This Forum Is Dying

[Red Rick]

Never used Reddit and have no desire to even look. Looking at my post count here I've already wasted too much of my life in CN.

Oof.

 

[Cookster15]

There is hope. I notice the return of some old names posting during the Tour. Obviously Reddit isn't all its hyped up to be. New is not always better.

 

[Cookster15]

Long live the Tour. I note in the PRR threads a few old posters have made a return during the TdF. Pretty sure some of these old posters used to accuse others here of being "July specialists" . Obviously fans are sick of the lack of racing but it is good to see these old names come back. This forum isn't dead it was just in hibernation. Obviously Reddit isn't all its cut out to be

 

[BroDeal]

There is hope. I notice the return of some old names posting during the Tour. Obviously Reddit isn't all its hyped up to be. New is not always better.

The only people who hype up Reddit are fifteen year old potheads living in their Mom's basement, glued to their phones, and ready to respond to posts before they get lost in an avalanche of memes and one liners. With the simple act of reading comments on a popular Reddit post, you can feel your IQ dropping, a flatulent vibration, like air escaping from a balloon with its opening held too loosely. With every forum squelched by Reddit, the Internet gets dumber. It is a real life parallel to Idiocracy. What comes after communication via memes is grunts and facial expressions transmitted over video conferencing. Then comes the flinging of feces.

 

[Chris Gadsden]

As BroDeal makes a grand return. Nice.

 

[RedheadDane]

The only people who hype up Reddit are fifteen year old potheads living in their Mom's basement,

Those poor fifteen year olds! Don't even have their own rooms! Or is it a punishment for being potheads?

 

[hrotha]

Jesus BroDeal at least try not to be such a huge boomer

 

[BroDeal]

Those poor fifteen year olds! Don't even have their own rooms! Or is it a punishment for being potheads?

Sadly, there is a national shortage of Mom's basements. Redditors have had to double up, sometimes even triple up. It is outrageous. As wealthy as this country is, it cannot give houses in the most expense real estate markets in the country to those who deserve it. And we are not talking about any people here. We are talking college educated people with valuable degrees, like unicorn hunting and grievance studies. I really worry for the future.

 

[BroDeal]

Jesus BroDeal at least try not to be such a huge boomer

Found the Redditor. The tipoff was the casual bigotry used to protect the groupthink from the truth. But I always tell the truth, even when I lie.

 

[Cookster15]

I'd be very interested to know what the forum hits are like compared to say a few years ago. After a brief return of some old regulars during the TdF this forum seems to have quietened down again. Of course it always quietened down after the TdF but I've noticed when posting in recent times I don't get replies or reactions as fast as before. That suggests less people are here. Much less.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'd be very interested to know what the forum hits are like compared to say a few years ago. After a brief return of some old regulars during the TdF this forum seems to have quietened down again. Of course it always quietened down after the TdF but I've noticed when posting in recent times I don't get replies or reactions as fast as before. That suggests less people are here. Much less.

The forum's always had a tendency to quieting down during the (road) off-season.

 

[usedtobefast]

So does anyone know what happened to VELOROOMS?

 

[Cookster15]

Great discussion in the Catalunya thread. The CN forum is on fire and the off season is forgotten !!

 

[movingtarget]

The forum's always had a tendency to quieting down during the (road) off-season.

It's practically comatose compared to 10 years ago. Obviously many people have moved on............

 

[tobydawq]

It's practically comatose compared to 10 years ago. Obviously many people have moved on............

Okay, I wasn't here 10 years ago but it's not like nothing is happening...?

 

[Squire]

There were definitely a few more of the 'interesting' characters here ten years ago. But I don't feel like the road racing section had so much more valuable content back then compared to now. Sure, the hype around whoever was new Colombian sensation of the month was entertaining and same about the outrage when Leipheimer won Tour de Suisse, but the fanboying of the big name riders and the race discussions haven't changed much. The clinic has obviously died down, but that has a very obvious explanation in the lack of doping related scandals/news. There was a lot more smoke and fire with regards to doping back then. Was even some 1990s fallout still happening.

 

[movingtarget]

Okay, I wasn't here 10 years ago but it's not like nothing is happening...?

True but if you look at how many pages were on some of the old race threads that tells the story of how reduced is now. Of course it was also much less politically correct which meant fun and games and a lot more bans eventually. And some threads have disappeared completely for the same reason.

 

[Netserk]

Okay, I wasn't here 10 years ago but it's not like nothing is happening...?

3 stages of the 2011 Tour had over 100 pages.

 

[tobydawq]

3 stages of the 2011 Tour had over 100 pages.

The Pyrenean stages?

 

[Netserk]

The Pyrenean stages?

One of them did.

 

[Põhja Konn]

There was a period before the forum software was updated and the old one threw up all sorts of unpleasant surprises when it did look like the place could actually die down, but now it's far from that. I mean even in the offseason, in PRR section there were around 10 topics any given day that included new posts, around half as much in the Cafe and Cyclo-Cross section enjoyed likely its most active season yet.

There is a strong core of posters now, who are active daily all year around, and then a significant amount of those who become active when road racing season kicks into gear. Significant amount of new active posters have joined in the last few years. The early heyday of the forum (around 2010-11) is already so far in the past that many current posters weren't yet here and others let sepia tinted colours of nostialgia tone it more glorious than it really was.

Even if the highest peaks were higher back then, the forum now is very much an active and vibrant place every bit as good to discuss bike racing as it ever was.

 

[SHaines]

I've been a Community Manager for a long time now and this is a topic that gets raised eventually in virtually all forums. This very thread has been running for a decade, so take claims of any forum dying with a grain of salt.

This forum exists to support the Cycling News community and provide you with a place to come and discuss the latest news in professional cycling. As long as folks stop by to enjoy the company of others, we're honored to provide you all a place to hang out.

 

[red_flanders]

On this day, the four-year anniversary of the forum dying, let us all come together and share a moment of silence.

I think the clown-factor of this thread was captured well on Jan 8, 2018.

Thank you @SHaines and @RedheadDane .

 

[RedheadDane]

I've been a Community Manager for a long time now and this is a topic that gets raised eventually in virtually all forums. This very thread has been running for a decade, so take claims of any forum dying with a grain of salt.

Maybe we're all zombies.

 

[Cookster15]

Well, I am not sure the Forum is as popular as it was say around 10-15 years ago, but it certainly isn't dying. It predictably quiets down in the off season but as we see when the big races resume it comes roaring back - and many long time posters return.

The current discussion in the RVV thread is very lively for a non Grand Tour. I also think Covid played a role in forum activity - since 2020. We were starved of racing for a while. Would be helpful to know if the owners/administrators track forum hits over time. It would be very interesting to know forum activity in 2023 compared with say - 2011?