Let's get things moving...

[nightwing]

Come on guys, we have gotta get things moving on the site. I'm advertising all that I can w/o getting banned from other sites. And I can't send out mass emails due to Proboards V4 being a pain in the butt, so we're relying on you guys to carry some of the weight for us.

So get out there, make shirts, make flyers, tell people. Help bring back the site that has been here for you whenever you needed it.

-hhsdweller

[Chris Steffen]

You know... it's a little sad how this board has progressed.

When I first started it, I told people about it everywhere. I told people to tell their friends. I made damn sure that word of this board spread far and wide, assuring people that if they start visiting regularly, this would become a worthwhile place to be. Word spread like wildfire, and this board became one of the most popular boards I've ever known. I did what I could to keep it going, keep spreading word of the place. I would put patches on my backpacks, I would put up fliers on lockers, walls, tables, bathrooms. I spread word during the summer at church camp and with all my friends outside of school. I told people, and they came.

Later on, my attention was drawn away from fos4us for a time. I checked in occasionally, and it seemed to be doing okay. But as I watched from the sidelines, the board slowly began to degrade.

So I appointed new admins, knowing that I wouldn't be around as much. I gave the ultimate administrative account to a good friend of mine, and I let people do with the board what they willed, hoping that they'd turn it into something amazing.

Yet the board continued to desentigrate.

How can this be? The people that used this board continued using it for the most part, posting and changing the site to their liking. So why did it start to die?

I'll tell you.

Nobody advertised.

The people that were using the board enjoyed it, but for the most part nobody spread word about the site. Thus, as people left and lost interest, nobody new was coming in to fill their place. No new ideas, no new views, no new news. The site became boring and monotonous because there were no fresh faces. So people assumed that there was something wrong and started trying to do an overhaul on the site, changing it to something cool looking and new. This attracted one or two people, maybe.

But they weren't addressing the REAL problem.

What good is a pretty website if nobody knows it exists?

So what I see from this is that I was the only person who actually cared enough to get out and talk to people about the site. There were maybe five other people that I know that told people, but nobody worked nearly as hard as I did when I promoted the board. (From what I know.)

A message board is a social place. It cannot thrive without people. And unless you start getting out there and TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT THE SITE then it will die.

All that hard work, all that effort to make the site special, all will be lost when nobody remembers that it exists.

SO get out there and tell people about it. Post fliers, talk about it on the announcements at school (haha), put patches on your clothes and backpacks, write it in chalk on the sidewalks and walls (don't get caught), tell people about it that you see, be they friend or foe. Tell people outside of school. Start a phone network, telling people about it and asking that they call someone that they know to call someone that they know to call someone that they know, etc. Send out emails to all the people in your address book, no matter who they are. Post about the site on other boards, chatrooms, guestbooks, xangas, blogs, journals (alive and dead) and anywhere else you can.

And don't forget to reassure people that, when their friends start getting on, the board will liven up again.

I'm sick of getting emails and notes and IMs asking me to help because this board is dying. I did what I could, I got it started, I helped, I did lots of work and continue to do so. I'm more from the sidelines now, but that's because I gave this board to you. This board belongs to the PEOPLE, not to ME. And if you want it fixed, if you don't want it to die, you better damn well do something about it. This is YOUR responsibility.

I'll help, but don't expect me to save the board when you let it fall on its ass.

Good luck.

-Chris

[Malkavian]

Wow, how did this one slip by me? Oh well, better late than never, I suppose.

Advertising is not really my responsibility. I used to mention the boards every so often, but let's just face it: I'm not so outwardly social as Chris is. I don't go to Starbucks, write poetry, or have 'shambling whordes'(yes, I meant to spell it that way) following me around everywhere I go. The simple fact of the matter is that circumstance does not allow for me to advertise nearly as effortlessly as others. Plus, I'm rarely home as is, so being on the boards themselves is severely limited. And as a waiter, now that I work in a restaurant that is all about casual conversation (regrettably), I do not wish to mention the forums simply because I do not want to waste people's time. It's like giving someone a dog for Christmas, only the dog has cancer. True, the cancer can be removed, but there is not assurance of that happening in the near future. It would be introducing the boards to new people, who would only become disinterested in the dead thing, and leave.

That being said, I will not be harangued for something that I personally cannot help.

[Chris Steffen]

Malk makes a good point here.

Back when we were all in high school, we had a reason to care about the boards. They affected us.

Now that many of us are out...

Most of the people we meet, honestly, will find the site dull and tiring.

The only people that could really care about the site are the people still in high school, or those of us that are still around the area. There's potential for some of the original user-base to be interested that are out-of-town, but as for introducing new faces in colleges / other high schools... what is the drive? What is so amazing about this website that ANYBODY would want to visit?

Is there anything here of interest to anyone who DOESN'T go to CHHS? Who never did? Very little, really.

You have to search for things that would interest someone from out-of-state, let alone out-of-chhs.

Politics, maybe. But honestly, having looked, I see that many of you have good, valid arguments... but a great many of you don't.

In writing, I see talent... but sadly I doubt people would spend the time to read through our material. (No insult - I've got work there, too.)

The fact is, if you want this board to attract flies, you gotta make it sweet. Give people something they're interested in. Don't expect Joe from California to give a shit about Milly from Colleyville and how her Intro to Psych teacher is soooo cute.

Honestly, I don't know WHAT would attract the average person. Politics, religion, and writing are for intellectuals and people who wish they were. As for the rest... I'm not sure. I'm so far secluded from the rest of society that I don't really know what's popular anymore... Nor do I much care.

However, if everyone wants to "Save Our Site" then everyone needs to work together to make a decent plan of action.

BTW.... When people log into the site, and all they see are posts about how "OUR SITE IS DYING OMFG SOMEBODY SAVE US", they're going to think one of two things:

1. Ugh, bitching. How boring. I'm going to newgrounds.
2. Why would the site be dying? Probably because it has no decent content. Screw this, I'm going to newgrounds.

In any case... You all need to Plan, then Act. Work together. Rather than sitting on your duffs bitching about the sinking boat, grab a bucket and do something about it.

I'm not going to give you some lame excuse about how "I would help, but I'm too busy/broke my fingers/lost my voice/live in canada". Honestly, I probably could help. However, I don't see much hope for a dying website, when the people controlling and maintaining it aren't really doing much to save it. Show me some improvement, some change, some initiative, and I'll throw new readers at you as fast as my little arms can grab 'em.

Before I do, though, there's got to be content. Start talking about things that interest you, things that might interest others, current events, opinions, thoughts, rants, musings... Stop flooding the boards with S.O.S. calls and spend your time actually talking. THEN I will send you readers as best as I can.

Good luck!

~Chris

P.S. If you think you've added some new material that might interest people, drop me an email and I'll check it out and get to work. But don't expect me to be the only fos4us recruiter...

My email is: [e-mail]