[ExI] lists going quiet, was: RE: list test

[BillK]

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 7:42 PM, Anders Sandberg  wrote:
> I think many forums decline because of a combination. The rise of new media
> and social networking will draw some people away (how many forums, feeds and
> other media can you check per day, even with aggregation? How well can you
> keep up with multiple discussions?) while maturation of forum
> discussions/communities often makes the threshold of entry harder (how do we
> treat the newbies, who ask the same question for the 4711th time?) Over
> time, key members will also disappear simply because they move on in their
> lives, and if there is nobody to take over that role the community network
> will become less effective.
>
> I think the new media is a likely explanation, since they dilute the
> attention (lowering p). In 1993 the only online media I had was email, email
> lists and Usenet, today I can email, use a list, blog (on several different
> blogs), tweet, post to google+, participate in numerous forums, use Second
> Life, Skype, RetroShare and whatnot. I would be surprised if competition for
> attention and forum members have gotten sharper, and that they have moved to
> some extent.
>
>

I think there is more involved than just new social media.

When you walk through the town, look around and you will see most
people are staring at a smartphone, or talking to a smartphone or
listening to a smartphone. It is a change in lifestyle. Their life is
full up with communicating. This is the first generation that chats
continually with someone, *anyone*, to stop the feeling of being
alone.

email is for old folk, as the saying goes. So you won't find many
youngsters in email forums. There are some, of course! :)
But I fear that thoughts over 140 characters in length are TLDR for
the next generation.

On the other hand the older generation has always thought the younger
generation was pretty useless, so maybe there is still hope for them.
;)


BillK