Originally Posted by
Voice of Reason
I haven't been here long enough to know if the site has "declined" from what it used to be. What I DO know is that this board currently has a group of six or seven people who think that they "run" the board and that they can tell other people what they can and cannot post and what opinions they can and cannot have, and if anyone disagrees with them or challenges them on this they gang up to attack and ridicule that person in order to intimidate him into submission.
This naturally kills a lot of the discussion on the board and discourages both new and veteran members of the board from posting if their opinions disagree with the "ruling class", since most of the people who join this board just want to have a pleasant discussion about the Steelers and don't want to deal with all this crap. I've been told by a number of board members in private messages and reputation comments that this is exactly why they have cut back their posting or stopped it all together. I've also noticed that there are a number of new people who have joined the board since I've been here who lurk and read the board but who rarely or never actually post. As a matter of fact, in the year that I've been here I seem to be the only newbie who regularly posts. I don't think that's a coincidence. I've been around message boards long enough that I don't let the board assholes run me off, but why would anyone else want to be subjected to all the taunts and insults you get here if you don't conform?
For a site that almost went belly-up a year ago and is supposedly looking to attract new posters and fresh voices, this is one of the most unfriendly places for new posters I've ever seen.