Missing Members

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Agree, actually an intensified amount of bad vibes on the forum recently.

Now, what could possibly be a source for it.

+3

PD

[foxandpeng]

Agree, actually an intensified amount of bad vibes on the forum recently.

Now, what could possibly be a source for it.

I think it is a timely reminder to all of us to think carefully about our tone and words before we hit 'send'. Sometimes I wonder whether a snarky or angry comment might be better considered after a few minutes fetching a cup of coffee, re-reading, and then sending something. I really enjoy this space, but I agree that some of the ad hominems and personally critical comments have affected my enjoyment and willingness to participate. I think if you look at the site stats below from August and September since the departure of certain members, and what I have perceived as an increase in less measured comments, there is a real dip in engagement day to day; certainly significantly fewer new posts. People are still reading, because we still have as many lurking and casual views from folk who tend not to comment. I suspect that the vast number of already existing valuable and knowledgeable comments and posts will keep that casual surfing and reading as high as it ever is. Whether new engagement will pick up again, may depend on how the spirit of the site continues going forward, and whether we increase our personal contributions to make up for those departing.

Everyone has always been very kind to me, and I think most of us usually are, but how we speak to others and how we speak about others, matters. We all bring our sensitivities and need for kindness to the forum, I think. I would like to think it could be a safer space because of our carefulness.

Apologies for the wonky formatting!

Yearly Summary   New Topics   New Posts   New Members   Most Online   Page views

+ September 2022   54                   5219           2230                   330                   2433157
+ August 2022           49                   5798           34                   140                   1839518
+ July 2022           73                   6906           34                   585                   2639757
+ June 2022           59                   6706           113                   156                   2360932
+ May 2022           56                   6382           31                   145                   3629870
+ April 2022           48                   6317           33                   140                   3169233
+ March 2022           56                   6199           31                   145                   2754773
+ February 2022   56                   6689           35                   159                   2272844

[Traverso]

  We all bring our sensitivities and need for kindness to the forum, I think. I would like to think it could be a safer space because of our carefulness.

The best way to damage this forum is through seemingly negligent gossip and backbiting. There's probably a certain appeal to spreading suspicions and slandering others. This just has to stop. Be respectful to others as you would like to be treated yourself.

[Florestan]

Yearly Summary   New Topics   New Posts   New Members   Most Online   Page views

+ September 2022   54                   5219           2230            330                   2433157
+ August 2022         49                   5798           34                   140                   1839518
+ July 2022           73                   6906           34                   585                   2639757
+ June 2022           59                   6706           113                   156                   2360932
+ May 2022           56                   6382           31                   145                   3629870
+ April 2022           48                   6317           33                   140                   3169233
+ March 2022           56                   6199           31                   145                   2754773
+ February 2022   56                   6689           35                   159                   2272844

Well, August and September are vacation months.

What strikes me is someting else: 2230 (!) new members in September, really?

[Traverso]

Well, August and September are vacation months.

What strikes me is someting else: 2230 (!) new members in September, really?

Very noticing Andrei 

[vandermolen]

I think MI's presence has an impact in expanding everyone's musical horizons. I do note that the Purchases Today thread is not as busy as it was

Meanwhile, does anyone know of a way to contact Andre outside GMG?

I've tried to email André to check that he is ok.

[Karl Henning]

Who does not miss John's good contributions?

And of course, Davey's query was simply mild surprise (understandable, given John's history) that he'd not returned.

[Cato]

Greetings!

I have a few spare minutes: right now, my house sounds like the cave of the Nibelungen as they hammer away!

A new roof is being placed on our house: they should finish around lunch time. 

I cannot do much in the garage on my most recent furniture refinishing project, which has occupied me the past weeks, for various reasons stemming from the roofers.

And I cannot concentrate on either music or novels due to the rat-a-tat-tat.   0:)

Anyway, M. - John - I. did have his less than savory moments, but I just ignored them, if I happened to see them.

I think I have been here for c. 20 years now, and a good number of people have left, who were "curious" in their writing.

How many recall "Saul" (I believe he had a Georgian or Armenian name (Dzoreshvili maybe?) ), who raised up Mendelssohn to the status of divinity and composed bland little things, which would have been bland little things in 1830?

Or the incredible Pink Harp  ?!!!  He (I assume he was a man) was obsessed with Pelleas and Melisande by Debussy.

Like Saul, almost every conversation was turned into a comment on Pelleas et Melisande!

Attempts to steer him toward other works usually failed, even the Schoenberg and Sibelius works based on Maeterlinck's masterpiece were of no interest.

I once knew a German, a very nice man, who had discovered that his family had origins in Silesia, and this knowledge absolutely obsessed him.  No conversation was complete without Silesia appearing in it!

z.B. 

"Ah!  Heute ist das Wetter herrlich!"  (Ah, today the weather is marvelous!)

"Ja, bestimmt, aber in Schlesien ist das Wetter immer herrlich!"  (Yes, agreed, but in Silesia the weather is always marvelous!) 

Yes, "always" was used!   

Anyway, we all have our interests, and even our obsessions, and occasionally - especially on the Internet! - tone is sometimes difficult to ascertain.  I was once writing to an acquaintance and made a completely innocent comment about something, and received a massive, nasty screed about how insulting I had been!

That I had no insulting intent, that I never imagined the comment could ever be twisted into an insult, goes without saying!  I was astonished: I decided not to reply and have never heard from the person again.  It seemed that the person was (perhaps unconsciously, perhaps deliberately) looking for a way to cut me off.

It worked!   

As a result, I am cautious about seeing possible insults, and look for a way to interpret a perhaps ambiguous comment in a non-insulting way.   0:)

The noise has lessened!  Now I only hear a saw for some reason, and a radio with the thudding, off-key strains of what is called in America "Country Music," which in most cases has nothing to do with rural life or music!   

[Karl Henning]

The noise has lessened!  Now I only hear a saw for some reason...

Not a musical saw? 

[Cato]

Not a musical saw? 

Seemingly not: it only knew one note!   0:)

[Spotted Horses]

Yearly Summary   New Topics   New Posts   New Members   Most Online   Page views

+ September 2022   54                   5219           2230                   330                   2433157
+ August 2022           49                   5798           34                   140                   1839518
+ July 2022           73                   6906           34                   585                   2639757
+ June 2022           59                   6706           113                   156                   2360932
+ May 2022           56                   6382           31                   145                   3629870
+ April 2022           48                   6317           33                   140                   3169233
+ March 2022           56                   6199           31                   145                   2754773
+ February 2022   56                   6689           35                   159                   2272844

I like plotting things, I can't help it. The most interesting thing to me was page views. It goes up and down a lot. There was a big upswing in June. No steep drop-off recently.

I also plotted new posts, both raw and subtracting the average of 500 posts per month we had from MI up until August when he left. It is down in September, but it has moved around by similar levels. There are seasonal variations which would require year on year comparison, and there are probably variations when events stimulate more posting in the political threads.

I haven't verified these numbers, but the most striking thing to me is that 7% of the posts being made on GMG were by one member, MI. (My estimate is based on the figure in MI's profile, 14 posts per day, but that includes periods when he was on hiatus, so I estimated 20 posts per day when he is active.)

[foxandpeng]

Well, August and September are vacation months.

What strikes me is someting else: 2230 (!) new members in September, really?

They are, but looking over the August-September stats for the last 10 years show this year as being unusual - not unique, but not far off. Who knows? Stats of this kind are notoriously difficult to analyse.

2230 new members is a real outlier, huh? One would think this would translate to more active members, but it hasn't at all. At all. Makes me wonder about the algorithms/glitches to which the site is subject. Meh. Who knows?

I like plotting things, I can't help it. The most interesting thing to me was page views. It goes up and down a lot. No steep drop-off recently.

I also plotted new posts, both raw and subtracting the average of 500 posts per month we had from MI up until August when he left. It is down in September, but it has moved around by similar levels. There was a big upswing in June. There are seasonal variations which would require year on year comparison, and there are probably variations when events stimulate more posting in the political threads.

As I say, I think the page views will probably remain a constant with unregistered visitors, lurking members, etc. The wealth of fascinating posts will ensure that no matter the current climate, I think.

You are quite right about the non-music posts. I am certain they affect the stats massively depending on world events. And perhaps even artificially inflate the popularity of the musical elements of the forum. They are certainly responsible for a great deal of the spats and bad feeling seen on the site.

[Spotted Horses]

You are quite right about the non-music posts. I am certain they affect the stats massively depending on world events. And perhaps even artificially inflate the popularity of the musical elements of the forum. They are certainly responsible for a great deal of the spats and bad feeling seen on the site.

Especially since there seems to be detente between the Karajan haters and the Karajanophiles, making the political spats more dominant.

[foxandpeng]

Especially since there seems to be detente between the Karajan haters and the Karajanophiles, making the political spats more dominant.

[Spotted Horses]

They are, but looking over the August-September stats for the last 10 years show this year as being unusual - not unique, but not far off. Who knows? Stats of this kind are notoriously difficult to analyse.

Oh, I just found that page with forum stats. (Do I really have time for this?)

New Posts and Page Views comparing 2021 and 2022.

In new posts, the dip we saw coming into September this year is similar to what happened last year, perhaps seasonal. The September data is not the same as then previous plot because I retrieved it today, and there have been more posts for September.

Page views are seen to fluctuate a lot. There was a big increase near the end of 2021. Was there a TC crash or something, that sent members here?

Anyway, I see no evidence of a significant falloff of activity in recent months.

[vandermolen]

Greetings!

I have a few spare minutes: right now, my house sounds like the cave of the Nibelungen as they hammer away!

A new roof is being placed on our house: they should finish around lunch time. 

I cannot do much in the garage on my most recent furniture refinishing project, which has occupied me the past weeks, for various reasons stemming from the roofers.

And I cannot concentrate on either music or novels due to the rat-a-tat-tat.   0:)

Anyway, M. - John - I. did have his less than savory moments, but I just ignored them, if I happened to see them.

I think I have been here for c. 20 years now, and a good number of people have left, who were "curious" in their writing.

How many recall "Saul" (I believe he had a Georgian or Armenian name (Dzoreshvili maybe?) ), who raised up Mendelssohn to the status of divinity and composed bland little things, which would have been bland little things in 1830?

Or the incredible Pink Harp  ?!!!  He (I assume he was a man) was obsessed with Pelleas and Melisande by Debussy.

Like Saul, almost every conversation was turned into a comment on Pelleas et Melisande!

Attempts to steer him toward other works usually failed, even the Schoenberg and Sibelius works based on Maeterlinck's masterpiece were of no interest.

I once knew a German, a very nice man, who had discovered that his family had origins in Silesia, and this knowledge absolutely obsessed him.  No conversation was complete without Silesia appearing in it!

z.B. 

"Ah!  Heute ist das Wetter herrlich!"  (Ah, today the weather is marvelous!)

"Ja, bestimmt, aber in Schlesien ist das Wetter immer herrlich!"  (Yes, agreed, but in Silesia the weather is always marvelous!) 

Yes, "always" was used!   

Anyway, we all have our interests, and even our obsessions, and occasionally - especially on the Internet! - tone is sometimes difficult to ascertain.  I was once writing to an acquaintance and made a completely innocent comment about something, and received a massive, nasty screed about how insulting I had been!

That I had no insulting intent, that I never imagined the comment could ever be twisted into an insult, goes without saying!  I was astonished: I decided not to reply and have never heard from the person again.  It seemed that the person was (perhaps unconsciously, perhaps deliberately) looking for a way to cut me off.

It worked!   

As a result, I am cautious about seeing possible insults, and look for a way to interpret a perhaps ambiguous comment in a non-insulting way.   0:)

The noise has lessened!  Now I only hear a saw for some reason, and a radio with the thudding, off-key strains of what is called in America "Country Music," which in most cases has nothing to do with rural life or music!   

We've had continuous drilling from next door all week as our neighbours have all the electric cables stripped out and a new kitchen installed - like a nightmare.

[Cato]

We've had continuous drilling from next door all week as our neighbours have all the electric cables stripped out and a new kitchen installed - like a nightmare.

Oy!  An entire week!  Noise-blocking headphones, please!   0:)

Or fight it with Goetterdaemmerung cranked up to 11!   

I also plotted new posts, both raw and subtracting the average of 500 posts per month we had from MI up until August when he left.


I haven't verified these numbers, but the most striking thing to me is that 7% of the posts being made on GMG were by one member, MI.

Well, as mentioned, I have been here for c. 20 years, and have not yet cracked 10,000!   0:)   

Even if the counting began with the Resurrection of 2007, I suppose I am something of a slacker!   

Thanks for the statistics!

Anyway, to return, the missing member whose return would be wonderful is Luke Ottevanger!

Unfortunately, he has been gone for years: I sometimes had contact via his wife on FaceBook, but she has not responded much recently.

[foxandpeng]

Anyway, I see no evidence of a significant falloff of activity in recent months.

The more, the merrier, my friend. Quality over quantity, though 🙂

[Madiel]

This thread alone should cause a late spike in the data.

[Karl Henning]

The more, the merrier, my friend. Quality over quantity, though 🙂

Forsooth!