Is Facebook killing TT?

So I have noticed a trend in the last few months that leads me to believe that TT is slowly but surely being undermined by facebook, don´t get me wrong I am a facebook member but I have noticed that the banter is slowly going downhill and apart from what I consider to be my finest moment (andyhandy or whatever his name, looking for clues to help with his sore willy), has been sadly lacking lately! So what will Ed Bob do to counter, sheep throwing perchance, on-line games et al, to win back the people who have been AWOL? I find facebook to be cliqueish and secretive because all members can choose to keep their profiles closed to those who are not friends, and posts about various meetings etc can be reduced to a select few, which in my opinion is somewhat lacking in community spirit and tends to keep the newbies on the sidelines.

Discuss please!

This is not me being pissy I just feel that if the facebook people are using the name Toytown they should be promoting the whole meaning of Toytown which I feel to be one of sharing and meeting all English speaking peoples not just those on their friends list!

maybe some of have been around such a long time on TT, we have nothing to discuss anymore?

Its funny, as I was talking to some people I met thru TT on the weekend, and we are all spending less time on TT for various reasons, and its not Facebook.

TT and Facebook serve different purposes.

Valid point Carm, they do serve different purposes but , nevertheless facebook has taken a lot of posters interest away and now they are more concered about their circle of friends than "shootin the shit", "chewin´the fat " on TT.
But I suppose one day the excitment of throwing sheep at one another and decorating a Xmas tree will wane and the banter will return home.
Cue song song "It´s coming home, it´s coming home. Banter´s coming home. it´s coming home, it´s coming!"

I can click the refresh button on TT and Facebook within seconds and not miss a thing.

I find both of them to be a bit quiet lately anyway ...

Facebook is wank, I refuse to use it, having said that TT isnt much better either these days.

But I've been using TT a lot longer, so better the devil you know and all that,

My tuppence worth. I find that "opening the borders" has let too many fuckwits onto TT and you spend too long sifting through the dross. Too many attention whores and weirdos basically. I starting blocking a few but of course the posts still show up in the thread and that just messes up following the threads as well.

I agree, I think there is another reason people are on TT less... namely, we've solved everything.

In just the last couple months, from my estimation, we've collectively figured out and settled:

- whether the bible condones slavery
- who was really behind 9/11
- whether science or religion is better
- who will be the next US president
- whether smoking is an inherently immoral activity.

So, we've solved it all. Sadly our wisdom remains hidden to the rest of the world, and they stumble around clueless.

Not true firelane, this is an open forum, nothing is hidden! But when has anybody ever thrown a sheep at you on TT? See, we don´t know nuthin`.

TT now is great for fuckwits to ask questions like..''How do I get from the airport to centre of Munich''., 'Where do I buy Spuds?'' Then they sit there and wait for ejits to post them the answers then complain if its wrong!! TT is good.

They said: "TT is the 37,595'th most visited website in the world"

They now say: Toytowngermany.com has a traffic rank of: 54,556 (down 7,713)

Slipped from 37,595 to 54,556

Interestingly I wonder if some ideas could actually be ripped off from Facebook? Like allowing people to LINK to make their own groups in the same cliquey way?

At the moment we only have the BLOCK function, the MODS and our own skills to filter the spammy fuckwits out. Right now I see more spammy fuckwits than sense on TT.

Clearly one man's spammy fuckwit is another man's bestest buddy - so it somehow needs more personal filtering.

It can be no little coincidence that TT is losing something and folk are taking notice. Personally I've found that many of the people whose posts I enjoyed simply don't post any more, or with the frequency they used to. But I don't think that Facebook is to blame, TTs entertainment factor has diminished somewhat.

I can't speak for the long term entertainment value of TT but with all bullitin board systems like this there is a sort of soap opera element to it where there are good plot lines and worse ones as people come and go. There is also always a 'Golden Age' where the older and wiser posters say it's not as good as it used to be but a quick glance back in time shows it wasn't really.

As for Facebook. I use it when people become real. The people on my Facebook group are only people I have met face to face. One of the good and bads about TT is that everybody has a hidden identiy. Even those that use their real names and put a picture of themselves up hide behind an electronic persona and are usually different once you meet them in the real world. Meeting people at meetups is kind of interesting because of this. There is a world outside of TT and Germany for most of us though and Facebook contains all your friends not just the TT ones. To me they serve a different purposes but there is overlap.

I was looking at the next version of vBullitin (A different BB software) and they are bringing in a lot of Social Network tools. As I was looking at it I wondered why. To me BB's and Social Networking tools are different beasts but maybe I'm proven wrong on that?

Gail , it's your scrabble move...

Too true. While some others flood the forum with endless posts trying to browbeat everyone else... never mind.

I've been away from TT too much recently for non-computer/Internet related reasons - just been too busy of late

Most prob a cyclical thing to some extent - or the abuse handed out to some newbies has led to a drying up of supply

The headline "TT - not much better than wank" could be an advertising gem

agree with JE here. since 'opening the borders' TT has not been much fun.
TT is not very exciting nowadays. nothing to do with facebook.

some of my favourite posters also don't seem to post any more. I've always enjoyed the 'lighter side' of TT and for me it's missing a bit these days.
can't say FB is to blame but it's possibly plays some sort of role.

Can we please have Tuesday 18th December 2007 as the official death and demise of TT?

I like a good wake and we can all celebrate at the Shamrock tonight.

Seems to me the concensus of opinion is that facebook is for real people and TT is for pretend people and only the old gits know each other! Would that be about right?

or threaten them with violence until they stop posting

perhaps it's just pre-Christmas and people are busy trying to sort out presents, travel, dinners, work do's, meeting friends for pre-xmas drinks etc. etc.

Now BTC don't start a woe is me one here...we will need a completely separate thread for that. Anyway it would be interesting to know who threatened you with violence rather than just throwing up a wild unsubstantiated statement. We need facts and shit here. Remember this is the internet and not real life

Doomsday predictions are common here and when MySpace was all the rage, many predicted this site's downfall, yet it survived and even flourished. This tells you that ultimately a Toytown user is resilient, likes a good fight and really never gets sick of talking the same shit over and over again.

Toytown is the definitive 1,000 year website.

Facebook is for people who have the time to wait for it to load and make everyone think that they have ever had the slightest contact with a friend.

Now I know my dentist since we went to school together but I would never add him as a friend on Facebook because he has never has been one. Not everyone you meet in life can be a friend and adding them as a friend on Facebook just seems a bit preposterous to me.

I have hundreds of acquaintances but only a few people in my life qualify as friends.

Yup. There haven't been many funny, punny threads lately. Remember this one, people? One of my all-time favourites: Banks and your personal information

Edit (12:33): I just read the whole thread again. It really is a classic.

@ Kay thanks had forgotten that one...

I always knew Kay would be good for a wake. We are reminiscing already

Want another? Baked ricotta had some fine cheesy moments, too (if you don't want recipes for ricotta al forno, go straight to post #26).

for pure oddness this post made me laugh:


in the What have the French ever given us thread.
(not very PC I know, sorry French TTers)
Weemun was funny.

Oddness? That brings this thread to mind: When the doorbell rang at midnight.

I've also not been feeling the TT love for the last few months, but I don't think it has anything to do with Facebook. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't generally spend a lot of time on Facebook, on average just ten or fifteen minutes a day, and basically the only reason I joined was to post my own pics and see what others were posting. I have very few Facebook 'friends', and I still spend more time on TT.

I think that for me personally, I've kind of run my course on TT. I still find it fun and interesting occasionally, but some of the reasons I used to use it are no longer there. I've been living in Munich for over two years, I don't have a lot of questions to ask, I have a circle of friends and so don't really need to rely on TT for social reasons.

And to be honest, sometimes TT depresses me. As much as I have always defended this place as a safe haven for people to vent their frustration, and I still think it should be, I must admit that the constant whinging and complaining about everything from divorce to smoking to grocery stores gets to be a bit much. I actually feel happier and better adjusted to life in Germany when I'm NOT reading TT and being reminded of everything that is frustrating about living here.

I do also share others' sentiments about the forum generally being overrun with idiots and attention whores, and that some of the more interesting and entertaining posters seem to have backed off. The force is unbalanced, and it shows.

However, I want to continue to support Toytown because of how much it has contributed to my life here, and I still want to see it succeed. I think this (a general dissatisfaction with the forum) happens about once or twice a year, so perhaps we're all just in a funk that we'll break out of shortly. It could also have to do with the fact that many of the posters here are due for the Disillusionment stage of TT membership.

Edit: Jimbo's post below reminded me that I've been doing the same; I found that I was only posting when something made me angry or irritated me.

What's facebook?

You mean you've never been poked?

Something I am banned from mate.

some think you should be banned from here too, you... you cockney tossa!

Absolutely. When I find myself being drawn into a discussion on TT these days, it's more often than not because somebody has irritated me and I've been bored and/or daft enough to be drawn into the debate, whereas previously it was because I was enjoying the joking and the banter. The gents' section is also totally dead, so much so that I haven't even renewed my subscription (which expired about 2 weeks ago). I've no idea why this is, but I'll blame Facebook anyway, because Facebook is for cunts.

Toytown Germany
Because Facebook is for cunts

Your point being Tiggi?

My point being that humour is a losing game these days.

And even I have to admit that TT isn't what it used to be. However, love goes beyond reason, innit?

@ sea-king
Do you not fit in that category?

_{I'll get me coat}

Aahh Tiggi I didn´t know you cared for me that much.
SpiderPig, which category would that be?

TT is not being killed as such. I am sure someone will dig up some stats that posts are up xx % and new members up by xx % and all that jazz. Like all things in life it is just evolving...not in my personal opinion in a better direction...but such is life. But I am also find myself planning my exit from Germany a bit harder these days, so probably just bitter and twisted of Landsberg. It's OK here, it really is, but I just cannot shake off this sneaky idea I might just be happier somewhere else.

Just repeat the mantra "I love German supermarkets" JE and everything will be cushty

TT and facebook serve totally different purposes...facebook is kind of a photo blog and TT is one of those sites created to help the expats living in Germany ,as well as to make some bucks from the advertising stuff..!

Facebook's got famous since its inception and now its been taken over by Microsoft (i guess) because of its increasing popularity..! In terms of financial backup and other things, TT is small compared to Facebook..!

I think that its nothing related with facebook...maybe the time-consumption factor...! And these days, there are so many creative and innovative sites popping up everywhere, because of all the open/free source software stuff and also because of blogger sites, etc..And not much time to go through everything..and it aint good to be in the virtual world all the time...!

Anyways, TT's become part of our daily lives and it looks like a small community in some anderes-land...!

Actually, what's killing TT is the gratuitous and inappropriate over-use of ellipses and exclamation points.

... !

and a definite under-use of the word 'cunt'.

Thanks ma'am or mod or woteva.

To be fair I don't think a 10% shareholding really counts as a "takeover".

Yeah, you call it an open forum and then you have posters asking Germans Why Are You Here? You can't have it both ways. I'd say people are turned off by the pointless bullshit like multi-page discussions as to whether G-d exists or how many expats can dance on the head of a pin, and looking elsewhere.

Frankly I'd be happier if TT was a bit less open. Less open to combative Germans, people with appalling standards of English and general fuckwits. A certain level of exclusivity is not necessarily a bad thing IMO; I mean let's not roll out the welcome wagon for anybody who can string together two words in English.

I understand there's a need to grow the site, but is TT so desperate for members that it's just going to welcome everybody regardless of how/what they contribute to the community? Part of what has always made this site great is the quality of the content, which in general I feel has declined and it's partly due to the influx of people with crap English skills or people with very clear agendas that aren't terribly community-oriented.

Edit: I realise that last sentence was a bit cryptic, but I am trying very hard not to point fingers at anyone specifically.