STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Hermes

RE: should I bother anymore?

Hermes

Metric wrote:

I don't mean to be a sh*t-disturber, because it isn't any ones fault but I haven't been posting much lately because I feel like when I do post I don't get a response. Not getting a response doesn't make me want to post. I've just been lurking a lot.

me too. I feel like I post every day, all day long to myself. I just get more and more frustrated every day.

Kincali · Dooney & Bourke

Please don't think my post implies you shouldn't post a conflicting opinion(as seen by my posts under the octomom's thread). I like reading all the great discussions and for the most part we don't get overheated;)

My post was an observation of the style of writing that is becoming more popular on blogs and forums. I think the lull in activity is a combination of what everyone has posted, a change in the way people are interacting on the internet, the economy, the lack of inspiration from the designers, and just life changes in general.

I agree that maybe if we cut out some of the fat in the threads, and narrow down the sections it would help.

rlutz · Chanel

I Was very sad when I started to read this post...Ilove st and i would be so sad if it was gone.
I have been onhere for years and I know my posting has slowed latley, but I have just been so busy...new house, new baby, work....I barely have time to sleep these days...
I feel that st is my community that I can go to foro anything not just style...and i hope I can always come here

rosie_the_riveter · Gucci

I promise to do my part in posting from now on. I haven't migrated to any other snarky fashion forums, don't even know which ones they are. I don't really care anyway - you guys have always been the best and the nicest. I've just been letting a certain little someone consume me. I'll be around a lot more now, scouts honor. wink

clothes_horse · Dooney & Bourke

Vanessa wrote:

D - I'm sorry you are feeling this way. I don't frequent forums at all except this one and don't even know what other forum the girls are migrating to, but here are my two cents. You should keep this forum going because simply said, there is no other place like it. It is the one and only place I go to when I need help - be it about fashion, food, home, or even personal issues. I love the fact that the ladies here are nice, educated and sincere. I trust you ladies in an inexplicable way. I not only trust you with personal issues, but also with the knowledge that anything I ask will be answered intelligently and wisely. My bf makes fun of me when I say "I'm going to ask the girls on the forum". Your collective opinion is highly valuable. Though I have never been a huge poster, I would miss this forum tremendously if it disappeared. I think many of us feel this forum is like our favorite comfy sweater: not new and exciting anymore, but always good. Something that is sometimes taken for granted but would be terribly missed if gone.
...

i completely agree with vanessa!
i started with the original luckymag forum, then fashionhag, then here, basically kept the same name and although i was sad to see fashionhag go, i was happy that we still had someplace else to go. in all the years that i've been on this forum, which is quite a few, i've loved it. i visit daily, and even though i don't post a lot, i get a lot of great advice and inspiration from other posters.
my husband has gotten used to me saying "the stylethread ladies say this or that" and has offered to take pictures of my outfits so i can post them on here. he's also told me i better ask you girls when i'm stuck style-wise. :)
anyway, just wanted to throw in my opinions.
thanks again, D, for everything you do!!!!!!!

-- Edited by clothes_horse at 23:04, 2009-02-19

blubirde · Chanel

Honestly? I think you do a lot of work on the site, D, but when ST first started slowing down, you weren't nearly as active or trying as hard as you are now. That's not a slam, just an observation. So maybe it's especially sucking for you right now because of all the effort you've been putting forth lately. That's not to say things haven't slowed down and that all of your comments aren't right - they are. But maybe you're more frustrated because you're trying so hard right now.

As for posting more, it's a like begets like kinda thing. People don't see a lot of responses so they don't post. Lack of posting makes others not want to post, etc., etc., etc. I think posts like these help those of us that are around remember what we like about ST and make more of an effort to be active. Don't be afraid to throw a little guilt around, D! (see? snark can fit here too.)

Speaking of snark, it's kind of my specialty in life. I, too, feel the need to censor myself here. I don't visit other forums so I can't say what they're like, but I'd love to feel a little more liberated when it comes to posting opinions. That said, I, in now way, want this to turn into something snarky or fugalicious. There's a time and place for all of that, but I really dig the "niceness" that this forum facilitates. I have no point here, it seems, but I guess I'm saying the forum can definitely deal with a little more natural conversation but I think we should all strive to keep the kindness a priority. Question: why do I always feel the need to asterisk all my f**ks and sh*ts? : )

Okay. Reasons to keep ST going:

1. It's a haven for some of us. I like to think that's a good reason.

2. It helps people like me catch up when I realize I've missed an entire season's worth of style because I've had my head up my ass for a couple of months in my office.

3. In this crazy, crazy jumble of ups and downs, zigs and zags, ST stays stable. That's important and it's a point that really can't be underestimated.

4. Although it's slow, and although it's been slow for awhile, you've got an amazing bunch of intelligent, creative women here and I have complete confidence that if there's a problem that needs solving, this is the place to do it.

5. This one is more of a suggestion than a reason - maybe have some kind of user input in a tangible way? I haven't thought about this enough to flesh out the details but maybe if the posters saw some of their ideas/posts/etc. featured somewhere, they might have more incentive to a) post and b) visit.

-- Edited by blubirde at 00:04, 2009-02-20

Hermes

blubirde wrote:

Honestly? I think you do a lot of work on the site, D, but when ST first started slowing down, you weren't nearly as active or trying as hard as you are now. That's not a slam, just an observation. So maybe it's especially sucking for you right now because of all the effort you've been putting forth lately. That's not to say things haven't slowed down and that all of your comments aren't right - they are. But maybe you're more frustrated because you're trying so hard right now.

I wasn't trying so hard when things started slowing down because I was dealing with my life falling apart with cancer then my mother dying. Absolutely not a single one of you had the slightest inkling of what my life has been like for the past two years because I shared very little of it. I know you say you don't mean it as a slam, but I really don't see the value in defining me not being around at the beginning of the decline, especially after I mentioned in this thread that my frustration was due to me spending more time in the forum recently.

I am fully aware that traffic has been declining for quite some time. That's why I posted what I did today. What is the point of having this forum up if no one is posting. The posts and engagement are not up to me. They're up to all of us. If it's going to get to a point where it's just me (which is what it's been feeling like lately with the exception of a couple of others), then I already have a blog that's free.

-- Edited by D at 00:26, 2009-02-20

blubirde · Chanel

D wrote:

blubirde wrote:

Honestly? I think you do a lot of work on the site, D, but when ST first started slowing down, you weren't nearly as active or trying as hard as you are now. That's not a slam, just an observation. So maybe it's especially sucking for you right now because of all the effort you've been putting forth lately. That's not to say things haven't slowed down and that all of your comments aren't right - they are. But maybe you're more frustrated because you're trying so hard right now.

I wasn't trying so hard when things started slowing down because I was dealing with my life falling apart with cancer then my mother dying. Absolutely not a single one of you had the slightest inkling of what my life has been like for the past two years because I shared very little of it. I know you say you don't mean it as a slam, but I really don't see the value in defining me not being around at the beginning of the decline, especially after I mentioned in this thread that my frustration was due to me spending more time in the forum recently.

I am fully aware that traffic has been declining for quite some time. That's why I posted what I did today. What is the point of having this forum up if no one is posting. The posts and engagement are not up to me. They're up to all of us. If it's going to get to a point where it's just me (which is what it's been feeling like lately with the exception of a couple of others), then I already have a blog that's free.

-- Edited by D at 00:26, 2009-02-20

Woah. I don't know what to say to your response. I'm not judging. A lot of people have different reasons for not being around ST and I'm in no way saying you should or shouldn't be posting as you wish. I'm simply stating that maybe the frustration you're feeling is especially fresh because you are putting forth so much effort right now. It's neither here nor there; I'm just trying to add a little perspective to the discussion.

I thought the point was to offer up honest and thoughtful responses to your post, which is what I thought I was doing. I'm sorry if I offended you. It certainly wasn't my intention.

Suasoria · Chanel

I'm a newer than most regulars, so I'm not familiar with the history, the "old"/founding members, where people may have come from or gone off to, etc. I'm kind of glad to be ignorant, since I don't have a baked-in expectation of how things should or shouldn't be.

I will admit, I'm guilty of the old "if you can't say something nice, say nothing" when it comes to the occasional fashion/shopping posts, so that's self-censorship in a way. However, I have p*ssed off people unintentionally, so I'd rather err on the side of caution, frankly.

I will say I found it intimidating and often uncomfortable for a newbie - at least when I joined, it felt like everyone was buying designer labels on a weekly basis and desperate because they had to rush out to get something ASAP for a fabulous event. Either this has changed or I have, I'm not sure which, but I felt much more at home as time goes by. And I wish I had the mad photo skillz some of you have to post under Thread Style, but I don't, and asking my DH to take my picture to post on the Internet is simply not an option, unfortunately. (My avatar and my Salvation Army DVF may be my sole photographic legacy, and no, I still don't have any shoes to wear with that damn dress.)

There's also a chance that I personally have driven everyone away as I became a more active poster.

ico · Dooney & Bourke

ILoveChoo wrote:

from a business sense: I feel like this forum has a different asthetic/ clientele than most others. It goes back to what you said before about a lot of us being older, intelligent, successful. I also think that the posters here put a lot less emphasis on designer things than other forums. Not to say that we don't love designer things, but I feel liek we put style above label here more than other sites do.

and from a personal perspective: because I like y'all and if the site shuts down I'll lose track of you!!

Yes! yes! Yes! I couldn't say it better.
We all seem to have understood that to be chick and stilish, there is no need to buy expensive designers!
How many compliments the girls receive when they wear something from Forever21 (just to mention one...)?

ico · Dooney & Bourke

Suasoria wrote:

There's also a chance that I personally have driven everyone away as I became a more active poster.

???

why do you say this?

Hermes

Suasoria wrote:

There's also a chance that I personally have driven everyone away as I became a more active poster.

haha - no, it's ME who has driven everybody away. seriously, I feel like the more I post, the more mute it gets around here.

dangergirl · Kate Spade

I'm going to try to post more too. This is the friendliest forum I've come across and I would be sad if it wasn't here anymore. As others have mentioned, I like how ST isn't as label focussed as other sites and the mix of everyone's different styles and tastes.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

I can't tell you how many times I've been talking to a friend/family member and said something like "well a friend told me that..." and then realized this "friend" was someone from ST who I know very little about. D, you and the members of this board have created a place that is safe and thankfully filled with smart, witty, and stylish women whose opinions I enjoy.

I will say that the more time I spend on this board, the more money I spend (largly due to my seeing something in a post that I think I need, or that inspires a look or purchase, or visit to a site I was unaware of, etc), which is why I occasionally disappear for awhile (and was considering taking another break, but I won't, I'll just have to practice self control).

It is nice to have a "fashion" forum that's not just about fashion. I wish I had a killer business idea because I would so hire a ton of women from this board.

Any-hoo, I think a lot of us have perhaps taken StyleThread for granted and not taken the time to thank you for the work you put into it. I'm sure a lot happens behind the scenes that we are all unaware of.

So...

Thank You D!

Cricket · Gucci

I was taking the forum for granted. Sorry about that! I will be posting a lot more, starting........ NOW!

Thanks for everything you've done to keep this forum up. I know sometimes it's been a real pain in the ass. I would miss it and everyone here so much if it shut down. It's been so long now! Hey, what was your nickname on the lucky forum? I can't remember what it was before D. I've always been Cricket!

Cricket · Gucci

Right after I typed that, I remembered. Detroit. =) Duh.

Metric · Gucci

greendiamond wrote:

I can't tell you how many times I've been talking to a friend/family member and said something like "well a friend told me that..." and then realized this "friend" was someone from ST who I know very little about.

Me too. I can't tell you the number of times I've done this! LOL

Kincali · Dooney & Bourke

D wrote:

ayo wrote:

I'd consider myself an old school poster :)..
anyway Vanessa sort of expressed some of my sentiments. This place has become like my internet home. Ya'll have been there when I got engaged, married, had a baby etc...
Funny enough, I was reading an email from MIA the other day and wondering where she disappeared to. Eh well

Hey by the way guys (off topic) I went to a DVF show at Fashion week yesterday..
I need to start a post about my experience and post pics..
I had so much fun...

don't know what happened to mia either. I've been a little concerned about halleybird as well.

Yes, where is Miss Halley? I know she had school, but I hope she comes back soon.

Also, Esquiress? Farrah? Hotcocoa? Drew? Sephora Blue? I see that Valenciana was on here not to long ago, come back! Did people change their names? I think I've been in a fashion forum coma.

Kitty · Hermes

I think there is definitely a sense of family here, which I think makes this place unique. Honestly, sometimes it feels like this board talks more about non-fashion things than fashion things, which is cool and unique. We all have an interest in fashion, but there's a sense of friendliness/family that has kept a lot of us here.

I've been sad about the declining posts for a long time, but I will continue to post here as well as other fashion forums and non-fashion forums.