Changes in web site

A good long time ago, Islander changed the login procedures. Site has never been the same since. I just activated a new account. This one. Not the same since long time members like Old Tart flew the coop. 

I think the demographic for those relocating to STX has changed. Fascinating in my neighborhood right now there are seven very large million $$ homes under construction (3000+ square feet plus) with big views.  

The number of ginormous new SUVs and Jeeps on the east end roads astounds me. All seem to be driven by 60–70 year-old white dudes or their well coifed spouses. The days of island beater cars has passed.

I don't think a pre-move visit and other discussions/recommendations from by-gone days on VI Moving Center are relevant to these well-heeled newcomers.

Also, a more transient work-from-home crowd has descended because of the pandemic. They're not necessarily here to put down roots or interface with the local community.

For me, the drop in traffic began immediately after the website format changed, and has continued to go down. 

The old website was fast loading and had an option to click a flag and go to wherever you left off for any topic, no matter how many pages long it was. It made it so easy to jump back in the conversation, and was engaging because you could get right to the new content without wasting any time  

Every page of the new website is much slower to load (I don’t know why, but it’s the slowest loading site I visit), and you have to scroll through the entire conversation each time to figure out where the new content is. It just takes too much time, and from my view, contributor engagement has declined as a result. 

It’s still the best wealth of info available in moving here, but its so clunky I only visit maybe once every few weeks instead of a quick easy check every couple hours like I did for years before. I imagine I’m not the only one who has experienced this.  Not sure how to fix it, but it may be worth revamping again someday to stimulate engagement again.

Hmmm,  I still check the forum every day, it seems to load fine for me, and my browser is already stretched to the limits.  When I open an existing thread like this one, the website brings me to the last post, or maybe the last post I read, I'm not sure.

@Scubadoo I typically only access from my phone, but just tried from my desktop out of curiosity and the experience is a little smoother. 

@scubacuda999   I remember posts from the Old Tart. Did he move off island?

Old Tart -----she still lives in STT

personally it changed when they changed the software running the site.  But also the site is probably low on google's algorithm unless they wanted to pay for it to be promoted into the top 10.  Also FB has transformed where people ask questions.  People don't have the patience to search the site as well, as it's not user friendly.  I always search first, but it's not easy to find out the info needed, so easier to re-ask the question.

I still come here most days out of habit but like others have said...the interesting and sometimes heated discussions  on local politics and happenings are gone. This forum is like Talk Radio...if everyone is agreeing, its very boring.

Additionally, Islander's censorship has really turned me off so I never post anything controversial anymore. Newcomers should be exposed to both the good AND bad sides (of which there are many) of moving to the VI.

There isn't many compelling reasons to visit this site anymore.

Yawn.

I check the site every few days on my kindle.

No problem loading site. Agree that same questions are asked over and over, and pretty boring unlike it used to be.