Just my $0.02, but while the activity level hasn’t been as high as FWF used to be, I’ve been pretty happy with the quality of the posts. I try to read most of the Finance section. Sometimes, less is more.
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I know for me, one of the biggest things holding me back from participating as much here is the interface, specifically as it relates to long threads. There are two main problems I see.
Suppose someone posts something sparking an interesting conversation. But maybe I haven’t been to the site in a few days. By the time I get back, there are dozens (or even hundreds) of posts. WAY too many to actually read in one quick sitting. I would love to re-load the page later and pickup where I left off. Well, if I’m 100 posts into a (then) 250 post thread, and I come back and it is now at 350 posts, rather than just clicking on the page I knew I was on to resume reading, I now have to scroll and scroll (and scroll) just to get to where I was. This is beyond annoying to me and makes me ready to just quit before I have even read anything.
The second issue I am finding is that, sometimes in the longer threads (which, let’s face it, are usually the best ones), there comes a point where, if you haven’t been keeping up, there really are just too many posts to read at this point. So what would I do? Scroll very quickly through the page, far faster than I could possibly read. Why? I was simply looking for large blocks of text and/or bursts of red or green. It made quick reading SO much easier. Here, there is no red (so I can’t easily notice the often ridiculous posts and the subsequently entertaining mocking), and I have to scroll slow enough to read words to determine things that were well liked. While I can still scan for the big blocks of text, it’s the red and green I found most helpful, typically. All my fast scanning is gone.
In my opinion, this has already created a problem for me with the millenials thread. It had an interesting discussion point and I really wanted to participate in the discussion. However, I couldn’t keep up with the thread, and didn’t want to post until I was caught up. Due to annoyance with the interface, that just never happened (despite multiple attempts). I gave up.
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I feel like it is dying and I know I certainly don’t spend as much time on the new sites as I did on FWF. I liked the chatter from the newbies on FWF (i.e. trees threads, car crashes, boundary disputes, etc.) along with the more seasoned posters/posts. I think the constant movement of new and old people kept the posts interesting and entertaining while still providing useful insights. I can understand how others might have been tired of those types of threads if you had read them for 18 years, but I was only around 7 years or so.
The two new forums are mainly just the “old guard” posting and it seems like groupthink on many of the topics. Discussions seem less about getting all the knowledge out there/vetting ideas and more about being right or proving your opinion is the best.
I feel like the situation is similar to my love of football right now. I love my college team and for years have been a season ticket holder, spending my Saturdays at the game, etc. My team has suffered for years, but I just kept supporting and attending. This year was especially bad and we had more drama than all of daytime TV combined trying to right the program. The break in the cycle allowed me to realize there was more to life than watching that team on Saturday (in the stadium anyway) and that I had become a little too engrossed in the sport. Same with FWF, it was addictive and when the addiction was broken, I found there was more to the internet than FWF or its descendants.
The fracturing of the community between the two sites didn’t help either, but that is neither here or there.
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Let’s be honest. FWF was dying for the last three years of it’s life. I know humans have a tendency to romanticized times which have passed, but good discussions on fatwallet were few and far between during its last days.
As for a merger with phatwallet - no way. The owner over there sounds like a prick; “I was here first so f a merger, it will have to be an acquisition.”
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That’s not how it works for me – if you are logged in and click Unread on the top menu for the threads you follow, then clicking on any followed thread should take you to your last read post. You can see the post number in the URL.
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same here. clicking any thread takes me to where i left off with no remembering necessary.
Same. But that only works if you’re logged in. Maybe that’s the missing piece?
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I completely agree with the quality of posts comment. For me, the last year or two at FW were entertaining more than educational. I might learn a few useful things but not as much as 5+ years ago.
However, I read so much more new and valuable financial and money making tidbits in the first month or two of reading Fragile Deals than the last year of FW.
Maybe the energy and new discussions are dying down a bit now because people are busy with the holidays or there’s not as much going on lately other than political events, but I greatly appreciate the quality and focused content on this site.
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I have to agree the quality of the posts are fine. I never used FW for Deals anyway so that was no difference.
There are other forums on FW? Just kidding. 
FW was just so easy to go to and get lost in thread browsing. I would look through HD and FWF.
A problem now is life. I run out of time to do things now, and am not as concerned with buying “stuff”. so no need to constantly peruse HD type forums.
I try to pop in from time to time, but it is more lurker mode, rather than active contributor… other than these flyby responses, days after the topic has been laid to rest.
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This is all great feedback…thanks for the thread, Technologist.
Would appreciate hearing any more actionable interface/organizational suggestions.
FWIW I have been much less active in the last few weeks just due to year end and work obligations. Excited to kick it back up as the new year begins.
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PhatWallet instituted red/green rating system - would be nice to have that here…
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Boost!
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I was really into this new forum…until I wasn’t. Nothing has changed for me at all. I just haven’t been interested in participating as much as I was the first few weeks. Nothing against anyone here, well nothing against most here, I just haven’t been in the forum mood. But I did the same thing on FW too. I came and went, sometimes for months at a time.
Just wanna say this site has been golden the past few days. Whatever’s in the water, keep drinking folks.
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We’re like Facebook stock–a little rocky after the IPO, but watch out!
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The [Fragile Deal] Summary email reminded me to check out the forums. It’s been a month (or more) since I came here. Not much happening in my unread topics. No Earth shattering in the suggested topics - did find 1 interesting. But, the interface is not like Fatwallet and not as easy to navigate (as Technologist pointed out).
True, it’s missing some of FW’s features. Red/green, ignore, etc. But I actually liked a lot of the new features once I got used to them.
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I also miss the ability to up and down vote. I would sort through that way.
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