Fear for the Future of P.S.

[Dirk Gently]

Have I been left behind?

I'm seriously worried for the future of P.S. Lots of people I thought were friends are no longer posting or even visiting here anymore. I was wondering if there was a new site people were going to or is this just the result of new online media things like Twitter & Facebook etc.

Or has it got to the point where people no longer need this place.

I'm here again & it's just me and 172 visitors.

Roll on the new series in August; then at least we may get 13 weeks or so of online action.

[Philipnet]

Hi Dirk

PS is very unlikely to go anywhere

Yes, the online media things like Twitter & Facebook have some of the regulars, it's natural for things to ebb and flow.
And a challenge is remaining interesting and as something extra/additional to them.


We've got a few things planned to help with this, but some of those are more behind the scenes so won't immediately be visible.


Are the number of 'visitors' really off-putting? - I'm sure they can be turned off

[SiHart]

As long as people keep posting here, PS will remain.

It's very difficult, because sometimes over the past few months I've felt like I'm arftificially keeping it all going, desperately opening new threads and stuff and it's been a bit of a thankless task sometimes, as people don't post to them, or start new ones themselves. I have wondered at times if it's worth the effort of keeping it all going, but as long as people want it, PS will be here.

Basically, we need some new ideas, some new things. Some of us have been here since (almost) the start of the forum, we've discussed it all so many times, and there's only so many ideas to go round. If you have any ideas, any of you out there, get in touchm post some new threads, get talking, because that's the only way the forum will survive. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but that's there is some truth in that- PS belongs to everyone, and that means if you want to keep it, you have to put some effort in too.

[Rob McCow]

This is the problem - it does take a bit of effort to keep things going. Quite a lot of effort in fact! Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook are zero effort.

But that's the negative side. I'm hoping that the new series will bring in a few extra members. There are loads of young Doctor Who fans out there who we could tempt onto the site. On the other hand, doing that would change the nature of the forum.

It'll never be the way it was. All we can do is start threads, write articles and generate interest. If we link them back to our FB and Twitter accounts, make them genuinely interesting, then we might get a bit more excitement going. Spend 30 minutes a day writing a short essay on Doctor Who is feasible, but so many subjects have been done before. How can we make them fresh?

Also - I've met some fabulous people through PS. I now have their phone numbers and am in regular contact with most of them. In that respect, it has served its purpose.

I'm here again & it's just me and 172 visitors.

I get annoyed by the robots too. But it keeps our search engine count a bit higher...

[Jon Masters]

As some of us discussed at the Bracknell meet, there is probably a combination of factors at work here.

The build up to the 50th at the end of last year gave us lots to speculate about and discuss , so much that we now seem to be in a bit of a lull. I realsied the other day that I haven't actually watched, listened to or read anything DW related (other than DWM) since the start of the year. Couple that with almost zero information coming out about the Capaldi season and that's a big source of topics gone. And as the DVDs and books reach the end of their run there's even less to argue or agree about.

(Although, as an aside, Amazon have City of Death book up with the most HIDEOUS cover ever - likle something a 5 year old would make as a collage after watching it once.)

There also seems to be less of us on here at any one time - probably for a variety of reasons, but I've noticed that when I do get onto PS it's me and several hundred Terminators only. It seems very rare that we have the sort of ongoing discussion, with rapid to and fro responses between several people online at the same time. And since we have a number of former members who don't post here but are still friends on Facebook, sometimes it just seems easier to keep up with what's happening by being over there than here.

I'm sure our mojo will return come closer to August - we just need to hang in tight....

[Nyder]

I'm afraid I've been guilty of not posting very often here lately. Which is naughty of me, as without this site I wouldn't have made the wonderful friends I have. Unfortunately I just don't have the time during the day because of work - it's far easier to quickly hit "like" on Facebook or make a pithy comment on Twitter when I'm at my desk. So I really should make up for it in the evenings! Like Jon said, things will probably pick up when the new season starts. Brave hearts everyone :-)


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[Nyder]

Is this the one you mean Jon?



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[Andrew Curnow]

I suppose it's in the style of the (similarly awful) Shada cover? At least, unlike the VHS cover, it features the Mona Lisa. Although you'd think the artist might have put seven Mona Lisas on there, really.

As an aside, I hope there's some kind of 'foreword' (or 'afterword') in the book as to the authorship - we all know, but I could certainly believe some people might pick it up and be just a bit confused by Gareth Roberts, Douglas Adams and David Fisher all rating a mention on the cover!!

[Paul Clement]

It truly is an awful cover. Hopefully the book will be good though.

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[Jon Masters]

Is this the one you mean Jon?



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That's the one

[Dirk Gently]

Are the number of 'visitors' really off-putting?

No, no. Not off putting...just a comment that at 16:30 I was on here on my own & out number by bots.

I did check facebook yesterday & saw 2 pieces of info that would normally be posted here, but thanks to smart phones etc it was on facebook instead & I'm sure I'm probably missing adding commiserations/congratulations to a lot of people because I don't use facebook as often as I use P.S.

I check here almost daily but it is very quiet.

[Dirk Gently]

P.S. That cover really sucks. It looks like someone was trying to do a cover in the style of HHGttG crossed with a Ben Elton cover.

[duncan]

I run a Sci-Fi forum and it's down to me and two others on there these days. It really is very difficult to keep intrest going and members engaged.

What didn't help was the "forum war" between Doctor Who 2005 and Logopolis Metropolis which up to that point was full of BBCi board members who needed somewhere else to go once the BBC closed the Doctor Who boards. There was a period of arguments and cat fights and the two communities shattered. Both boards also died a death.

I'm here, reading every day and although I may not post as frequently as you guys do, I still love coming here while on the net.

As for attracting younger members, I've joined a group on Facebook that is full of younger fans. The problem there is that they seem to rub older members up the wrong way as they don't like the classic series. All posts on the group are created for the new series only and to be honest, I am thinking of leaving the group as they can get quite shirty with classic fans.

[Stuart Wallis]

And there I was thinking it was just me who'd noticed, or was worried.

Facebook and Twitter are totally alien concepts to me; I've never used them barely even know what they are. Is that where everyone's going now? Typical Taurean, hoping it isn't, clinging on to the old ways before Orb gave us sticks to rub together...

Glad to hear there's things being considered though.

And that book cover's dull, isn't it?

[Darren]

I haven't really been active on here for a long while but pop on to browse every so often. I seem to be busy offline these days, trying to buy a house with my girlfriend and other stuff. It's not the hub of activity I remember it being , but it's still nice to be here.

[Jon Masters]

Quick, 4 of us are here at the same time. Let's start a rumble.......erm, City of Death is one of the worst Tom Baker stories ever

[duncan]

LOL, you won't find me disagreeing with you on that one

[SiHart]

Oi! Watch it you two! We'll have none of that nonsense here thank you

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I confess that I'm also finding it difficult to find time to post regularly for various reasons. I'm trying to make the most of my current unemployment now that my uni exams are over for the year although I still have a few lectures running through June.
As Steve observed above it does take a lot less effort to post on Facebook plus most of my closest friends and family are on there so there are additional factors of necessity and convenience involved.
I agree that the distinct lack of major Who related developments since Christmas has meant that other interests have taken precedence and whilst I know the next academic year is going to be an extremely busy one for me I hope I'll be able to maintain a reasonable level of engagement once the new series starts.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm in charge of posting nonsense round here, thank you very much!

[MacNimon]

I've got to admit, I'm as much to blame as anyone else. Not just here, I don't post just about as often on Duncan's forum just about as much as here! However, personally it's a number of other factors rather than lack of interest: my laptop packed in and Mary promised me a new one as a present for my 50th birthday and I can't buy myself a new one beforehand, so my availability for posting is rather limited at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I have a desktop PC upstairs but I don't like being shut away in a room by myself posting. And it's not quite the same using Tapatalk on my Kindle Fire. And other outside interferences such as gardening, decorating, DIY, beer making...However, I am here browsing most days and know that I should make the effort more.

To tell the truth, I'd happily pay a subscription of some sort just to ensure this place still existed, even if posting dried up occasionally. I've met a great bunch of guys through it and would like that to continue for as many years as it possibly can.

[MacNimon]

Just out of curiosity, just what sort of percentage of total members would you class as 'core' members? ie not only those who post every day but at least semi-regularly, even if not so much recently? Basically those who, even although you may not have heard from much recently, you still expect always to return occasionally? I think there are quite a few in that camp (myself included...I maybe haven't posted much but I'm never far away!)

[Rob McCow]

Aw! Kenny, you're a decent chap :drink

[MacNimon]

At the same time, there are obviously quite a few lapsed members...part of the problem is why don't they post any more, is it something personal or have they just lost interest? Is there any way of convincing them to return to the fold without sounding desperate?

And Duncan had a fair comment about that Facebook group. While you always want new members, fans of the new series to join in, how to do you prevent that being at the expense of classic series fans? And how to entice new Classic series fan members?

[Mike Saville]

It's not just here, most web forums and bulletin boards have struggled/folded as the onslaught of social media has rendered them close to redundant. Facebook is a one stop shop for most users, and the thought of logging in to multiple sites for most people is too much like hard work (even with synchronous log in widgets).

I personally hate Facebook, and won't use it. It's invasive and insidious. However, it can be used as a tool. The first rule is, if you want to bring people here, is don't post direct to Facebook. Add a social network bookmark/like toolbar here. Post your great stuff here and then share it direct from here. That's one way to potentially drive more traffic this way.

I come here a few times a week, but as has been said there's often nothing new that grabs me. Like a fair few I've been here since the dawn of the old EZBoard, and so much as I love and respect the place I often move on without posting, sorry to say.

I would though be really sorry to see it go. And if it goes over to Facebook, it'd be nice if a few of you dear people said 'bye' before you go. Cos estranged or otherwise, you're still family.