Where have all the flowers gone?

[rogerjolly]

I’ve noticed that many new members sign up on the forum but post just a few times if at all and then completely disappear off the radar. Is it lack of any real interest in veganism? Do we not do enough to make them welcome? Are we unintentionally a little intimidating? Do they not feel the need to connect?

Also there are several stalwarts who once contributed regularly on the forum but haven’t been active in months. Why do you think that is? Do they feel they have nothing further to contribute? Do they get bored with old chestnuts produced by newbies? Are they totally distracted by other passions? Do they feel it’s time to leave it to new bloods? Is it a case of “Old soldiers never die. They just fade away.”?

From the 1950’s I recall a catholic priest, Fr. Flynn, who had a problem. Some of his parishioners were skipping church attendance (a mortal sin by the way). So, at the next Sunday mass, he harangued the congregation about their souls being at considerable risk. Good old fashioned fire and brimstone stuff. They really, really must attend mass or suffer eternal damnation.

I feel a little like him. I suppose that the people I should ask these questions are the ones who are not here.

Roger.

 

[poivron]

I suspect that a lot of the people who show up to post something like, "OMG, I ate a spoonful of tofu and now my skin is breaking out, I have wrinkles all over my body, and I no longer have periods" and then disappear are actually trolls. When they find that they can't cause trouble here, they lose interest and leave.

As for long-term members who disappear, I can't say what's going on there, but I know what happens with me. I find that forums like this one sometimes get overwhelming, to the point where I have to block them in order to get work done. Then, I learn about some new and exciting development in the vegan world and come back to post it, and then I hang around for a few days until I get overwhelmed again. I wouldn't assume that just because people are not posting, they're no longer vegan. Once you've been vegan for a few years, it becomes automatic and fades into the background, until some news item or discussion with a non-vegan brings it to the foreground again.

That being said, it would be nice if some of the long-term posters posted more regularly. I like the sense of community here.

 

[alleycat]

I have a look around, but don't log in unless I have something to say. Mum is still in hospital and sometimes it all seems too hard to "talk". But I do like this community, at the moment I just like to pop in and see what's happening without being too involved.