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acerbity said:
It's the same damn thing with every forum ever since Al Gore invented the internet. You've only been a member a year.

This isn't a particularly old message board compared to many other crossroads on the web, and you're not a particularly old member.

Like a grain of sand in the desert.

This cliche topic occurs in every message board I've been a part of.
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Well excuse me for just finding out about the topic a year ago. I've loved mantids my whole life, but only started breeding them a couple of years ago. This is the only forum that I'm apart of, so I definately wouldn't know about your experiences. All I'm saying is that I kinda miss the old members with topics that you could sit and read and just gain insight from it. I realize the forum isn't old, but that especially means that it's kind of sad to see great members drift away when they have so much to offer to the "little people". I hope your not mocking me because I'm relatively new, because that would just be plain silly. Heck, I still go back to the older posts just to read about them, and I must say that their is a difference between those posts and recent/current ones. Maybe it's because of the members who were more into mantid breeding, behavior, etc. And hopefully us newer members will someday be like them, so it is very unwise to call me a grain of sand in the desert. I would consider myself a tree planted in the burned California, have a very great potential, and it would be foolish to knock me down.

 
I dont necesarily think that Acerbity was trying to knock you down or kill your inspiration, but rather explain that the fading away of older members and the replacement of those members with newer members is a rather normal trend among all chat boards, and this board is no exception. This board is just a grain of sand in a desert full of chat boards.

The addition of some uberannoying members over the last year (Im not talking about you Sidewinder) has definitely had a negative effect on the older members, and so many of them simply lurk from time to time to see if there are any really good threads worthy of their input. Sadly of late those have been few and far between.

 
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DARKSPEED said:
I dont necesarily think that Acerbity was trying to knock you down or kill your inspiration, but rather explain that the fading away of older members and the replacement of those members with newer members is a rather normal trend among all chat boards, and this board is no exception. This board is just a grain of sand in a desert full of chat boards.The addition of some uberannoying members over the last year (Im not talking about you Sidewinder) has definitely had a negative effect on the older members, and so many of them simply lurk from time to time to see if there are any really good threads worthy of their input. Sadly of late those have been few and far between.
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I see what your saying. Sorry Acerbity, I'm just kinda tired. I agree that the lack of good threads is diminishing this forum. It's just that when I came here, everthing was full of life, and it wasn't even during mantid season! Before I joined this forum, I looked at another mantis forum that had died out. No one was on it, and the topics were dull and foolish. I just don't want this to end up like that, especially after recieving such good info/advice in raising my own mantids. (Sigh), I wish some discovery would happen in order to bring them back.

 
I think "cliche" said it best in terms of this particular topic. It's all too easy to feel like our older friends are gone when they visit less, but like many of you mentioned later in this post...it's the trend= normal.

What isn't normal, and here's the hard facts, folks... A year ago, Mantidforum's rankings among internet websites was above 4 million. Check this it today!

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_...mantidforum.net

Now we're sitting a whole lot prettier! Mantidforum dying? The numbers suggest otherwise! Unbelievable growth in a short time for a forum that has actually been around a LONG time (bug forums-wise)

I approved three new members today and seven yesterday.

Thank you to all members past, present and future that donate time to our always-evolving community and hobby!

 
I was just thinking about a pattern in the hobby...

10 years ago, there were only a handful of species that were somewhat regularly seen in the hobby...

Orchid Mantis

Dead Leaf (Deroplatys spp.)

Sphodromantis spp.

Pseudocreobotra spp.

occasional Creobroter spp.

(am I leaving anything out?..Chinese mantises were always here, of course)

It's really interesting to see how many additional species have come into the hobby, especially in the last few years! I see a correlation in the number of new species in the hobby and the number of new members joining the forum.

Anybody else noticing anything positive about the hobby, or is it just me reading too much into the numbers?

 
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Here's a positive note! At least it got us all talking again! Everyone has good points, I like that Andrew showed up, and was wondering if we couldn't have a section for the plants like his some of the members raise? I for one am interested in them and I have to go to another forum to read about them. If no one uses it them we can just delete it, but given time, it surely will get used.

And listen up, just because some people get a LIFE, does not mean they cannot visit us here :D !

I really do appreaciate the forum, and the fact that it is family safe. It makes me behave!

I do not like the chat scenes where any kind of language is allowed, "garbage in, garbage out! I make sure I tell customers with kids in the hobby they can come here and not be afraid of what they will see and hear, It don't get no better than that! :)

 
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Totally agree Becky. So many respectful people on here, and tt's nice that everyone on here can openly talk, regardless of the topic/situation.

People here with different expertise on so many different subjects, which makes it a pretty interesting board to read.

Just because some of the oldies have moved on, isn't necassarily a bad thing. Okay, a little sad to not hear from them, but as with any forum, members join, and the community gets more diverse.

I think the forum is on great track, couldn't really wish for anything better.

 
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Ian said:
Totally agree Becky. So many respectful people on here, and tt's nice that everyone on here can openly talk, regardless of the topic/situation. People here with different expertise on so many different subjects, which makes it a pretty interesting board to read.

Just because some of the oldies have moved on, isn't necassarily a bad thing. Okay, a little sad to not hear from them, but as with any forum, members join, and the community gets more diverse.

I think the forum is on great track, couldn't really wish for anything better.
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And ts also not to be said that they are gone forever, i mean, take Asa as example: he dissapeared, after a few months people notced, a year later hes back!

think some people are seasonal here..)

 
I'm so awesome B) A simple rant turned into harmony and a new topic thing. I'm like a diplomat. I see what you guys are saying, so I'll suck it up and take the good with the bad (which doesn't out weigh the good). Thanks guys. :D

 
Your too touchy to be a Diplomat.

HAHAHAHA!!!

Just kidding buddy! ;)

But being that you and I both joined around the same time I definitely see your point of view. I have seen a lot of outstanding members who had allot of good input fade out of the scene to be replaced with a lot of new members with tons of newbie questions. While the deep, thought provoking threads are fewer and further between, its the newbie questions that really provide the base of this and pretty much any informative chat board, because its the newbies that feed not only the growth of this board but also as Peter reminded us, the growth of the hobby itself.

So to those of you who are experienced and welling with knowledge about this great hobby, I implore you not to lurk in the background and simply demand use of the search feature for every old question that has been answered time and time again. I understand that sometimes it is a pain, but its getting answers to those annoying questions that keeps the newbies coming back and before long they aren't newbies anymore.That is the single greatest gift that any of us can do for this hobby.

And on a further note...

The second greatest thing you guys can do for this hobby is to take pictures. Some of you would truly be surprised how many people there are out there that don't even know that there is other species of praying mantids out there aside from the common green one (AKA Tenodera sp.). Some people don't even know what a praying mantis is. The more photos of the great diversity of mantids there are in this hobby and on this planet there are floating around in cyberspace the more the hobby will grow and the greater the chances that it be recognized as a harmless, educational experience instead of some unlawful underground activity.

Thats why I will go so far as to say this...

Scott Thompson,

If you read this, please understand that what you do is a gift to us all and we hope you never quit taking beautiful pictures of mantids. If you never come back to this site again, at least don't stop sharing your gifts with the world. They are more important to us than some of us have lead on.

 

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