IS IT JUST ME?

Spying on their sister in the shower....

...or brother - as not to exclude our recent additions from St. Petersburg

I intend no negativity by this comment but... of those tens of thousands that have joined since ... how many have left and no longer have been 'retained'?

Do you think that number is as high as 10% or more like 1% are regular participants?

While I truly enjoy seeing most regular's participation and comments as well as that of newbies, I sense somewhat of a general abrasion and irritation level. While I try to be less abrasive and more civil in my own participation, I see some going the opposite way and gleefully doing so.

Can you cite an example? I've encountered only supportive and agreeable posts here.

When this site started, it was closely moderated, and people were banned for various lengths of time for various offenses. Since that time, the rules of bahavior have been relaxed to the point that there virtually are no rules now. At one time, you could not post words which are common now. This relaxation of the standards of the contents of posts means someone can say just about anything to you that they want to say. Things are very different now than they were in 2002.

... good one.

You are either very new here, or you have a very dry sense of humor.

The site is a reflection of the current political climate in the US. Us vs. them is being promoted for politicians self-interest and people so easily buy into it.

I'm going with Option #2

I see two sides wherein limited logic prevails and "buying-in" seems to be the sole requirement for our badges.

WHenever I too, post on gardening threads I see mostly support and interests among us.
We do , as an online community, confess wide interests in religious topics , so these , IMHO, tend to be the most savage threads. Most of the rude behavior is seen on many of these threads, with politics a not-too -distant second.

SCience threads, if its an area in which I have interests, Im guilty of goading folks whenever I read something that stresses my creduity bone.

Yes, very sorely missed ... the injection of not-too-be-taken-too-seriously fun, humour & wit into discussions. I wish they could still be here. And more A2Kers like them.
Sigh.

I also miss:
2packsaday & his long, funny stories.
Clary's travel writings.
Nimh's political insights. And his charts!
RJB's wonderful, gentle & detailed tales of his life experiences.
Noddy's wisdom.
Dadpad's spontaneous what-the-heck posts.
Endy's poetry.
Stories the prince's love life.
More/or even some input from thoughtful posters like squinney, dag, littlek, Francis & so many other defectors to FaceBook , or elsewhere. Traitors!

.. to name just a few ....

But in response to farmer's question, in my opinion it's not so much that discussions & debates of the more "contentious" issues are nastier ... it's that fewer people are actually participating ..... most of whom can confidently predict each other's other's respective "positions" from the word go ....
So often the discussion becomes personal, rather than the intended exchange of ideas.
And all to often a reasonably interesting discussion is taken over/hijacked by the same old posters .... those who relentlessly push their same old tired agendas, no matter what the subject is. You know who I mean.
Which, of course, leads to glazed-over eyes from the rest of us.
We need an injection of lots more new blood!
But, if a was a newbie these days, I'd find entering such an established fray somewhat intimidating, that's for sure!

I drop out of many threads, because a handful of obsessive posters hijack thread after thread, to post the same rants they posted thousands of entries ago.

So do I. There are some that I will only look at if I see the last poster is someone who can be relied upon. Some got so bad I had to collapse them

Nor for the most part do we care..............

heh heh. I do that too. I guess I'm too lazy to figure out how to follow those people

Click on their name to navigate to their profile page, then click the button under their avatar to follow them.

Once done, all you have to do is click the My Friends link rather than the New Posts link and you'll only view posts by people you are following and nothing else.

Yup...

I have to agree that the ambiance has changed here in the last couple of years. While there are still many people present that I respect and enjoy interacting with- there are also many new arrivals who I find annoying, full of self-importance and not very entertaining. I will often drop a thread I'm active in if certain individuals show up. Because my mother raised me to have good manners I can't even put them on ignore because they are persistent and respond directly to things I write.

Politics has always been a hot button here, but it has gotten more vicious with people feuding like a couple of Hillbilly clans. I usually just step away from these debates when I come to my senses knowing the whole thing is futile. Overall, I spend a lot less time on A2K than I used to and mostly flitter in to chat about fluff like Survivor, toss my two cents around in the art forum or play Socrates with some naive lovelorn soul. To me the Golden Days where when I would show up and Gus, Kickycan or Lord Ellpus were holding court. I'm sorry they are not around now to poke fun at the way too many humorless newbies, it would at least make them bearable.

Cool! Thanks