What happened to all the old members?

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
Looking through early posts in lengthy threads and top poster list has made me realize that, somewhere over the course of 2 years, pretty much all the old members have vanished. They don't login, they don't post - they've abandoned the forum.

I know it isn't unusual for real life issues to get in the way of forum postng but it is unusual for members with 1000's of posts to not login once in a year. It makes me wonder why this, the only semi-active UK anime forum, doesn't have a strong community, instead having members who leave and never look back. Very strange.

Can anyone shed some light on the issue?
 
All I can think is that it's just the nature of anime itself. A lot of people get bored of, or grow out of it. People tend to have more going in IRL when they reach a certain age to spend time talking anime.

You could probably plot a graph of active members' ages and it would always stay the same. A lot around the 16-18 mark, less in the 19-23 bracket and just a handful over that age. There seems to be a point at which people drop out of the hobby, or at least the community.
 
Things just change, members come and go but there's always a healthy posting community with a few of the originals that still post around. There's a few that don't post on the forum much anymore but contribute to the site in other ways. I don't think it's unusual at all really.

I think what ayase says is right too. A lot of people when they get into anime they seem to get into it in their teens and buy into it almost obsessively, watching every show they can and sign up wanting to talk about all the anime they've watched but it's usually those that get tired of it after a phase then probably move onto the next thing.
 
I'll tell you a bit about my personal observations.

I've dropped gaming when I entered college, as I had to work full time to pay my tuition. I eventually came back, but only after a good 5 / 6 years later. although, I don't play as much as I used to.

The friend of mine who introduced me to Naruto and Lamen, got married, had kids and dropped anime for good.

I'm pretty sure that if you ask those who left, you would hear similar stories and I guess that's how hobbies goes.
 
Life is definatly the answer, lol. As you get older more things creep in and slowly take over. Most of us (can I call myself one?) veterans on aukn have moved onto jobs, loves in life and so forth. I am always here in the background. lol
 
Pretty much what Sy and Redgore said, a lot of the old members moved on because they're much more busy than they used to be, whether its relationships or work. Some where busy at the time if i remember anyways, like Chris, so he only got on when he had some spare time. I'll be honest, i wouldn't mind seeing some of the older members making an appearance here again once in a while, but i understand the fact that they are busy as well, since during semester time i am fairly busy as well with uni work.

A lot of the members did stick about for the better part of a couple of years, and so thats probably why their post counts are fairly high(obviously).
 
A lot of my RL friends who used to watch a lot of anime and game a lot have dropped out gradually after university too. I think especially nowadays when becoming a fan requires relatively little investment and struggle (thankfully!) it's also less of a central part of most fans' lives and takes a back seat when real life starts gearing up.

There will always be some core fans who never grow up though :) I intend to be one myself (even if I don't socialise that much).

R
 
I got so much work over Autumn I had a hard time making room on the schedule for anime. If I'd been in a relationship I doubt you'd find me posting on this forum. Perhaps, some old members will return again when they aren't so busy though, who knows?
 
I concur with ayase's theory. Following anime is a time-consuming hobby aimed at teenagers, hence the majority of fans are older teenagers/early twenties. Things change after university, we have to focus on other priorities, and without putting in the effort, you can easily lose touch with anime. I'm still in contact with a couple of the older users, and, put simply, they don't watch as much anime as they used to. It's just the way things go, people change over time. The vast majority of anime characters are teenagers and a lot of people will lose that sense of attraction to a story when they can no longer empathise with (and the situations of) the characters.
 
Spyro201 said:
Maltos said:
Sadly, many of the older users were lost during the great googlebot war.
Click to expand...

Those darn googlebots killed thousands.

And who cares? We still have king McIcy.
Click to expand...
And you have the legacy of Ryo and Chaz here too! Not many forums have battling brothers on the same forums now, right? :D
 
Chaz said:
Spyro201 said:
Maltos said:
Sadly, many of the older users were lost during the great googlebot war.
Click to expand...

Those darn googlebots killed thousands.

And who cares? We still have king McIcy.
Click to expand...
And you have the legacy of Ryo and Chaz here too! Not many forums have battling brothers on the same forums now, right? :D
Click to expand...

Haha Damn right. Though I think of you more as the 'Dynamic Duo' :lol: :p
 
Im just about to two years on here, and I must agree that it certainly is just life moving on that gets in the way, I dont post here near as much as I used to, simply because I dont have the time, what with college, friends etc, but in my case its nothing to do with losing touch with anime, luckily for me I want to make animation my profession, so I dont think Ill be falling out of love with it any time soon, although I dont watch as much as I used to, which is an obvious natural progression for any obsession, its just up to the person whether or not it was just a fad.

On another note, MERRY CHRISTMAS AUKN!!!!!
And a happy new year of life, love and debating Citizengeek to the point of explosion.^^(I kid, I kid)
 
Back
Top