleep or nurse my older two.  I think now that my kids are older, I would like the mainstream board more (though I haven't really been back), and of course I now check out the Trolls site too.  I was going between the two about equally, but with the redesign it became harder to come here.

 

I wonder if there are other mamas like me, who really liked what MDC had to offer for babies, but less so for older kids.  I also just feel like I have fewer questions now.  With babies everything is new and I wasn't sure which way was up.  Now I'm just more confident in my parenting, and less likely to research every little decision to death.

post #30 of 157
6/10/11 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
I know what you mean. I plan to peek in here now and then, but even here, the choices I am using to feed my DD have been questioned in a " I am not threatening you, BUT"!!!

I am going to start spending more time over on cookingtf, for that reason.
No one over there is going to make it seem as if they are going to try and track me down because of my careful research and choices.
post #31 of 157
6/10/11 at 4:26pm

I have barely post here anymore since the format and Mothering changes. The site loads fine for me,  but I miss the feel and 'spirit" these forums used to have when I first joined, (or even a year ago for that matter).

post #32 of 157
6/10/11 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PuppyFluffer View Post

Traffic is down but the spirit is not the same either.  I miss what Mothering used to be.

 


So, how do we get it back? Or do you think the new UA precludes that from happening?
post #33 of 157
6/10/11 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post



Quote:
Originally Posted by PuppyFluffer View Post

Traffic is down but the spirit is not the same either.  I miss what Mothering used to be.

 




So, how do we get it back? Or do you think the new UA precludes that from happening?

I have been wondering this myself.  I'm thinking that part of the spirit was the camaraderie between many of the posters.  I think that is why the DDCs are still going strong, they have a bond with each other.   It seems that many of the regular posters who have left have taken those friendships and interactions with them.

 

But I'm not sure how to build that back.  Getting to know you threads? Fluff TAO threads?  I don't know.
 

 

post #34 of 157
6/10/11 at 5:59pm
I don't know either and it makes me sad.
post #35 of 157
6/10/11 at 6:05pm

I don't know how to get people to post on them but the chit chat threads were popular in the past. 

post #36 of 157
6/10/11 at 6:18pm
I participated in the crafts forum, trading post, coops and swaps. Now those are all pretty much gone. I still come to MDC but I miss a lot of funny posters. It is very slow now. The pages load ok for me but I miss the tan background.
post #37 of 157
6/10/11 at 6:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post



Quote:
Originally Posted by PuppyFluffer View Post

Traffic is down but the spirit is not the same either.  I miss what Mothering used to be.

 




So, how do we get it back? Or do you think the new UA precludes that from happening?

I don't think that there's anything irreparable.  

 

I think maybe reorganizing some forums a bit would help.  Some of them are just so broad, I'm not sure they're terribly useful.  For instance, have groups of 3+ states is so broad.  Most of the questions in my geographic tribe are about different states.  And the lines are somewhat arbitrary, too.  I think there should be one forum for each state.  I also don't understand why MDC is so adverse to a "preschool years" forum.  The issues that I have with my 3 year old are completely different from the ones I have with my 2 year old (who is definitely a toddler), and no offense to them but I'm not really interested in advice from someone with a toddler.  I think it would also be simple to break up the Learning at School forum to have preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school subforums.  A secular subforum under Learning at Home might also attract new members.

 

I think that shutting down the DDCs is also a bad idea.  People really get to know eachother and grow, and when the DDC closes, you may not be able to convince them to stick around to participate in the rest of the board.
 

I think it's important to figure out a way to attract new members.  I think the way to do that is NOT incendiary Facebook posts :(  MDC needs to figure out what it has that no one else does, and then get the word out there about that.  One of the criticisms I've heard is that Mothering was really groundbreaking when it first started publishing, but as so many of its ideals have moved into the mainstream, MDC has seemed to make an effort to remain fringe, which means that sometimes it goes off into a la-la-land territory which might put off new members.  I think MDC has a reputation of being "green" and "crunchy," and those things are really quite mainstream now for a large population of educated, middle class mothers... there's no excuse not to try to embrace that.  It's a market ready to be tapped, but they're not going to be convinced by anti-vax propaganda, hateful comments about race, and some of the more "extreme crunchy" things that some very vocal posters do.  And I'm not saying you have to run those posters off: there's room under the tent o' crunchy for everyone :)  But I think you have to create a space where more people, even those who don't pass the extreme-AP test, are comfortable.  

 

(I've been saying "you," but I realize that you're not a Mod anymore.  I just mean "you" in the general sense, directed at MDC.)

 

If MDC wants to hire me to consult on publicity, I'm totally looking for a job, LOL.  All I ask is that my husband, who is a genius* UI designer who has designed many web forums, be allowed to make the message boards not quite so hard on the eyes.  Eek.  Really, that's a lot of it, I swear.  It's VERY hard to navigate and to find the forums you want to, and it's all just not laid out well.

 

*I may be biased.  But the rest is true!

post #38 of 157
6/10/11 at 6:38pm

 

 

Quote:
I think the way to do that is NOT incendiary Facebook posts 

But it is so amusing to see all the old crowd who never post, come out of the wood work to post on them after the threads hit the MDC spin off forums. 


Edited by Arduinna - 6/10/11 at 7:20pm
post #39 of 157
6/10/11 at 9:36pm

I know quite some mamas who have left this site and moved to fb where we can be honest about how we're feeling without being banned..  I bet a few of them would be willing to stroll back over now that a lot of the bullshit is gone. 

post #40 of 157
6/11/11 at 4:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arduinna View Post

 

 

But it is so amusing to see all the old crowd who never post, come out of the wood work to post on them after the threads hit the MDC spin off forums. 



But it just cements their resolution to have nothing to do with this site.