Is this forum getting worse and worse?

[Mia Chloe]

Let's be frank though, it kinda seems like general post quality on the forum is actually dropping. Will I blame the mixer ban? No . I believe to an extent that mixers too brought more traffic. however the fact remains although we have lost a majority of important members here due to inactivity or other factors, what  can we say ? Are there really any more discussions made here on the forum anymore that hasn't been made in the past?

Yeah we'll say that things are quite dynamic however the fact remains ,the only totally new topics on this forum are simply just a few occurrences that haven't happened sometime ago on the forum. Older members here often find topics here quite boring based on the fact that they have literally seen these topics over and over again.

You can even tell when you see new technical problems pop up older members are more inclined to engage in them .

[Alone055]

Let's be frank though, it kinda seems like general post quality on the forum is actually dropping. Will I blame the mixer ban? No . I believe to an extent that mixers too brought more traffic. however the fact remains although we have lost a majority of important members here due to inactivity or other factors, what  can we say ? Are there really any more discussions made here on the forum anymore that hasn't been made in the past?

Yeah we'll say that things are quite dynamic however the fact remains ,the only totally new topics on this forum are simply just a few occurrences that haven't happened sometime ago on the forum. Older members here often find topics here quite boring based on the fact that they have literally seen these topics over and over again.

You can even tell when you see new technical problems pop up older members are more inclined to engage in them .

Were problems such as these non-existent in the past? No, we had repetitive threads and topics even in the past, we used to have a way higher amount of spam in a lot of different sections of the forum in the past, and we used to have account farmers, bounty hunters, a lot of scams, and a bunch of other problems, but that didn't make the quality of the forum drop. The good quality people always used to overshadow the bad things around here.

The problem lies in a lack of interest. We used to have more active and quality members in the forum, particularly during or around when the Merit system was introduced. In those times, if older users used to become inactive, new quality members used to take over, and that isn't happening at present. Most people these days aren't particularly interested in the forum itself and the knowledge that can be gained from here, and to be honest, for this reason, the forum isn't as informative as it used to be, but, even if it does have something left in it, new users aren't interested in that. All they know or think about is how they can earn money from here and I don't blame them because the world is becoming that way, a person tends to look for monetary gains in almost everything they do.

So the problem is not in repetitive and boring threads or topics, they can be handled, but only if more members are interested in quality discussions and informative stuff that this forum used to have in chunks before but is losing over time.

[skarais]

~~~

Were problems such as these non-existent in the past? No, we had repetitive threads and topics even in the past, we used to have a way higher amount of spam in a lot of different sections of the forum in the past, and we used to have account farmers, bounty hunters, a lot of scams, and a bunch of other problems, but that didn't make the quality of the forum drop. The good quality people always used to overshadow the bad things around here.

The problem lies in a lack of interest. We used to have more active and quality members in the forum, particularly during or around when the Merit system was introduced. In those times, if older users used to become inactive, new quality members used to take over, and that isn't happening at present. Most people these days aren't particularly interested in the forum itself and the knowledge that can be gained from here, and to be honest, for this reason, the forum isn't as informative as it used to be, but, even if it does have something left in it, new users aren't interested in that. All they know or think about is how they can earn money from here and I don't blame them because the world is becoming that way, a person tends to look for monetary gains in almost everything they do.

So the problem is not in repetitive and boring threads or topics, they can be handled, but only if more members are interested in quality discussions and informative stuff that this forum used to have in chunks before but is losing over time.

Quality users will always exist, but their numbers will probably decrease over time. We can't always maintain interest for some reason, that's why you will always see people just coming and going. I'm also not sure you will still post and be interested in discussions when you have become a multi millionaire because of bitcoin, you must get bored to maintain that interest all the time.

I believe that there are still many users who really care about the quality of their posts, it can be found everywhere around this forum. Discussions are also still interesting when you're used to having knowledgeable users discussing with you, so the forum hasn't lost any of its quality, but it's probably lost a lot of user activity.

[Mia Chloe]

Were problems such as these non-existent in the past? No

Like seriously? I don't agree with that. Virtually almost every post that is been created has already been discussed sometime ago on the forum. The only difference possibly could be just little things however the base context of the problem or discussion has a very high likelihood of being very similar to an old post. Ever asked yourself why people in the technical board are quite good at solving issues?
It's simply because they've come across these problems over and over again.

The problem lies in a lack of interest.

Seems like you are contradicting yourself. What possibly could cause lack of interest ? Isn't repetitive posts part of it. Older members here are looking for newer things to discuss and not regular reoccurring posts.

[Alone055]

I believe that there are still many users who really care about the quality of their posts, it can be found everywhere around this forum. Discussions are also still interesting when you're used to having knowledgeable users discussing with you,

I know, that's why I said there are still some left, but the newer generation of this forum can barely pass a quality test and that's sad.

so the forum hasn't lost any of its quality, but it's probably lost a lot of user activity.

Loss of good quality user activity = Loss of overall quality.

Like seriously? I don't agree with that. Virtually almost every post that is been created has already been discussed sometime ago on the forum. The only difference possibly could be just little things however the base context of the problem or discussion has a very high likelihood of being very similar to an old post.

I never disagreed with that, all I said is that this problem existed even in the past, but the quality didn't drop much because those who were coming to the forum were interested more in the industry and its advantages than the monetary benefits which is why the quality were intact, but that has changed drastically over time, hence, a drop in quality.

Ever asked yourself why people in the technical board are quite good at solving issues?
It's simply because they've come across these problems over and over again.

I wouldn't put it that way, it might hurt their feelings because they are good at solving problems because they have a lot of technical knowledge and not because they have answered repetitive questions. 

Seems like you are contradicting yourself. What possibly could cause lack of interest ? Isn't repetitive posts part of it. Older members here are looking for newer things to discuss and not regular reoccurring posts.

I have already answered this twice, once in my post above, and once in this post again.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I believe that there are still many users who really care about the quality of their posts, it can be found everywhere around this forum. Discussions are also still interesting when you're used to having knowledgeable users discussing with you,

I know, that's why I said there are still some left, but the newer generation of this forum can barely pass a quality test and that's sad.

You just need to ask where these new people will come from. They mainly come from social networks. If someone uses social networks, they know that there is clip thinking there. Quickly log in, quickly read the information that will stay in the brain for no more than 15 seconds, and that's it, enough.
People have stopped reading large texts. You are talking about recurring topics, but even there, does everyone read from beginning to end? If everyone could conduct constructive conversations, reading from beginning to end,  there would be no need to create similar topics.
It is precisely because of this that people have become illiterate, do not know how to read correctly, do not read books, or, as it was earlier on the Internet, large articles or blogs; they are not interested in the content of the forum.
We often direct newcomers to read this or that publication, but if their brain forgets after 15 seconds while reading a large topic, what was at the beginning, then what can you talk about or ask?

[EarnOnVictor]

What's the problem?

There is no problem, though your concern is thoughtful, the forum continues to be active, except that it's not always on BTC core discussions. This can only mean there are no Bitcoin trending/hot discussions to discuss which is not the fault of the forum and its users.

When Ordinals was trending, no one forced it, it was well discussed, and the same goes for the ETF and the former ones before them. Tell me, which one is trending like them now? There would naturally be more topics to discuss when Bitcoin and Bitcointalk were still new than now when almost all important discussions have already been discussed. Things will naturally spice up when important developments happen around Bitcoin, like the ETF of last year.

[skarais]

~~~

I know, that's why I said there are still some left, but the newer generation of this forum can barely pass a quality test and that's sad.

Yes, it is a sad condition, but it also depends on what goals they had when registering their account on this forum.
Someone who is interested in learning will expand their knowledge by reading from basic to technical, but I'm sure there are not many users who are truly sincere like that because I think most of the current generation come solely because they want to make money from signature campaig.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

I don't want to correlate this forum's comedown with the mixer ban, even though I've thought of it and it's likely one major factor, but what's the current picture of Bitcointalk according to you? To me, it's declining in genuine interest.

I can agree as well on this for some reasons like the mixers ban and scarcity of signature campaigns in filling up the space created from the banned mixers on the forum, many were already leaving while some are no more active as before, fine and good if the signature opportunity is banned along the mixers for instance, people will still be active on the forum but the number of increase we should have achieved may not come to pass because there will definitely be a drop, all these are part of what increases the activeness and activities of so many members on the forum, though it has nothing to do with the sole purpose of bitcoin discussion which is why the forum was created, but a means to increase the forum participation and activeness of members from the opportunities they were served with.

[programmer3666]

You are right at some point but to me I would say that as time goes interest began to decline especially when they have something more serious than being around forum to read and post here. Some of them could get personal job or have an office work where they are well paid and decided to abandoned this forum for that work, and for something more serious in their lives. I can also relates that people are passing through difficulties over the time since we don't regularly check on people to know how life is fairing with them, most of the people whom we knew then that was active and has gone could be a kind of live challenges such as o_e_l_e_o and Light_worrior if I am not misspelling the name. So overall, everyone must not remain active to keep posting, sometimes they could get occupied with real life cases and some of them are passing through hard time over the time being. Just as what @_act_ and next poster already said.

Quite frankly I might not be in a place to make my little contribution concerning the forum losing its relevance or the possibility of losing valuable members with technical know-how abilities. However, I can state for a fact that the platform still has its relevance to a very large extent because for the few weeks have been here, I have learned the fundamental concepts of crypto ecosystems and I have been able to apply certain information gotten here to more practical activities. I believe if one scouts well enough and also knows what he or she is here for, the information given out by certain individuals who are genuinely still active will serve its purpose.

[bitmover]

Let's be frank though, it kinda seems like general post quality on the forum is actually dropping. Will I blame the mixer ban? No . I believe to an extent that mixers too brought more traffic. however the fact remains although we have lost a majority of important members here due to inactivity or other factors, what  can we say ? Are there really any more discussions made here on the forum anymore that hasn't been made in the past?

There is always reason to talk and discuss.

New technologies shows up every few months, even in the bitcoin protocol, like silent payments.
New wallets appear with different approaches to old tech, like aqua.

Also, New services appears, old ones scam exit.. New legislations comes in.

New bugs in old wallets...

 There is always something to discuss and questions to answers.

[Oshio-man]

I believe many people have spoken well concerning the way forward of this forum,  I know there will be massive improvement as usual soon because the administrator board are fully ready to do their duty to make sure nothing make the forum users feel they are not working to keep the forum progressing. Since there is an issues that make them to banned mixers from the forum, and if they have lift the banned, and they are ready to follow the forum rules, they should give them the second chance into the forum, because I was told there was a lot of signature campaign and bounty signature campaigns from the mixers from this forum, which is the reason many users are here today to be part of the progress of this forum, this is my little suggestion.

[SmartGold01]

Snip

Quite frankly I might not be in a place to make my little contribution concerning the forum losing its relevance or the possibility of losing valuable members with technical know-how abilities. However, I can state for a fact that the platform still has its relevance to a very large extent because for the few weeks have been here, I have learned the fundamental concepts of crypto ecosystems and I have been able to apply certain information gotten here to more practical activities. I believe if one scouts well enough and also knows what he or she is here for, the information given out by certain individuals who are genuinely still active will serve its purpose.

Well I don't know how you may see this forum but technically the person we lose here is a sole contributor to the forum, that doesn't mean there is no reputable user or good people here but as we know those people they are of great value to the forum. And of course you can still read their post and contribution here to educate yourself more better but we can never have person exactly like them, we may have people who are greater than them but to say we would see them here again is no more.

[d5000]

I have only recently discovered this thread when it popped up again in August. My own opinion to the topic is a bit divided.

I'm active mainly in the Spanish and German subforums and some parts of the English section. And the developments in the last years in these sections weren't exactly the same.

The Spanish forum was the first I used, and at first (let's say until 2015/16) was quite active. But then some high profile members left and the section was almost dead, until new people popped up around 2018/19. Particularly one of them became one of the most prolific and high-quality contributors of the entire Bitcointalk forum and they also were very active in the local Spanish subforum with interesting topics. A few months ago they reduced their activity drastically, and since then the Spanish forum has again much less activity, although there is also almost no spam anymore (probably thanks to Merit). New users almost never pop up which is really a pity. I think the forum has also still SEO issues, even if it now show on the first page on Google for "foro bitcoin".

The German forum's development was different, it was much more steadily active in the time between 2015 and 2021-22 and so during this time it became my "home" here Recently (about 2-3 years ago) there was a generational change it seems which brought some new people into the subforum, some with very interesting and very elaborated content, while the OGs from about 2015 reduced their activity. But also here, in 2024 one of the high-profile quality posters reduced their activity greatly, but at the same time thanks to other users of the "new generation" there was still a quite high level of activity. New users sometimes pop up, much more than in the Spanish subforum, but only few stay. Spam is very unfrequent.

I found the English sections interesting at first but from about 2016 on I felt they went downhill and filled with spam, but some sections were still worth reading (the technical sections). For me the worst time was 2017, from 2018 on with Merit the situation improved, but very slowly. The recent removal of the Mixer signature campaigns probably helped to reduce the spam level further, but it is still quite rampant. I particularly don't like that the Economics forum is now almost 90%+ off-topic content (not related to Bitcoin). Of course the economic aspect of Bitcoin has been thoroughly discussed but the local subforums show there are still a lot of interesting Economics-related topics to discuss. In the last 2 years I also noticed a decrease in quality of the technical sections. But very recently this seems to have improved again, let's see if it lasts.

Altcoin Discussion, since 2-3 years, is in a particular bad state, even "interesting" topics are mostly created with shilling intention. But ok, I understand it's not Bitcointalk's main focus.

In general I would say that there was some activity decrease in 2024, and that for sure had to do with the mixer campaigns. On the other hand, the Spanish subforum in particular still works better than in its worst moments. So I still don't see the forum in a "critical" state, it's part of the ups and downs I experienced in the last years. However I would like some technical improvements, like a more attractive CSS theme.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

I totally disagree that the forum is getting worse. It was founded in 2009 by the great Satoshi Nakamoto but in the early days there weren’t many members and Bitcoin was a niche idea, a form of payment with very little adoption.

We are in 2024, Bitcoin is a real world commodity, we have institutional investment in Bitcoin and we are getting closer and closer to mainstream adoption. This forum is the flagship place to chat about and discover Bitcoin. We have many different Local Boards where people from all over the world come to learn about and discuss Bitcoin. There is a Collectibles section, a Gambling Section where very established crypto sportsbooks and crypto casinos advertise. This forum is big business for many companies.

The forum helps people link with like-minded individuals. I have met multiple people from this forum who have become real life friends. One was a guest at my wedding last year. The forum, through its many helpful members and sources of information has made many people very wealthy but also helped people in under developed countries out of poverty.

There are many ways to make money here, not just through signature campaigns. You can participate in many pools and competitions in the Gambling section that have multiple prizes. There are escrow providers here that help facilitate trades. We have established loan providers in the Lending Section.

This forum is the best place to learn about Bitcoin. There are so many helpful posters here. I got into Bitcoin 10 years ago, this place taught me so much, I have soaked up so much knowledge from the many helpful posters here. I wouldn’t be in the very comfortable position I am in life if I hadn’t found this forum in 2014.

So back to the question, is the forum getting worse? I can tell you 100% that the answer is no. If you don’t like posting here then leave, nobody is forcing you to be here. The forum is getting bigger and better every single year.

[examplens]

I totally disagree that the forum is getting worse. It was founded in 2009 by the great Satoshi Nakamoto but in the early days there weren’t many members and Bitcoin was a niche idea, a form of payment with very little adoption.

The key thing that happens is a reduction in activity. In the last few years, more active members have left than new ones have arrived (who are constructively active).
Nevertheless, this forum still enjoys a good reputation and maintains relevance in the crypto community. Still, many beginners as well as the services themselves come here for advice, as discussions from Bitcointalk are still often mentioned in various analyses on third parties.
So, less activity, definitely yes. Still, the relevance of the forum is certainly yes.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

The key thing that happens is a reduction in activity.

I think that has been said before, possibly it aligns with the period we are in Bitcoin four year cycles. I imagine the forum will be buzzing with activity when we enter the peak bull phase of this epoch, which should be in 2025.

At the moment there is no excitement due to the relatively boring price action. With parabola and excitement surrounding Bitcoin’s price, comes a surge in activity here at bitcointalk.org. I’d suggest this place will be a lot busier with a lot more activity this time next year.

[BlackHatCoiner]

At the moment there is no excitement due to the relatively boring price action. With parabola and excitement surrounding Bitcoin’s price, comes a surge in activity here at bitcointalk.org.

"Parabola and excitement" is not how I define "genuine interest". A decade ago, people's ideas ranged from scalability and privacy solutions to resisting totalitarian governments through the use of a currency without trusted third parties. These concepts are brilliant, and intellectually stimulating. Today, the primary concern seems to be when "the number will go up". I don't deny that I appreciate the gains, but I believe it's crucial to remember where we're coming from. It seems to me that the vast majority here have little to no interest in the cypherpunk spirit, and that's just sad.

Take a look at this thread I created a couple of days ago: Say no to maximalism. In it, I argue that Bitcoin maximalism has a negative impact on the space, as it stifles intellectual growth. I believe we should critically evaluate the tradeoffs of other networks without letting Bitcoin's status as a currency bias our judgment. This discussion isn't about "investing" or "market cap", yet notice how many people in the replies focus on those aspects.

[mindrust]

This forum is not alone for having boring content.

Reddit suffers from the same problem. Whenever I visit my favorite subs, they always have the same boring titles and discussions.

People are addicted to fear and adrenaline.

When someone loses his grandma’s $700k inheritance money on intc, millions of people speak about it. That’s news. That attracts clicks.

Otherwise nobody cares what shitcoins do.

Aw maan $700k on intc what a fucking moron you should have bought bitcoin noob

[Ultegra134]

The key thing that happens is a reduction in activity. In the last few years, more active members have left than new ones have arrived (who are constructively active).
Nevertheless, this forum still enjoys a good reputation and maintains relevance in the crypto community. Still, many beginners as well as the services themselves come here for advice, as discussions from Bitcointalk are still often mentioned in various analyses on third parties.
So, less activity, definitely yes. Still, the relevance of the forum is certainly yes.

I believe the reduction in activity has also been caused by the difficulty of ranking up after the merit system was introduced. That's not new news but you get my point. I'm not against it by any means; the forum was attracting a lot of spammers that would have ranked up to higher ranks if it weren't for it and still are, but the number is considerably lower. We're reporting an average of 2 AI spammers per week, more or less, which to me shows that a a considerable number of users cannot produce content that's merit worthy.

However, I don't think the forum is becoming considerably worse. I wasn't fond of the mixer ban, a controversial topic that sparked many differences, but it's better than risking the forum shutdown by the Feds. Are there uninteresting topics? Certainly, but there's also an abundance of interesting topics from reputable users who are still producing quality content.