Forumosa vs. Taiwaneasy, Forumosa then vs. now

This may be the earliest existing post, when it was “oriented.org

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Is that the OG Goose Egg among the last replies?

Like, twenty years ago?!

If so that’s amazing. Like, salmon surviving the swim upstream and successfully reproducing amazing. Probably didn’t know it in 1999, but the odds of a social media website thriving its way into 2019 are slimmer than slim.

Well done, gents. :+1: Whoever y’all are, you done good.

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If memory serves there was a bit of a lull when some of the old posters left but after a short time it had a lot of new people joining.

And good point about times changing. I was a member of a cell phone technology forum about 15 years ago. About 7 or 8 years ago I think forums everywhere lost attraction for people. I actually forgot about that website. Went back a few days ago and it’s a ghost town, nobody posts anything anymore.

I guess in today’s world we have social media that people would rather use. Plus blog commenting. And seeing Forumosa still so active is great.

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How old is that?

EDIT: Oh, I see. August, 1999. The year Matrix and Phantom Menace came out and everyone was freaked out about Y2K and boy bands. I was 16 and my biggest worry in life was losing my virginity.

Just to set the record straight, I recall being surprised to see that traffic on Forumosa right after the split in 2011/2012 actually INCREASED, according to our Google Analytics. Things started to taper off (the lull) around 2014 as phpBB software bugs (like people getting logged out inexplicably) mounted.

Someone pointed out at the time of the split that there was less of a clique, so – if you managed to login and stay in, mind you – you were less likely to be turned off by the perception of an insider group.

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Is there more traffic now compared to before the split?

This forum is pretty cool. It’s gotten bigger than just Taiwan stuff which I appreciate.

But the retention of new posters seems poor to me. Some pop in and out with a question and leaves after they get an answer. But some post for a few weeks and disappear. Maybe they stepped into IP unprepared lol.

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This place seems a little busier than 2 years ago when I started posting a lot.

Sometimes that’s a blessing. Especially when it’s a new poster that wants to be the center of attention.

What happens in IP stays in IP :joy:

This place had a lull and there was a while where we got a lot of drive by one time posters and then there was a gaggle of haters that rocked by to shit on foreigners.

I think peak online hate for foreigners was a couple of years ago in Taiwan…They seem to have moved on to other subjects now.

But amongst those we got some good crew of new posters. I say welcome now shine my boots good and proper and fetch me the latest copy of Taiwan News in color like a good fellow.
Later I will teach you how to setup your profile on geocities and link to it here.
I will tell you what it was like posting at the DAWN of the internet in the LAST CENTURY. Pull up a stool.

NO Geocities is gone! My life’s work down the tubes !

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But some come and stick around.
Look at the Snoopy girl. She wasn’t here long ago. Now, she’s one of the most frequent posters.

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Yeah but took a fair bit of thick skin on her part to weather the slings and arrows :sweat_smile:

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We kept clicking back and forth a lot so we wouldn’t miss anything.

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And yet, there still is this mysterious ‘insider’ group, and I know them!

Maybe but I need to check. Since traffic did not peak until a year AFTER the split, it is more meaningful to ask when we regain that height. For 6(?) months after the split, some people moderated on both forums. I think traffic started to suffer because software bugs mounted unattended (that was my solely fault) and discussion groups and pages on social media like Facebook caught on.

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We’ve checked this before GE no? I remember querying it and you or maybe Stew found some figures showing we’re higher than we’ve ever been. I could have misremembered mind, coulda been talking about Philadelphia Cream Cheese sales at the Tienmou Grocery.

More likely when the "Where is this?"thread started. Loads of posts.

That’s a factor definitely, but I think we’re still significantly up from the low stretch around 2015-2016

In a spooky coincidence , I stopped using Forumosa 2015-16 :cold_sweat:
Any medium has to be entertaining and constant input is required . A little like checking the News, it becomes more interesting when things happen.
A bit of Information , comedy, nostalgia, quiz your brain, politics, and general opinions . Once the traffic slows , I think the interest drops quickly.
I think it needs a core of 20 or so contributors to keep things moving along .They get to know each other and post with that in mind , perhaps.

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I’m sorry…:disappointed_relieved: I was just lurking back then and found the dating horror stories entertaining.

But the switchover to Discourse with its default on the topics of the day made me see there are other interesting topics in other places too. So I signed up. NOW, I get to watch all of @Dr_Milker’s trump pictures in the funny political pictures thread.

Now, I have lived.

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image

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Monthly Visitors and Visits since Jan 2011

2011%20to%202019%20-%20Forumosa%20Google%20Analytics%20-%20Users%20and%20Visits
SOURCE: Forumosa’s Google Analytics

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