This is still my favourite website, but it definitely seems to have a lot less traffic than it did when I first joined a few years ago. Then there seemed to be multiple genuinely interesting threads with regular comments throughout any given day. Now there seem to be fewer such threads and it can be days between replies, which is a real shame.
I have joined a number of the Facebook groups and quite like a couple of them in particular. As others have said there are some comments made to the effect that “I haven’t read the Prog in decades and it’s rubbish now” but there are also a lot of people who comment that genuinely like the Prog and some in particular who are unbelievably knowledgeable. One of the comments above in this thread was about a creator (Simon Fraser) asking for details about what a Lawgiver looks like and getting answers here, which is great. Almost the exact same thing happened on one of the Facebook groups last month - Dave Kendall asked about a rolling tank and got his answers including what story it was from and indeed pictures within minutes.
There is one person in particular who seems to be a walking encyclopaedia of all things 2000AD for whom no question is too obscure and he backs his answers up with pictures, usually within minutes.
There are however some comments made in the Facebook groups about this Forum that paint it in a negative light. As Colin has said, I also don’t get that. Yes there has been the odd spat, but I’m sure that happens on Facebook too. Personally I don’t like comments that criticise other Forums or groups - its really unhelpful IMO (both ways around).
I really like the structure of the Forum. I don’t find it hard to navigate at all and just use the last post date as a guide to where new comments have been made. I also check into my favourite threads regularly just in case. I never use the the most recently updated topics link but can see how others would find that helpful.The Forum structure, as others have said, really lends it self to ongoing persistent threads in a way Facebook groups just don’t - they are much more a topic of the day and in the groups I use, there tend to be a lot of replies in a short period of time (a few hours) and then it is pretty much done. Very rarely does anything last more than a few days. That is a Facebook thing, not a 2000AD thing (I am in other non 2000AD groups and they work the same way). I guess that lack of persistence encourages replies in a short space of time, because it you don’t reply, you will have missed the boat.
Basically I use both Facebook and the Forum now and there should be room for both. One isn’t better than the other, they are different. But both seem to have a relatively small hard core who do most of the posting (certainly of those that post frequently).
To pick up on the comment on the like button - I hardly ever use it on “normal” Facebook with regard to my friends posts, but I do think it is very useful in groups and helps avoid spats: someone might comment on your post giving a completely different view but you can see that they have already liked your post which helps you to see its is just that - a different perspective. Whereas here, there have at times been some misunderstandings (which is a bit of a shame).
I am not sure the lack of Rebellion input is the key reason for the Forum dwindling. For me it’s more that we as a collective just aren’t posting as frequently as we used to, and yes there have been people who have left and gone to Facebook, but there are still enough members that a vibrant set of conversations should be possible. I would be sorry to see the Forum end and we love it to get back to what it was.
I guess it’s up to us to get posting
