Thoughts on Tolkien boards on the net ...

[The Barrow-Wight]

I thought I'd take some time to talk about Tolkien web pages and discussion boards.

Over the last year, and especially in the last couple months, I've noticed that the number of Tolkien web pages and discussion boards has been growing. As the fan base grows, the number of resources on the web naturally expands also. But lately I've been seeing a trend in discussion boards, EZboards specifically, that I find somewhat disturbing.

Tolkien fans are spreading out rather than congregating.

Everyone is starting a Tolkien board.

The problem I see with this is, of course, from the perspective of the Barrow-Downs (though it applies everywhere). This is not a complaint, just a concern.

Productive, interesting board members, for whatever reason, decide that an EZboard might be fun to run (they are!) and, being Tolkien fans, they naturally open a board about their favorite author. They put a lot of effort into it and work hard to make it interesting. But usually they are soon disappointed when they fail to drive a decent amount of traffic to the board. Within months, most of these boards fail.

Nothing wrong with any of this. The Barrow-Downs started out slow, too. It's taken over four months to get to 122 registered members and 5000+ posts. But the Barrow-Downs also started out with a relatively popular web site (www.barrowdowns.com) so it was easy for me to get the word out about the board.

The problem I am seeing is that each new board that starts up takes away one or more good members from the Downs. Perhaps it doesn't make them leave altogher, but an admin will want to put his/her best material their own board, to the Downs misses out on their input. And when I say the Downs i don't mean me (The Barrow-Wight). I mean the 122 members of the Downs. Everyone loses a little.

Now, some people like to go around to different boards - seeing what's going on at each one. And some people don't like the Downs. Perhaps it is to academic or serious. But that's where the problem (as I see it) can be solved and the Tolkien fans can come back together.

If you (and this is addressed to everyone, not just Jes) want to run an EZboard for the fun of running a board, cool! But if you are opening a new board because you find something lacking at the Downs, speak up. Suggestions are welcome. Don't spread yourself (and Tolkien fans) thin. Let's build the Down's to be a bigger, better place.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I'm seeing this from the perspective of the admin of The Barrow-Downs. But I'm also seeing it as Tolkien fan. I feel that this board is a great one, but could always be better. I also feel that the members here are some of the best spoken and best mannered on the net. That's what make the place great. It my favorite board because of that (not because it's run by me).

Please tell me your thoughts on this subject....

I also posted this in THE BARROW-DOWNS forum ....

Thanks


The Barrow-Wight