We've got to turn this baby around!

[Charlie]

So I've noticed that the forum has slowed.  I mentioned I was not having as much fun anymore.  So I thought I would run some stats on what I could find.  What I found was rather interesting.  I used two parameters, new posts and page views and to account for exposure post per page view (PPPV)...

Average Page Views/mo (in hundreds):

2010 - 1352.91
2011 - 2881.33
2012 - 4732.17
2013 - 4170.42

Average New Posts/mo:

2010 - 1724.5
2011 - 2946.17
2012 - 3647.5
2013 - 2999.08

Post per Page View (PPPV)/mo (a decrease every year since 2010)
2010 - .01300
2011 - .010314
2012 - .008072
2013 - .007184

If you rank each month (PPPV) and then average each years ranks (1-48):

2010 - 12
2011 - 17.4
2012 - 30.75
2013 - 34.67

2013 alone has ranks 47, 46, 44, 43, 42, 41, 39, 38

And 2012 may be questionable with all the political stuff...

What does this mean?  We've all become 'luurkers'!

So now why have we stopped posting guys?  I see folks on the forum all the time but never post anymore.  I personally stopped posting all of my new gear a while back.  Why?  I starting thinking people just don't care, so why post.  I use to love seeing everybody's gear.  Hell, right after EMP auctions (not a promotion btw) )... 

I found a super rare Black Swan concept quad and no response.  Matt and Harry lurk more now than post.  Z just pops in once in a while now.  H hasn't given us an update since May...  T is still French (I forgive you for that and that other thing - which are probably related). Hell Rosa and Jeff were running the place a while back. 

What the fuck is going on here?  Are we all done?  Any thoughts for the mods?

At least let's go out with a bang and fill out the Best Purchases of 2013 thread...  I'll populate 12 months of my gear when I get back to the house...

http://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,7339.msg137405.html#new

[CSM]

And in other news it appears Charlie has become the new Mel - one cannot fathom what surprises 2014 will bring!

[Charlie]

And in other news it appears Charlie has become the new Mel - one cannot fathom what surprises 2014 will bring!

I knew there was a reason!  And I did start hanging posters up so maybe you are onto something...

So Mel has done something like this before?

[MoviePosterBid.com]

small hobby
small number of people actual commenters
people want to know, but few wish to share
information canned

[CSM]

I knew there was a reason!  And I did start hanging posters up so maybe you are onto something...

So Mel has done something like this before?

Not specifically but he's always going on and on about how noone listens to his suggestions on how to put APF at the top of the Poster Collecting Forum universe and then the tears start flowing.

The sentiments are certainly in the right place but seems quite a few of us feel APF is just fine and dandy the way it is...

[Charlie]

You've summed it up beautifully Chris... I am glad you know how everyone feels, I really appreciate you putting me in this crazy zone of isolation.  I must have no perception skills at all.  Worse, comparing me to Mel - I may never get over that one.

Your post is exactly the reason APF is sucking wind - who wants to speak up, only to get slapped in the face and told to sit down every time.  Congrats!  Soon you'll have a forum all to yourself - well the few of you...

I was simply trying to encourage some activity, that's all...  It's the holidays, that time of cheer etc...  Thought the sentiment could carry us...

Happy Fucking New Year Everybody!

 

[CSM]

I really appreciate you putting me in this crazy zone of isolation. 

Don't feel too lonely Charlie - I am sure Mel would love to rent out some of your wall space.  I mean he is only going to keep adding stars to his elite poster collector status in the new year right? 

 

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Charlie, there is a lot more to it than what you say.

fact are that people come to these forums to learn something and to hang out with friends.

there isn't a whole lot to learn here most of the time because collectors believe sharing information is anathema to their personal benefit, largely because they don't derive income from sharing and they only engender competition if sharing information "in process" like those who get angry when someone outs an auction (I don't want people to know about the auction because I'm only concerned about me me me me)

then you get posts where people criticize your reasons for posting, or you get dealers turning things into a commercial process or the general fighting that goes along with all of it.

most people look at these forums as a sort of circle jerk and they would be right to think that in many cases.

here's a question for people, do you come here to have fun and share, or do you come here to have your ego boosted with oohs and aahs of how great you are or how great your collection is?

People have different agendas and rarely do these agendas merge into community. I am not an egoist. That cannot be said for everyone. I don't come here for people to tell me how cool I am. I come here to hang out just like when I go to a friends house to watch football. As a commercial entity I come to promote my business and you very well described my presence yesterday: fun first, biz second.

Some people come for biz first, fun second. Some people come for biz only, drop by to make their post & leave. Some people come for fun only. Others probably don't know why they come here.

the fact that there are routinely about 200 Guests and not usually more than 20 or so active members should say alot about what a forum is for: for people to come and gather information to make their collecting experience better. This would require people to acknowledge that what one person thinks is cool is not to be ridiculed by others but it is something that necessitates self-moderating, which most people are plainly unable to do because they aren't thinking of society, they're thinking of themselves and when people think more of themselves than they do of society as a whole you are are at an informational stalemate.

the key is to get all members and guests etc to work as if they are a puzzle and how do the pieces fit together. Mostly it works out with people trying to put a square peg in a round hole.. self defeating

[jayn_j]

I don't know.  I come here for enjoyment and being able to talk to others with similar interests.  I don't post many pictures of my own collection, and when I do, it is usually to re-enforce some point I am making.  However, I do enjoy posts others make showing their displays or unusual posters.  I am just happy they are out there for me to enjoy and am not particularly jealous of someone else's fortune.

[50s]

I am posting less because I am working

This place needs some more arguing... but I think we pretty much figured each other now, ranked ourselves in a pecking order, with me head pecker

[Charlie]

Well I come here because no one else I know really understands the passion for collecting posters and for film...  I once made the mistake of sharing some of my poster collecting habit with our attractive receptionist at a party where my wife was there as well...  Come to find out she was a film major and we were talking for like 20 minutes about film and posters she recognized...  My wife was totally lost and pissed as well.    I have to be careful around that one. 

Like Forest said "I think, it's both" for me.  I come here to hang out and learn about stuff, I like to learn about the past relationships I don't know anything about.  Like the other day someone mentioned Phil Edwards - I am not sure I even know who that is although I've heard the name before. He is some super poster guy that holds things together...

I also like a place to share my gear - like taking your car to a show and have people tell you that that like it too.  Ego boost?  I don't know - it is human nature to me.  You share for a response, not for the act.  I guess you could argue that if you are effected by the response, then that is an issue. But to me if I can't share with the like minded, then I am a crazy hoarder or something...  I too have not been posting because of the kitchen remodel and I got a new iphone and never remember my damn password, so I end up waiting until I can get in front of a desktop to post... 

On a happy note, I finally got that microSD converter card and downloaded the smiling pic of Neo...  I'll post it in the 2013 review - it was a favorite poster moment for me! 

[Bruce]

I once made the mistake of sharing some of my poster collecting habit with our attractive receptionist...

Try sharing with the ugly fat guy in shipping and see if she gets totally lost and pissed. I bet you and that hot babe could have been talking about ANYTHING and she would have lost it!

[Matt]

Surely with an International Forum with Global Moderators, they would come from around the Globe. Not one country.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

  Worse, comparing me to Mel - I may never get over that one.

Speaking of comparisons:

[Charlie]

I don't get it. Are you comparing us to a fat wonder woman...  i.e. there is no comparison. Meaning no comparison between you and I.  Why did you bring Brandon into this.  The bitch ain't even smiling?  At least Brandon is smiling...

Or are you trying to point out that Brandon and I are handsome guys and you on the other hand look like a fat Wonder Woman? Especially in that wet suit.   

[Charlie]

It's not polite to stare Brandon...

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

g...

Or are you trying to point out that Brandon and I are handsome guys and you on the other hand look like a fat Wonder Woman? Especially in that wet suit.  

Oh you mean the pic of me coming out of the water after swimming 1.5k/1 mile in 25 minutes flat, in first place out of 200 in my division? Yeah that was awesome. Thanks for reminding me. Good times....

[Charlie]

You started it pal...  I have a girl - all I have to do now is survive and bring home money.  Six packs and 1 mile swims are for single guys...

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

You started it pal...  I have a girl -

Oh I went out with 15 girls in the last few months.  They're probably all with their new boyfriends tonight on New Years.  But I'm here with you poster-nerds in cyber-space, nearly broke due to poster overspending.  Good times!

[Neo]

 

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Of course the super-sized boys deserve to have fun too!

[Matt]

..it didn't take long for this thread to lose it's purpose and go off on a tangient.......

[jayn_j]

I do note that while everyone else is wearing bikinis, you wussed out with a full wetsuit
(but I couldn't walk that distance these days, much less swim)

Oh you mean the pic of me coming out of the water after swimming 1.5k/1 mile in 25 minutes flat, in first place out of 200 in my division? Yeah that was awesome. Thanks for reminding me. Good times....

[50s]

I do note that while everyone else is wearing bikinis, you wussed out with a full wetsuit

Yeah, but it is a 5 star wetsuit

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Long story but I always wear a wetsuit when swimming in open water both for speed and safety.  

Normally the great majority of athletes will wear a wetsuit but only about 10% of the swimmers in that particular race opted for a wetsuit because the water temperature was 80 degrees (F), which is two degrees above the legal maximum.  The rules are explained here:

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=wetsuitrules.html

31 fatalities occurred during the swimming portion of triathlons last year, so it's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.  The swimming portion is extremely chaotic, which creates anxiety, which no doubt causes many of these deaths.  The wetsuit greatly reduces anxiety:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/05/15/swimming-deaths-trouble-triathlon-officials/2164793/

I also swim about half the race doing backstroke, which very few do. Nice to look up at the sky and clouds....