Way back when I first found this forum, there were a lot of people contributing to the various discussions/threads and there still is today.  My thought is. why does the membership change so drastically?  Do a search on any subject about figs and look at the names of the contributors and compare that to the threads on the current page.

Dynamics are not a bad thing but it seems like we lose as many as we gain which makes the total membership/contributions somewhat less than dynamic.  We tend to replace a lot of expertise with newbies and unfortunately we lose a lot of knowledge gained through the collective experience of the lost group.  I am not criticizing the fact that we get a lot of newbies, that is the only thing that keeps us going, and the newbies gain knowledge and experience and eventually become the knowledge base.

I do not have an answer, I only started thinking about this when I did a search on a topic and there was not a single member that was still contributing.

There have been those that got mad and went away, those that probably found a new shiny object, and those that simply got tired of the work required.  I think there may be some that thought there was some  money to be made, but found out that was not the case, certainly not enough to live off of.  The good news is that I cannot remember ever reading a notice of a member passing, thank God.

Again, not critical, only pensive.

For those that does not get the subject of "Where have all the flowers gone, the following link will explain it.

Agree with you Denny. Those were the days

Ottawan, how true -- as we gray, things change and often our energies are never the same as it used to be. Also, many were not happy here at F4F and move to
Our Figs forum.  Anyway, life choices are varied and I guess the happy ones stayed. 

I am here :) and thankfull to this forum for everything.

I hope there are others that find it the same and not just a way to aqcuire the best varieties etc.

Or maybe i am wrong since i have alot of varieties, still passing evry few hours helps me coop with the hardships of growing figs.

Reading what other members write is both educational and entertaining and a tool of distraction from other more serious issues of life.
A forum is supposed to be a place where everyone should have fun and be allowed to express his or her opinion freely. Unfortunately many times things went out of control which drove many members away.
In my opinion, gardening is both science and art and writing about it regardless of which forum or format is preferred, should remain fun. Perhaps then and only then, people might become interested in visiting or posting again.

How true & unfortunate.  

The worst is when the people who answer questions have not read the information that is already available! 

I didn't leave.  Just too busy to do much posting or reading.  Plus, I don't really need any more fig trees.  We are working on our house and acreage at the moment. 

Suzi

Sometimes new members are not necessarily new to figs.  When I joined I had been growing figs for many years and had started trees from  cuttings about 15 years earlier.  I still have learned a lot about different varieties since joining.

well, danny, now that i'm getting a weekly summary, i'll at least come n say hello, if i see your name.
hugzzz to you.
as a practical matter there is misinformation here.
for my area i had to learn how to grow figs by myself.

also, my  views are not popular here. i had it with arguing.
still, i miss my friends.

I think Pino hit the nail on the head. The fig forum just keeps churning supposedly new varieties being introduced daily, a lot of the same material being repeated, which I don't mind to much.it is possible someone has a new and Better solution to an old problem. Eventually though people get where they want to be with an interest and move on. I can't tell you how many forums I've joined and left once I got the information I needed to accomplish my goal. I know I'm getting tired of trying to keep up with all the latest and greatest. Now throw in the typical forum BS and people stop posting.

I made a un called for comment to dkirtexas long time ago.
I have cronic pain issues that tend to me saying stuff out of place.
I speak my mind, when sometimes I should keep it to myself.

I just want to publicly apologize ti dkirtexas and any others I have offended.

Peace
out

Doug

I am still here but do not post much because of personal health problems with my husband.   But I still read and learn  but will always consider myself a novice  and seek advice from the wise.     WHERE IS MARIUS  Please?

For me, I've just been too busy with work and family to keep up with "Fig Things".  I haven't even fertialized this year.  If it wasn't for the drip system, they would probably have all died.. lol.

My trees are looking pretty good this year, though.  Last year was truly depressing, especially after by two in ground tree died.  I put another in ground (white texas EB) and it's looking good so far.  All my (few) breba's dried up and fell off, except one that the birds and ants got before it ripened.  Out of my 40ish trees I probably have about 100 or so figs waiting to ripen.  They'll probably all ripen while i'm in france later this month. 

I've heard from a few of the most experienced people on here that they don't like answering the same questions over and over for people who don't search.

That's the main complaint that most regulars have on any forum, not just this one.
That's why I don't post much on this forum. I know how to search, first. Then if I can't
find the answer, I'll ask.

IMO I understand it can take patience to answer the same or similar questions. 
However new users come to the forum with different perspectives and varying levels of fig growing knowledge.  Also not everyone is a web wiz(geek) with the forum (or Google) search features. 

A search query depending on exact wording can result in hundreds of results. 
People don't have time to sift through pages of results many irrelevant to the question and not to mention the spam.  Many search results are out of date or have the wrong information.

I think it is nice to point the new person in the right direction.  Whether answering the question or some useful links or tips or updating some of the erroneous data on figs out there.

Hey were all newbies once.

eBay sellers. Who else is sick of "experts" who answer every question, or just take every opportunity to talk about themselves and self promote, just so their potential customers think they are legit. Then down the road when their Ronde de Bordeaux turns out to be a Brunswick they don't want anything to do with any of us.

Those looking only to make money off figs, take the fun out of figs for me.
Those looking only for free cuttings take the fun out of figs for me.
Those that think they have a answer for every question take the fun out of reading about figs.
Many people have rotated through this forum, it will always be that way.
Some people stick around only to try to help others with their figs, without anything to gain from it.
I will stay in the last group. just in the back ground.

Doug

Amen , Doug!
You said what I had in mind.