Yeah the drop in usage of the chat room particularly is a shame as I essentially live in there

There is definitely a vicious circle thing going on when you only have a few people there, people who come in dont stay as long, hence there are fewer people.

Anyway, in the next coulple of weeks we'll be bringing back the sci-fi quiz cup, and we have a couple of things in the pipeline to stimulate some on topic discussion both on the board and in the chatroom, keep an eye open.

Memberships aren't too bad -- numbers aren't great but new blood does find it's way here, mostly by reccomendation and word of mouth. 19 people joined in March, and although 11 of them have either never posted or only posted once, four are already in double figures -- 20% active members is excellent for most communities.

Long-term members are also very evident -- anyone still posting after three to four months seems to stick arround forever; almost all the ex-yukkers here are active posters.

It's in the middle that things seem to fall down, I suspect that many of the people we lose go at around the two to three month mark, whatever attracted them seems to fail to holdtheir attention. They may carry on lurking, and post once in a blue moon (a bit like me!), but they don't see themselves as being a part of the community.

One part of the problem is Buffy; T21 remains rather post-buffyuk, and that is inevitable, however it sometimes seems to be too Buffy-centric for a general purpose SF/cult site, which may mean some people regard T21 as a Buffy site that does general SF/fantasy as well. That show provide a centerpiece for the yukkers, which made it easier for buffyuk to build a community around -- almost everyone there had a single common interest; here something broader is sought, and it's more challenging for a homogenous community to develop.

The wonderful world of high technology...
AIM, MSN, IRC, ICQ, DJ, LJ, SMS... all these acronyms and more have played their own part in the evolution of internet communities, and each has impacted on T21, and in particular has enabled the members of T21 to move beyond T21. We've got journals and blogs, many of which are frequented by other T21ers; we chat on AIM, MSN and ICQ, and some of the people we chat to are other T21ers; we phone, and SMS, and visit and date other T21ers; T21 is a victim of it's own success, too many T21ers know one another too well to be bound by a simple posting board format -- they're not just related to one another by common interests in SF or cult TV anymore, they're friends for whom T21 is one of the media through which they communicate.

While many will have first met one another through T21, and while they may still frequent here and post often, for some it will not be *the*community* they are a part of, rather it will be one place, out of several, that they frequent.

My gut feel is that it's not a problem with the overall activity levels, but simply with the numbers -- mermberships aren't bad, but they're not great; the numbers will find an equilibrium somewhere, that equilibrium will be higher the more new members find their way here.

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by Wiggy
you (potential) axe murderers.

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Whatever Yvonne's been saying about me isn't true

Wow what a post Wiggy, but in all honesty I have to agree with you and I'm also very guilty of not going into chat anymore.. I think in all honesty Callum has summed up the reasons perfectly. People grow people I feel tend to become part of an "online community" for a varity of reasons, shared interests, boredom, the need to fill a part of their life, and it's a great way to be whatever and whomever you want to. But as Callum said sometimes you can just end up getting to know people too well and they become friends and then there is no need to be part of that community to get the friendship you were originally looking for?

So what do we do?
Do new members feel comfatable posting here?
Does my bum look big in this?
*Answers on a postcard*

I echo Wiggy's sentiment and also acknowledge that I haven't been around a great deal since the T-party in February.

Two things conspired to get in the way - my job (which as many of you know involves a fair bit of travel) and more specifically a sick PC at home which meant that when I did have an evening to myself, I didn't have a PC that would stay up long enough to allow me to participate actively in IRC.

T21 has been a victim of it's own success to that extent and the nights sat in the IRC room with upwards of 20 other people seem to be a disant memory as instant messaging-style communications have taken over.

Anyway, I'm back!!! and I spent and hour yesterday evening talking to Angel1 about motorbikes and Maff about car insurance quotes for new drivers (one the advantages of being an old fart is that it's not a problem for me any more )

Looking forward to seeing some more faces in "the room" soon!

(Edited by gobstopper 24/04/2003 10:11)

me would visit the chat room more often if i could get into it.my computer seems to like downloading the wrong java needed to get into chat.i would certainly get into the room more often if i could.

Try using a dedicated IRC program.

mIRC is widely used and, if I remember correctly, there are comprehensive "How to get it", "How to install it" and "How to use it" guides here http://www.tangent21.com/it.php?node_id=29&

*Reminder for Stoo to post the link for that CGI mIRC gateway thing*

Worked for me behind a firewall at Uni so I'd call that a viable option

i think i tried the mirc idea before and it still wouldnt let me in,it keeps sayting i need jave and the version my computer downloads isnt recent enough.

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by prophecy
i think i tried the mirc idea before and it still wouldnt let me in,it keeps sayting i need jave and the version my computer downloads isnt recent enough.

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Mirc doesn't need a java download to work....sure you're d/loading it properly??

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by Milky
(quotes)

Mirc doesn't need a java download to work....sure you're d/loading it properly??

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I think prophecy's referring to the applet...

I stopped going in chat a few years ago because I was too busy with other things and never got back into it and ive been on a few times since and feel out of place now (nobodys fault im not blaming anybody).

But ill go in at some point in the near future and shall make an effort.

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by Callum
Whatever Yvonne's been saying about me isn't true

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He *is* an axe muderer - he's all lurky!

I've been absent from IRC for ages. I hardly ever used it before Christmas and when I got back from spending New Year with some friends, there was a brand spanking new PC to play with. Downloading mIRC again only occurred to me once, but it was a thought soon forgotten as I remembered the place being deserted during my last visit.

When this PC has had its spring clean (the parent's have NO idea when it comes to putting loads of crap on it and slowing it all down) I'll follow a link or two and maybe you'll see me (lowering the tone) again

trouoble is through the word of mouth you sometimes get nutcases like me coming in and ruining a perfectly sensible chat, but hey thats why you guys love me right!!!

I think its my own fault that I'm not more part of the community, I've been around since BuffyUK but I hate chat. I've just never liked chatrooms and stuff in general and I think I went on BUK chat all of once. And also T-parties and stuff are just very hard work for me to try and get to (awkward parents and lack of funds ) I will try and get on chat though, and maybe one day i'll make it to a meet.

(Edited by Eve 24/04/2003 22:35)

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by Yvonne
(quotes)

the parent's have NO idea when it comes to putting loads of crap on it and slowing it all down

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Welcome to my world

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by JtB
I stopped going in chat a few years ago because I was too busy with other things

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Strangely I found some printout chat stats relating back to BUK the other week. It showed you & FFB being in the top 10 - quite something

I do most of my posting on the student network at College, but can't use chat because the PTB don't allow it (gits!) and can't really do it at home because it's... *tries to provide decent description without swearing lots* ... absolutely f... (oops!!) ... "somewhat inadequate"! If I could be convinced that it would be on a PC that works (and also a decent connection speed wouldn't hurt) I'd probably try it. [/madbabble]

The cgi chat gateway was just a beta thing, and it had a *lot* of bugs, I'll have to try to find a better version..