[UncleVanya]

Occasionally a search will turn up an interesting thread like today when I was looking at ZX-M threads. There were two separate threads with people with weird film loading problems. One user has 6 posts (from 2011) and the other from 2015 has 4 posts. Essentially they came, they posted, they got some advice and they vanished.

I used to be very active on a pool forum and the thought was always that they had found another method or moved on. The worse ones were where the person posted 100's or thousands of posts - and you have no idea what happened - did they die? Did they just lose interest? One person in particular built a spectacular DIY pool in a very cold part of the world. The struggle to build and then refurbish when things went wrong was gripping. Then bam... no more posts. Not a single one. He vanished into the ether and we never heard from him again. To this day I still wonder what happened. Given my own lack of participation I wonder if people wonder what happened to me... lol.

I am curious what the others here think when someone vanishes. How does the story end in your mind? How do you decide what to think? The drive by postings are just not that big of a deal but still pique interest. The long posting history users who vanish - most of the time I feel a slight concern and worry about their health. The internet gives us contact with people we never meet and have no notice of their physical lives and deaths. It is an interesting side effect of this medium of connection.

[dchemist]

Some of us aren't really gone... I'm mostly a lurker with little to contribute.

[PJ1]

You raise a very interesting point. In some ways we are "connected" and yet "not connected" at the same time. We connect in this little piece of our lives. For some, I suppose that is all it is. The posts are just posts and there is little thought about someone who stops posting. Or you can just walk away after thousands of posts and pass into something else. For others, there is some idea of the person sitting at the keyboard that goes beyond the posts themselves. It is a person who ceases to participate, not just posts that do not appear.
I suppose if we have "regulars" who comment on our images, or who we comment on, we may assume a connection. I have no idea who some people are, but I would wonder what happened if they were no longer there. The meshing of the digital world and the real world takes our social networks far beyond the limits that we evolved to cope with. But only some of us stop to ask what it means - or how we should respond.

[alamo5000]

It all depends on the hobby and the forum and a lot of factors. #1 for people to pick a hobby and to stick with it is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. But how many people say swear on their life for their New Years Resolution that they will go to the gym 3 times a week...only to have it last about a month before they were right back to where they were?

I would say a lot of people fall into that category. They 'want to' but they 'don't'.

A lot of people simply don't follow through with much of anything to get better at it. If I swore on my life that I would take up golf I would join a forum or two... but in two months odds are my clubs would be in the garage collecting dust.

Then just being brutally honest you have to look at the content of the forum(s) to see if it is still pertinent or interesting to people. Not knocking anyone ever but in the past how many 'Full Frame' threads did we have in a day? How many times did equivalence come up? And then on top of that you have to look at the overall demeanor of the forum. PF in my opinion is stellar in the latter category. Occasionally we get a weirdo or a troll, but the vast amount of time people here are just beyond fantastic to do everything from help a beginner to being just good folks with manners. I think the low tolerance for (______) holes is a very good thing.

For the people that are stuck to photography like glue I think the forum needs to always be vigilant to keep photography as it's main focus. Yes gear is good and absolutely essential. I like keeping up with the latest and greatest gizmos or cameras (or troubleshooting or whatever)... but all that also needs to be balanced out with appreciating each other's work (photo sharing) as well as topics that lend themselves to personal improvement in skill...

Do that and you stay relevant.

[clackers]

The internet gives us contact with people we never meet and have no notice of their physical lives and deaths. It is an interesting side effect of this medium of connection.

I think a forum like this is usually only a slice of people's lives and interests, UV.


I get more concerned for someone's wellbeing when they go for an unusually long time without posting on Twitter, Facebook, et al.

[virusn3t]

I still visit some sites that i used to be regular poster, but i rarely sign in, even in this forums if wasnt because tapatalk auto-sign me i dont even respond in this thread, only to help or to ask... But back in topic, i still visit those sites, but as they have so many user with a lot more of experience in their help i dont post, and as most of my question are answered i do not post thread to ask, sometimes a quick search is enough, if the answer isnt enough then i ask. So this is a probable outcome, they still can visit us but they dont sign they onlt watch.

[bertwert]

I do wonder sometimes...
But mostly people lost interest.

I used to be a fairly active member on the Pi forums 500+ posts. But then just stopped and lost interest.

Other times people are just on holiday like I was gone all summer.

[bxf]

I'm mostly ... with little to contribute

Doesn't stop some others from posting

[Parallax]

I think this is a great topic for a thread
This definitely gets an A for originality.

[alamo5000]

Whatever happened to RioRico or whatever his nick was? The guy with an insane lens collection and a completely encyclopedic knowledge of things?

[monochrome]

In my early years there was more vigorous discussion of manual lenses, film cameras, Green Button metering, printing, people who wrote articles - and many, many 'Jumping Ship' posts. A few of them are posting again since K-1.

What's really weird is when the OP for a picture thread like 'K Club' (deudeu) or 'Takumar Club' (Nesster sort of) goes away but the thread remains vibrant. Or when a member who kept a thread alive goes away (Mike Cash) and the thread continues on but with less vitality. Or when the OP has jumped ship (jsherman) but comes back for a few days, makes 100 posts, then goes away again for half a year. Makes you wonder what discussions were going on in the Mod Forum.

And then there are the people lots of members wish WOULD 'retire'.

[ChrisPlatt]

I too wonder about formerly active Pentax Forums members who disappear, more so than on my other forums.
Some forums suffer regular bouts of bannings by mods, or good members driven off when ganged up on by regulars.
It's a credit to Adam, Pentax Forums moderators and members that such things seldom happen here.

Chris

[larryinlc]

I just looked and I haven't posted since May. I'll try harder

[cali92rs]

Whatever happened to RioRico or whatever his nick was? The guy with an insane lens collection and a completely encyclopedic knowledge of things?

+1 on RioRico...he was very knowledgeable when it came to affordable macro.

[clackers]

I miss Osv. Might start a petition to get him back.