Is this forum dead?

[solus_factor]

Signature campaigns changed the vibe but the technical boards still have real discussion. Off topic areas got noisier, sure, but the signal is still there if you know where to look.

Nice to know, but this time I am here not for technical discussions, and in other areas it seems there is one real person per literally a hundred zombies. I now just automatically add anybody with banners into my ignore list. Don't even bother to read.

This thing with banners got out of control if real people need to "hide" in technical boards. What's the point of having these signature campaigns? Is it worth basically killing the only crypto forum out there?

What good is fake activity anyway? It's already pretty much a circle jerk of these zombies, showing banners to each other. Are advertisers happy with their ROI?

Insane...

[SamReomo]

No, this forum is definitely dead. It's like a zombie town.

Why are you talking to zombies then? If you think this forum is dead and everyone on this forum is a zombie then you should go somewhere else. This forum is still the number one place to find genuine information about Bitcoin and those who're interested in Bitcoin and are part of Bitcoin community will always find this forum useful. If you're not interested then you could go somewhere else trust me no one will force you to be here.

[Daniel91]

OP, first of all, I don't think there is any need to talk about other forum members in such a way, calling them zombies, etc.
Yes, it can be said that internet forums have lost their importance in recent years, and that people write much more on social networks, and AI has been used more recently to search for information, but this does not mean that internet forums have lost their relevance and become unimportant.
For me, it is more transparent and much easier to find old information, published many years ago, for example, on Internet forums than on social networks.
AI answers are still not reliable and AI often "hallucinates" and gives nonsensical answers.
This forum has lost a part of its members in recent years and there is less activity, which is a normal trend for all internet forums, but considering the current activity and number of members, it is still far from declaring this forum dead.
Regarding signature campaigns, do you really think that it really means a lot to someone who lives in Western Europe or America that they will get a few hundred dollars from a signature campaign?
For them it's more like a bonus, a reward for effort and activity on the forum but otherwise not something too important.
However, if someone offers a reward for what people would do anyway, being active on this forum, then why would it be a problem for members to accept it?
In the end, if you don't like this forum and think that people are only writing here for money and spamming, then why did you register your account here?
If I don't like a place, I simply move on, and register where I like it better and feel more comfortable.

[libert19]

What's the point of having these signature campaigns? Is it worth basically killing the only crypto forum out there?

This is bullshit. Look at Altcoinstalks, it was pretty much dead forum before mixers were banned here, which led them to promote themselves there, and it led users from here teleport there as well (sure, for money!) but it also improved discussions and tools catering to community were also developed.

What good is fake activity anyway?

How exactly is it fake? Does my comment look fake to you?

It's already pretty much a circle jerk of these zombies, showing banners to each other. Are advertisers happy with their ROI?

Insane...

If they weren't, they wouldn't be promoting themselves here (or on other forum).

When they stop finding forums worthy for their money, they will automatically leave, what's the fuss about?

[The Cryptovator]

Nice to know, but this time I am here not for technical discussions, and in other areas it seems there is one real person per literally a hundred zombies. I now just automatically add anybody with banners into my ignore list. Don't even bother to read.

Definitely you can; it doesn't matter who you add to your ignore list. Who cares? It's your account, and you can't do anything with that. If you can become legendary, then probably you don't need to ignore the person; then you could directly ignore all the signature ads from your profile, which means any ads will not be visible to you.

This thing with banners got out of control if real people need to "hide" in technical boards. What's the point of having these signature campaigns? Is it worth basically killing the only crypto forum out there?

There is no point in considering the forum dead for the signature campaign. It doesn't really make sense, either; if you say signature campaigns increase spam, then I would agree with you partially.

What good is fake activity anyway? It's already pretty much a circle jerk of these zombies, showing banners to each other. Are advertisers happy with their ROI?

Unless they are happy, then why would they want to be trapped in this circle? Who is forcing them? Does the signature prevent you from reading posts? Or do you feel annoyed by signature ads?

[knowngunman]

It seems to me that people are posting JUST for the sake of flashing their banners.

Why does almost everybody have them now? And most with banners are "legendary"! Because they spam the forum with meaningless posts day and night?

Is there some sort of a gold rush and you can now earn a ton of money from this? Maybe I should join? 

And what's your problem with the banners? Do they look amazing to you? I guess yes because you look tempted to join people who wear it already.

If you really have no problem with the signature (banner in your language) you would probably concentrate on the message being passed and not what's displayed on the bottom of the post. Perhaps, you are envious of legendary members simply because the rank seems unattainable to you. The legendary rank is the least populated rank among other ranks and there's no way they can be the most rank with banner.

And by the way, if the forum is dead as you claim, you wouldn't be here with a newly registered account. You should have stuck to Reddit and continued reading generic posts if you really consider it more active than this forum. Isn't it amazing to see someone joining a supposedly dead forum? I'm ashamed on your behalf.

[Cookdata]

Signature campaigns changed the vibe but the technical boards still have real discussion. Off topic areas got noisier, sure, but the signal is still there if you know where to look.

Nice to know, but this time I am here not for technical discussions, and in other areas it seems there is one real person per literally a hundred zombies. I now just automatically add anybody with banners into my ignore list. Don't even bother to read.

This thing with banners got out of control if real people need to "hide" in technical boards. What's the point of having these signature campaigns? Is it worth basically killing the only crypto forum out there?

What good is fake activity anyway? It's already pretty much a circle jerk of these zombies, showing banners to each other. Are advertisers happy with their ROI?

Insane...

You see the screenshot above, it's your favorite Reddit that you claimed to be better than Bitcointalk and I have more than enough subreddit I visits everyday just for regular discussion and if there is something I'm missing that I haven't seen here.

I get these annoying animated ads that I don't like, they are not good for my eyes and I have look for ways to subscribe as a premium account so I don't see the ads but my card is decline due to regional policies.

If I see the kind of banner ads in BTT in Reddit, I wouldn't bother for way to stop the ads but this one is too annoying. Sometimes, I get ads of subreddit recommendations and thats crazy. I'm like, why should I join what I'm not even interested.

At this point, you are not just a troll, you lack good sense of judgment to differentiate between what's good and what's right. You need help!

[alegotardo]

Is this forum dead? ALL the posts I see seem to be from people with banners in their signatures and info block, trying to earn some Ad money?

I remember a few years ago this was a vibrant place, what the hell happened?

Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

I know that ads is a bit of a hindrance and many people do not like it... I also confess that we have many users who are post only as obligation to get a financial return.

But I ask you to see this from other perspective... currently there are so many social networks... many much worse places and centralized platforms with much more ads but more "eye catching" and interesting than this SMF platform, right? So what make people continue talk about Bitcoin here instead going of to other more interactive and easy to use platforms?

Our campaigns are a great incentive for this! Instead of talking about Bitcoin and generate traffic to centralized platforms, we choose to do it here and be financially rewarded for it.

We still have people here who talk about Bitcoin out of love for technology, and campaigns are an incentive for that, not one purpose for us to continue talking about it.

[TypoTonic]

Things sure changed... In my time these banners earned you some cents.

The only time these banners earned cents was from 2011, but then you say you weren't here long enough.

It's my first impression, I wasn't here long enough, maybe I am wrong. But it just seems that most posts are written just to say _something_.

These banners can't provide a decent stream of additional income, can they? So most of these people are probably poor shmucks from places like India and Pakistan, trying to earn a couple of bucks a month? Or are these really profitable now? What am I missing here?

It's always nice to earn some extra sats, doesn't matter where you're from or what your financial status is. The problem is that there will always be some people who will try to abuse this opportunity (e.g., spam posts, multiple accounts), they are the ones who as you mentioned 'will write just to say something'. It doesn't mean that the forum is dead though, you can still have genuine discussions with other users based on your interests.

A lot of people come here primarily looking to make money. The forum administration is very happy that people are able to use the forum in order to better themselves; indeed, one of the reasons for Bitcoin's creation was to break the artificial barriers which prevent so many people around the world from attaining prosperity. However, if your attempts to make money conflict with the forum's primary goal of enabling discussion, then you are swimming upstream, and you will not be sucessful in the end.

If you view the forum as some sort of "job" where you complete some basic tasks and get paid, then you will almost certainly be disappointed, and the forum administration will not be sympathetic. If you do make money using the forum, then it will be through innovation and entrepreneurship, not any sort of mindless busywork.

[libert19]

I get these annoying animated ads that I don't like, they are not good for my eyes and I have look for ways to subscribe as a premium account so I don't see the ads but my card is decline due to regional policies.

If I see the kind of banner ads in BTT in Reddit, I wouldn't bother for way to stop the ads but this one is too annoying. Sometimes, I get ads of subreddit recommendations and thats crazy. I'm like, why should I join what I'm not even interested.

If you use android, try RedReader (play store link), it doesn't have ads and neither the subreddit recomendations.

[Mpamaegbu]

Is this forum dead?

The forum is very much alive and kicking. Even, there are several new features added now and traffic is still eye-catching.

ALL the posts I see seem to be from people with banners in their signatures and info block, trying to earn some Ad money?

You ought to have posted from your main account so we check if it doesn't have the signatures too or is it red tagged? Again, you can just press on the ignore all signature accounts (I know there's a feature somewhere in the profile for that) so they don't distract you. If that's what you want.

I remember a few years ago this was a vibrant place, what the hell happened?

Even then, there were a lot of users who felt the forum was boring. People see things differently. As for me, I've really learnt a lot from this forum; both then and now.

Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

Reddit? How? I've had an account on Reddit since a few years ago but I'm inactive there. For me, that's just another X.

[libert19]

ALL the posts I see seem to be from people with banners in their signatures and info block, trying to earn some Ad money?

You ought to have posted from your main account so we check if it doesn't have the signatures too or is it red tagged? Again, you can just press on the ignore all signature accounts (I know there's a feature somewhere in the profile for that) so they don't distract you. If that's what you want.

I don't think seeing signatures is op's problem, op thinks everybody is posting for signatures and these are not genuine interactions, which may be true except for those who aren't wearing signatures.

Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

Reddit? How? I've had an account on Reddit since a few years ago but I'm inactive there. For me, that's just another X.

IMO, X is far worse than Reddit.

[philipma1957]

Is this forum dead? ALL the posts I see seem to be from people with banners in their signatures and info block, trying to earn some Ad money?

I remember a few years ago this was a vibrant place, what the hell happened?

Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

i have to thank you for creating a lively discussion amongst us zombies.🧟‍♀️

we have managed to write four pages of denials against your opening thread.🧵

[Btcdeybodi]

I remember a few years ago this was a vibrant place, what the hell happened?

Nothing happened, it's still a lively place...

Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

Bitcointalk.org is still the best among all forums that discusses about bitcoin.

Is this forum dead?

You are not the first to ask or say that the forum is dead, so you should ask about something else. Maybe you should come up with questions like ''is bitcoin dead"?
Just know that Satoshi started this forum and it has been as old as bitcoin so the only thing that will stop this forum from existing is if bitcoin stops to exist, which is not going to happen.

Let me leave you with similar post and thread in the past but the forum is still here today, strong and active

The Forum is Dying

Forum is dying and no one doing anything.

[Lucius]

Is this forum dead? ALL the posts I see seem to be from people with banners in their signatures and info block, trying to earn some Ad money?
I remember a few years ago this was a vibrant place, what the hell happened?
Forum is not a good format for conversations anymore? Everybody left for reddit?

How many years ago exactly? I'm asking because I've been here since 2015, and then most members had paid signatures, as they still have today. It is true that we have lost some very good and important members, without whom this forum is not the same as before, but that is life and we cannot do anything about it.

Regarding forums as a place for discussion, you are not far from the truth, because young people today use social networks and various apps, and forums are mostly not interesting to them, especially if they look like this forum. I and many others don't mind that, but not everyone shares that opinion.

[solus_factor]

How many years ago exactly? I'm asking because I've been here since 2015, and then most members had paid signatures, as they still have today.

Hey, I think I remember you! Or somebody else with the same Banksy avatar.

This means I might have still been here in 2015. Pretty sure I've been here in 2011, but as a lurker, I've registered an account some time later. My memory is not good with dates...

You're right, there were signatures, but they earned cents and there weren't that many of them. And every "Legendary" member was highly respected.

Now the signatures pay a lot more and there's literally 20:1 ratio of zombies from poor countries to normal people.  And every other is "Legendary" I mean, look at this thread, it struck a nerve with them, they are afraid to lose their source of income. And they are, how do I put it, not a good quality people...

Sad to see the Internet slowly go into shitter

[libert19]

...And every "Legendary" member was highly respected.

You could rank up back then by merely being active on the forum. Now, you need merits. If anything, current system is better even though it may not be perfect.

Now the signatures pay a lot more and there's literally 20:1 ratio of zombies from poor countries to normal people.

  And every other is "Legendary" I mean, look at this thread, it struck a nerve with them, they are afraid to lose their source of income. And they are, how do I put it, not a good quality people...

You just remind me of Satofan with these statements.

[Satofan44]

How many years ago exactly? I'm asking because I've been here since 2015, and then most members had paid signatures, as they still have today.

Hey, I think I remember you! Or somebody else with the same Banksy avatar.

This means I might have still been here in 2015. Pretty sure I've been here in 2011, but as a lurker, I've registered an account some time later. My memory is not good with dates...

You're right, there were signatures, but they earned cents and there weren't that many of them. And every "Legendary" member was highly respected.

You make a categorical error of classifying everyone who has any kind of banner as a zombie. Although it is understandable from one perspective, as probably the real ratio between shitposters and good posters with signatures is somewhere between 90-90 to 1 depending on where you look. Other than that, many responses here are incorrect and you make fine points -- one of the reasons for that is also bias. Were these same posts made by a "Legendary" account (even if they were objectively pretty much a shitposter) you would have received different answers. If you were any kind of "signature manager", you would get even more favorable answers.   One would have to be quite dumb not to see these behavioral patterns.

Now the signatures pay a lot more and there's literally 20:1 ratio of zombies from poor countries to normal people.  And every other is "Legendary" I mean, look at this thread, it struck a nerve with them, they are afraid to lose their source of income. And they are, how do I put it, not a good quality people...

Sad to see the Internet slowly go into shitter

It is pretty bad here, although I can't really say historically if this is the worst it has ever been. I can say that in most topics, in most sections, most of the replies are the most generic and useless junk that you can image. If you really want to read good content, the mailing list and Delving Bitcoin are probably the only places that retain good quality posts. This one is at times the worst, on some days or weeks it is much worse than the clusterfuck X.

A lot of people come here primarily looking to make money. The forum administration is very happy that people are able to use the forum in order to better themselves; indeed, one of the reasons for Bitcoin's creation was to break the artificial barriers which prevent so many people around the world from attaining prosperity. However, if your attempts to make money conflict with the forum's primary goal of enabling discussion, then you are swimming upstream, and you will not be sucessful in the end.

If you view the forum as some sort of "job" where you complete some basic tasks and get paid, then you will almost certainly be disappointed, and the forum administration will not be sympathetic. If you do make money using the forum, then it will be through innovation and entrepreneurship, not any sort of mindless busywork.

Good quote, but this is false. Posting whatever word stew you can cook up with the least amount of effort as long as it has any keywords that relate to the title or the first thread has nothing to do with bettering yourself. You can see that most users are not bettering themselves in any significant way. After several years in a "Bitcoin forum" their Bitcoin knowledge can be surpassed by a 6 year old who read Mastering Bitcoin once. Nothing else needs to be said about "bettering" yourself. Many are posting even the most blatant misinformation, they don't even know the difference between basic concepts such as privacy and anonymity even though they can be defined in 1 sentence each -- yet they frequently post their "opinions" on them.  

What I know about bitcoin is that bitcoin is a decentralized coin, and bitcoin has a strong community who are constantly investing in bitcoin, and again the creator of bitcoin is not known to anyone because he decided to keep himself anonymous, there are a lot of things I know about bitcoin and I’m certain that investing in bitcoin is a very good option for someone who wants to have free and good investment. The government has no control over bitcoin and whatever the government has no control of is usually more safe, if there is a war in your country, your investment in bitcoin won’t be affected, so bitcoin is one of the safest investment right now in the world and should not be taking for granted.

Would this be what we call "bettering themselves"?