This forum has been (slowly) dying for a long time already Vern, and there are multiple reasons for that, none of which have anything to do with how we're running the forum...:
- Some may leave because they can't handle the truth ─ and I'm not talking of the "truths" that you think you are posting, but rather the opposite, i.e. the fact that a lot of the prejudices and false opinions so cherished by this so-called alternative community are being debunked here.
- Some may leave because they have surrendered to (US-)political bigotry and the Trump/Qanon mania that has been going on here among certain members who shall not be named, and which is sadly enough still very strong over at Project Avalon.
- Some may leave exactly because of the bigotry and/or the focus on US-political topics.
- Some may leave because instead of having any actual discussions, people are only posting videos anymore, often without any comments of their own. And if there is any response to those videos, then it's usually in the form of a one-liner that pretty much ends the thread's viability. Except when it's a thread about US politics, of course. :rolleyes:
- Some may leave ─ and have already done so before ─ simply because The One Truth doesn't get as much traffic and/or attention as Project Avalon and similarly large forums.
As an example, after I chose to share the extraordinary experiences I had after Kelly's death with Bill Ryan ─ whom I still regard as a friend ─ Bill proposed that he would temporarily reactivate my account over at Project Avalon, so that I could expound those experiences over there as well, because he too was completely flabbergasted and intrigued by my recount of those experiences. And as most of you will know by now, I have indeed accepted Bill's offer, on the condition that the thread remain under the members-only section of their forum, just as we've done here.
Meanwhile, said thread ─ by which I mean the one over at Project Avalon, not the original one I started here at The One Truth ─ appears to have run its course. My last post on that thread ─ and it is at the time of my writing this post here also the last post of the thread ─ dates back to the 21st of June 2021, which is now six days ago. Meanwhile, other topics have been posted there, and Project Avalon's focus seems to have shifted back onto the subjects of US politics and the usual paranoia-fueled conspiracy theories, and so it won't be long anymore ─ a matter of days, really ─ before I request that Bill put my account over there into retirement again.
But, what's notable in this regard ─ and I don't think this would entirely be due to Project Avalon's much larger member base ─ the opening post of my thread there garnered me "thanks" from 87 members, most of whom I don't even know in person. That's more than I've ever gotten on any post over there ─ even during my time as an administrator there ─ and even my last post on that thread still got me "thanks" from 15 people. Now compare that to how many people have been thanking my posts over here at The One Truth, even going back as far in time as 2015, when I first joined up here.
Most people lose interest in a thread after the first page, and sometimes it doesn't even take them that long. Many don't even read on anymore beyond the first or first two posts. And slightly related to this, eventually all threads ─ at least over here at The One Truth ─ get derailed onto the subject of US-specific politics, even now that Donald Trump ─ as arguably the most controversial president so far that the USA has ever had ─ has already long left the White House. And Project Avalon is rife with US-political threads, but they're also very strict over there with regard to topic integrity, and so if a thread gets derailed, then the "offending" posts are quickly split off and/or merged into a more suitable thread by the moderators, and/or the thread participants will be quickly told to remain on topic. If I do that over here, people simply chuckle ─ smugly, even ─ and then the conversation remains off-topic.
Sometimes I think herding cats would be easier than running a forum. And don't even get me started on the Manjaro forum, where I have to move on average 10 to 15 threads every single day because they've been posted to the wrong forum categories, and where there's always someone hitting the report button on something for some reason.
:back to topic:, even though the topic of this thread here is once again US-centric and political. <sigh>