Woo hoo! Are we finally having the "Who Are We, And Where Are We Going?" discussion? I'd much rather have that than a "what tv shows do we like?" discussion.

That is the kind of conversation I wanted to have too, I was just approaching it from a there's-the-gap POV. I'm finding myself wishing for some sort of bureau script, so that I'll have the right buzz words on hand. Essentially, I just can't figure out how to approach anything so vast and ill defined, without breaking it into chunks.

When we've had similar who-are-we/who-do-we-want-to-be conversations, the general decision is that we're a pop-culture board with a penchant for ME's work and Tim's work. This is part of the reason we've decided against a general genre thread, a politics thread, war thread, or whatever. We can't and don't want to be all things to all people. Now, ME is no longer putting out work. Tim's working on something we can't see for a while. Which part of "Who Are We, And Where Are We Going?" would you want to look at? Isn't the overall picture stable, and this is just the one area with a gap? That was my impression. I wanted to figure out whether or not we needed to fill the gap, or if it was now so small, we could just walk right over it. That's all.

So are people bringing up discussions and/or topics in threads and not getting conversations to spring up or are people not posting things they want to talk about? Because it has been my experience that if you wnat to talk about something you'll probably find someone around here that will join you, eventually.

I guess I am just not getting the lost feelings people may or may not be having, but that we seem to be discussing.

I'm confused about the "who are we?" and the "where will we get new blood?" questions. We have almost 1500 registered users, and 25.3GB of traffic in April.

Whoever we are, and whatever we talk about, there's plenty.

Are folks bored? Lost? Ignored? Short-shrifted?

When we've had similar who-are-we/who-do-we-want-to-be conversations, the general decision is that we're a pop-culture board with a penchant for ME's work and Tim's work.

See, I think that's what I think, but not necessarily that it's the general consensus, in a world where none of those guys have shows on the air.

Whoever we are, and whatever we talk about, there's plenty.

Which is why I'm kind of disappointed that after months of waiting to have this conversation, I have nothing to say. I don't think we should change anything.

Edit: And I will try to keep from posting much more, since I really don't have anything useful to say. Even though I wish I did.

The MEMEMEMEME approach to the question, because of course you're all dying for that:

I'll be disappointed if our bullshit consensus falls on "don't change anything," because it basically means that as of this fall, I'm out of the board except for the fic, music and movie threads (all of which I read more than post about) and whatever random posts there are on Angel and Buffy. I know this job won't give me time to even skim Natter and Bitches, and I'll miss talking to y'all. Show threads tend to be a little easier to keep up with.

But the board is not all about my whims. So.

it has been my experience that if you want to talk about something you'll probably find someone around here that will join you, eventually.

I agree with this msbelle but I think the call for some sort of TV thread may come from people who can't keep up with natter (and are not obsessive threadsucking completists like myself) and so miss out on much of the show-specific discussion because the thread has already moved on to duct tape or pandas.

Not sure whether I'd support any new thread(s) but I do understand why people would want one. I feel like I can participate in "Movies" but almost always miss TV discussions (today excepted) because my on-line time is so limited.

eta: or what Lyra Jane said

I'm honestly confused how a TV thread will help people better keep up with discussion of a TV show. Generally we talk about a show the day after it airs-- presumably that wouldn't change (and it's pretty easy to find in natter, too). And the discussion will be overtaken by discussion of more recent television airings-- that won't change, either.

I guess I'm saying, if you can't be in a fast-moving thread the day after it airs, why would the TV thread make it any easier than the discussion that occurs in Natter?

I would think the TV thread would make discussion of any particular show more spread out chronologically than the confined discussion in natter, which makes it even harder to track.

Are folks bored? Lost? Ignored? Short-shrifted?

I think it's more a sense of, "What's the mission now?" We started out as a Buffy board. And when that went off the air, we still had Buffyverse with Angel.

Now that Angel has been canceled, our mission seems gone. So what's our new mission?

I think the answer is to be ourselves -- an intelligent, snarky board with an emphasis on pop culture. A mission will come along. Or maybe we're already too unwieldy a board for any single mission.

I guess as a board member who hasn't gone into ME verse show threads actively for a few years this never crossed my mind.

That said, your "be ourselves" idea seems the best approach. People should be able to do that without the confines of ME shows, right?