Is It Just Me Or Are There Others......

Is it just me or are there other out there thinking how stupid and banal most of these threads are? I mean a year ago there seemed to be some interesting context in some of the threads now it all seems superficial and dumb.

Thu. Aug 2, 1:35am

Hmm, seems to be just you :o)

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 7:34 AM

OP, I don't know who's changed - me or the threads - but I agree they have a different feel than a year ago...

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 7:36 AM

Maybe new audience since PT went celebrity in people mag and GMA. I personally like the variety, although I wish the teenagers would get out of here.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 9:34 AM

No, it's not just you. It is totally crazy around here and worthless anymore. I am not quite sure why I check it, lol. Bickering, fighting, arguing into cyberspace over stuff that has nothing to do with weight loss, health, etc... Not fun!

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 9:53 AM

i agree. no offense to those teenagers who are trying to gain support with tackling what could be a life-long challenge, but some of the topics and comments are way too juvenile and/or uninformed. it's a drag to open a thread, become interested, and check back only to read a bunch of name-calling, self-righteous comments. either the average age of members has become younger or many of the new posters are just ignorant. i think it's the former.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:09 AM

GMA seemed to add the jesus crowd to the mix. PT started out as a craigslist crowd, which was much more interesting.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:10 AM

what;s GMA ?

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:15 AM

10:10, I didn't think about GMA. I did think "geesh, a lot of 'Christians' read 'People', I had no idea". Maybe 'Us Weekly' is for the agnostic set?

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:15 AM

There's nothing wrong with Christains per se, they just tend to not be lesbian Vassar graduates who surf craigslist. And thus less "colorful"

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:20 AM

fasten your seatbelts, boys. it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:22 AM

As a guy, I've noticed that the threads have gotten a whole lot more lady-specific recently. I'm honestly starting to feel kind unwelcome here.

But yeah, in general, the threads have kind of sunk down to the level of people magazine lately... lots of fluff, not much substance. There's a lot to be said for the writing skills of lesbian craig's list lovin' vassar grads...

Oh well. My team is good, so I've got that.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:37 AM

PT - Organize this forum!

There's no organization in this community forum. If the powers that be would make permanent topics, like recipes, fat loss, exercises, and one "off topic" , then monitor it so no one posts in a topic something that's not relative to the topic, then we wouldn't have to weed through all the junk!

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:55 AM

well, isn't that precisely the point of including a title for the threads we start?

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:58 AM

No, the topic isn't enough. We need choices in which to put that topic!
That's the junk I'm talking about.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:00 AM

I will totally agree that there's been a change in the forum.

And not just more fluff. I don't personally think there's more Christians here than before, but I do think there are more antagonists who will slam Christianity unnecessarily, which then offends those Christians and brings them all out.

And there sure is a LOT more whining around here. People used to post in a "I'm working at this, anyone suggest a way to do it better" manner, now it's a "woe is me, this is so terrible, what do I do!??!?!?" manner. A little fatalistic and dramatic more often. Kinda irritating...

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:05 AM

Most other message boards I've seen tend to organize into categories- for PT, I'd suggest:

Diets (or, weight loss)
Exercise (or, fitness)
Women's Issues
Politics Only (to seperate out them what wants a fight)
Lounge (for just general OT fun stuff)

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:06 AM

I am new to PT. So this isn't always how it was? Man I wish I would have joined a year ago!

I agree with the above poster. Catergories would be really really good. Then I could actually find the stuff I want to read and avoid the stuff I don't.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:11 AM

I wrote 10:55 and 11:00 and I agree with 11:06 and 11:11.
I only recently joined PT, but I cannot believe the whining and fighting that goes on here on this forum. I'm glad I have a great group and team. I'll stay here for them.

For those of you who can't stand the cat-fights, check out:
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com
There's real help and great info there and respect for others.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:19 AM

do we really need to ask for help with this? why don't we all start using the generic terms/titles for our topic as the title of our threads. if enough of us do this, maybe others will follow suit. at the very least, we can train newbies to the forums?

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:20 AM

That's an interesting thought, but one would still have to read through all the other titles to find one of interest. Categories would eliminate that. If you want to read about fat loss, click on the fat loss category. If you want a tasty chicken recipe, click on the recipe category, etc.
:)

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:29 AM

until something changes, let's agree to title our threads with the most fitting category. even if we have to weed through, we can still benefit. there might be a topic which we weren't aware we were interested in until we see the comments and how they might relate to ourselves.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:34 AM

Sounds good. Especially, be specific in your titles, that will make a search more fruitful.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:37 AM

For the moment, I'm just grateful that the Lounge isn't as swamped with "join my group" postings like it was in the post-GMA/People days.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:38 AM

and DON'T go into a thread you know you won't like and start talking smack.

that frustrates me.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:40 AM

ahhh! the power of civility!

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 11:59 AM

common courtesy :)

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 1:44 PM

I would definitely be all for expanding and organizing this board into four or five boards. I love reading recipes on here so being able to click on that category and that's what I would find, not political or off topic threads, would be amazing! Most other message boards have a multi-board system like that, but for PT to do that would mean using a message board server which they might not be willing to do.

What I am guessing is that this "lounge" was meant to be totally secondary to the support and advice of groups and teams, and therefore there wasn't a need to have a large-scale, organized board system. But as PT is rapidly growing, perhaps that needs to be relooked at. Also, I know it has been very difficult for me to find supportive, active groups and I have changed groups about 10 times in the past 2 months because I was the only active poster. In those slow times, I definitely resorted to the lounge for support. So maybe PT could creatively devise a way to bring the focus and activity back to the groups? If that's not possible, then they do need to take a look at changing this lounge format. We have outgrown it, definitely.

And I'd like to mention that I found my awesome team through the lounge. If they were to organize this board, I think a seperate board just for hawking your group would be neccesary.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 2:06 PM

Wow. I was just looking at the current threads. Does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere else I can go to talk to grown-ups about fitness and health? It's pretty clear that there aren't too many left here.

It's really sad how far the lounge has devolved in the last year. PT helped me lose over 50 pounds last year- I love it here, but I hate seeing what's happening to my community.

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 7:18 PM

I agree. A year ago we were talking about ways to get the most out of our exercise and what foods were best to eat in weight loss. That doesn't happen anymore.
I personally have reached my goals and I wonder if many other have too and left the site?
There seems to be a lack of members that are successful as well... Like everyone is just here to hang out and if they somehow end up losing weight in the process that would be OK too!

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 8:25 PM

Cry me a river. Everyone is always nostaligic for what was. If you want something to change, let's change it ourselves. What do you want to talk about?

Thursday, August 2, 2007, 8:59 PM

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