I was one of the high count posters on the old Brides board, and I can honestly swear to God and say that I don't give a damn about my post count. That little number that appeared on the bottom of my posts means absolutely nothing to me, and I'm not just being humble.
What really bothers me is that all my conversations are gone. It has nothing to do with my "status" as a poster, but with my emotions tied to pouring so much of myself into something. I can't reminisce, I can't go back to old threads when I forgot some advice someone gave me, I can't print out threads that were important to me and save them. I went through some really heavy things and the brides here were with me. I can't go back to my old posts about the Gulf Coast, or about my teenage FSIL's pregnancy, or my panic disorder, and remember what people told me. If I update now to let you know how the situations are going, I have to start over at the very beginning of the story because you can't backtrack and I can't bump my post.
Plus, there were threads I wasn't done with. Conversations left unfinished, questions I never answered or asked. I can remember some of them but not all, and hardly any of them are on the new board, and I had important information in my private messages too, like phone numbers. I didn't know they were going to destroy our private messages or I would have spent less time on my final wedding details and more time preserving my contact information and important conversations with my friends from this board.
Another thing that I hate about the boards that has nothing to do with the format or my post count is that people post MUCH less than they used to. When I needed an emergency answer to a question, I could count on getting at least 3 replies in a matter of minutes on the old board, and as many as 20 in a day or two. Now, I wait days for someone to reply just once to something or update a post I'm interested in. Someone else said that this was once a vibrant community and it's not anymore...I agree.
I do agree with you all though about the new format- I have gotten much more used to it in the past week. However, if they keep this white background I will be forced by my health, not personal tastes, to leave. Squinting at the glare and straining too hard is making me feel panicky.
About the incessant bitching: I am guilty of expressing my distaste about the change and still sticking around. I don't know about anyone else, but my personal reason for that is that I'm not entirely sure if I want to leave or not. I want to discuss the issues with the new board with other people who are also affected by it, and see what changes are brought about before I just up and leave. And personally, my level of bitching has gone down a lot.
So I just wanted to throw out there the REAL reasons why I don't like the new board. Attack them if you want to, but they're still how I feel. I don't want to be condemned just because I had a high post count.
