How long can a forum last?

by OrbitingTheSun 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  jgnat

  We know that microfilm lasts at least 100 years. That is a handy piece of information for archivists, but most other people don't care. How do we know that microfilm lasts that long? Because we started making microfilm about 100 years ago. How long can a forum last? We have to wait to find out.

  I stay only as long as it is interesting. After a few months, I had to shift my focus. One can only stare at the boob tube so long waiting to be entertained. Now, I will stay interested as long as I feel I have something valuable to contribute.
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  Hamas

  As long as you want it to, hun
• 

  JH

  Maybe one day SOJ might take over this board and manage it.
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  gumby

  there is a point when everything has been discussed and some members have seen all there is to see.

  If you pick any deep or highly intresting topic, then type that topic into the search button......you will see many threads on that topic for the most part.

  I have been in many topics of the same nature at different times because there is always a different slant from other people with different arguments and evidences. For those woh desire to be of aid to newbies and others with questions......they will post and rehash things for the benift of that one ......even though the've been through it before.

  I think it takes a bit of time for a person to feel like their in a family here as it takes time to develop into that. Many become very close here and so I see no reason for a forum to go non-existant unless the owner pulls stakes for good reasons of his own, or the members destroy it to where it cannot be operated any longer.

  Gumby
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  OrbitingTheSun

  Thanks for all of your responses!

  By the same token, surely you could say that how long can friendships last? Surely everything has been discussed eventually.

  That is a good point, Simon. I guess this is an issue in all relationships--with friends, with lovers, with marriages and on forums, too. It's a challenge to all of us to participate and give the forum the fuel it needs to function--and the people here are great at that (even fluff is fuel ).

  There are so many factors involved in relationships that no one can say when an individual may or may not move on. Sometimes one's personal life demands more attention and he/she must be responsible and attend to it. However, the forum, as a place of communion, can live as long as there is someone to manage it.

  I guess I am most interested in the social dynamics of a forum--which is related to what I posted, but a much broader topic. What are the integral parts of a community? Are they present in this forum? Obviously there are posters and moderators...but there are more parts than that. What other roles are there here that contribute to the livelihood of the forum?
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  teejay

  This one is going to last as long as the JW religion lasts and people are leaving it wanting to talk about stuff. Yeah, the topics are redundant... sometimes the same topic showing up in more than three different threads at the same time.

  In the end, though, everything comes to an end. Nothing lasts forever. Perhaps a different way of asking the same question is: how long will this forum continue to be a worthwhile place FOR YOU.