"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
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.



I agree...and your man Harry is the group leader in name calling.