Yes, as a newbie, thanks very much Graham. It would be interesting to know how many forum users join each year. Presumably there was a spike at the beginning but now a steady trickle?
That's not an easy figure to research - I can count the number of signup requests received:
2007: 175
2008: 328
2009: 429
2010: 1116
2011: 25758
2012: 66684
2013: 15502
2014: 14750
2015: 10698
2016: 11932
but as you can see we're very selective in who we approve. If you can't get the question about "what do we talk about here?" right, if you've browsing the forum from a country half the globe away from the Great Western area, and if you've been reported by other forums as someone who signs up to post adverts for pharmaceutical products, Russian brides or pyramid money making schemes, then you'll find your request to join is rejected. The reason for the big drop in 2012 is that I automated the checking procedure so that a lot of requests get knocked out by a spam filter before they "make" the numbers.
I would indeed describe signups these days as a "trickle" ... it was never much more than that, but over time even a trickle of water can fill a mighty big container.
In early 2008, we had a surge in registrations from people with a tremendous hobby interest in trains and esoteric knowledge, with a significant number of them actively letting it be known that they thought very little of people who knew less than they did. That lead to a peak of over 3,500 posts in the February largely fuelled by this 'gang' - term carefully chosen, as they were co-ordinated. Requests to tone it down a bit and restrain from personal attacks weren't heeded (indeed the personal attacks were turned onto the person requesting it be toned down) and it got a bit unpleasant. There were a couple of things around that time which meant that uptime was as low as 98.5% which resulted in a lot of resources needed for firefighting, with one of two of the less positive members seemingly doing all that they could to waste moderator's time and damage the board's reputation, without actually breaking the rules and getting warned then banned. Net result was that by July 2008 we were down to just 1,000 posts in the month. Not all such bad news, as the intent when the forum was set up wasn't to provided an train spotter / enthusiast's board that would scare off the day to day observant commuter or traveller with a question that was kinda hard to get answered elsewhere ... and I regret using the term "train spotter / enthusiast" there because I'm tarring the whole of that community who do so much to act as extra eyes, ears, and critical friends with a brush that needs to be applied to just a few.
Post numbers are now around 1,500 per month (I say that for comparison to the figures in the last paragraph) and I have tried to find rhyme or reason for the ups and downs. Undoubtedly, post counts rise when there are major things going on with "the trains" - I can tell that the Dawlish problems were in Febuary 2014 by looking at the surge in posts. And post numbers have perhaps dropped away as
FGW▸ /
GWR▸ have got a very great deal more right in 2016 than they did in 2007. People post to complain, less to ask and even less to congratulate!
My own involvement - and indeed that of the other who were or are on the admin team - has moved from protest to partnership. In those early days, there was an identified need to "sabre rattle" somewhat to help persuade none-passenger people with association with rail, especially in management and direction positions, that the passengers were customers, and that the community of which I / we are members can /could actually be helpful if they gave us a chance. Unfortunately, such sabre rattling brings the fact that there are problems to a wider audience including those who's attention we were looking for, but it also "turns off" those people who go into something of a defensive mode. The following step - and it was a long process - was to have those people become aware that we're pragmatic and wanted to understand their issues too so that we could work together / partner. That's a tough thing to do - some people have long memories indeed. It's confirmation of just how far forward we've come on this with the trial service on the TransWilts that's become permanent now, and the consultation amongst industry stakeholders on the designation of the TransWilts as a community rail service. Such consultations require near-unanimous support from respondents to be accepted; we had one adjustment to make at that point to answer a single concern expressed by one consultee.
With the move from protest to partnership, we have lost some members / support along the way. Partnership involves some compromises, and whilst we never have (and don't plan) to restrict negative posts, there have been a few people who have felt we've become too much 'establishment'. And I would confirm that we now understand far better the aims of the various organisations in the rail industry, and the constraints under which they operate (sometimes to their frustration), so find ourselves explaining their point of view to the extent that to some we appear to be the industry's mouthpiece. But where we lose such members from being active posters, we always look to do so in such a way that they are welcome to become active again, and that we can once again use their posts that bring up serious issues as the basis of threads which cover the topic in question from both sides.
I started writing this with the intent to look forward ... initially giving background ... but I seem to have gone on rather a lot. I'll post now and follow up after a cup of coffee.
Edit by FT, N! - unloosening.
