In reply to Offwidth:
> Those threads you listed are hardly typical.
I wanted to sample the latest ten threads in Rocktalk just to prove to Duncan that his statement
"signal to noise ratio in climbing threads is so low as to make it almost worthless as a resource for asking advice now" was nonsense. If I had tried to find 'typical' threads then this would have negated the exercise since I could have just cherry-picked them.
> Overall average quality on climbing posts is down very much over the years IMHO (gradually worse each year) but quantity well up ...
As the users increase, the number of new users, and less experienced users, also increases. Those who have been around for years begin to have fewer personal connections and the 'mates' factor diminishes. Take a look at UKBouldering - everyone knows everyone on there and they all love it. They probably think the quality of their posts is much higher than here too, but to a new outsider it appears to be a closed group of mates chatting to each other and a difficult clique to penetrate. That's why there aren't many different posters.
For experienced UKCers the repetition factor on certain topics also begins to grate over time, and the desire to get involved in discussions you have discussed a dozen times before also reduces. The instant connection with a thread is diluted with things you've seen before, or things that are less relevant as UKC reaches a wider audience.
I know all this since I have been here longer than anyone else. I too breath a sigh every time someone asks again where the nearest climbing wall is to wherever, and each time we get a spoof "I've bolted Stanage" thread. However, I can also see that we have more users, we have more topics and we have an incredible depth of knowledge available on these forums that are often quicker and more reliable than Google to find any answer to any question.
Take a look at the amazing technical responses people get for their computer techy questions, the detailed responses to their domestic DIY questions, the personal ascent accounts of any route you care to mention, the instant tips for people enquiring about any climbing destination.
UKC Forums are an amazing place and one that I am almost more proud of than Rockfax.
Alan