Page: ......
MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
So, as has been pointed out in the "Is it quieter around here lately?" the boards are kinda dead.

Things really started to turn quiet around April/May of this year and I figured it was just part of the normal cycles that we see here of flurries of activity and then periods of less activity.

It's November and the trend continues. In Social Chat, only six posts were made over a period of four days. I haven't been posting much lately because there haven't been posts to respond to. In seven years as a HoP member, I have never seen anything like it.

Even worse, Josh and Kate were going to have a mini-Doof tomorrow night at their place in my honor and it appears that very few people will be coming. This disappoints me. It means that our community is collapsing and I can't figure out why this is happening.

But more important than the discussion of why is how to fix it. This community was an amazing, active, warm, loving family consisting of tens of thousands of spinners all over the world. I don't think the blame can be placed in the hands of any individual.

Did the community move to Facebook? If so, can we use that to our advantage? Is there something that we can do to make this forum more conducive to gatherings and socialization?

What are your ideas?

And please, if you know someone who has gone silent, encourage them to come back.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: Rouge DragonAint it funny...(this is addressed to noone in particular)

When we played around and took threads in random directions
...you got angry at us for derailing the thread.

When we had conversations on the boards
...you got cross and said it wasn't a chat room

When we filled people's intro threads with pictures of fairies and kittens
...you shunned us called us postwhores

When we stopped
...you got sad wondered where the atmosphere went.




Very fair point.

I'm confused by some of the suggestions being suggested because I remember times when those things were much. We're years from the peak of clique madness and I even remember the peak of "Do A Search" (which is generally related to technical conversations.) Back in the day, there were WAY bigger and more aggresive fights with WAY nastier people. Yet it was somehow warmer and lighter.

I think Rouge hit it on the head. I guess the post whoring and flirting was the glue holding everything else together.

And maybe social networking gave us different venues to post whore and flirt and forum's aren't the place for it anymore.

Not that I ever post whored. Or flirted.

Maybe I flirt-whored but that's different. wink

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


=Flashpoint=SILVER Member
Pasta of Muppets
2,722 posts
Location: in the interwebs..., United Kingdom


Posted:
Nope NYC, it's almost exactly the same tongue2

Gabe - take no notice of Seye, he's being a sarky git smile

If Cantus ever shew his face around here, he'd be very annoyed you called him a hippie. That's why I do it all the time laugh3

We love the hippies! without them we'd all be like Meg grin

ohmygodlaserbeamspewpewpew!
ubbrollsmileubbrollsmileubbrollsmileubbrollsmile


jo_rhymesSILVER Member
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom


Posted:
yeah the senior's lounge really put me off. I've been a member of HoP for over 3 years but sometimes I feel like a n00b. I used to log onto Hop about 4 or 5 times a day, now it's more like once or twice a week. hug

Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
In all honsety, I think there are some really good ideas being thrown around in these current discussions.

Many new angles I hadn't thought of.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
Originally Posted By: willworkforfoodjnrOriginally Posted By: willworkforfoodjnr
Having only been here a couple of years, I still feel that I get a lot out of the site, but to begin with it definately had a feeling of 'everyone here knows each other really well and I'm kinda an outsider', little things like people using real names to refer to each other - stupid things that should not make you nervous about interacting but still can do.

I guess it fits in with what I said in my first post - it is very easy to notice a sharp divide between people who have clearly been here a while and know each other, and the noobs. It is admittedly a silly thing and purely insubstantial - everyone I've had a conversation with since I've been here has been lovely! For a fairly shy person like me it can be difficult to throw yourself into that - like when you meet a big group of new people on your own in 'real life'.

On a reasoned level I also fail to see the difference between a post count and a join date when linked by your name on each post of the forum - both of them are a mark of how ensconsed you are within the forum, if one was to be removed why not the other, and if one is kept then why can the other not be displayed.

I'm not saying its a major issue, but that its a minor cause of one of the symptoms we've been talking about in this thread.

Hey thanks for explaining that WWFFJNR, I really couldnt grasp what the issue with a date was, but when you explain it that way I can understand why you may feel like that.

Please rest assured I think your as much as a dirty hippie as the rest of HOP laugh3 yes hug

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


willworkforfoodjnrSILVER Member
Hunting robot foxes
1,046 posts
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England (UK)


Posted:
I'll respond to that as I always do - "I aint a goddamn hippppppppie!" grin hug

Working hard to be a wandering hippie layabout. Ten years down, five to go!


plfBRONZE Member
stranger
14 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
Of course you're a hippy Chris, you're just an old, corporate hippy.

Ok, before you comment, I know you're younger than me, that ain't the point.

Anyways, insults against Chris over and moving back to the thread topic, I've only been on this forum a few months, hell I've only been spinning since february and this is probably only my second or third post to the forum, not because I find you lot tedious and boring or anything, far from it, some of the posts are quite entertaining, but simply because I have very little time to play at the moment, which in many ways is a crying shame.

I don't know whether this is true for everyone but certainly for me, as a newcomer to any forum I often feel like I shouldn't be posting to long running threads started before I joined and in a similar light, threads such as this in a way highlight the fact that some of those who have been around a while are "bored" by "newbie" threads. Newbies (like me) coming to the forum are then made even more wary of restarting old threads which relate to topics that they are struggling with for fear of being frowned upon by the older members and being flamed for asking questions which may well have been answered before, but those answers are hard to find because the thread the question is answered in has been dead for 2 or 3 years...

HoP isn't the only forum like this, most are. We all get bored of hearing the same questions over and over and I'm sure you're as fed up with hearing "how do I do a " as I am fed up of hearing "I need to hack my schools network, how do I do it". Fair enough, there is a huge difference between those two topics, for a start one is legitimate and as for the other, it doesn't matter how much a newbie begs, I ain't gonna tell 'em...

Before I kill this worthless interjection, I want to comment on something I glanced over earlier in this thread...

I can't remember who posted it, nor does it matter but there was a comment about "waiting for people to invent new tricks"

DON'T wait around for others to invent new tricks, I don't care if you're a beginner or an expert. Go out and invent new tricks yourself! Have a bit of creativity. Fair enough, common moves are essential in building a style or performing but for christs sake don't whine because you're bored with them. Spinning (and juggling) is about exercising your creativity so don't stagnate and bitch because you've no new moves to learn, invent them yourself and pass them on. I can guarantee you will feel a greater sense of achievement from that, I see it every day and despite how much we might bitch about it, seeing other people do our tricks better than we can do them is something frigging amazing!

Rant over, I'll get my coat now shall I?

peAce!

Edit:
I do apologise to whoever posted that remark, I am slightly drunk on a bottle and a half of red and when I saw it, I kinda saw red. I get pissed off by people who have a lack of creativity in their lives and yes, I can appreciate that may well not be you in particular, anyone who spins displays a high level of creativity but personally I think there should be less bitching about a lack of new ideas and more going out and inventing new ones. After all, if the likes of Newton and Einstein had decided to leave it all up to others, where would the world be now? It doesn't matter where your talent lies, we can all draw from other aspects of our life and implement it in another. I do it every day in my job, every time I spin I see mathematics in it (and I ain't even that good) which in turn translates back into computer code... (and yes, I am a proud geek)! Every single one of us here plays with the most perfect of mathematical and geometrical shapes and there is an endless supply of what we can do with that shape and seriously, it doesn't take much to invent something new with it.

To all of you, look around you, what do you see, now take that shape and work out paths around it, or the paths between that shape and the one behind you. Now try and move along a magnified version of that very path.

Where do your poi, staff, balls, fans or buugeng end up?

There. Every single one of you has just learned a new move. (or at the very least a variation on an existing move).
EDITED_BY: plf (1227734606)

PukSILVER Member
Sweet talented nutter
2,615 posts
Location: Brisbane Oz, Australia


Posted:
Mike your right the site has lost it's charm . I guess it's gen y' fault ? (they get blamed for everything else ?).

that shrewd and knavish sprite

Called Robin Good Fellow ; are you not he that is frighten of the maidens of the villagery - fairy

I am the merry wander of the night -puk


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: NYC]I think Rouge hit it on the head. I guess the post whoring and flirting was the glue holding everything else together.

I like having a place to do that. It's necessary. I like being silly with my friends. It's part of what being friends is about. Life is not a series of serious discussions. Serious discussions can be fun and educational, but they are not the sole ingredient of a full friendship.

Quote:Not that I ever post whored. Or flirted.

lol2

We were all outsiders once, everyone. We welcome everyone (unless they're complete tossers, and you aren't a complete tosser, are you? If you are, then www.ukhippy.com duck).

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
BTW, I am not suggesting that we post-bomb ukhippy. Remember when another board tried to post-bomb us and some of them realized that we were so cool that they wound up joining up?

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


=Flashpoint=SILVER Member
Pasta of Muppets
2,722 posts
Location: in the interwebs..., United Kingdom


Posted:
Yeah, that was well funny. Wasn't it some psytrance forum or something? They were rubbish at it, anyways smile

ohmygodlaserbeamspewpewpew!
ubbrollsmileubbrollsmileubbrollsmileubbrollsmile


MikefromGlosSILVER Member
Hitman
985 posts
Location: Gloucester England


Posted:
lmao i remember that very well was extrmely funny well from my point of war was a bit like hop war ...

he he i am mike the amazing gloscircus person who is mike.

Officaly an exception to the Poi Boys are Girls Thing


ElectricBlueGOLD Member
Now with extra strawberries
810 posts
Location: Canberra, Australia


Posted:
Re: Registration Date. I actually think that they should not be removed. It really helps if you come across a post that is a bit weird or out of place beacuse you can see if the person has just registered and make sure you help them find their feet in the forum or help them in the right direction if they may have posted in a strange place.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: ElectricBlueRe: Registration Date. I actually think that they should not be removed. It really helps if you come across a post that is a bit weird or out of place beacuse you can see if the person has just registered and make sure you help them find their feet in the forum or help them in the right direction if they may have posted in a strange place.

Yup. And also, a lot of people have similar names. Thus, this helps me to not get too confused.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


burningoftheclaveySILVER Member
lurking like a ninja with no camouflage..
926 posts
Location: over yonder, New Zealand


Posted:
plf, not sure if that was me you were meaning and no offence taken if it was, but what I meant was that when I was learning to spin I would go really well and learn loads of new tricks really quickly, and then get to a point where I just couldnt get a new move for a while before something would change or I would do something else until I got it.
I meant that in the same way but for the community, like a lull in the learning curve of HoP as a whole. smile :Hug:

on spam robots - "Burn the robot! Melt him down, and then we can make lots and lots of money from his shiiiny juices!"

Owned by Brenn smile


MikefromGlosSILVER Member
Hitman
985 posts
Location: Gloucester England


Posted:
Doc and electric blue: you actualy have the post time and date in the top right hand corner of that specfic post.

he he i am mike the amazing gloscircus person who is mike.

Officaly an exception to the Poi Boys are Girls Thing


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Mike, we're talking about registration dates.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


Loki_the_tricksterSILVER Member
Has sharp edges
1,266 posts
Location: Stuck in the mire, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: =Flashpoint=Yeah, that was well funny. Wasn't it some psytrance forum or something? They were rubbish at it, anyways smile

Ha! I remember that....they were a bounch of "breaks" kids....it was funny to watch the progression from them trying to flame the boards here to becoming part of because they realized how cool and fun we were yes wink

My ADD makes it so that.....Ooooo SHINY.....wanna go ride bikes....wait....where am I.....


MikefromGlosSILVER Member
Hitman
985 posts
Location: Gloucester England


Posted:
oh sorry doc and electric i misunderstood *begs forgiveness*

he he i am mike the amazing gloscircus person who is mike.

Officaly an exception to the Poi Boys are Girls Thing


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: MikefromGlosoh sorry doc and electric i misunderstood *begs forgiveness*

I will accept gifts of large amounts of Nutella or alternatively certain "personal favors." angel

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


dani_babybooSILVER Member
addict
667 posts
Location: Cannock, staffordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
ok i got to page 3 then just browesed over ppls posts quick reading points of interest sorry but with 4 kids running riot it isnt easy.

anyway i was linked to this topic by someone i used to meet up with at clapham meets. i was a member in 2005 to this site but stopped coming on for about 2 years due to work commitments and then family commitments and no internet.

anyway i recently in past few months came back 2 times put a new hello thread and got all of 1 or 2 replys. kind of put me off compared to my pages and pages of replys from my very first hello thread.
i used to post a lot but got rather offended by the do a search comments all the time. it seems no one can post new threads if its been done before and i mean ever done before even a year or so before.

i am a member of a few busy forums, gaming ones, mother and baby ones and music ones. now when they get double posts from recent times like within days or even weeks of each other either one is agreed to die and deleted or merged with the other. but if it was posted months before we allow them to carry on as it includes members who missed the one before and new members and whats the harm of old members either joining in again or if they dont want to dont reply its as simple as that. i come on a lot to browse and i see no topics of interest apart from threads 100s of pages long that have been going for so long i dont even want to open it as its too long to read.
i enjoy reading topics that arent too long and are friendly with friendly discussions.

anyway as i havent been here so long i doubt my views are going to be acknolodged (sp?) but its how i feel and see the site when i come on. i see topics i remember from when i used to post such as last memberr to post wins one how long has that been going on?

also i didnt know there was a senior members forum cant see it on my list lol.

and i agree this board does need a whole new modern revamp and im sorry if i have not read any important matters as just dont have the time.

also there is no ew members as poi isnt really known. anyone i talk to like my gaming friends (runescape) in australia or the members of the mums forum im on have no clue what it is. ive always thought about if i was any good at poi (which im not i only know about 5 moves)id go to local schools and offer to do a mini performance to show children and teenagers what it is like and then maybe give out leaflets about local workshops if there is any and maybe this site aswell. children and mainly teenagers is who need to be shown what poi is to bring it back and make it more popular its all about doing something about it. teenagers are the ones that can bring poi to poularity as what they do others follow a trend.

dani

and if anyone remembers me which i doubt then hello smile

EDITED_BY: dani_babyboo (1228044867)

enticed, entrapped, entombed.
intoxicated, impaled, ingested.
bewitched, beaten, broken.
enter the love realm...
insert ur token

o jej, ale bym ci wylizal ten pepek

stepped up promotions


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: dani_babyboo

anyway as i havent been here so long i doubt my views are going to be acknolodged (sp?) but its how i feel and see the site when i come on. i see topics i remember from when i used to post such as last memberr to post wins one how long has that been going on?



First of all, Dani, I remember you.

And your views are FAR more important than mine precisely because you are newer. You're the folks we're trying to attract! We're not trying to attract me. I'm old and decrepit and I merp a lot. I also lose entirely too often.

We need new people to keep this forum vibrant and fun and lively and that's why your views are important.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


dani_babybooSILVER Member
addict
667 posts
Location: Cannock, staffordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
ty doc lightening and i remember you too reading many of your debates with your strong views smile

enticed, entrapped, entombed.
intoxicated, impaled, ingested.
bewitched, beaten, broken.
enter the love realm...
insert ur token

o jej, ale bym ci wylizal ten pepek

stepped up promotions


MikefromGlosSILVER Member
Hitman
985 posts
Location: Gloucester England


Posted:
hmm doc does this mean i am your b**ch now then lmap

he he i am mike the amazing gloscircus person who is mike.

Officaly an exception to the Poi Boys are Girls Thing


hamamelisBRONZE Member
nut.
756 posts
Location: Bouncing off the walls., England (UK)


Posted:
Anyone else think it's sort of funny that a thread about how no-one's posting on HoP anymore gets 6 pages of people agreeing in response?


wink

THE MEEK WILL INHERIT THE EARTH!


If that's okay with you?


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
Originally Posted By: hamamelis Anyone else think it's sort of funny that a thread about how no-one's posting on HoP anymore gets 6 pages of people agreeing in response?


wink


I do. grin But I've noticed a little bit of a kickup in response to this thread... people DO seem to be a little more active.

hug


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Originally Posted By: Mother_Natures_SonI've noticed a little bit of a kickup in response to this thread... people DO seem to be a little more active.

My nefarious plot worked?

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


Fine_Rabid_DogInternet Hate Machine
10,530 posts
Location: They seek him here, they seek him there...


Posted:
Originally Posted By: hamamelis Anyone else think it's sort of funny that a thread about how no-one's posting on HoP anymore gets 6 pages of people agreeing in response?


wink


Bahahaha... behold the power of the lurkers wink

*goes back to lurking*

The existance of flamethrowers says that someone, somewhere, at sometime said "I need to set that thing on fire, but it's too far away."


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
FRD, get your butt (and the rest of you) out here right NOW!

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


taintedaddict
422 posts
Location: London


Posted:
like alot of others i have recently came back to hop - i stopped coming a while ago cos i just got to busy with work.... then my laptop screen broke..... but now that i am able to spend time on here (in hospital for a month lucky me) theres almost noone that i knew...
i feel weird even writting on this thread cos it seems like im the kiss of death for a thread one comment from me and everyone leaves lol im starting to get a complex. But i do hope that people start popping in more cos i need entertained smile

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers...


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