Where is everyone?

[AsDaRa]

....and, of course, the very idea of message boards/forums does not appeal to younger people who prefer the instant self-gratification of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and a host of other things I've haven't even heard of

But you need to know these people. In a forum you can ask a question to the world, in your Facebook to your friends only.
A forum can not be compared to social media. The younger generation will also have demands which only a forum can fullfill.

Say you want to know which dildo is best, you will ask that in Facebook for everyone to read (including family)? No, you will ask it in a forum under an anonymous name. Forums fulfill a need, also for the younger generation.

[a447]

Arsenal, SG, I was referring to those...err...older people who read this site but decide not to contribute.

They choose the other boards instead.

[Nirish guy]

Say you want to know which dildo is best, you will ask that in Facebook for everyone to read (including family)?

Awww, what sort of mean family do you have that they wonder answer such a question when asked ? How very mean and selfish of them keeping such information to themselves.

[AsDaRa]

Awww, what sort of mean family do you have that they wonder answer such a question when asked ? How very mean and selfish of them keeping such information to themselves.

Well it has more to do with privacy darling. Not many people are comfortable asking their mother or grand mother which dildo to buy, or telling them in al honesty what they all do in Thailand. Etc.

For some topics forums are used, not social media. Also by the younger generation.

[fountainhall]

As long as we have members who spend most of their time here personally attacking others instead of focusing on the content of the posts, why would they want to? What's in it for them?

So what do they do? They join gaythailand.com or gaybuttonthai.com instead, neither of which tolerates such behaviour

I don't like being attacked. But then I have not been immune to attacking one or two posters, so I'm as guilty as the others. But when I am 'got at' on the basis of lies, I will hit back, as I did with Sglad. MiniMee thinks we don't give newbies a chance. Well I did give this hydra more than a chance when others saw through him before I did. When he attacked me, I laid a trap about a Singapore chat site which every young Singaporean gay student would know about. Yet he didn't, and he could not answer the question without betraying his troll status. So his alter ego SugarGrandpa did - and in so doing not only exposed Sglad as a total fake but got him banned!

So yes we need to be careful with new posters. But then new posters should also take into some consideration how their posts will appear. And I think new posters should spend just a little time looking over recent threads and posts to familiarise themeless a bit with what is being posted and how. When questions are asked about a hotel, a general "what do you recommend?" is patently somewhat stupid when no indication is given of approx. desired location and particularly price. Yet this happens a lot more than it should!

As to one-time members here moving over to the other Boards, Gaybutton certainly keeps his members from attacking each other with his iron fist. But gaythailand now seems to have little or no moderation. Take a quick look at recent threads and it is clear there have been quite a few personal attacks in recent weeks, leading perhaps the most interesting relatively new poster to say he won’t post again because of attacks. That Board seems to lack any moderators now. Yet it still managed to get rid of a clutch of trolls not so long ago.

Frankly I can’t see much difference between the two, other than gaythailand is definitely more active and perhaps less Pattaya-centric.

Less and less and less gays are going to Thailand or retiring there. So there are less and less and less people to contribute to these forums.

I’m sure it’s true to suggest that there are less older gays visiting Thailand and perhaps even retiring here. But the fact is that the posting base here reflects only the tip of the large iceberg of those who actually are already retired here - and most of that tip either lives in Pattaya or spends most of its time there. Yet in Bangkok there must be many thousands of gay expats who never go near a chat forum. A few years ago there were 3 retired gay expats living on the same floor as me in my condo. I asked each if they read any of the chat forums. Not only did they not read them, they had never even heard of them!

....and, of course, the very idea of message boards/forums does not appeal to younger people who prefer the instant self-gratification of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and a host of other things I've haven't even heard of

But for many younger guys, that is just not the case! Especially here in Asia. Take Singapore for example. I caught out Sglad with my references to a Singapore gay chat site Blowing Wind. That has 35,000 members with a vastly higher number of posting members than any of the Thailand Boards. It also permits guests to post and so its number of threads and active posters puts the Thailand Boards to shame! It also has about 5 moderators who do keep the posters from attacking each other. They also have a flaming room which, I believe, used to be the case here. Would it increase participation to open the forum up to non-members?

Judging from the content, the average age seems to be somewhere between 25 and 35 with a lot of young guys who are in the 18 - 22 range (a lot of talk about being gay and having to go through the 2-year National Service training). I can't be bothered checking on its background and it's clear that some of the posts are very much geared to a far younger generation. Yet its subject layout is interesting. One is the Travellers Hut section. This has 27 pinned threads on different cities/countries, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and as far away as Australia, Japan and even Dubai!. But, surprisingly, not one pinned thread on Pattaya, Cambodia or Laos. So young Singaporeans clearly have very little interest in Pattaya. I know from my young gay Taiwan friends they feel the same. So if Asian youngsters in general have no interest in Pattaya, is its long-term future as a gay sex destination doomed? And yet, in the last 2 years on that site, there have been 41 pages of posts (and there are lots on a page) just about Bangkok!

[Surfcrest]

For some reason, the powers that be seem think keeping someone who constantly insults fellow posters is more beneficial to the board than attracting new members.

No.

The powers that be, simply pay the bills and moderate based on what few rules govern this Board. If you want more rules, please let me know! If you'd like to buy the site and make your own rules up, let me know!

I said this before, I will say it again...please leave the CIA work up to me. Provided someone isn't currently posting as two members at the same time, they are not breaking the rules. Some members have been banned and have come back under new names. One member in particular has been banned so many time, he could easily be mistaken for a hydra if you put all those personalities together here at the same time...but that didn't really happen.

The reason new members don't survive here is because you pounce on them, thinking they are either Kommie, Homintern or Beachlover. Beachlover has not returned, Homintern is dead and Kommie is back under a new...or not so new name. Just because you hate him, doesn't make it within our rules for me to ban or muzzle him.

If you're unhappy with the rules or the lack of rules...I can't help you without the rest of the members being onbaord with the idea.

Surfcrest

[a447]

Some members have been banned and have come back under new names. One member in particular has been banned so many time (sic), .....

So, now I get it.

If you are banned, all you need to do is re-register with a new name and you're back on again!

And you can just keep changing your handle , time and time again!

Awesome!

Just because you hate him, doesn't make it within our rules....

Has anyone seriously ever suggested that - that it's a kind of popularity contest?? I don't think so.

Criticism from others is to be expected, as it goes with the territory. Not everyone agrees with what we post. If you don't like critiscm, don't post.

However, harassment is a totally different type of issue. I thought it was against the rules, but obviously not. Silly old me!

[fountainhall]

I'd better read the rules for I fail to understand how any member can be banned and then unbanned! Is there something like a sin bin where, after a period in the wilderness, one is allowed back? It seems now to be the case here. It was certainly the case on gaythailand. The poster LMTU was banned. But being a good friend of Michael, the owner, an exception was made and he was permitted back under a different name HeyGay, despite his unique (read "puerile") style of posting and the facts he always claimed to be the truth being, shall we say, more than a little dodgy. And then he had to banned yet again!

I have written on another thread that Beachlover fooled moderators and was tolerated for far too long. It finally took a Board revolt to get him kicked off gaythailand despite the owner liking his posting and wishing to keep him as a member. Yet even BL found his way back to that gaythailand Board - as unearthed by the poster Khortose. And under this different handle he remains today a member in good standing! To be fair, after a typical Beachlover posting blitz in early 2013 he retreated into the undergrowth. But his handle remains as a member.

But I am not a Board owner and would not wish to be one. So I have to accept that this forum is run by others and they make the rules.

Back on topic, though, I will set myself up to be shot down. I believe, as the gaythailand rules state (the ones that no-one can now read and few seem to bother reading), discussions on a forum should be akin to a group of people/friends having discussions in a pub over a drink. I always rather liked that simple analogy. Yet discussions involve differing points of view and backing each up in some sort of reasoned manner. In an internet chat room - the many that I have seen, not merely those involving Thailand - once posters get to know each other in the forum, reasoned discussion often goes out of the window in place of the 1- or 2- line put down, quip, piece of one-upmanship that is usually a sort of I-know-that-better-than-you ego trip. Yeah, I know. If we didn't have egos we wouldn't be posting. But it's my belief it is these 1- and 2-liners that turn potential readers from becoming members and members from finally giving up.

[loke]

A forum like this could survive even for young people , as already been discussed you can't ask any questions on Facebook unless you want the whole world to know,
So anonymous forums do have a future , Young guys that want to hook up will use the apps anyway , but for information from experienced travellers to Thailand nothing can replace a forum and it would still be my first choice if I want to ask questions .

[fountainhall]

I agree. But where is the younger generation of posters? I know we have a sprinkling of 40s and 50s here, but are there any members younger than 40? And are questions ever raised by those in their 20s? Should there be a special section of the forum for those under, say, 40 - or even 30?

It really would be quite interesting to know the average age of those who do post even occasionally.