Why does Atlas feel dead?

[Continential]

There aren't as many new posters joining as there was in any of the Trump years and Atlas has been less active.

[Mr. Morden]

I mean, activity is always down a bit in odd numbered years compared to even number years, but it's still more active now than it was in any of the odd numbered years from the Obama era, and pretty much on par with the odd numbered years from the Trump era:

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?action=stats

[Virginiá]

There aren't as many new posters joining as there was in any of the Trump years and Atlas has been less active.

Probably because you joined when the forum was peaking during the Trump era. I wasn't around prior to end of 2015 but looking at the statistics, there is a pretty stark comparison between then and even now, let alone a couple years ago.

The fact is, this is a political forum and without the biggest bomb thrower in American political history, and no major federal election coming up soon, there is somewhat less to talk about.

[Mr. Morden]

It's actually amazing how stable traffic on the forum has been over the course of the last 17 years.  There've been periods where an average month had ~25,000 or so posts, and periods where an average month had about double that, at ~50,000 posts a month, but never outside of that range for very long.  You'd think that over such a long span of internet history, it would either have had some kind of mega growth, with like a fivefold increase or more, or else it would collapse into nothing.  Not just stay in that same range for year after year.

[Virginiá]

It's actually amazing how stable traffic on the forum has been over the course of the last 17 years.  There've been periods where an average month had ~25,000 or so posts, and periods where an average month had about double that, at ~50,000 posts a month, but never outside of that range for very long.  You'd think that over such a long span of internet history, it would either have had some kind of mega growth, with like a fivefold increase or more, or else it would collapse into nothing.  Not just stay in that same range for year after year.

I have tended to look at the Trump era as that kind of mega growth. We basically started getting non-election year and midterm year activity levels that rivaled or surpassed presidential election years from the past, and then presidential election years surged far beyond anything else. I think October and November 2016 might have even been better if the forum didn't frequently lag for upwards of 5 minutes at a time, dozens of times a day, every day of the month. I used to get so frustrated with that.

Either way, the forum has definitely seen some decent growth over its lifetime, IMO. Although I think at some point, maybe because of it's more niche focus, it missed the kind of growth other more generic political forums have seen in much shorter time frames.

[Chips]

Because it's not a big election year. Give it a few months and activity will pick up.

[Non Swing Voter]

I prefer it this way

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Ignore the fact that it's an odd-numbered year, the fact that this internet forum is still active at all in the year of our Lord 2021 is absolutely mind-boggling. It's less alive than it would be during a presidential election or midterm whatever, but it's worth appreciating the miracle that is this forum being online and active well into the 2020s with new users coming and going.

[Hammy]

School starting back up probably contributed, both people who have kids and are taking classes themselves probably have less time to waste here.

[Meclazine for Israel]

It's actually amazing how stable traffic on the forum has been over the course of the last 17 years.  There've been periods where an average month had ~25,000 or so posts, and periods where an average month had about double that, at ~50,000 posts a month, but never outside of that range for very long.  You'd think that over such a long span of internet history, it would either have had some kind of mega growth, with like a fivefold increase or more, or else it would collapse into nothing.  Not just stay in that same range for year after year.

The Google impressions should give the website a steady stream of new sign ups from the increased amount of information on the forums.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Because good posters are leaving and bad posters are joining.

[Conservatopia]

Has anybody checked for a pulse?

[Torrain]

In the four-year cycle of US politics, it kinda makes sense that this is the quietest year.

Next year is midterm fever, and after that we’re already into the party primaries for the next presidential race, which effectively runs for 18 months, with 6 months prior of rampant speculation.

This year we’ve only got a couple of statewide races.

Add that to the relative quiet compared to the weekly mania of Trump’s term, and it’s no wonder we’re in a bit of a lull. Assume the midterm campaign will sort of end that though.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Because politics is grim these days.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I just ranted about this on one of the Discords but does anyone else feel like Atlas has been collectively sh!tting its pants over the past week? Godawful and ignorant takes on how ideologies work, typical obnoxious red av doomerism, we have a new cadre of teenagers with those cringe laser eyes memes from Twitter (at least one of whom, and you can probably guess who that is, was apparently introduced here by Grassr00ts) spreading their cancer here, the Israel threads are somehow even more toxic and stomach-churning than usual, threads in general are becoming more 'Reddit-esque' (with all its connotations), and USGD is hardly worth taking seriously at all right now.

And yeah, Atlasia's not doing too well momentarily for those of you who play or care. Seems to be just a general reflection of the site as it is now, though.

I might be a quarter-life-crisis-experiencing cynical asshole by default these days, but holy sh!t it's gotten bad. Is it just me?

[Virginiá]

And yeah, Atlasia's not doing too well momentarily for those of you who play or care. Seems to be just a general reflection of the site as it is now, though.

I've been wondering how Atlasia is supposed to work if the left dominates the entire game to the point where it's not actually competitive. I'm not sure if that's still an issue since I haven't paid much attention for quite a while, but at the same time, I stopped paying attention because the game doesn't seem very active now with the predictable election results it now has. Even the Labor-related Discords seem a lot less eventful. Not sure if this is true though or just "feels" like it.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

And yeah, Atlasia's not doing too well momentarily for those of you who play or care. Seems to be just a general reflection of the site as it is now, though.

I've been wondering how Atlasia is supposed to work if the left dominates the entire game to the point where it's not actually competitive. I'm not sure if that's still an issue since I haven't paid much attention for quite a while, but at the same time, I stopped paying attention because the game doesn't seem very active now with the predictable election results it now has. Even the Labor-related Discords seem a lot less eventful. Not sure if this is true though or just "feels" like it.

I think Atlasia's going through a domino effect of some sorts caused by drama that happened in June. The toxicity is turning people away, plus everyone's back in school now. I am... starting to get a sense of why most of our most senior members eventually stopped putting any time into it, because honestly it's most fun when you're a kid just learning about politics.

[Xing]

If we're talking about an overall decline in activity, that's definitely because, as others have said, it's a off-off year, and Trump is no longer in office. If we're talking about the quality of the forum, I'd say that there have been plenty of moments during my time here in which the quality of the forum has declined (usually the case closer to elections), but it could be partially due to people being sick of the isolation that the pandemic has caused, or it could be that Atlas is reflecting more and more the current state of politics: Everyone is yelling, no one is listening. I don't think it's unique to Atlas, I think a lot of people don't feel heard and don't want to listen to anyone else, which does not exactly create an environment conducive to discussion and understanding. I've been very on and off here for the past couple of months, for my own well-being more than anything else.

[Conservatopia]

Do the ghosts in the new logo banner represent the death of Atlas?

[Virginiá]

There are no ghosts lol

[afleitch]

I'm sorry.

I've not been sharing enough gym pics. I know, I know.

[NOVA Green]

It's all because BRTD has only recently started posting his epic stories again after a long hiatus

[VAR]

This might be why.

[Fuzzy Bear]

This Forum has progressed steadily toward being an Echo Chamber.  There has been some pushback against that as of late which is encouraging.

This was not the way it was in 2012 when I joined.  Now I grant you that times have changed and the middle ground in Real World politics is at a minimum these days, so people are more polarized.