its soooo quiet on here......

A lot of us decamped to our Facebook group. We had hoped/assumed that a new breed of otters would take over, but it seems to be a slow process...

I think most of the long term hitchers keep up with each other on FB now or in the group. Shame for those of us who aren't on there. I know i'm just a boring old HIB, but I miss seeing everyones news and posts. After a good few years on here, it's awfully quiet these days. The quietest i've ever known it.

Was there a mass boycott because everyone seemed to stop posting around the same time? ☹️

I dunno if I'd call it a boycott, more just a transition. WP naturally starts go feel very repetitive after a while and Facebook is less restrictive than a forum, you don't need to stick to specific topics.

Isn't that a bit counterproductive though?

if there's nobody chatting then newbies won't stay.

threads are only as restrictive as you make them really. Granted there willbe specific topics in certain threads however there's nothing stopping people from starting general discussion ones or posts with a much broader topic/reach.

I did wonder as it almost seemed to happen overnight (bit dramatic perhaps). I totally understand that life naturally moves on for most at some point though. After all, there's only so many times you can read a china dresses topic before you wonder what you're doing with your life ? It's always nice to see some old faces once in a while. Perhaps Funky can be encouraged to return with his annual Christmas poem at least!

A few of us (20 odd) became quite good friends and we decided we wanted to go over to Facebook as we could be a lot more open with each other than we could on here after all this is a public searchable forum so we moved over to Facebook in may. I do check the forum still from time to time but as a om now I can only read so many threads on the same topic and glaze over I'm sorry to say. There will be new brides to be over here soon you only have to look at the funky mini group who left we arrived and it's like a forever ending circle

I think it's a shame that the new brides aren't coming over here, they all seem to stick to WP and obviously a lot of the old OT group have been married for a year or so now, so they don't venture over there much, and less here too. You can make amazing friends here, I hope some people do try it!

I agree, WP has served it's purpose for me. posts that I would have found helpful or interesting once over are now boring and repetative to me - but that's life. I've done my wedding planning and I don't need that stuff any longer, doesn't mean it's not still relevant to brides who are still currently planning, they're seeing it through fresh, excited eyes.

As for OT, yes, it is quite slow ATM, to me FB and Hitched are different beasts and there's space in my heart (but not neccessarily hours in the day) for both! BUT, I will say that it's not the 'responsibility' of the older members to make it happen, this is an open forum anyone can have their say.

A reason that it's quieter I think will apply to a few of the OMs: I'm here less. When I was planning my own wedding I'd be on Hitched several times a day, now I'm not planning the frenzy has gone. I still check in every couple of days or so, but if there's nothing happening I go away again.

Recently I have noticed a few newer names popping up here and I welcome that, it's great. I've also noticed that when a topic hits a spark a lot of the old names return, so I suspect they are like me - lurking, but not feeling especially inspired! I've never been much of a post-starter myself but always been happy to contribute.

I'd like to see OT a bit livelier, and I'll keep checking in from time to time, but I won't be leading a revolution!

Mind you, it's not just OT that's quiet, WP is too. That could well be due to the time of year. When I was on here 1st time round I got married in October and don't recall it getting quiet towards the end. I think I stuck around until around our 1st anniversary then drifted away as I didn't migrate to BT (there used to be a baby talk section) which is what most other regulars seemed to.

Have to agree I'm a October 2014 bride and last year it was still a bee hive of excitement

Reading this thread makes me wonder what it used to be like around here. I've popped over to the off topic section a few times, but no one really seems to look over here or reply on anything. I think new threads are mostly ignored, so I've not bothered. Sad really if it used to be a hub of activity. I would have liked to have seen that! :-(

When I joined hitched there would be countless new OT threads per day. It was great seeing the banter between people and joining in. The problem is its so quiet on here now that no one starts new threads, or if they do they tend to fall a bit flat at times as there are just not the bodies on here that there used to be. Its a real shame and maybe the new brides don't know about the OT section.

I still have my wedding to come but I am losing interest in hitched. The threads do become repetitive, you don't get responses as quickly as you used to. I miss all the Otters who used to be over here sharing their stories. I appreciate that this is a searchable forum so some things like to be kept private but I would love to know how all the OMs are settling down to married life.

I used to spend more time on OT than I did WP, now I tend to stick to WP as at least there is some conversation going on over there.

I miss the weekly good/bad threads. The sense of being genuinely interested in each others lives. I'm still hopeful that OT will return to the buzz that was here when I first joined.

As a long-time lurker, I definitely noticed the almost overnight death of OT - it was around the time I joined and thought it was something I had said ?

Joking aside, it's the circle of life. Inevitably people leave forums and it's up to us newbies to keep it going. That said, I really can't be bothered to respond to every thread and message and as an inherently lazy sod, starting new topics is way too much hassle for me.

I'm sure things will pick up - this website is too helpful to collapse completely.

I do love the way that otters rally together when one is in need, like the recent anonymous thread. It did seem like a lot of old names came back for support on that one and it was lovely to see.

It seems that at the moment as soon as people get married they leave. No one moves over to OT anymore. I think the wedding fb groups in general have made it quieter here but I personally prefer forums.

Now I'm married I'm not sure if there's much point in me sticking around here as OT is so quiet and WP isn't much interest to me anymore.

I can never find any of the FB groups! Which is probably why I still hover around on here most days!

Me neither - although I live on Facebook most of the time, I much prefer coming on here proper. Also, Facebook (in my mind) is a line not to cross when accessing at work. Hitched I can cope with

I think I'd be happy to stick around after getting married to help others! :-)

I'd at least pop on now and again and join in!

I've been posting on WP for about 2 months now but didn't know anything about the OT forum until about a week or so ago when someone put an 'advert' on WP. Perhaps newer people aren't aware of this forum.