In article ,
"Phil Nelson" wrote:

I wonder how this data correlates with the appearance of other forums
(audiokarma, antiqueradios)? The r.a.r+p newsgroup is no longer the only
show in town, as it once was.

The r.a.r+p peak occurs in 2003 which I think is well after the
appearance of many older "forums". I checked a couple of older
moderated "forums" and they show a similar peaking effect, also falling
off since 2003, just as with r.a.r+p. I suspect the peaking in r.a.r+p
is not due to local effects, as many believe, but is a global effect
perhaps having to do with the novelty of this general form of
communication having worn off. Or perhaps it is simply due to the
proliferation of groups, with both usenet and the "forums", sharing a
limited number of posters so that there are less posters available to
each group irrespective of whether it is an um moderated usenet group or
an older moderated "forum".


Regards,

John Byrns

--
Surf my web pages at, http://fmamradios.com/