and the two are so intertwined... it is hard to use this board anymore...no one goes to the new chit chat site, for what ever reason, which is fine...
people try to find a place to talk about the things that are on their heart, often as a result of homeschooling mind you...maybe over here, or over in the hs discussion area about hs related stuff, and shortly after, the topic is put into the sand box where no one can comment or reply to it any longer

I guess I am now wondering why I come here on a typical day when the quality of service has gone down tremendously

I come here because it is a habit

The people are nice and familiar

and I know they can answer just about any HS related topic I have even the ones that don't fit nicely into a box

I am left to wonder how a site like this makes money

is by the number of visitors,
is it by the number of clicks

I suspect I am helping them make money...

just by my visits

I suspect I am about done helping them make money, when the product they offer is to narrow for me

well, my friend and I inquired about purchasing this site. The took the site over so they could sell their own packaged curriculum. Hmm, I dont think they are selling much. As far as the advertisers listed on the side they pretty much work by clicks. I never click on those, so I wonder how many other people do?
You dont generate or not generate anything by coming here. But thats OK, I have come here for six years. I know most everyone. This is no longer my main place that I visit. I visit a place that doesnt operate on sponsers. It makes all the difference in the world.
I hate the new chit chat. I am thinking they are losing tons of money on this site. You would think they would implement the new software and give us a whole new site like they said they were going to.
The price they gave us for purchasing this site was laughable.

It's funny - the people who used to stir the pot here have put a stop to their snippy-ness. I guess that's not saying it could happen again, but really - with the amount of requests they've had to open chit-chat again....no response has been given. Wait...the one mole responded with a curt reply & that was it.

I have been here for about 6 years too & once we got the post saying "you are unmoderated, post at your own risk" - I thought 'great, we're being treated as adults', but that soon changed too.

I will continue to come here - even though I've tried to stop, ha ha. But I am familiar with so many of you here & have created friendships. Back in the day, I felt like I knew everyone here, what their struggles were, and how to pray for them. I'd love to get back to that.

Okay - hope this doesn't get sent to the sandbox :)

This post was edited on Aug 04, 2009 09:20 AM

Agree with all the above pp.

On a Typical Day I visit my online friends....

I have always liked the convenience of this site- want to discuss homeschool issues? go to Homeschooling Discussions.
Chat about what's for dinner and ignore baby name thread? Click on ChitChat. Buy or sell something? go to Swap- so nice that it wasn't mixed in with the other posts like some places/email loops. And the reviews are all in one place as well.

I do not like the format of the "new" chit chat place. I post on a Christian board, and I like knowing that my beliefs will not be belittled, debated, or dismissed there. I have tried several other wonderful chat sites, but I was getting overwhelmed by too many different sites.

I continue here because I pretty much know whose posts I will agree with, learn from, laugh with, or need to avoid. It's hard to keep track of names on different sites when they are the same people.... Even I use a different name on any new sites I join.

And I never click on the ads here. If a company looks interesting, I do a google search and find their site on my own.

I was just thinking the same thing. Some of us, myself included, complain about the site, but keep coming back. For me, it is the reviews. I have never seen another site with this amount of reviews. Also, questions get answered fairly quickly. I have made many decisions based on the information I have got from this site.

thanks for explaining how the money works on this site...I hated to think that they were making money from me when I am not sure if I really want to be a "customer" here anymore. (because of the removal and moving around of several posts)