Re: What happened to this place?
 

I am very glad to hear that, thank you.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

+1

Re: What happened to this place?
 

The migration to facebook groups and discord has taken it's toll on "old web" style forums like this for sure. It is incredible how centralized the web is in comparison to how it used to be.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fh1XCdla...jpg&name=large

I'm glad to hear JSmith is ok as well. Always felt for him as he was such a victim of BCs terrible housing policies and lack of social supports.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

I remember at one point we discussed how the site had gone from niche to main stream. That was probably a decade ago.

We'll see how long it goes. The owners must surely check the data.

I guess it is still profitable.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

How do they make their money? (I've no idea!)

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Advertising.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Another one glad to hear he's ok.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Tax havens ;)

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Well I'll be damned! I've never pressed that button before. Huh. So BE's not just a place to keep us occupied and off the streets!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

That's good to know.
I miss Siouxie too. She was a great person to have around. She sent me a couple of lovely private messages a while back. Unfortunately, the old black dog was hanging around and I didn't reply. I regret that so much.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Siouxie had a 'homepage linked to her BE - https://www.facebook.com/SukarmaProductions/

Not sure if she checks it but you may be able to message her there.

She may also have a general FB page - others may know.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Me too, good to hear

Re: What happened to this place?
 

No matter what changed our experience with this BB, I really enjoyed all of you and all of your contributions. I loved living Canada but I have to go back to the US. I'll miss it. Thanks!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Do they have the internet there?

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Dial up has reached a few areas and that is as good as it gets.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

You won't miss Canada.

Boats cost a fortune.

You were close with Alan and Butch?? Keep close!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Many thanks OS. Taking a break from Fb for a while but I'll keep it in mind for the future.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Well I'm a little surprised not to see an obvious explanation raised -- CoVID knocked legal immigration from and to nearly all countries on its head, for two years solid. And it has only partially recovered since.

***

BE has always been a combination of posts on:

- How to emigrate from one country to another (mostly high-quality, highly technical posts, about visas, banking issues, quarantine, etc.)
- What to expect on arrival in new country X... (mostly of Anglosphere expats and emigrants)
- More general/longer term experiences of new country X
- "Lounge-type" discussions of politics

It's a user-driven forum without an obvious revenue model to sustain its operation, or market itself to regenerate previous levels of interest. Its potential longterm -- true -- value lies in preserving the first two categories of posts, and fostering community participation leading to further posts of those types.

In contrast, during the CoVID lockdown, the divisiness and rancour of posts in the last category has squelched a lot of ongoing participation. (And yes, I've sometimes been guilty of the mud-wrestling involved...)

But there is little else going on. And it's not clear to me how to rescucitate BE from there.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

That is a perfectly reasonable explanation but things had dropped off considerably some time before covid.
I used to be a regular in the Canada section, only ever venturing anywhere else to the lab.

For some time it was too busy to keep up. I could compose a reply and by the time I posted there might be half a dozen new posts on that thread just in the time I was typing. It was hard to keep up.

But 2 or 3 years before covid, things got so quiet that I wandered off to the lounge and tio and became a regular there.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

18 months ago, I started a thread on the Australian Barbie forum called "Why so few shrimps on the barbie?" - seeking a reason for the low turnout there. Sadly, my eventual conclusion ran afoul of BE's Rule 15, and was not published. However, the thread was re-named, and has become reasonably active again as a place to discuss the wide variety of topics that arise at weekend barbecues throughout Australia.

Nevertheless, this Maple Leaf forum is a hive of activity, compared with its Australian cousin!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

You know the rules pretty well, you've been given a lot of leeway with them over the years. So it can't have been a surprise that that post was deleted. IIRC, with the Barbie there were specific members that drove others away with their endless squabbling and antagonistic views. They were (I think) got rid of in the end (ironically, amid many complaints about lack of mod action - we really can't win whatever we do), but by then it was too late and a lot of the regulars had been lost. It's been quiet since then.

Bottom line is that BE is a discussion forum, and those are dying out in the modern age. BE is kept afloat by newbies that pop by to ask questions about immigration or life in another country, and by the regulars that use BE as their 'pub' and to chat to their friends or have an interesting discussion whilst propping up the bar. If people are interested in what you're discussing then they'll reply. If you don't get responses, then it's a discussion nobody else is interested in and there's no point in endlessly resurrecting it. Plus that's another site rule broken if you do 'bump' threads…….;):lol:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Exactly how I see BE. Cheers.:beer:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

:drinkingpals:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Mine’s a G&T. Cheers!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Ditto.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

What's the new thread called, I was thinking of searing some shrimps on the Aussie barbie ? I am on the orignal thread.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Points taken. I have indeed been "bumping" my threads. In a good cause, always, and influenced by their apparent readership, but it's hard work sometimes, and I will stop doing it. (I don't actually set out to break The Rules, you know.)

The Rest of the World forum was dead in the water for a long while before I tried to invigorate it with the "Back in the Day" thread, but it's probably not worth the effort. I did abandon five other threads there, so I have no problem letting another one die. I killed nine threads on the Cayman Islands forum, back in the day...

I'd like to keep my Barbie thread going, if that's okay with you. It's the only thread with staying power, in that forum.

My Maple Leaf thread ... Well, as one of the regulars grumbled the other day, there's not much about Canada in it! It's quite popular (judging by the reported readership), but I can drop that one too, if you want. Or at least cut back on off-road topics like offshore tax-havens! Let me know, please.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

If a thread is generating discussion then there is no need to drop it at all. It's only the threads that nobody ever responds to that shouldn't be 'bumped' repeatedly (ignore the 'viewed' stats, as they are misleading). Often threads turn in to something else from the original intended purpose, but that can be a good thing, as evidenced by the thread in the Barbie which is generating some interesting discussions. Off topic isn't a problem at all in general discussion threads.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

I don't think there's any need to worry about bumping it in case it falls out of sight - the Barbie is so dead these days that threads on the front page go as far back as last December :eek: so even if its not posted on for a couple of months its still ging to be high on the list :D

Re: What happened to this place?
 

I drifted away and the rest is history!

Re: What happened to this place?
 

And I broke this thread too...

🥲

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Give it time, there's a slower pace now.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

:yawn:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

This is Canada, remember. The Maple Leaf is quiet these days because everyone has gone over to MySpace.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

I had to google that.
It's always the quiet, polite, ones that surprise you. :rofl:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Maybe Myspace hasn't reached NB yet... :rofl:

Re: What happened to this place?
 

We do have trees though

Re: What happened to this place?
 

The problem is probably the attitude today. The answer today is always: Search the internet, read, and remind others that they have to do the same...

I am personally mostly turning to a forum for practical experiences one had with whatever, not the theories. ( I can read them myself )

I don't even think that some readers do get what I mean.

Re: What happened to this place?
 

Oui. And maple syrup. Good stuff, that. Even mixed with vodka. In fact it makes vodka all the more palatable.

Also poutine râpée. Or did you miss my post about that?

I have long wondered why the French (in France) have never taken to this dish. Or tourtiere, 'tho I believe this latter is basically a Breton peasant dish, migrated over to Canada when the first settled came to New France in the 1600s, and then to New Brunswick.

But I digress. In this thread we are after all not talking about food...

All this said, I remain as ever, culinarily yours.