We're at the start of summer vacation (most countries) and that will account for some.

More importantly, over the last 4 years some of the most treasured, and prolific, posters have passed. They are at the Big Computer in the Sky.

As for posts, we see a lot.... but most are newbies with a help me get rich post then nothing else from there.... and the rank a file these days recognize those kinds of posts and move on to the next.

The growing dominance of CMS fueled sites (working from templates.... no real coding necessary) has dumbed down the new/younger webmasteers working on crakerbox websites.

There's been a roll out of a new look and feel (and underlying code) at WW and, sad to say, some may not like it and have stopped coming back. Most like it, or like it well enough to keep with it for as long as possible.

The "grand strategies" of the old days don't work the same since Panda et al. The algos are squeezing tight and most have no clue how to change THEIR ways to get out of the rabbit hole. Hanging on to the past (how to monetize) is slow sure death, and many sites are dying, or are already gone.... thus no webmaster to com visit.

The web itself is changing. Brands are becoming more dominate... and none (or very few) of their webmasters are at WW.... don't have the time, or need, as they have in-house staffs working round the clock.

But, more than anything, I think it is the summer vacations kicking in and the next few months might be a little slow. :)

Tangor has beaten me to much of it, but i'd also add that weekend posting is always going to be down since many more pro's are involved on weekdays only. Additionally, it's holiday time for many in the US right now, and Europe tends to go away for a month from mid July to mid August.

On the up-side, we've had some interesting discussions where we've all assessed the updates, changes, etc. But it's not all about Google, too.

I've been trying for many years to get many more people thinking wider than just Google.

Here are just a few topics where your input would be valued.

[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]

The latter of the three threads that you linked to is closed ( too old ) to anyone's input..

Fair enough fellow webmasters. I honestly did refresh and logout etc just to verify what I was seeing was real. Apparently not broken, but I've been here a while, through many summers and it's quite jolting to see that level of inactivity. I will look at the other discussions going on outside of the Google forum for sure. I'm certainly not point the finger solely on Google, but it's just reality that they were largely the portal from which a lot of us existed and were rewarded with some traffic. There was a worthwhile pursuit. I do admit that I'm reading into the activity here and equating that to the current state of webmastering. When Bing and Google are the portal and they are hell bent on providing more of what we want on their own pages, then I guess eventually that's going to erode the community. I'm sure new life will be created because the portal to the internet is shrinking before our eyes. Not for all, but obviously for enough people that they aren't inspired enough to post in my "go to" forum, the Google forum. Please, I'm not trying to be disrespectful to anyone here. I'm just needing to discuss something that for me was/is quite startling.

Summer, weekends, the change in the web, search engines in general.... all has changed in the last 18 months.... and I suspect will change even more in the next six as G rolls out yet another "biggie".

But I will say that G, for all its immensity, is not the be all end all and there are other ways to "get the job done". And while not a general exodus, there have been many defectors from G in the last two years.... most beginning with Penguin and then Panda. These folks of one mind set had to leave the "wailing wall" (Google SEO forum) as their voices, while heard, received no answers or even guidance because their chosen path was no longer viable and even the best of hearts could find no way to assist.

Business choices are made every day. Some by providers, some by search engines, some by webmasters.... and when you get to the "ad" side of the web: Publishers and Advertisers. A constant Flux, as it should be. Some will adjust and the conversation can continue. Some will not (or cannot for some reason) and will wither and die, their voice stilled.

I am curious as to your "something startling", but send me a sticky with a 30 word description of same instead of jumping in HERE, on THIS THREAD if it is G centric ... as this is not a G centric Thread.

@tangor, your last bit there is incoherent, to put it nicely.

What, the part after "summer" or "Curious?"

Still trying to figure out the "sad state of affairs" as the web it the web and G is G and we live in that world. :)

Just responding to apparent hyperbole with same, and having a jolly good time. :)

What part of send me your startling via sticky was incoherent? Perhaps you have something startling to share. In 30 words or less (think Hollowood (sic) for a treatment... after all, you have to sell the idea first before verbosity ensues). If it really is startling I'll help you get the message out!

Reminder: You started with:

I see that my post in Google SEO forum didn't go through. That's fine. This is a private forum and if it's not a suitable post, so be it.

Is there a mute functionality built into the new forum? I'd like to test it.

Sounds like a winner! I vote for that, too!

It can seem a little sad to me too but the business has changed. Once upon a time, you could hit refresh every few minutes and have lots of posts on here and on other sites. Blogs used to be updated multiple times a day. Now IF a site is running at all, it might see new posts in a year what it used to in a week.

I am meeting web and app builders that are younger than my sites and soon many will be younger than WebmasterWorld. I don't know where they are getting their information and interaction. Can't learn much in 140 characters as you need to be linking to something else that provides good content.

I don't think as many people are putting up pure hobby websites from scratch. They can use template websites or wordpress and not need much help. So they don't find and join here.

But I agree, kind of sad compared to old days.