Blonde Stats Page

[arbboy]

IMHO nearly all types of forums are probably dying, clearly we can all agree the Internet was a much more fascinating an undiscoverec place years and years ago, forum interaction with people who were sharing the same broad interests was just new and exciting! no one could physically confront you on your opinions or over talk you, you felt like your words were printed there forever. it was like the freedom of speech all over again, you felt safe to say what you wanted no matter how controversial. you would get more of a buzz just broadcasting your thoughts to people.

But now with the hugely available online social interaction of the web, nearly everything can be directly commented on. Everyone by now has read thousands of people's opinions on thousands of subjects. so now it's just somewhere people have come to understand you can just 'read' a community online, not create. I guarantee for nearly all users It just doesn't seem that exciting to get involved anymore. Whilst when the Internet was starting to boom it was a diff story.

i agree with a lot of this but i think blonde has been successful in staying ahead of the game/having a massively loyal following compared to most forums.  Numbers might be down but relative to most other forums numbers are up in relative terms even though they have fallen in real terms.   AWOP would dream about having TFT.  They haven't had a post on their sports forum for months (1 post in 2 months - tft just destroys this).  Accept the game has changed since 2006.  Blonde is miles ahead of all of its uk rivals.

[tikay]

Well done for starting this thread Calum, it turned into a really useful & constructive debate. Lots of great ideas, & I particularly enjoyed Conky's post.

If we want this place to continue, we all have to make an effort, we can't just point fingers. Starting threads, engaging in threads, it all helps.

TfT seemed to attract a lot of comment, much of it negative. Of course it's a pain to wade through several pages a day, but it's a complete freeroll to earn 4% on your money & have a bit of fun along the way, so a little effort is needed.  

It's clear we are in decline, but relative to other similar Forums, we are doing pretty well. New Topics & New Posts in January are running around 50% higher than December's 9 year low. 

I'll certainly have a word with Flushy, & see if he will get involved a bit more. He paid a fortune to buy his shareholding, but he's out there living the dream, so I suppose it may be hard for him to spend more time here.

Not sure what we can do about reviving the Sunday Sweat threads. If we see anyone going deep, start a thread, & let's see if it re-ignites any interest.  

In The Well - it looks like we may have one or two in gestation.

Onwards & sideways.

[RED-DOG]

Well done for starting this thread Calum, it turned into a really useful & constructive debate. Lots of great ideas, & I particularly enjoyed Conky's post.

I think it was the title that drew them in.

Perhaps your diary would get more hits if you re named it. I suggest 'Blonde Twat's Page'.

[EvilPie]

I think people are missing the elephant in the room

DTD sponsorship

I know that there may not even be a Blondepoker if it were not for the kind Mr Yong but before the DTD deal, the promotion of the various different festivals surely encouraged a wider audience and more new members especially during the live updates. It was during a Blondepoker live update that I first heard of the forum.

WRT to TfT I agree with Ray, Vin and Red. It's not for me but I totally endorse it and def would not want to see it go.

I was reading through this thread and deciding how I was going to make my point when thankfully someone did it for me.

Totally agree with all of the above.

It doesn't help that people are walking on eggshells whenever they want to post something even slightly critical about DTD for fear of reprisals, ban sticks, etc.

Having posts removed was pretty much the final straw for me and at that point my involvement with Blonde was never going to be the same. I'm slowly trying to post more as I still like so many of the people on this forum but it's not what it was for me

[RED-DOG]

I think people are missing the elephant in the room

DTD sponsorship

I know that there may not even be a Blondepoker if it were not for the kind Mr Yong but before the DTD deal, the promotion of the various different festivals surely encouraged a wider audience and more new members especially during the live updates. It was during a Blondepoker live update that I first heard of the forum.

WRT to TfT I agree with Ray, Vin and Red. It's not for me but I totally endorse it and def would not want to see it go.

I was reading through this thread and deciding how I was going to make my point when thankfully someone did it for me.

Totally agree with all of the above.

It doesn't help that people are walking on eggshells whenever they want to post something even slightly critical about DTD for fear of reprisals, ban sticks, etc.

Having posts removed was pretty much the final straw for me and at that point my involvement with Blonde was never going to be the same. I'm slowly trying to post more as I still like so many of the people on this forum but it's not what it was for me

ban plz

[kinboshi]

I think people are missing the elephant in the room

DTD sponsorship

I know that there may not even be a Blondepoker if it were not for the kind Mr Yong but before the DTD deal, the promotion of the various different festivals surely encouraged a wider audience and more new members especially during the live updates. It was during a Blondepoker live update that I first heard of the forum.

WRT to TfT I agree with Ray, Vin and Red. It's not for me but I totally endorse it and def would not want to see it go.

I was reading through this thread and deciding how I was going to make my point when thankfully someone did it for me.

Totally agree with all of the above.

It doesn't help that people are walking on eggshells whenever they want to post something even slightly critical about DTD for fear of reprisals, ban sticks, etc.

Having posts removed was pretty much the final straw for me and at that point my involvement with Blonde was never going to be the same. I'm slowly trying to post more as I still like so many of the people on this forum but it's not what it was for me

What posts were removed Matt?

[EvilPie]

I think people are missing the elephant in the room

DTD sponsorship

I know that there may not even be a Blondepoker if it were not for the kind Mr Yong but before the DTD deal, the promotion of the various different festivals surely encouraged a wider audience and more new members especially during the live updates. It was during a Blondepoker live update that I first heard of the forum.

WRT to TfT I agree with Ray, Vin and Red. It's not for me but I totally endorse it and def would not want to see it go.

I was reading through this thread and deciding how I was going to make my point when thankfully someone did it for me.

Totally agree with all of the above.

It doesn't help that people are walking on eggshells whenever they want to post something even slightly critical about DTD for fear of reprisals, ban sticks, etc.

Having posts removed was pretty much the final straw for me and at that point my involvement with Blonde was never going to be the same. I'm slowly trying to post more as I still like so many of the people on this forum but it's not what it was for me

What posts were removed Matt?

It was actually an entire thread containing several posts that conveniently disappeared before too many people could see it.

It's in the past so I don't particularly want to go in to specifics and I know that if I do I'll end up just disappearing from Blonde again because it winds me up.

For now I'm trying to post more whilst focussing on the great aspects of Blonde rather than the ones which to me, personally are not so great.

[kinboshi]

Furry muff.

[booder]

I think people are missing the elephant in the room

DTD sponsorship

I know that there may not even be a Blondepoker if it were not for the kind Mr Yong but before the DTD deal, the promotion of the various different festivals surely encouraged a wider audience and more new members especially during the live updates. It was during a Blondepoker live update that I first heard of the forum.

WRT to TfT I agree with Ray, Vin and Red. It's not for me but I totally endorse it and def would not want to see it go.

I was reading through this thread and deciding how I was going to make my point when thankfully someone did it for me.

Totally agree with all of the above.

It doesn't help that people are walking on eggshells whenever they want to post something even slightly critical about DTD for fear of reprisals, ban sticks, etc.

Having posts removed was pretty much the final straw for me and at that point my involvement with Blonde was never going to be the same. I'm slowly trying to post more as I still like so many of the people on this forum but it's not what it was for me

What posts were removed Matt?

It was actually an entire two or three threads containing several posts that conveniently disappeared before too many people could see it.

It's in the past so I don't particularly want to go in to specifics and I know that if I do I'll end up just disappearing from Blonde again because it winds me up.

For now I'm trying to post more whilst focussing on the great aspects of Blonde rather than the ones which to me, personally are not so great.

FYP

[vegaslover]

Well done for starting this thread Calum, it turned into a really useful & constructive debate. Lots of great ideas, & I particularly enjoyed Conky's post.

If we want this place to continue, we all have to make an effort, we can't just point fingers. Starting threads, engaging in threads, it all helps.

TfT seemed to attract a lot of comment, much of it negative. Of course it's a pain to wade through several pages a day, but it's a complete freeroll to earn 4% on your money & have a bit of fun along the way, so a little effort is needed.  

It's clear we are in decline, but relative to other similar Forums, we are doing pretty well. New Topics & New Posts in January are running around 50% higher than December's 9 year low. 

I'll certainly have a word with Flushy, & see if he will get involved a bit more. He paid a fortune to buy his shareholding, but he's out there living the dream, so I suppose it may be hard for him to spend more time here.

Not sure what we can do about reviving the Sunday Sweat threads. If we see anyone going deep, start a thread, & let's see if it re-ignites any interest.  

In The Well - it looks like we may have one or two in gestation.

Onwards & sideways.

Must admit I always enjoyed the sweat threads, especially if a bit of a rail got going. Reminds me of the one on laddies I think it was where Red was on a final table and Tikay nearly got banned from laddies...lol

Have been following overtheborders staking thread and actually been watching his tables when he posts. Don't see much of that anymore.

Not having blonde bashes anymore probably doesn't help the fun/community side, particularly for the recs among us

Whilst i'm part of the bah humbug brigade i'm not surprised at a relative lack of interest in xmas etc after one member ruined one of the best threads on blonde which was the advent calender.

[MANTIS01]

I guess I feel the same as Matt. A policy of removing threads, deleting posts and generally manicuring the forum to achieve a certain 'tone' left me feeling there was little point in making contributions. In addition, the pro-active managing out of outspoken or edgy forum members, again to achieve that certain 'tone', left the place feeling bland.

What's more, taking exciting issues 'off forum' was driven by personal associations rather than objective modding and this was a self-defeating strategy. If mods knew member a, b or c then breaking news was buried and other members were not allowed to even discuss those issues. Once again this produced a certain blandness and a little clique of those in the know. Finally the DTD sponsorship eradicated the variety, such as local festivals and local updates.

Just a quick word about the advent calendar because people simply can't see the wood for the trees. Blonde exists to provoke interaction, posts and views. Without those things the forum does not survive. The 'spoilt' advent calendar was therefore a thoroughly successful thread which provoked an abundance of stats which fulfilled the criteria of a surviving forum. It's just the 'tone' wasn't right. 

This year rather than run a thoroughly successful advent thread which would have provoked an abundance of positive stats for the forum Blonde decided to abstain because they couldn't be bothered with the hassle. And there it is. The drive towards a certain tone & the desire to avoid 'aggro' or hassle seems more of a priority than driving the stats. Hey presto, the result is a really friendly forum without the interest it once had.

The problem is, and this is a fact, the viewing public want aggro, exciting member issues & variety.

[iangascoigne]

I always thought Keith Johnson would be a good man to get in the well. Ask him what it's like to run a big staking operation. And to get half of deadman's winnings... And how to deal with listening to Mitch's hand histories...

This would be good.

[Ironside]

Just a quick word about the advent calendar because people simply can't see the wood for the trees. Blonde exists to provoke interaction, posts and views. Without those things the forum does not survive. The 'spoilt' advent calendar was therefore a thoroughly successful thread which provoked an abundance of stats which fulfilled the criteria of a surviving forum. It's just the 'tone' wasn't right. 

This year rather than run a thoroughly successful advent thread which would have provoked an abundance of positive stats for the forum Blonde decided to abstain because they couldn't be bothered with the hassle. And there it is. The drive towards a certain tone & the desire to avoid 'aggro' or hassle seems more of a priority than driving the stats. Hey presto, the result is a really friendly forum without the interest it once had.

The problem is, and this is a fact, the viewing public want aggro, exciting member issues & variety.

blonde didnt run a advent calendar 1 miember did and for past 2 years he hasnt because he has better things to do with his time that write a calendar for people who bicker over it

[iangascoigne]

Can we get Father Gascoigne in the well?!

Of course, assuming he is agreeable. So to speak.

Yes of course. Not sure if anyone would be interested but hey,yes.

[BorntoBubble]

Can we get Father Gascoigne in the well?!

Of course, assuming he is agreeable. So to speak.

Yes of course. Not sure if anyone would be interested but hey,yes.

Looking forward to this, sure there will be lots of interest!