[Mithadan]

Soriman, I am perhaps the only "active" administrator left on this site. It was founded by Barrow-Wight, as others have commented, and, when it began to gain traction, he invited myself and two others, Mr. Underhill and Sharku, to join him as administrators. A few years later, Thenamir was added to the team. I am still, more or less, in touch with BW, Underhill and Thenamir.

At the height of the interest generated by the movies, we added several moderators, one or more for each forum, to keep things more or less under control. We prided ourselves as being the "thoughtful" Tolkien board, though we certainly provided opportunities for fun and creativity.

As time passed, interest dwindled. The "fair weather" fans spawned by the movies faded away and the Hobbit movies did not resurrect them. As you have commented, other forms of social media have also distracted folks who might otherwise be interested. Even as members drop away or stop by less frequently, we still have a core of members that remain truly interested. Even here, after a while, some stop posting (we have always called it "getting treeish") but they are usually replaced with others.

I too miss the way things were ten or more years ago, though there certainly were challenges posed by the sheer volume of traffic that we had. I am glad that we still have a core of posters, but wish there were more. All I can say is the same thing that I have been saying for many years. Start a thread and people will discuss what you have to say. If you don't there is nothing to discuss.

Once again, welcome Soriman.