General Chat

Anne, will you please stop talking about "Old Members" makes me feel rather Aged .****M****.xx:o)))))> ( Nice to see you back among the Hooligans and Aliens)H.

I have been here since 8th November 2002 - 3 days after GR started (or GC as it then was).

As for the nastiness and arguments - they are not new and even in the early days some people were being got at, rumours were started and people left due to the problems. It is nice to see that some do return.

Jacky :-)

i joined in december '02 as Paul from Hampshire.

at one stage i felt i was really part of the crowd on here, but now i feel like a bit of an outsider, only because im hardly on here now, as ive actually been building my family tree for the past few months! lol!

made some good friends and contacts over the years though.

An older member (in all senses of the word !) been here since December 2002 but haven't always renewed on time.

I find all the name changes confusing, it used to be the Chat board that was buzzing back in the early days. I have a list I made of people who chatted back then, not everybody because when it got to 3 pages I gave up. A lot of those people may still be here but now not using the same name. Have met quite a few at meetings over the years but not recently.

Kathleen

I'm still here :o)
I came right at the beginning and joined in December 2002. When the site first started I think there were so few of us, it was like a small family. The 'great www' was still relatively in it's infancy for many of us and there were lots of members for whom this was their first foray into global communication. The internet has changed so much in the past 5 years I think it is forgotten just how much like a small friendly group it seemed back then.

I don't post nearly as much as I used to, not because I have ever been on the receiving end of abuse, but because I feel sad watching how others are baited until they are drawn into arguments, and then hounded (or banned) off the site.

This is, first and foremost, a genealogy site and still, in my opinion, one of the best, if not THE best. The vast majority of members are kind and caring people - just look at all the support threads and also at what has been achieved over the years for our members and their families and for charity.

Hello to all members, old and new - many of whom I've 'spoken to' before and others that I haven't yet. It's nice to see some 'oldies' names again that have not been seen on the boards for too long.

Sue
xx

I first joined in September 2003
Does that make me an oldie

Linda

I'm still here, but only pop on to read threads now. Used to be Stella when I joined about 3 yrs ago.

I suppose I must be an "oldie": Feb 2003 I think, member No. 175607.

In those days the number of members and the number of names on the database were on the Home Page and I seem to remember the database total passing the one million mark !

Just checked i joined October 2004, it has changed , but still lots of lovely people on here.
Wendy.xxxx

~~~~~~~~~~~coooooooeeeeeeee~~~~~


I am still here.
I was here when it was GC and everybody was up in arms about the name change.
GLoria

Hi Gwynne, yes I remember reading the SS Utopia thread. Maybe my analogy wasn't too great there, lol.

I can't resist adding this in response to Kate.

It was a Utopia - the SS Utopia to be precise.

lol

(that's meant to be funny and it is a reference to our cruise and the desert island thread)

Gwynne

*denies being old*

But I have been here since 2003, firstly as a non-paying member then I stumped up the fiver when I found a possible contact.

There have always been rows here - like BC I hardly dare post when I first joined because there was a huge row going on. However, I do think the level of venom and spite has sunk much futher since the early days. I won't go into detail because I will be accused of "dragging it all up again" - but it has continued, just been more subtle. And there have been some nasty personal attacks in recent months, some "in secret", which I believe are inexcusable.

I do find the contant name changing irritating. I don't know if posters are new or oldies with different names. I'm probably missing out on making new friends but I like to know who I'm talking to and a lot of the trust and openness has gone, so now I only usually "talk" to people I know. I appreciate that most of the name changing isn't malicious but I don't like being made to feel daft as I did a while ago when I responded to a posting that I thought was genuine. I wonder how many others have been put off in the same way.

Having said that there are still a lot of lovely people here. But I do miss the light-hearted banter and the wit. I feel I have to be much more careful about what I say now because people seem to look for offence where none is intended. I've often written a "witty remark" then deleted it before adding in case someone takes it the wrong way.

I have made some good and genuine friends here and I'm still in contact with those who are no longer members.

I don't post here much now but I haven't been driven away, I have never been on the receiving end of any nastiness and, in general, people have always been nice to me. I just don't feel comfortable, I suppose.

Times change and people move on. I am a member until next August and I'm sure I will renew. This is still the best site for making genealogy contacts, which is why we are here, isn't it?

I batter people to death with my charm and wit on other sites now.

*waves to the other oldies and the newbies as well*

Gwynne

Morning all,

"Yawn"!!!

Another beautiful day in the Algarve!

Doggie beauty parlour is coming around to give
"Rooney" his first hair cut as he looks like a dirty mop with a black nose...

Diana is having her hair and nails done, and ears cleaned...

I wonder how they will behave !?

Have a nice day all you old people!

Lindy ;))))))))))))))

Let's not have an argument about whether it used to be nicer or not. I'm sure that wasn't Ann's intention and whether or not it was is an opinion based on each individual's experience, not fact. And we are all entitled to express a polite opinion without being accused of moaning, surely?

Nudge for later.

people have changed.

but i still like being a member.



libra.

I agree with BC.
I've been a member since 2004 and I've seen some huge rows on here.
It does irritate me when some (not all) older members talk about the 'olden' days on here as being some kind of Utopia. It most certainly was not.
People move on, new people join. If you try to interact with everyone, then you will always have someone to talk to on here.

I think the question was...How many Oldies are still here? Time and time again I hear about the nastiness and bullying etc etc. which has driven people away. Well I have been here since 2004, and believe me there is no difference to when I started. The very day I dared to post, there was an almighty, nasty row going on in General. Yes, people have changed, but that's life. Let's stop moaning about the great past. It wasn't.

*waves to Ann and all the other Oldies. BC XX

Hi Ann

I am still around but like the other "oldies" don't post as much as I used to . I can remember the days when we all seemed to post daily. Miss those days but site has changed so much


Love
Jan

I'm an oldie (may 2003)

I dont post much now on these boards as many of the people who I consider friends have been hounded from this site / board , be it they were pushed or they jumped.

Either way, it had been an unhappy place for them to post for a long while because of the constant goading and bullying they received .

Their outcomes were predicted a long time ago.

Its nothing less than predictable that the goading has now stopped, and the board seems quiet. Maybe its because those people are not here to have their bones picked at every thread or post they make, no reaction to be sought from them and no crime to report to abuse.

It all left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
And further to that, our every move was being recorded in secret on this very site, in addition to elsewhere some time ago.

The trust has gone, the fun has gone, and many of the good people have gone.
(Even though there are loads of good kind people left I may add)

I post on two other genealogical sites beside this one, both fully moderated, and not once have I been called a bully on them, as Ive been labeled by some on here.

Both are happy places to be.

I also belong to other non genealogical sites, and on one, I keep in touch with the friends Ive made from here.

All those sites have no nastiness, just fun and support for each other, and its on those sites I'm proud to be a member.