Change is inevitable. People grow older and re-think their priorities. New technology and social trends are constantly shaping and re-shaping the landscape of communication.
As one of the two creators of this site who sketched out a rough working model on the back of a cigarette packet over a decade ago in The Oak Tree pub in Newton-le-Willows I think I'm in as good a position as any to draw conclusions.
Overall the RLFANS site continues to pull in massive amounts of traffic. I've never really bothered a great deal with statistics but I do know that we were close to overtaking Virgin Rail's website in terms of numbers three or four years ago.
I once thought Facebook would squash us flat but instead we seem to have reached a happy equilibrium. As older members leave to pursue new interests younger ones fill the holes.
As for individual forums - from the moment we first switched on traffic has waxed and waned. During the close-season especially conversation is always fairly sparse. Insofar as the Sin Bin is concerned - sure, this is a relatively quiet period. Yes, some long-term members have left. But this isn't a problem specific only to this forum. You find similar trends on any popular message board.
To those who think things were somehow "better" a few years back - I'm afraid nostalgia is clouding your judgement. Sure, there were more people posting in the Sin Bin. But don't think for one moment it was a moonbat-free zone because it certainly wasn't. Trust me. I was there.
