This morning as I sat here at Pixies alone, completely alone. I was shocked and disheartened to see I was really alone. No members, no guests.

I have noticed a dramatic drop in posts and new threads as well. Is it possible that we have run out of things to say? Are people just too busy to bother anymore?

At first I blamed the time of year but it usually picks up. We have always praised the community when things were busy and humming along. What about when it's not? Being stagnant is not a good thing for a forum community.

One problem I know is that Kim used to pimp links to our site on other sites to keep fresh visitors coming and that no longer happens. Another problem has been the change of chat to smaller and less frequented networks (originally we were on a huge sex based one).

I guess I'm asking for your opinion and some advice. How can we keep the place we love so much fresh and inviting?

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

What can we do that won't alter the site to something no longer us?

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

I noticed it too Lilith. And I'm guilty of posting less these days. Not because I enjoy pixies less, I've just found myself with less to say. I still am here every day reading the threads and posting if something comes to my mind.

I'm not sure it's anything to act upon yet as I see enough fresh blood coming through.

I'm guessing quite a few members are having life happen and keeping them here less frequently. Hopefully, their lives will settle back down again soon and they will be back to their flurries of posts.

__________________
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and swing.

Not sure what it takes to get people back and posting. I love Pixies and unless I'm gone (or my computer's broke), I'm here a lot. I know I tend to spend most of my time in either the Smut Games or in General Chat, but I try to make the rounds every so often just to see what's happening.

Biggest positives are things that tend to bring a smile to my face. Sharing about PAGAN or games that are simply fun or things that are happening to us in our lives. Those are great and seem to build a sense of community. Pictures and stories I think are the biggest potential draw for new members, but once they visit, they need something that'll make them feel at home.

Biggest turn-off's for me are "political" or "social issue" threads. I don't mean simply a short reaction to some major event like a hurricane or 911 or something like that ... but ... attempts to project personal philosophies. We're a diverse community and while what we say may appeal to some, it's liable to drive others away. I've tried to intentionally stay away from these threads because a couple of times ... they almost caused me to leave. By focusing to what I enjoy and that relaxes me ... I ended up staying ... but it would have been easy to go.

I'm concerned that politics, religion and social issues are not topics that will give visitor's very warm feelings about making Pixies their "home."

Just my opinion for whatever that's worth.

Lilith,

I think that anatagonistic language and personal attacks may be a bit of a turrn off for some.

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Eudaimonia

it may be that what db and jseal say is true, but imho those things are all part of life and human interaction. i love that we can talk about anything, not just sex. and it keeps things more interesting for me, not less; more like a friend's house, and less like a red-light district. perhaps that wasn't the original intentions of this great place and perhaps the majority of us would rather it be pictures and stories. i can dig that but i sure would miss being able to chat about whatever comes to mind with my friends, instead of looking at you all as sex objects. i dunno...i really think it would suck the life out of this place.

if, in the past, it was the custom to pimp pixies and that's what kept the new members coming in, then that should be done again. don't worry about the riffraff it may attract or how those new members may change pixies. you and the other mods put the kibosh on shitty behavior anyway and set the friendly tone that this forum is famous for. there is no reason to think it would be any different in the future. besides, change is good and just because pimping may attract some people who don't share the friendly views most of us have bout each other does not mean it won't attract like-minded people as well.


please understand that i am not trying to be insulting to you db, jseal or of. the above is just the opinion of a person that found this site totally by accident and was shocked to discover that it isn't smut and sex and nude pictures. it's friends and people being sexual and kind and mean and opinionated and loving and neighborly and caring and not-so-caring and...well, they're being people.


(((((pixies))))

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Trees give peace to the souls of men * Nora Waln

The forest would be very quiet if no other birds sang than those who sing the best * Henry van Dyke

some fairly sordid tales, rambles, and anecdotes
Hypothetically Speaking * Something More * Cammy Interrupted * An Experimental Vacation * Masked * so..damn..hot * Thank You * My toy, his idea * no.19 Maple Lane * I Have A Surprise For You * Yesterday * In a Quiet Kitchen * help me decide * untitled prose * more untitled prose

I know that I am guilty of being a slacker in posting recently. When I was over with Mayhem, I rarely touched the computer (I was too busy touching him)

I think that my personal lack of posting comes from stress in real life. when things are going well, you can't hardly shut me up. I was a chat-room addict, and a smut gamer extraordinaire. Now with Mayhem and I jumping through 290384670924569867 hoops just to get married, and the worries of jobs, housing, education, et cetera, well, makes me clam up.

I miss the way it was before the US gov't decided to infringe on our rights and make posting sexy pictures more difficult. That made things die down around here, I noticed.

as for suggestions on how to liven it up? I can't tell ya... my brain feels a bit bloated at the moment. I'll think on it and post back at ya.

I think that once things really start to move for Mayhem and I, that I will be a happy poster again...

(((Lilith)))

Here we are!!!

I love Eliza's suggestion on highlighting the stories/poetry section. We have some very talented writers!

Eliza makes some excellent points. Her suggestions re increasing the focus on stories are great.

I also concur with Eliza that we need to make a real effort to respond to threads initiated by those who are new or seldom start threads…that will reduce the likelihood of the thread falling on its face (which can make an infrequent thread-generator less likely to try in the future) and encourages the member to post more new threads.

Can the Pixies’ CHAT link be fixed so that it takes us to the correct CHAT site rather than to a non-functioning site? Also, how about promoting online chat more in the threads (so that more members get involved and that there are people in chat more hours of the day)? Chat gives us a way to better know members. When CHAT is fun and lively, people will tend to come back more often to both it and the Pixies boards.

The political, social, religious threads are OK as long as posters don’t become malicious in their responses (remember, these are our OPINIONS we are posting, not the word of God)…plus those of us who read these types of threads need to have thick skins because we must realize that there will be some who say things that we totally disagree with or that we find offensive…such is life with these type of subjects. Remember, being challenged by different opinions is good for us.

We might get more new members if people doing web searches for something like “erotic stories”, have PIXIES come up when they do the search. Can the Pixies host use some tags that will move Pixies up on the search engines?

I'm still around but not as often and I miss "the good ole days".

I can't even stay this morning to say what I want to say...but I'll try to get back on tonight to post in a frenzy!

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Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.

~Thomas Dewar~

Thanks for the ideas. I too agree that we need to focus more on the stories which were the original reason for the site. Pics were the afterthought. I will get to work on seeing what we can do to work on those ideas.

The pic policy situation is what it is. If you look at the information it tells you what is and is not permissible as per the owner's interpretation of the law. However people can now and always have been able to post whatever they want. If the moderators feel it is a problem or it gets complaints then it will be removed. Pics are provided by the members not by the owners.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

It wouldn't have been the first time this happened to me, Lilith! I have to say, the 2 or 3 times it happened, there were one or two guests on..... also, I logged on last week, and there were 5 (I think) members here, but only 1 "visible" ~ me!

Opinion? Well, to be blunt, I think it stinks! I take your, and others, point about the "pimping" on other sites - if I remember aright, it's how I got here! Came for the stories, hung around a bit for the pics....... and stayed for the people!

Advice? None at the moment, I'm afraid. I barely make it through the day some days; others, I'm just too friggin busy to even get here - which , I suppose, is a difficulty many others share.

I firmly believe the trend will reverse; after all, no matter if there are "cliques" here, we still make mewbies a damn sight more welcome than certain other sites I could name......... don't we?

Shoot............just noticed the time. gotta run!!

TTFN

DM

__________________
The selfish, they're all standing in line
Faithing and hoping to buy themselves time
Me, I figure as each breath goes by
I only own my mind

Oops I for got to address chat.


There are links to chat that work. The one that does not is the one from the forum page. It has been fixed several time but always something comes up to cause a problem. My answer would be to remove it or to simply have it link to the actual chat loggin page. I will continue to try to get that one fixed or changed.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... no wonder NOBODY is there when I go visit....... I thought I smelled badly and everyone ran for the hills!

I'll need advice at some point to get on.......... (so I can get off!!)

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My Only Two Stories Anywhere!

Afternoon Delight

Delightful Rendezvous!

Is the love I gave her in the past, gonna be enough to last, if tomorrow never comes........