I don't care for forums that large. I joined City-Data years ago when I was looking for a craftsman in the Houston area to install granite countertops. (Found a good one, too.)
I looked for senior forums originally to discuss senior related issues like health but found other topics were there too. The first I joined was the "other" because it touted itself as being friendly but it turned out to be just the opposite even with not allowing politics. I came here and found spirited discussion but without the anger. Let's keep it that way.
I wasn't looking for a senior forum but was invited to SoC after another forum closed. I have probably said this before but if I haven't, Thank you @Yvonne Smith.
Amen. The "other" forum is run by a mean, little dweeb who censors posts because he can, and tells you to "deal with it." This forum has none of those vibes, thankfully.
I first joined an online forum, the Atlantic Monthly Post & Ripose, circa 1995. Man it was such a wonderful place, I still have friends I 'met' from that time. However, it was so lovely that it sort of ruined most other forums for me. After it started to peter out (is defunct now), I tried a few duds then moved on to a Canadian political forum and eventually became a moderator, it was a lot of fun and the owner remains a friend. Left for a paid position as admin of a large regional community board in the Okanagan, which lasted for well over a decade. Good years, but it was hard to remain neutral for that many years (I generally avoided posting strong opinions, especially political, and definitely avoided scalding hot topics). Then came social media (specifically facebook). There are no words. The upside on facebook was the chance to express strong opinions, the downside is that facebook sucks so very very badly (in my view). Decided recently to walk away from it, and life has been significantly happier as a result. Missed conversations, though (which is one reason for leaving facebook, rarely does one see much in the way of good conversations there anymore). Since then I've tried two forums, one local and another dealing mostly with a specific topic. Neither turned out to be a good fit. What I wanted (and feel I've likely found here) is a forum where people are a) interested in a wide range of topics, b) able to discuss said topics without getting knickers in a knot, c) not delicate flowers, and d) not woke. Along with that, a reasonably easygoing admin and staff that doesn't try to stifle good conversation. I'd say from what I've seen so far it's a great match. Also, the above is a ridiculously long post. Sorry!
Thank you! It is one of the nice things about a forum compared to social media, brevity is not mandatory. True that facebook doesn't make it a rule but they sure do encourage short updates. Pithy is fine as well, but my keyboard just keeps on clicking out more words, it's like a compulsive tick, lol.
I joined two horse boards to be able to talk horses whenever I got online. They were active for a long time, one after the other. A group from one even got together in real life a few times. It was a place to give and to get horse info and have coffee. Then I found this board cuz I'm old.
I had retired in 2018 and was looking for a way to talk with other people in my age group about retirement and social activities… I had joined the other senior forum but after a bit of time I discovered that there was a lot of mean-spirited and just hate filled conversations going on and I was not going to be part of a forum that spouted aggressive hated filled conversation so I started looking for another forum and found this one so far I’ve been content as people seem to be a more balanced kinder bunch and I can share some thoughts when I choose to do so. I do tend to avoid the political issues though as people seem to lose their good manners when this topic gets started.
I joined that other forum first, a few years ago. It was smaller and friendlier back then, though the political section could get pretty stirred up. As it grew and more loud-mouthed, opinionated people joined I liked it less and less. The arguments over Covid and vaccines was the final straw; I deleted the link to that place and don't plan to return. There seem to be very few discussion groups online that are accepting of conservative views. The liberals just want to shout them down with their hysteria and hate. That is the main draw of SoC for me; we all have a voice here.
I found this forum searching for a conservative alternative to AARP. While I wasn't happy with the alternative, I was referred to a local conservative agent that got me on the best lowest-cost plan to fit my needs. As @Beth Gallagher said the main appeal of this forum was the conservative tone and administrator that doesn't use multiple micromanaging moderators, combing every thread for some sign of falling out of step with the liberal agenda. It always irked me that liberal politics was allowed on other NO Politics Allowed forums under the disguise of Hot Button Topics. I also like it here because of using real-looking names. It is more personal than breakerbreaker109 this is babycakes415.
And I like it that some use real photos. .I can't identify with Wimpy but I'm not going to object to his use.