Interesting site.

Plug in a few other NG's while there, and you will see that the trend is the
same for almost all.

rec.boats.cruising dropped from 3832
"people" (still don't know what they mean by that number) in year 2000 to 2133
in 2003.

rec.boats dropped from 6754 in the year 2000 to 3603 in 2003.

The only time participation went up in the years I looked at was betwen 1999
(1713 people) and 2000 (6754)

Good point about the cross posts. In 2000, there were really no cross-posts
between political groups. Now, the majority of the posts are cross-posted to
political sites.

The 3603 "people" number is confusing.
According to that figure, if nobody contributed twice, there would still be ten
new people a day here. Ain't happening.

But in any event, I think the NG format hasn't turned out to be everything some
of the intital participants, in all groups, hoped it might become. The
anonymity brings out the worst in a lot of people- making the NG experience
unpleasant for most.

How long would most people put up with being called the names we call one
another around here or be willing to endure
watching various packs of dogs attacking one another? Those of us who stick
around must have some very thick skin.