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Bob's ACL WWWBoard
Re: What happened to this site? - Changes over time, and harm done by spambots...
Posted By: Michael Frind
Date: Friday, 12 February 2010, at 8:42 p.m.
In Response To: What happened to this site? (Rubyroo)
Dear Ruby,
Your comments are accurate: the amount of traffic on this knee-injury discussion forum has declined. In the past, it was not uncommon to have over a hundred postings a week.
To see how things have changed, it is helpful to stand back and look at the big picture. This is analogous to zooming out with a telephoto lens on a camera. Just as a landscape photograph consists of many small details, so does an overview of the history of knee-injury discussion forums.
This forum was founded in March 1996, and thus predates much of the Internet as we know it today. Consider, for example, that this forum's founding pre-dates Google by several years. The software and layout of this forum's underpinnings are also quite old (albeit with updates), and some people might prefer more modern sites with animated graphics and other bells and whistles. I note that, in a modern world of fancy graphics and overly complicated software, the hand-coded Unix-based underpinnings of this site are notable for being efficient and reliable. And, the threadable format enables messages to be viewed in a variety of ways, with old messages being conveniently searchable and archiveable too.
The England-based KneeGuru (with the Knee Geeks discussion area you noted) has grown somewhat since that entire site was redone a few years ago. Originally, Knee Guru was a discussion forum much like this one, and had a very similar threaded-layout too. Perhaps the new format is more attractive to a majority of users.
I think the major reason that this site sees less traffic is simply because more people are visiting Google and simply clicking on the websites that Google ranks as being highest (in accordance with Larry Page's PageRank algorithm, the result of his studies at Stanford University). I remember reading a technical article on Internet trends that noted that, today, many people are simply looking for pre-existing written content (i.e. they want answers right away), rather than posting a question and waiting for answers. There is no doubt that the nature of the Internet (and also the expectations of its users) has changed substantially since the 1990s.
It is also safe to say that the Internet is much larger now than it was in 1996. In addition to having much more infrastructure (i.e. more connection points, more computers, more switches, more data-storage devices), there are also more websites...and that means more discussion forums too. The number of websites has grown far more than the population (or even the connected population) of the English-speaking world.
Back in 1996, this was one of a very small number of orthopedic-injury discussion forums. And, as its popularity grew, the number of postings grew. At one point, this forum was the largest of its type. A few years ago, usage began to taper off, right at the same time spam-loading began to skyrocket. I will return to the spam topic shortly. But, first, let me touch on something else.
In contrast to the general discussion forum, the Knee Library has grown. Intriguingly, the use of the Knee Library has grown substantially. The Knee Library, despite its humble beginnings and despite the fact that there is only one person involved in its development (i.e. me), and also given that I never have enough time to add all the articles I want to add, remains the only site anywhere that provides free access to high-quality unabridged medical-journal articles. The increase in usage of the Knee Library indicates that many people are looking for answers by combing through original research material on their own.
Keep in mind, too, that over the past decade, many new concepts and paradigms have arisen. The most obvious of these is the rise of Google: now many people use Google as their sole search engine, and so everything they see is effectively through the lens of Google. So, it may well be the case that some of the demand for discussion forums has been given over to "Googling" and other such means.
Remember, too, that at the time this forum was founded, there were not a lot of websites that provided the average person with good-quality general information on knee injuries. Now, there are many reputable medical sites in this regard, so it is inherently easier to satisfy one's knowledge craving simply by using Google. And, it is not surprising that doctors today are often confronted with patients who have done their homework (e.g. via their own Internet searching), and therefore have very pointed questions to ask.
I note that the level of traffic on this forum has been relatively stable at the current level for some time now. Google's rankings might be involved here too, because Google indexes this site just like any other. A decline in content (or a sharp rise in spam-loading) would theoretically induce Google to downgrade its ranking of this site. So, fewer newcomers would come after that point in time. Conversely, a rise in postings or a complete elimination of spam would induce Google to rank this forum higher, thus theoretically resulting in more newcomers.
As I alluded to earlier, another factor that must be examined in detail is spam-loading. This forum's antiquated simple list-based spam-filtering worked well in the past, when spam was simple and repetitive. But spammers have come up with ever-more-powerful spambots (i.e. software packages that can be surreptitiously planted on scores of computers everywhere, thus spewing out avalanches of spam) that generate ever-changing spam that is especially difficult to filter out using a simple list. I know all this from experience, given that I have been involved in the behind-the-scenes operation of this forum (in addition to the Knee Library) for over a decade now.
Significant improvements have been made in filtering out spam at the front end, by pre-filtering messages before using the main list-based filter. And, the list-based filter receives regular updates. Sadly, some spam still trickles through. For this spam, the only option is then to remove it manually. (I am one of a group of people who do this).
As previous respondent Nate noted, the spam-filtering occasionally filters out legitimate words too. For example, we once had "Cialis" as a word to filter out. Only later did we realize that this is indeed a valid word for this forum, because it is part of the word "specialist". Fortunately, it's easy to find the problematic word (simply copy-and-paste portions of the message, or halve it down, until the message previewer accepts the message), but it is always possible for someone confronted with a "submission not accepted" message to simply give up and go to a different website. (Anyone who has problems posting a message can always e-mail me directly at frind@execulink.com. I can find the problem and submit the changes to the spam-filtering list.)
All things considered, the spam problems of the past were (as a result of how the presence of spam messages results in a drop in how Google ranked this site) probably the single biggest factor in the decline in participation in this forum.
I hope this explanation helps.
Yours truly,
Michael Frind
Knee Library http://factotem.org/library
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