[Bêthberry]

Internet forums ebb and flow, like the tides of the moon. They are never static, but in some form of flux, even those with conscientious moderators and admins.

I suspect that any forum has a shelf life of about two years--the pounding of the surf changes the shore line as much as each wave has its own hight and depth. Within that length of time, enough members will leave and enough new members come online that the community and its interests subtly or not so subtly change. Groups and sub-groups form, sometimes great divides are wrenched open, sometimes just the same questions get asked again in different forms and with different perspectives. Time was on the Downs that Books and N & N were the busiest forums, now it is Mirth. Both pop and the internet are disposable cultures for instant gratification (which is not to denigrate them) so it isn't surprising that people come and go and topics surge up and down. People age too and after five years people's interests can change. You can surf the crests or tumble in the troughs; you can swim or float idly or just build sand castles at the edge of the shore; but water remains a shapeless medium--at least in either a liquid or gaseous state. And who wants to be as inflexible as ice--unless it is to tinkle in a cooling beverage?