# Senior Forums in 2015 and beyond



## Josiah (Dec 31, 2014)

I'm a relative Newbie to Senior Forums so I lack any sense of change in the Forum's personae which has taken place over the brief couple of years of its existence. I imagine SeaBreeze will comment on this. I'm pleased with the current cast of active participants. Nicely divided by gender and nationality and yet we all seem to share a common core of cultural experiences. I think the most pronounced differences exist between the younger members who are still fully engaged in all aspects of life and the older members who are coping with the challenges of old age. What I value most about SF are the threads dealing with consequential and controversial subjects. I've been very pleased with the quality of comments to these threads contributed by significant number of members. This is something missing entirely from many other senior sites that I've looked at. I've become concerned that I'm spending too much time on the site and am at this very moment formulating a resolution which would help me set limits on my forum participation.  This raises the question of what Senior Forums will be like with twice as many active members generating twice as many new threads. Frankly that prospect seems a bit overwhelming. I'd be interested in the opinions of other members.


----------



## AprilT (Dec 31, 2014)

nevermind.  I have a headache.


----------



## Josiah (Dec 31, 2014)

I was not intending to announce my departure. I very much enjoy the people on SF. I just intend to judiciously cut back.


----------



## nan (Dec 31, 2014)

Josiah09,I like this forum and try to get on when I can,at the moment there are other things that I need to attend to first.


----------



## hollydolly (Dec 31, 2014)

The thing is Josiah as those of use who are members of much larger discussion forums as well, will tell you...memberships come and go..sometimes a forum can become extremely busy and other times very quiet...

This forum has been pretty standard size for a long time, and it's hardly likely to change significantly any time soon..not too big that's it's unmanageable for SB as a Mod god bless all her hard work behind the scenes.., and not too small so that people lose interest with a lack of diverse subjects to discuss. In a nutshell, I think you're worrying over nothing...just enjoy it for what it is and what it will be in the future.


----------



## Warrigal (Dec 31, 2014)

Josh, I came to this forum when one that was essentially Australian was closing down. I came with some trepidation because I was entering foreign territory and had to be careful how I chose my words because if my meaning was misinterpreted I could have easily given offense. We Aussies prefer rather blunt ways of expressing ourselves and when we're not doing that, we favour irony.

It has been a great pleasure to settle in and engage in discussion of all sorts of topics, including some very serious and controversial ones where members have varying, even conflicting views. I try to be polite and respectful but I'm fallible and I have once or twice had to ask for forgiveness. I have received generous responses  to my transgressions and I am still here and now feel very much at home.

SeaBreeze has been wonderful at keeping this community together and for the most part civil to each other. I hope that the forum continues for years to come and that when the current admins are worn out and want a rest, that there will be others willing and able to receive the torch from them.

Happy New Year to all the member of Senior Forums, but especially to Matrix and SeaBreeze.


----------



## Blaze Duskdreamer (Dec 31, 2014)

Busy is good.  I just need an app that makes days longer and another that keeps my eyes from getting tired and dry from staring unblinking at a screen as I squeeze in this one, about four hours play on Wizard101 and a forum on Wizard101.  Young eyes and extra hours apps!  Anybody know where I can find such technology?


----------



## SeaBreeze (Dec 31, 2014)

Josiah09 said:


> What I value most about SF are the threads dealing with consequential and controversial subjects. I've been very pleased with the quality of comments to these threads contributed by significant number of members. This is something missing entirely from many other senior sites that I've looked at.
> 
> I've become concerned that I'm spending too much time on the site and am at this very moment formulating a resolution which would help me set limits on my forum participation.  This raises the question of what Senior Forums will be like with twice as many active members generating twice as many new threads. Frankly that prospect seems a bit overwhelming. I'd be interested in the opinions of other members.



Josiah, I'm glad you're here with us and enjoying the forum.  I think we all have days where we spend a lot of time visiting here, and other days when we're busy with other things at home.  I'm sure you can find an ideal amount of time personally to spend online that suits your lifestyle.  

The forum is young and continues to grow, and as it does we will do our best to keep it user-friendly for all of our members.  When I visit the forum, I just click on "New Posts" at the top of the page to see the latest messages.  When I have spare time, I click on "Albums" to see if anyone has started a new photo album, or added pictures to their old one.

There are ways to ignore/exclude particular forums if you don't care to see all the new posts from all the forums, if you feel overwhelmed with the number of new posts/threads.  For example, you can click on Settings at the top of the forum page, then click on General Settings, then Exclude Forums.  To exclude the Games forum, you enter the number 21;  to exclude the Humor forum, you enter the number 16...then click Save Changes when done.

If you ever need help with anything or have any questions, please feel free to send me a private message (PM) and I'll try to help.


----------



## Matrix (Dec 31, 2014)

Very interesting thread, Josiah. I often wonder about the same thing. Sometimes I think this forum is as active as it can be - if it gets more active, some members will find it too overwhelming and leave, or a forum drama can upset many members, this has happened a few times. Forum dramas are very common on chitchat forums like this one and can hurt a busy forum a great deal. The busiest month so far is Jan. 2014.

But on the other hand, SF doesn't have tons of visits (1K visitors/day), the reason that it's so busy is mostly because the members are very chatty (this is a good thing for sure). SF is busier than those forums that have 5~10 times traffic. It is possible that SF grows to 2K daily visits, or even 5K in the future, what will the forum activity look like by then? I can't imagine.

But, people are moving to FB, twitter, Google+, Instagram and numerous other new inventions. Forum is unfortunately a dying trend, I believe many active forums will disappear in 5 years. But one thing is guaranteed, Senior Forums will be around for decades. I have been running a dozen forums for over a decade, SF has maintained a 100% uptime since its birth.

On very large and busy forums, members usually only read/post in a few sub-forums.


----------



## Ralphy1 (Jan 1, 2015)

Never fear, I'll be here, and I expect your complete devotion to me and, of course your agreement with my point of view on all matters large or small, significant or not...


----------



## Ken N Tx (Jan 1, 2015)

Ralphy1 said:


> Never fear, I'll be here, and I expect your complete devotion to me and, of course your agreement with my point of view on all matters large or small, significant or not...


----------



## oakapple (Jan 2, 2015)

Josiah9, just come on here when you have the free time and it suits you, which is what I do.Some days are busier than others then I don't come on here at all. I regard it like picking up a book, something to do when you feel like it.


----------



## AZ Jim (Jan 3, 2015)

I am a casual user but I really enjoy SF.  It is well managed and yet not "heavy handed".  Nice folks here and a great place to see what other old codgers are up to.  I also like the idea of so many English speaking other countries participating.  Happy New Year to you all.


----------



## oakapple (Jan 4, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> I am a casual user but I really enjoy SF. It is well managed and yet not "heavy handed". Nice folks here and a great place to see what other old codgers are up to. I also like the idea of so many English speaking other countries participating. Happy New Year to you all.


 I think the same as you AZ Jim, and Happy New Year to you as well.


----------



## SifuPhil (Jan 4, 2015)

Please be seated in the car ... your safety bar will automatically secure itself over your lap ...

It's the year 2115. _Senior Forums_ has evolved over the past 100-plus years into the technological wonder you will see in this exhibit over the next 10 minutes.

The early days of _Senior Forums_ was marked with great strife and numerous deadly accidents, chiefly from the steam-powered engines used to power the site. These accidents often resulted in the site blowing apart, and the few remaining members would assist the founding owner and Administrator, an enigmatic individual known only as "Matrix", in rebuilding the site. Labor and health-and-safety laws enacted in the early years of the 21st century mandated newer, coal-powered engines and led to the then-tempestuous debate over "global warming".

By 2015 members were beginning to use the holographic projection option on the site, which allowed them to seem to appear in a fellow member's home. Unfortunately the _Great Naked Booty Episode_ in May of that year forced Matrix to eliminate that option. 

Touch-screen technology and 3-D printing was also coming online at that time. Members complained that the posts were becoming harder and harder to read, until it was pointed out that the gradual accumulation of Bosco and Geritol on their home screens was the cause of their problems. 3-D printing also had its ups and downs: while many members benefited from organo-plastic replacement organs, several complained that they had received life-like sculptures of various bodily parts not intended for replacement purposes. Once again, sadly enough this feature had to be removed.

Video postings began in 2020. Members would either digitally record or live-stream their comments, jokes and recipes. After an initial acceptance period of a year, once again a small handful of members abused this privilege and the video submissions were removed.

By 2050 Matrix had sold the forum and moved on to a career in the manual trades. The new owners, T'ai-Ping Industries, renamed the board _"Shanghai Forums"_. Meant to encourage a more global audience, this renaming was abruptly reversed in 2051 after the bloody "_Old People's Revolt_", said to have resulted in more fatalities than the Great Leap Forward. A truce was finally arranged in 2055 and the board was renamed "_Honorable Aged Talk Place_". Half-page advertisements for Ramen Noodles and Chinese mail-order brides aged 70+ made their appearance by 2070 and led to a $4.7 million profit for that year.

In 2084 the "_Youth Protest_" hit the_ Honorable Aged Talk Place_ with a vengeance. Large groups of anonymous 20- and 30-somethings flooded the forum with posts on topics such as child-bearing, how to get your first credit card and whether or not you REALLY needed life and medical insurance. They remained largely in control of the board until the infamous "_10-Day War_" led by the grandchildren of former _Senior Forums_ members. It is said that the piles of tattooed, pierced and tanned bodies lay five deep in certain sections of the forums. It took until 2086 to clean the place out, and that nasty dairy smell remained for years afterward.

2091 dawned cold and clear (except for the members in Australia, for whom it dawned _hot_ and clear). Emperor Matrix IV, divinely appointed, heard the supplications of his people and was beneficent to them. His human half must have recognized the need for something new on the forum, so he decreed that weekly telepathic tugs-of-war and virtual food fights be held. Some members enjoyed this but others attempted to flee the "_Golden Temple_" (as the board was now known). They were caught and sent to online re-education camps. 

By the turn of the 22nd century _The Golden Temple_ had over one billion members, three-quarters of whom were said to be virtual entities based upon the Cenegenics Robot Android Protocol (C.R.A.P.). Keyboards, mice and other input devices having long since fallen out of favor in lieu of CranioDSL connections, most of the remaining human members had only to sit in their ReclinoPods and think of what they wanted to say, and it would be instantly transmitted to all _Golden Temple _members.  

Here we are back in 2115. Aren't you glad you didn't live in those horrible days of the early 21st century? It has been said that dinosaurs roamed the Internet back then ...

They might be right.

Be careful as you leave the car, and thank you for visiting us here at the _Golden Temple_.


----------



## Josiah (Jan 4, 2015)

Very funny Phil. Reminds me of the 1964 Worlds Fair.


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 5, 2015)

Genius!!!


----------



## Phoenix14 (Jan 5, 2015)

As one of the relative new members, I have to limit my time on here otherwise I would get nothing done.   My computer stays open all the time and if I get fed up with housework, I can pop in to see what's happening, I can relax with a cup of coffee just reading the posts without necessarily contributing.   I live in a wee corner of Scotland and this site helps me travel the world and meet others from other places.   I don't really want to live in a cyber world, I'm happy just visiting it so I do have to put the brakes on.  It's part of my life now but _only_ part - and I think I prefer the 'Honorable Aged Talk Place'


----------



## rporter610 (Jan 9, 2015)

I'm new to the Senior Forums, but I really enjoy seeing the views of English-speakers from all over the world.  I applaud everyone who contributes no matter how often, and hope to spend some time every day catching up with all of you.


----------



## Bullie76 (Jan 9, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> I am a casual user but I really enjoy SF.  It is well managed and yet not "heavy handed".  Nice folks here and a great place to see what other old codgers are up to.  I also like the idea of so many English speaking other countries participating.  Happy New Year to you all.


I was a member of another forum that ended up being 'heavy' handed. It had lots of members and topics did get out of hand at times, but the mods went over board in their moderation. So I moved on. This site is like a relaxing day at the beach in comparison.


----------



## Lon (Jan 9, 2015)

I have enjoyed the forum since joining and it has fullfilled a need that I have. I have a severe  and un correctable hearing loss that makes conversation most difficult in wishing to state my thoughts and opinions on many things and get a response.


----------



## Josiah (Jan 9, 2015)

Lon said:


> I have enjoyed the forum since joining and it has fullfilled a need that I have. I have a severe  and un correctable hearing loss that makes conversation most difficult in wishing to state my thoughts and opinions on many things and get a response.


I'm really sorry to hear about your hearing loss, Lon, and I hope that we forum members can supply some quality feedback.


----------

