JWN Is Not The Same Place It Was Years Ago . . .

by PublishingCult 40 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  willyloman

  Like a kaleidoscope, the mix is constantly tumbling and changing.

  Yes, that's my observation as well. I started lurking in '02, came aboard in '03, by which time I had gone back and read every single post and every reply. I stopped trying to do that a long time ago!

  Not to start an argument, but several posters said this started out as a pro-JW site. I would dispute that, based on my early reading. I think it started out as a forum for people who were somewhat disillusioned and who had questions they couldn't ask anywhere else. As soon as it became clear there were a lot of people with the same nagging questions and doubts, the doors opened and permission was granted to bail out.

  You'd have to ask Simon if that was his intent or whether he really was "all in" at the time he opened for business. Whatever the answer is, he's a saint as far as I'm concerned. His forum idea was inspired by a higher power.
• 

  cyberjesus

  I totally agree with this statement:

  Those who don't know, shouldn't say. Those who know, don't need to say. They know

  although :

  :JWN Is Not The Same Place It Was Years Ago . . .

  I would like to note that THIS above is the topic of this thread

  that is not the topic, that is the title of the thread, the topic is stablished by the OP question:

  How has JWN changed over the years, old timers?

  for that the word "years" a plural that involves 2 or more years.... so technically anyone who has 2 or more years can say their opinion on how they think this site has changed... not a golden privilege of people who have been here more than that......

  However, the time is frozen on a forum. you dont neeed to be an "old timer" to know how this site has changed... time is inconsequential... you there is no real time in here everything EVRYTHING that you read here happened in the past... not in the present... even this message is in my past... although you are reading in in the present.... sooooo anyone with a little bit of time can go back and read anythread from 8 years ago and KNOW how the site was 8 years ago, and 7 and 6 and 5 and 3 and whatever. All it takes is to go back and read

  SO anyone that has the time to go back and read can comment with authority as how the site was... ANYONE because all it takes is to read....

  Is idiotic to think otherwise.... and i mean it kindly :-)
• 

  cyberjesus

  now answering the question, how has it changed?

  accounting for the fact that : this is site was pro-jw in the begginning, that there are many new members signing up weekly, that many members stop posting, that even the active members also change their points of view. that the internet provides now more access to information than before ....

  it has changed a lot.
• 

  Quentin

  Came here six years ago. Never noticed any changes, except some have moved on, or gone elsewhere. As cyber said a place frozen in time. Same questions get asked, same answers are given. Trolls come and go, People who claim to be, or claim to have been have been jw's post. Some posters suprise you when they suddenly drop into a thread.
• 

  TD

  sooooo anyone with a little bit of time can go back and read anythread from 8 years ago and KNOW how the site was 8 years ago, and 7 and 6 and 5 and 3 and whatever. All it takes is to go back and read

  Fair point. The archives are valuable. To me though, some of what contributes to the overall "flavor" of a discussion board in terms of who the people behind the screen names actually are/were gets lost over time.

  For example, we've heard of people who claimed to live and work at the world headquarters of the JW parent organization. "Johnny" from Six Screens is one of the latest, but there have been several others who have actually posted here. We've also had rare individuals who were the genuine article. But's it's difficult to make that determination based on the archives alone, because nobody who's actually posting from Bethel can afford to admit it on a public forum.

  Similar situation with those with academic qualifications. Most of us for example knew who the poster "Narkissos" was and what he did for a living. When he spoke on a translation issue, you could pretty much take it to the bank. Ten years from now will people still know that? I don't know. I doubt it.
• 

  cyberjesus

  I agree the forum changes based on the combination of posters who are currently posting. In my opinion it gets better with time.. Because we have more.. Alot of research has been done, now its easier to find material on delicate issues thanks to the fact that many posters have done extensive research on those issues.

  I think that t JWN is not the same... its better its way better than before. When someone recalls those years as the good ol years... it sound to me like the guy who is not happy with the new plastic cars that pollute less and less and miss the good ol days with metal sheet cars that were slower and more expensive to have.... oh the good ol days.....
• 

  TD

  When someone recalls those years as the good ol years...

  I'm not sure where that came from, but hope it wasn't anything I've said
• 

  Berengaria

  It's really just the cycle of life no? Oldsters making way for the young ones?
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I used to speak my mind until I was banned back in the day by an Aussie Moderator for disagreeing with him.
  
  Nowadays, I steer clear of moderators and never disagree with them.

  That's just a personal change in this place.
• 

  WTWizard

  I do believe that, when this board was first formed, it was a pro-JW board. Simon later changed it to a free discussion board where both sides of the picture were discussed, and the apostates (with the stronger arguments) won.