So is POTM dead?

[on:]

Considering we scrapped it last month and we're already 11 days into this one, I take that it's a done deal

[Reply #1 on:]

Correctomundo, sir.

Danny or I opened nomination threads, and the resulting nominations were... minimal.  That, and the fact that there are only about 15 individuals posting at all, and some only once a week.

[Reply #2 on:]

I'll definitely open a Poster of the Year nomination thread come January, though.

[Reply #3 on:]

So PotM is still a thing?

[Reply #4 on:]

I got this shit, yo

[Reply #5 on:]

So PotM is still a thing?

I reckon it's as alive as PEEL is. Websites wag their tails for hours after they die.

[Reply #6 on:]

Old Peeler? :sob:

But seriously, if there's a spasm of interest, I'll be more than happy to create nomination threads and polls and whatnot.

[Reply #7 on:]

I think a lot of people forget about it because it is no longer on a board that people go to regularly.

[Reply #8 on:]

All anyone has to do is simply click the • Unread posts since last visit link.  Then they can either read or skip over all new posts.

[Reply #9 on:]

I think a lot of people forget about it because it is no longer on a board that people go to regularly.

It is no longer on a website that more than a couple of dozen people visit regularly.

[Reply #10 on:]

It's pretty depressing to think back to when the show was still on the air and this place was bustling with activity. It's just a ghost town, now.

[Reply #11 on:]

Or even after the show was off the air and this place was bustling with activity, along with #futuramachat^*.  On the bright side <insert Life of Brian reference here>, Peel message preview is working with Firefox again


^*Now consisting of svip, flame, tweek, me, and occasionally Meerkat or FaranBrygo.

[Reply #12 on:]

Yeah, what actually happened? Obviously Futurama being cancelled for good caused a big hit in numbers but there has to be something else as well. Perhaps social media taking the world by force?

[Reply #13 on:]

I'm gonna guess, and I could be completely wrong, but I reckon there's something preventing new users from being able to make an account.

[Reply #14 on:]

That's not unreasonable. Has anyone tried making a new account recently?

Below is a list of the number of new accounts created per week from late 2014:

Week ending  #
 5/10/2014   3
12/10/2014   2
19/10/2014   3
26/10/2014   3
 2/11/2014   1
 9/11/2014   0
16/11/2014   4
23/11/2014   3
30/11/2014   2
 7/12/2014   2
14/12/2014   3
21/12/2014   1
28/12/2014   1
 4/01/2015   7
11/01/2015   1

After this the number per week drops to zero and has stayed that way ever since.

Since we don't see an increasing number of 0's toward the end it looks like a sudden stop to me.

[Reply #15 on:]

So does that theoretically mean accounts have been closed since '15? Weird. Looks like this was the final member... zero posts, naturally.

[Reply #16 on:]

I guess Marc got tired of people making new accounts for advertising purposes.

[Reply #17 on:]

Yes

[Reply #18 on:]

1) Reddit has pretty much killed the business of independent message boards.

2) Activity here was always generally driven by a fluctuating core group of regulars, almost all the most prolific of whom have finally, one by one, outgrown their desire to frequent the site.

[Reply #19 on:]

Facebook took our regulars, not reddit.  Peel just doesn't get enough people laid, myself included.  I'm too busy to get laid though, that's why I'm still here.

I wished you happy bday on facebook joshtheater, I probably won't read the response so I hope it was a good one.

[Reply #20 on:]

Peel did get a number of people laid, though

[edit]

I definitely agree that it was facebook, primarily.  I can't even recall when or why I joined FB: I think it was because a Peeler asked me to.  Then my account sat idle for some time until I was in chat one day and Spacedal and LFF asked me to friend them.  I really knew nothing of them at that point, and slowly I've been absorbed into the FB Peel matrix

But I shall not be leaving Peel until the day its plug is pulled.

And it's very good to hear from you, winna

[Reply #21 on:]

My two points were pretty separate from each other. I agree that Facebook is where most of the regulars have gone for their social fix and to keep connected. But when it comes to new people seeking to find places to talk about topics they're interested in with people they don't already know, Reddit has in a huge way decreased the demand for independently owned forums. Why would people seek out this forum when they can just go to the Futurama subreddit? That's not to say I think there aren't advantages to forums like PEEL (PEEL is way better than any subreddit) but with Reddit being so popular now, not enough people are going to end up here to find out what those advantages are.

[Reply #22 on:]

Yeah, I feel like smaller forums like PEEL have a much stronger sense of community than places like Reddit. Reddit makes for great reading material but because everything is sorted by popularity it's basically pointless to reply to a post unless it's fresh and new, otherwise nobody will read it.

Before I joined PEEL I used to frequent a sub-forum on GameSpot. That was a pretty cool place until the site decided to open the troll floodgates for who-know-what reason. Also, I'm pretty sure said sub-forum was axed, anyway.

[Reply #23 on:]

I think a lot of active forums also tend to center around producing some commodity.

I suggest we start producing super dense light.

[Reply #24 on:]

It takes a very large facility. Or an H-bomb (or neutron bomb).

[Reply #25 on:]

I've got a star sitting around in my backyard.

[Reply #26 on:]

My two points were pretty separate from each other. I agree that Facebook is where most of the regulars have gone for their social fix and to keep connected. But when it comes to new people seeking to find places to talk about topics they're interested in with people they don't already know, Reddit has in a huge way decreased the demand for independently owned forums. Why would people seek out this forum when they can just go to the Futurama subreddit? That's not to say I think there aren't advantages to forums like PEEL (PEEL is way better than any subreddit) but with Reddit being so popular now, not enough people are going to end up here to find out what those advantages are.

Facebook took some of them. Reddit took others, but I think that most users were just lost to real life after new Futurama episodes stopped being made. Honestly, it feels like PEEL just became one of those dusty old warehouses that you remember as being a brilliant place to hang out, but now you have puppies to deliver to the incinerator, and new shoes to pay for and some kind of mold growing on your back.

[Reply #27 on:]

That's probably an accurate assessment. And it's cool, whatevs... maybe now I can start my OTC scheme without being noticed.

[Reply #28 on:]

I don't come here very often any more because no one else seems to.

I expect a lot of people are in the same boat, but that's not really something that can be fixed very easily.

[Reply #29 on:]

The beatings will continue until morale improves?

It's been a pleasant surprise to see a number of people return from the void this month and make a few posts.

[Reply #30 on:]

I definitely agree with the Facebook-has-replaced-PEEL argument (as it pertains to existing users, not prospective new members), and I myself interact more frequently with PEELers on social media than I do on the actual message board that brought us all together.

That being said, I actually prefer communicating with y'all via PEEL--going from thread to thread, gabbing about random topics--but I just don't often have the time/inclination to get on my laptop and surf the site for hours on end, which I used to do in high school and most of college. It's not that I've gotten better at time management, or that I would not enjoy perusing PEEL for a significant portion of my day--it's just that the way I access the internet, period, has changed dramatically in the past three or four years.

So it's not just an issue of places like Facebook and Reddit rendering the traditional message board irrelevant, but also an issue of evolving technology. I do most of my web surfin' on my iPhone--it's how I access Facebook, for example, almost 100% of the time--and if there were a user-friendly way to browse PEEL on a mobile device (say, via an app, like Reddit has) I would be exponentially more likely to use it. It'd just be part of my daily cycle through various apps, and therefore something I'd be less likely to neglect, or go more than a day or two without at least checking.

I know I'm not the first person to suggest a PEEL app, and I know it would never happen. But I've spent some time thinking about why I don't post on PEEL much any more--especially because, on those occasions that I do make a handful of posts in a day, I remember how much I like this place--and I am convinced that this is primarily an issue of convenience, not one of waning interest (at least for me).

[Reply #31 on:]

Would you browse PEEL without an app, but if the site had a mobile presentation?

I think it's possible we could talk marc into things.  I agree with your assertions, and have noticed them in my own experience;  I, pretty much exclusively, use phone (android) for internet now, and the internet is a strange, and slightly unfriendly, place to me now.

[Reply #32 on:]

Would you browse PEEL without an app, but if the site had a mobile presentation?

I think it's possible we could talk marc into things.  I agree with your assertions, and have noticed them in my own experience;  I, pretty much exclusively, use phone (android) for internet now...

Perhaps it's possible, winna.  Despite having met mArc and spending some time talking with him, your insight into this particular matter is likely far deeper than mine.  Speaking for myself, it's possible that I would use my phone to access Peel if it were a pleasant, intuitive mobile experience.  And if other people were coming here on a reasonably frequent basis, of course.

I was not around Peel for the app/mobile wars, and I do not know why mArc was so vehemently opposed to having either a Peel app or even custom browser plugins or 3rd-party websites translating between phone browsers and Peel proper.  A rumour I heard was that Gopher had been trying to do something along those lines and was shut down, repeatedly.  I don't know the degree of truthfulness of that rumour.  Certainly, working at Amazon, mArc is very aware that most people use their phones for just about everything nowadays.

And certainly anyone who spent time on-line could see that mobile was the way of the future and that sites which did not adapt would be left limping along the shoulder of the information superhighway.

Personally, I loathe browsing websites on my phone, whether they have mobile presentation capabilities or not.  I don't really even like browsing websites on a tablet, which is a far better experience than phone browsing.  But I'm really old, I know, and I use my laptop for browsing.  Though I *do* use the FB and Twitter apps on my phone all the time.  Many times a day, actually.

Peel is a very special community.  It's an intimate forum where like-minded people from many cultures and backgrounds have been able to get to know one another on deeply personally levels.  Hell, there have been numerous relationships here, and even marriages.  And apologies for being maudlin, but Peel has had a profoundly transformative effect upon me, personally.  In less than a year, Peel took me from being an abrasive, self-centred semi-anti-social uber shy nerd to someone who actually enjoys going places to do things, and especially getting to meet my on-line friends in person (28 and counting, iirc).  And I am very close with a number of people here.  I consider winna a brother, for instance.  Sometimes an older brother, sometimes a younger one, and sometimes the same age.

The point is, I have no idea what could be done to draw people back here, or how I could possibly help in that effort.  But I am immensely  grateful for Peel's existence, and for the countless hours of work that mArc has put into its operation, and the contribution of the many moderators over the years.

[Reply #33 on:]

I browse peel just fine on my phone with a broken screen.  I'm not big on phone apps, specially for websites, but I know I'm the minority.  A mobile presentation server side would be neat, but I'm not in a position right now where I want that responsibility; I utilize my time poorly, and I have a lots of stuff qued up, it would realistically be months for me, which is why I haven't asked.

[-mArc-] may or may not care a whole lot about PEEL's activity as of current, he may keep the site up for historical and/or sentimental reasons.  If he doesn't care, I think a mobile app for peel would be semi-successful endeavor (one I might even be interested in undertaking).  However, building that would also be a long haul, as at the very least it would need to be developed for android and iOS.  Furthermore, users would have to trust the developer a great deal, as it would almost certainly not be verified through the avenues where people trust to get their apps.  If I ended up doing something like that, I would almost certainly release source to allow users to compile on their own.

Gopher's program did exist, and it was functional;  I had a copy before it was borked.  If mArc doesn't care about peel, it's unlikely he'd check in to see what we're up to (although this thread is the worst one to detail such a plan).  Gopher's program also had an interesting and unique UI presentation imo.

Honestly, I'd like a backup copy of PEEL and especially wikiPEEL.  No idea if mArc is interested in the hassle of sharing one.

If PEEL is still active/alive, I expect PEEL to have another rather longish period of activity within the next two decades, around the time when most 1st gen PEELers' children grow up and leave the nest... this group would remember that place they used to hang out on, seeking companionship in a later chapter in life.  PEEL may become lively again if Futurama gets renewed again, of course, but honestly that's not something I expect.

[Reply #34 on:]

By the time another decade or two roll by, I shall certainly be long dead.  But I sincerely hope that more of the Old Guard return and that you all have a pleasant Peel reunion

In the meantime, it's nice seeing the activity pick up this week and last.  If by some chance we get a bit more activity it's not beyond the realm of possibility that I'll open a nom thread, if anyone's interested.

[Reply #35 on:]

I've been posting a little more lately after severely slacking off. Sometimes it's not that nobody's posting its just that they're posting about stuff where I'm not that familiar with

[Reply #36 on:]

By the time another decade or two roll by, I shall certainly be long dead.

I don't want to live in a world without Tachyon.

[Reply #37 on:]

Awww, thanks, Dan.

No one is immortal, and sooner or later each of us shall go The Way Of All Things. [Palpatine] "It is inevitable.".

The best we can do is to live our lives in a way that we'd be proud to show as an example to others.  A way that, upon reflection, we would look forward to reliving if there were such a thing as reincarnation.

...its just that they're posting about stuff where I'm not that familiar with

I know what you mean, tyraniak.  For instance, I have very little exposure to or knowledge of popular culture, especially current film, television, music, and trends and am frequently clueless when browsing threads of that nature.  And can assure you in the strongest possible terms that I shall never be 'on fleek'.

Regarding POTM, even though it may never regain its former glory, I think I'll make an effort to start posting in the Nomination-Worthy thread again, whenever I come across a post that makes me laugh or think 'whoa, that's really interesting'.

[Reply #38 on:]

I disagree with Tachyon's assertion that no one is immortal, DannyJC13!

[Reply #39 on:]

No one is immortal

Keanu Reeves might be.