Ever look back in the archives?

[kimdl93]

I just glanced at the first of 1522 pages posted on the MtF forum. Interesting to see how similar the questions were back in 2004!

[Nichola]

Yeah, I like to look back from time to time. Sometimes, I'll find something really interesting or a different take on things, but I guess naturally there are a lot of similar questions there.:)

[STACY B]

Same Answers ? Just different people ,,I always wonder what the people are doing that were here before an were so hot an heavy on here doing an saying all kinds of things ? Did they just stop an go back to the same ol life ? Or did they make a change an just don't bother ? Seems like if they did it or made it they would want to come back an brag ? Maybe they just crawled back in the Bottle an closed the lid ?

[JiveTurkeyOnRye]

I know in my case I tend to come and go and my "go" periods seem to get longer and longer. I don't spend as much time online pouring over forums these days as I used to. Also while there are some ladies on here who I always enjoy talking to and have fun reading posts from, I know for it feels like I've had most of the conversations I could possibly have on here, so unless I have something pressing to bring to the table I tend to not hang around as much.

Also by virtue of being out and being myself so often in public a lot of the things I used to need to come on here to discuss I just do as part of my daily life now.

[Eryn]

I think that there are natural growing experiences that have to be shared with others. After one has had the experiences they aren't so exciting anymore so folks talk about them less. However, there are always new folks coming along and it's fun to share the same experiences with them while providing support and encouragement.

[Tara D. Rose]

I have gone back and looked at so many of those old closed threads too. Same questions, same answers. The panty threads, and the what if's, the acceptance threads, and the rejecting threads, the closets threads, the going out threads, caught threads, divorce threads ,married threads, heated and flamed threads, the fun threads, the heels and new dress threads. The journey and adventure threads. They do make for some interesting reading sometimes. Have we ran dry now?

[ArleneRaquel]

As new members join the same questions & answers will generally dominate the Forum, I, for one, never tire of CD Q&A's or of dressing. I have made many friends here through the years.

[~Joanne~]

To be honest, I have never gone back to the first page ever made here. Hell, I don't go to the second page from the one that loads. I just don't have the time but I can imagine that not much has changed. I personally am starting to see the same threads all the time and I haven't even been here (joined anyways) a year yet.

While I do see the same questions and such I do understand with new girls signing up and joining, these questions are important to them so I will answer with my opinion again and again though after a while it tends to be you repeating yourself lol

[Newcdguy]

I've been pouring over old posts. Don't want to ask the same questions over and over.
Hugs
Stephanie

[AllyCDTV]

I have gone back and looked at so many of those old closed threads too. Same questions, same answers. The panty threads, and the what if's, the acceptance threads, and the rejecting threads, the closets threads, the going out threads, caught threads, divorce threads ,married threads, heated and flamed threads, the fun threads, the heels and new dress threads. The journey and adventure threads. They do make for some interesting reading sometimes. Have we ran dry now?

While I was considering joining this forum, I did spend some time looking over the old threads to see if this would be a good fit for me and how things might have changed over the years. It seems Tara is right. That covers about 90%+ of the topics here.

Still there are new members coming on all the time that may need to hear the same advise. And as far as whether or not things have run dry, well you got a new member here and I've never underestimated my ability to say or do something stupid or shocking. Stay tuned folks. :D

[LelaK]

I just joined a couple weeks ago. A few days ago I checked out one of the early pages from 05 or so. I then clicked on a few of the members' IDs to see if they're still around. A couple were still posting, but most eventually stopped returning, even though some had over a thousand posts.

It would be interesting to me to see how many active members there have been each year or month. There seem to be about 150 to 200 on this CD section almost all the time. That makes it more fun to post here, when there are so many of us to hear from.

I'm wondering how many times this topic has come up before too. The forum should be designed to make it impossible to repeat the same 3 or 4 words in a row that have been posted before. That way everything will be fresh. Right? That doesn't solve the problem of seeing the same 26 letters and ten numerals over and over though.

No matter how many times the same themes get repeated, they're undoubtedly always different sufficiently.

There are always new pictures to see on the pictures board and it's nice to be able to meet new people here all the time.

[Tamara Croft]

I've often looked back at some of the old threads and think.... omg did I really say that :eek: I know I can be a bit harsh at times, but gawd... I think I needed an outright slap back then :hiding:

[Maria 60]

Well what I noticed that when I started on this site I asked questions that I wanted to ask and find out about. I myself at first I would look back and then I realized I didn't have to ask I just had look at the later pages, but you get a different response depending who is on at the time.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Kim, It's like the old saying goes "What goes around comes around"
sometimes again and again but it's always good reading.

[PretzelGirl]

There are some great ones if you have the time to fish around. Many are repetitious and it takes time to go through them. I also get a little nostalgia seeing some of the names.

[Karren H]

I've gone back and reread a few of my old posts..... I wish I had those years back.... sigh...

[VeronicaMoonlit]

I just glanced at the first of 1522 pages posted on the MtF forum.

Did that when I joined back in 2005, it was the sort of thing that was expected back then.


Interesting to see how similar the questions were back in 2004!

Of course they were similar....they were also similar to the ones I saw on USENET in 1999. Probably similar to the ones on the Fido-net echoes, the "Sierra boards" and "prodigy" boards and trans-related BBS systems that I have only heard of.

Of course, people get testy when I sometimes say "there is nothing new here, I have seen this all before". Pnaty threads, stockings vs. pantyhose, nighttime drives, getting caught, etc etc.

Which is why I've been in favor of doing the following for a long time:

1. restricting newbies ability to start new threads until they've been here a while, and the welcome message should strongly say "READ the archives before you start a thread, your questions have already been answered."

2. Making a section with just stickies, and ruthlessly concatenating threads and posts into the stickies. Some one asks about pnaty color, it goes in the BIG pnaty sticky. stay ups vs hold ups vs tights? goes in the Big thread on just that. Night-time drives... goes in the night-time drive/walk thread. Halloween? One Big Halloween sticky that lasts from year to year. And then ruthlessly lecturing/moderating and eventually banning people who post threads about stuff that's already in the BIG stickies.

Of course, doing said thing is impractical and not optimal...and would require more mods because it would be more work. It is so not going to happen, even if I wish it would.

And as of right now, I'm #3 in "been here the longest" in this thread....right behind Tamara and Karren Hutton

And Tamara, don't apologize for being testy.....when you've been here as long as we have....it happens.

Veronica

[Beverley Sims]

Tamara mentions,
I see the "Tea Party Crossdresser" crowd is out in force today.
What about the "Blue Rinse Set". :)
I see the same questions asked, but I see a different set of responses from a new and optomistic group.

[Shelly Preston]

Sometimes looking back into the archives can shock you
Well especially looking at your own posts, I cant quite believe how far I come since joining. I was very shy and not sure what questions I wanted to ask. Now with the help of a lot of members here I get out and about with confidence.
Also looking back there is almost no question that has not been asked before so the answer is there if you look close enough.

[kimdl93]

Sometimes looking back into the archives can shock you
Well especially looking at your own posts, I cant quite believe how far I come since joining. I was very shy and not sure what questions I wanted to ask. Now with the help of a lot of members here I get out and about with confidence.
Also looking back there is almost no question that has not been asked before so the answer is there if you look close enough.

I have made it a point not to look at my own posts. I'd be embarrassed if I sounded oddly naive and misinformed, and maybe a bit shocked at the changes I've experienced in a relatively short time.

I don't have any real issues with repetition. I realize that this site is a bit like Mr Rogers ...the topics aren't stale or repetitive to the new members.

Maybe, instead of limiting the ability to ask questions that have been asked before, threads could be given a score..1 to 5..10 or even 11 in terms of relevance and interest. Or the number of responses to an OP before its blocked. It might be interesting to look back at the top ten 'how do I tell' posts, for example.

[VeronicaMoonlit]

Well especially looking at your own posts, I cant quite believe how far I come since joining.


I have made it a point not to look at my own posts. I'd be embarrassed if I sounded oddly naive and misinformed, and maybe a bit shocked at the changes I've experienced in a relatively short time.

Oh yeah..the clueless thing...happens to most of us...we usually grow out of it after a short while. I'm most certainly embarassed by some of my early posts on USENET.


Maybe, instead of limiting the ability to ask questions that have been asked before, threads could be given a score..1 to 5..10 or even 11 in terms of relevance and interest.

We have that...top of the thread, "Rate this thread" Problem is, it doesn't get used much and well, it's not useful when a bajillion people can also up-rate "color of pnaty" threads, the good stuff gets lost. As I said, RUTHLESS concatenation of threads into stickies would be awesome. "What to do when she catches you." and "How to tell your SO BEFORE marriage so you DON"T have the problems the caught people do" should be emphasized and STICKY.

Veronica

[kimdl93]

Yeah V I agree, but it would be cool to rate something 'eleven'

[Jorja]

I've often looked back at some of the old threads and think.... omg did I really say that :eek: I know I can be a bit harsh at times, but gawd... I think I needed an outright slap back then :hiding:

That can be arranged!:devil::eek::tongueout

[audreyinalbany]

well, sad to say, there is only so much that can be said about almost any topic, especially one that we all agree on (that we like women's clothes), so the forum is bound to be repetitive over time. But they'll always be new people on here looking for answers to questions that we've all wrestled wit, and it'll always be fun to interact with other who share our passion. That's kind of what on line forums are for.

[Tina B.]

Everything old is new again! But I do have to agree with Bev, I think the younger set is a lot more positive than some of older ones where back then.But then I was middle age before I was able to quit feeling alone.

[linda allen]

I have made it a point not to look at my own posts. I'd be embarrassed if I sounded oddly naive and misinformed, and maybe a bit shocked at the changes I've experienced in a relatively short time. .......

I have gone back and looked at my own posts a couple times and like you say, I was "shocked" at the changes in my life in just a couple years. If I wanted to write a book, that's where I would start.

I wonder, if I post about my future, will it come true? :daydreaming:

[Amy Fakley]

as a relative n00b, who has lurked many CD/TG/TS forums over the years (including the public section of this one, before joining), I have to say that I'm glad there is no sort of restriction on starting of new threads. When I finally arrived here, something had snapped inside me, a critical mass had been reached, and I needed to talk about it.

Even though I was fully aware that my situation was merely another trip around the endless carrousel. I'd read it all hashed out in all the gory detail a thousand times before. As Veronica pointed out ... even back on the usenet days ... I remember reading very similar stories. Still, when my camel's back broke, I needed someone to talk to, and I'm so glad this place existed and there were people in it with the patience to hear me out and provide the support I needed.

For many of us, our lives are stuck in a holding pattern and you can watch the rotation in these forums.
A lot of the time it is the same thing over and over, but it's always different for the people living it.

[Jane P]

I have been looking at some of my older posts as well. So much for quitting and abstinence . Now it's "look at me",but there has been a lot of self reflection in between that has allowed me to get to a point where I can admit more freely that yes , I am really a crossdresser and I do kind of like it.
Life is a journey.

[kimdl93]

I have gone back and looked at my own posts a couple times and like you say, I was "shocked" at the changes in my life in just a couple years. If I wanted to write a book, that's where I would start.

I wonder, if I post about my future, will it come true? :daydreaming:

Well, why not give it a shot - we'll agree to look back at it in 2017 and see how close you came, ok?

[Meghan]

I believe there is tremendous value in keeping the discussion alive, even if it's the same topics get discussed over and over again. There are new people, new spins on ideas and fresh perspectives.

The key to this board, and why it is so wildly popular, is because there a LOT of new people reaching out to the forum. The forum is a support system, and human brains respond to fresh thoughts even if the discourse is repetitive. There are a lot of seasoned vets who have been here have outgrown that part of their development, but this is a huge resource for new people. The hope is we progress over time and advance our discussions and behaviors.

Beyond the general idea of having a place for people to talk about this stuff, how do we measure if the collective group is making progress?

Meghan

PS...this idea of repeating the same topics over and over again is almost universally discussed on every message board I have ever been a part of. It's part of being a message board period, not just a transgender issue!

[kimdl93]

Honestly, I don't see a compelling need to limit newbies or prevent "repetitive" threads, since there are always new people, and I don't think there's anything wrong with new people discussing familiar topics. My solution is to refrain from reading topics that are no longer of interest to me.

The interesting thing about the old threads to me is really the historic value, if you will. We now have something more than 8 years of discussion reflecting what has been important or interesting to the diverse group of people brought together by a shared life experience. I suppose someone with more patience and focus than I might be able to mine a lot of interesting data from those thousands of threads and comments. Probably enough fodder there for any number of books...and the data is all public domain!