Dying forums?
- Thread starter Zorba
- Start date
Shanazel
Moderator
I'm not sure it's just belly dance though this, my favorite, seems to be hit hardest of the forums I belong to. The pagan forum's traffic has fallen 75% since last year and even the bike forum only gets half the traffic it used to, though part of that is due to a division in the ranks over a divorce. It's a group of people who know each other well and some chose sides when the lady and her new gentleman stayed with our forum and the old gentleman went to a different forum. Really sad on a lot of levels.
I loathe F***book. I have an account under a false name so I can do the museum's page as part of my job- did not want an account at all and can't believe some of the crap people post.
I miss everyone that used to come here (well, almost everyone
) and am afraid of losing contact with even more people if it folds. Hate to even contemplate such a thing but...
I loathe F***book. I have an account under a false name so I can do the museum's page as part of my job- did not want an account at all and can't believe some of the crap people post.
I miss everyone that used to come here (well, almost everyone
) and am afraid of losing contact with even more people if it folds. Hate to even contemplate such a thing but...
Mosaic
Super Moderator
This is the only forum I am on now, I noticed a couple of others I was involved in also faded away in the last couple of years. It is very quiet here as well. Very few are joining & many don't post or post once or twice then seem to disappear. I think it is the nature of the beast, people find new outlets over time & forums have lost their popularity.
~Mosaic
~Mosaic
Shanazel
Moderator
I also wondered if belly dance itself has hit a bit of a trough as it has done in the past. People go to the fusion stuff and aren't interested in working hard enough to learn the real thing when they can shake their hips, do a couple of cartwheels and call it a belly dance fusion.
Oooo. Cynical.
Oooo. Cynical.
Daimona
Moderator
What are the general level of interest on bd worldwide atm?
Where I live, the interest is a bit lower now than it was a little while ago with fewer attendees at bd courses and fewer courses being offered as well. The interest on belly dance (and other things) goes up and down. We can't even blame fusion dancers as there aren't many of them around my place.
Where I live, the interest is a bit lower now than it was a little while ago with fewer attendees at bd courses and fewer courses being offered as well. The interest on belly dance (and other things) goes up and down. We can't even blame fusion dancers as there aren't many of them around my place.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
Yea, I do agree that BD is in, or at least headed towards, a "trough" in popularity right now. Between the economy and the usual boom/bust cycle.
Shanazel: I'm still irritated that "Wren's Nest" fled Witchvox for Face***k, but haven't been on the bike forum for a long time.
Shanazel: I'm still irritated that "Wren's Nest" fled Witchvox for Face***k, but haven't been on the bike forum for a long time.
Farasha Hanem
New member
:/
I check on my be board every evening, but I'm usually too exhausted to get. Dry involved.
I check on my be board every evening, but I'm usually too exhausted to get. Dry involved.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
I still lurk fairly consistently here and on Bhuz, but it is so quiet now
This.
Farasha Hanem
New member
Yeah, I've never known it to be this quiet here before.
Shanazel
Moderator
I've known belly dance to almost fall off the face of the earth at times except for a handful of dogged and dedicated dancers. There have been at least three big peaks and troughs since I started dancing in the late seventies, plus some smaller wavelets. We're sliding into the fourth trough (according to my lights) now but somewhere on the other side there will be another big wave of enthusiasm for the dance. In the meantime, keep the faith and practice your shimmies.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
Yea, pretty much. Does anyone in mundania have ANY idea how damn long it took me to be able to halfway do a standing shimmy?!?!? :shok:
Roshanna
New member
Things are quiet here in the UK, too. Classes are small with few new beginners, festivals are dropping like flies, and a large proportion of what gets done under the umbrella of 'bellydance' is really more like generic theatre dance with a bare midriff, which I suppose is probably similar to the "Fusion with no hips and attitude".
To be honest, I'm feeling pretty despondent and disillusioned with the whole scene at the moment. The level of interest in the dance as a cultural dance is so low that I often get a sort of 'alone in a crowded room' feeling in the bellydance community.
Salome
Administrator
I started this forum in 2003. Gosh was it so long ago? We went through a major hack after four years and had to start ALL. OVER. FROM .SCRATCH. Remember that? But over that time we have had a growing community. Until a few years ago, when it started to decline. I was so depressed and disappointed over this and now it's to a stage of...... acceptance? Maybe forums have run there course and snap chat/instagram/facebook have pretty much supplanted these types of platforms. In my mind I was thinking that would not be so because the forum allows for, at least what feels like longer and deeper conversation. Whereas the others are more short blurbs/pix/short comments. I dont plan on shutting the forum down at this point. As long as there are some loyal and dogged members gathering here to convo and trusty moderators to help then I will keep it going.
Shanazel
Moderator
Dogged loyal member here- woof, woof. I think Amulya was the first to sign up but I don't think I was too terribly far behind her- maybe 2004 or 2005? That was about the time I un-retired from dance and started teaching again. I know I've been a moderator since before the hack so my join date is in there somewhere. This was the first forum I ever joined and is still my favorite. I'm glad you aren't giving up yet, Salome.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
There are plenty of forums that are thriving, just not BD it seems. Of course, I have less than zero use for face***k, and don't see the point of snap chat, instragram, TWITter, etc. But I'm on several non-BD forums that are VERY busy - 2 or 3 of which are so busy that I can't keep up, several hundred posts an hour!
And ya, forums allow for far better "conversations".