Forum members

[Pamela1]

Does anyone know what has happened to Katy? Is she well? I know she had problems on several occasions trying to log in but always managed in the end...Not only Katy, there are a number of regular forum members who have not been seen on here for many months. Beachcomber? i hope all is well with them all.

[El Cid]

Katy has bursts of enthusism for the forum, but clearly, not at the moment. Beachcomber decided he did not want to remain a member, rather suddenly I have to say. I was concerned about him but he did respond to my Email saying he was fine. He hasn't accessed the site ever since.

The reality is that forums are no longer the most common way of communication. Sadly, "Soshul Meedya" has taken over. As a result, we are not getting many new members. They tend to join Facebook groups, which n my opinion, are nowhere near as usable as a good forum and the groups seem to be full of adverts. Add to that the fact that we are all getting older. Personally, in the last 10 years I have lost 75% of my local expat friends to death or mental illness needing a return to the UK.

Sid

[Wicksey]

I too have noticed our dwindling numbers. I don't do fakebook or twitface or any other type of social meedya. Some businesses use Facebook which are open to non users and I find it pretty useless. This format is much easier to find posts and to see answers to enquiries, plus there's a wealth of knowledge here that I could not have done without over the years. I read the Telegraph online, my only subscription, and it's shocking the number of trolls winding everyone up in the comments. Some are quite rude and others regularly change their name and keep appearing everyday under a new pseudonym .... honestly, I cannot be bothered with it all sometimes. For me, this type of forum is so much better and useful. I hope we all manage to keep going a bit longer!

[Pamela1]

Katy has bursts of enthusism for the forum, but clearly, not at the moment. Beachcomber decided he did not want to remain a member, rather suddenly I have to say. I was concerned about him but he did respond to my Email saying he was fine. He hasn't accessed the site ever since.

The reality is that forums are no longer the most common way of communication. Sadly, "Soshul Meedya" has taken over. As a result, we are not getting many new members. They tend to join Facebook groups, which n my opinion, are nowhere near as usable as a good forum and the groups seem to be full of adverts. Add to that the fact that we are all getting older. Personally, in the last 10 years I have lost 75% of my local expat friends to death or mental illness needing a return to the UK.

Sid

Thanx Sid, i know this forum has been running for many years and people have come and gone for various reasons.I agree, we are all getting older and as such members are becoming fewer....Love your take on social media, ( Soshul Meedya) but yes you are right, everyone seems to do Facebook nowadays and other platforms. Not for me but each to their own. This forum feels more like a community, hence the reason why i wonder sometimes what has happened to some members who have been here a very long time. I'm surprised beachcomber just up and left the site without a word, especially as he had been a moderator for all those years. He had a wealth of knowledge and his posts were helpful to many people...So if you ever intend to step down Sid and disappear please let us all know.

[costakid]

I have been on here for many years and loved the forum. In the old days there was dozens of posts most days but now we can go 48 hours and nobody has posted. I guess it’s a sign of the times. I still check in most days but sometimes wonder if it’s worth the effort.

[gerryh]

You can subscribe to the forums/ topics that you are interested in, in the User Control Panel, and you will get an email notification of any new posts.
Cheers
Gerry

[peteroldracer]

When this forum started the online world was young - as were the members!
There was so much to learn, and thanks to the now senior members we all became wiser, hence do not need to keep asking about how to live in Andalusia or indeed Spain.
A similar forum for those up here in the Costa Cálida is very much like A.com from its early days, with people asking life-enhancing questions such as "where can I buy a pillow?" Very few seem to want advice on filing tax returns or getting an NLV, more likely asking who they should pay to do it for them.
I was sorry to see Beachcomber vanish, but it seemed that he went down the rolling eye loony route when Covid struck so I avoided most of his posts in that period.

[chrissiehope]

Even tho' I left Spain some 10 years ago, I still read the forum at least once every day ! It feels good to keep up with the news here

[country boy]

Even tho' I left Spain some 10 years ago, I still read the forum at least once every day ! It feels good to keep up with the news here

Same here Chrissie, we left in 2020 after 20 glorious years of fun and adventure: Couldn't cope anymore with 17 Acres of Olives, Steep Hills and the Summer Heat.
Still check in once a day to see whats current and still occaisionally learn something new. We don't post anything 'cause we live back in YUK and the two things are miles apart. Nice to hear from regulars tho' even though some haven't changed their pithy comments. Pity about Beachcomber, he was a major source of info back in the day. Sid is his equal though, very knowlegable. Times change, wouldn't have missed any of it.
Keep going the rest of you, there are still questions to ask and the Glorious Spanish system will continue to battle and baffle. Salut....I'd willingly do it all over again LOL.

[IreneD]

I still log in most days and read. This forum was invaluable to me back in.... I don't know 2008? .... when my husband and I were making plans to live in Spain. I got so much information and help over the years, I will be forever grateful to Cid especially also Beachcomber and several members. We've been back in the UK for 16 months and it's been hard!! I know we did the right thing for us, moving back but I didn't expect the UK would feel like a foreign country! It's taken a lot of adjusting but I'm getting there. The 11 years we spent living in Spain were probably the best years of my life.