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Where have the long-time regulars gone?

With the holiday season here, I find myself thinking about friends and acquaintances, as well as the good people I have met here on Audiogon. Next month will mark the start of my fourth year of participation on Audiogon, so it is with regret that I note how many of the long-time "regulars" who began this forum are no longer making posts (at least not with any regularity).

I miss the spirited exchange and occasionally sharp differences of opinion that were aired here (although I don't miss the nastiness that sometimes crept into some posts). I always enjoyed and/or learned from the posts by folks such as Albertporter, Cornfedboy , Garfish, Bob Bundus, Tireguy, Trelja, Sc53, and others, and the forum section is the poorer for their absence.

So, I pose a 2-part question: where have the long-time regulars gone, and what will it take for them to return so that this forum section regains its vitality of old?
sdcampbell
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Perhaps the "moderators" have discouraged them?
asa
662 posts
 
Unsound, I understand your concerns; as you can see above, I'm hardly one to tolerate censorship. My experience has been that people who wanted to beat up on other people have been deterred by 1)the moderators, and 2) some people, like myself, not putting up with them and calling them on it, on a conceptual level.

On the "deep" thing, I think its important to realize that it does have a chilling effect on some people, especially the way I do it sometimes (as above, not like 02pete's). I try to keep this in mind and not "weigh" those others down too early in a thread, or wait until it seems that others of similar inclination have congregated, or the thread is losing its juice. Generally speaking, on content, as opposed to tone, I've found the moderators to be quite indulgent of me.

If you keep it to the ideas, even deep or momentary tangential ideas, then I think you are just fine; if you choose to use superior cognitive agility to talk someone else down coupled with derogatory language, then you get their attention. If you get personal, regardless of merit of thought, you are paid more focused attention until a pattern emerges on that behavior.

I'm pretty provacative - and I'm sure some have complained when they didn't get their way - so I don't think that's the trigger. Its basically decorum, respect and maturity, and, I would submit, those are qualities that any radical egalitarian would be proud of.
david99
1,467 posts
 
Right on Unsound!
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Asa, I'm guilty of speculating on an unfounded premise, but my gut tells me the root of what I consider to be over zealous moderating is money. Either the money that could be tied up in legal problems and/or the money that could be possibly lost in revenue. While I have to respect the fact that it's not directly my money, it still concerns me that freedom of speech can be bought and sold, no matter how indirectly. It's upsetting to think that we might have to resort to strategies to convey ideas in order to share the beauty of music.
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Asa, I'm guilty of speculating on an unfounded premise, but my gut tells me the root of what I consider to be over zealous moderating is money. Either the money that could be tied up in legal problems and/or the money that could be possibly lost in revenue. While I have to respect the fact that it's not directly my money, it still concerns me that freedom of speech can be bought and sold, no matter how indirectly. It's upsetting to think that we might have to resort to strategies to convey ideas in order to share the beauty of music.
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