Ian… love ya man, but all these forum rules are the reason the forum is withering. I'm assuming that enforcing all these rules is costing you some time too. Would you consider repealing some of them? Shouldn't this be an inviting place for new traffic? Are you sure you want to join Christian Exodus and the Wyoming free staters on that list of promising movements that defeated themselves by restricting communication?
Also last I checked I had trouble posting a comment on FreeKeene.com itself without some kind of registering. I liked it better when any anonymous person could comment on each FK article.
Everyone has their critiques. With no registering people complained about all the trolls on FK.
The intro process here helps root out trolls and makes sure people are here for the appropriate reasons. It also helps, most importantly, for us to get to know new users and welcome them.
If my co-mods think it's a bad policy, we could reconsider it.
For the record, the entire forum is readable by anyone who comes to it - you need only post an intro if you wish to communicate with others. That's not unreasonable.
The reason this forum and the FTL BBS have died off is due to Facebook, in my opinion. Though, I'd love to hear others' input.
It should be made clear that there is no administrator approval needed to make a post in other areas of the forum. All you have to do is make 1 intro post, and your restrictions are automatically lifted.
Ignore the people making comments about trolls. They are just whiney bitches. Forums should be wild and crazy is thats how the posters want it. I the early days of the internet, there were no rules, i long for those crazy days. Can I have some on SSF?
BTW, you rock Dave Ridley. Keep the vids coming! Your videos helped turn me into what I've become (for better or worse yet i dunno, but much more a liberty radical than ever!) FREE KEENE DOT COOOOOM!
Ian is right about one thing and I am wrong: Rules are not the only reason this forum is withering. Facebook IS part of it. I should have spoken more clearly.
But this is all the more reason the forum should avoid Facebook's downsides… the controls, the lack of openness the semi-public nature of facebook… those are things this forum should compete against by improving on. Same with FreeKeene.com
Govern what you control as lightly as you can if you want people to accept your ideas of a less authoritarian society.
And… Oh my God I've created an activist with the F word in his name lol.
He's blunt but he has a point.
Ridley,
This forum has been served well by having a focus. It's not an anything-goes place like the FTL BBS.
The rules here are simple and the forum is new in a world that dosen't value forums much anymore. It takes time to grow and as you can see, we have new people signing up weekly and posting intros.
Someone just moved to Keene who posted here first - he did not have facebook. This forum serves its purpose.
Trading having a focus for more non-shire-related posts and trading the intro policy for more trolls is not a worthy trade, IMO. As I said, I'm happy to consider new options if my co-mods agree. Thus far Jay, the most active mod here, agrees that the intro policy and focus is beneficial.