Le professeur de trail
I think Lace and NH both bring up good points. The "behaviors" of forums, social media, and similar would be a fascinating topic for research in perspective of social psychology which is a growing arm of psychology. I think the thing to remember though is that there are no rules (at least not that I am aware of). People share what they want to share and react how they want to react and do so as much or little that they want. If the "traffic" decreases, others respond by responding less. That is pretty much a natural progression. If you ask why everyone posts on here (dailies or other), the answers would vary I am sure. But there shouldn't be a wrong amount or frequency or content to post. Just because someone "pops in" once in a while, nothing is wrong with that decision. But yes, the less that people interact, the more mundane/boring it becomes and people naturally lose interest. Again, there is an interesting facet to studying the behavior of a group in there somewhere. (I do not have enough interest in social psychology to dive into that - my interests lie elsewhere ).
Another theory: if certain people stop posting, then others seem to follow (or vice versa). It does seem like certain people's "personality" (as Harrier states) are more attractive. For instance, if John M. started posting again, I would bet more people would respond and such.
Yet another theory: people are attracted to controversy and conflict. If you build "drama", people will come.
BTW: sorry for all the "quotes"!
Carry on!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Um.. hello my name is XT (Dave). I live in southeast PA, about an hour northwest of Philadelphia, maybe 20 miles from Reading. I do most of my trail running in an area known locally as the Big Woods. Several parks and preserves so a lot of different trails in the area for variety. While not mountainous the trails are very hilly and most feature PA rocks. http://www.hopewellbigwoods.org/
I tend to keep up with the dailies here but you catch me on break now and then. I'm surprised more lurkers don't post to the dailies as it's really not just about your daily run but the interaction with others. I am more interested in reading a race report or topic from a regular as opposed to a random poster as I feel I know them better.
There is really not enough traffic here (other forums suffer the same, even RW) to get into training or general running questions and I think a lot of us here know what does and doesn't work for the most part. So to me, this forum is mostly about the daily interaction. Honestly I would rather discuss my running obsession with a smaller group as opposed to FB world. It seems more homey. I must admit though sometimes I do miss the controversy that sometimes popped up on RW. Like Jamie says, break out the popcorn threads.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Well this thread has been up for 5 days now and I still haven't posted in it. I guess that's cause I'm barely here right now. Life's been really busy, to the point that I've had to make it a priority to log in to post.
But anyway, I'm Craig. From central PA. Lately it's been all road running for me as I don't have the time to get to decent trails and it's now hunting season around here anyway.
Looking at the number of views in the dailies it seems like we have more lurkers sometimes than posters. Nothing against lurkers, but it would be nice to see them become regular posters.
I enjoy the smaller forum here. I came over from runners world after the rest that left after The Big Controversy. I did enjoy the pocorn there...but from what I've seen when peeking in, it seems much different than before. I don't look into other threads on this site...I'm pretty happy with things here. Besides...if I ever go to PA, I can get lots of advice on where to run!
Um.. hello my name is XT (Dave). I live in southeast PA, about an hour northwest of Philadelphia, maybe 20 miles from Reading. I do most of my trail running in an area known locally as the Big Woods. Several parks and preserves so a lot of different trails in the area for variety. While not mountainous the trails are very hilly and most feature PA rocks. http://www.hopewellbigwoods.org/ I tend to keep up with the dailies here but you catch me on break now and then. I'm surprised more lurkers don't post to the dailies as it's really not just about your daily run but the interaction with others. I am more interested in reading a race report or topic from a regular as opposed to a random poster as I feel I know them better. There is really not enough traffic here (other forums suffer the same, even RW) to get into training or general running questions and I think a lot of us here know what does and doesn't work for the most part. So to me, this forum is mostly about the daily interaction. Honestly I would rather discuss my running obsession with a smaller group as opposed to FB world. It seems more homey. I must admit though sometimes I do miss the controversy that sometimes popped up on RW. Like Jamie says, break out the popcorn threads.
January , 2022 Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 25k
Endless trails
Traffic and participation has died off dramatically in this forum, and I believe that's true with most forum sites due to the migration to other social media platforms. But this group has lost the actual interaction that originally drew all of together before most of were banned from RWOL. The daily thread used to be full of banter and now it's mostly just a place to post your daily workout without the personal commentary that drew us together. It's just changed, but that's ok. It's just not as interesting as it used to be.
I tend to agree, but we did have some good times. I go through periods of time where I don't feel connected
to the world, when I feel out of place or misunderstood and that includes my involvement with social media. I know the group of misfits on this forum can understand that. These past 10-12 months have been challenging for me and subsequently I've had the worst running year since I started, so I haven't posted too often.
Now where is dpc3 to pop in and say 'boobs'.
Keep Going
Hi Everyone.
I am here several times per week. I'm Bryan from the Lehigh Valley in Southeast PA. I usually train on the AT in Hamburg or my local trails such as Green Lane, Blue Marsh, Trexler Nature Preserve, or Valley Forge.
I run trails mostly except during the week when I'm forced on the road.
If there was a phone app I would be on here a lot more and most likely interacting more. I generally run most of time alone so I don't mind the quiet.
I have interacted with really only a small handful of folks here and they have been very welcoming and helpful.
100 milers are my favorite
Gwen from Southern Oregon. How many of you people are from PA?! That's crazy.
I just recently found this forum. I'd been training for my first 100 miler, when on 9/20 I managed to dislocate my ankle, break my leg in several places. Stupid. Blog post of sad details. Anyone with knowledge of recovery from this sort of injury, I'd appreciate details (knowing everyone is different). I was a cyclist (Cat 4) then a triathlete (5 middle of the pack Ironman finishes) then started ultra running at 43. My hope is that riding my bicycle on the trainer will be a useful means of rehab this winter. But I SO want to get back to running trails...
"The best day is today, even if it's kind of a sucky day." - Lazarus Lake
Gwen from Southern Oregon. How many of you people are from PA?! That's crazy. I just recently found this forum. I'd been training for my first 100 miler, when on 9/20 I managed to dislocate my ankle, break my leg in several places. Stupid. Blog post of sad details. Anyone with knowledge of recovery from this sort of injury, I'd appreciate details (knowing everyone is different). I was a cyclist (Cat 4) then a triathlete (5 middle of the pack Ironman finishes) then started ultra running at 43. My hope is that riding my bicycle on the trainer will be a useful means of rehab this winter. But I SO want to get back to running trails...
Welcome to the forum, Gwen. There is a high percentage of people here from PA. All that means is that not enough people from Oregon are posting . Sorry to hear about your misfortune and ending up with all that hardware.
Don't be afraid to post and let us know how your recovery is going.
I lurked then posted on the RWOL thread for a long time. While I enjoyed it...the banter was fun at times...I also was a bit u,comfortable with it because it was intensely focused on ultrarunning...and there were close relatio,ships formed that really did not have room for me. I was disappoi,ted when The Great Banning took place. Then NOBODY was there. I was eventually invited over here (thanks Mandy!). It has slowed down over here, but I enjoy everyone's posts....and I enjoy the personal things the most...how you all blend your lives with your running and handle your triumphs, diappointments, injuries and day to day living. Such things bore some people...but I hope people stay around.
Welcome to the lurkers!
2/3rds training
This is the first time I've checked this forum in probably two months...work got busy, injury kept niggling, and running took a slide. Fortunately, I still have a strong drive to run in wild places and I've kept myself in pretty good shape through biking and climbing. Now reside in Flagstaff, truly a trail runners paradise.
Recent shirtless pic:
My not-entirely-running-related 'Gram
Thread killer ..
Valerie in NV
I haven't dropped in for awhile . I just haven't really been visiting forums much . I used to check this one and another horse related forum regularly and today realized I haven't been to either in ages .
Sue
I recently ran the SOB 50 miler in Ashland and plan on returning next year. You close to there? Sorry about the leg bummer!
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
We'd probably have more traffic if people posted more shirtless pictures.
Getting a little chilly for that now but I have a small stockpile to get us through the dreary winter months
I'm still around.
Still struggling with a Lisfranc fracture in my right foot. I don't think it will ever be the same again.
When I get out, I spend my time in the red rock canyons and mountains of Southern Utah.
Trail and Ultra Running User Group