Actually several phases of my life. First choosing a college for D2, then parents taking care of parents thread, now mostly parent cafe for advise, humor, and knowledge. I enjoy the friendly & intelligent community. Open 24/7, I like that.
I enjoy reading here because everyone seems very friendly and intelligent. I can’t stand forums with misspellings, grammar errors, teenage abbreviations (“ur” for “your” etc). I find I can get very thoughtful responses to a variety of questions.
I do feel like it is a little slower these days? Is it just me? I have also seen some long time members with “Banned” over their avatars and that disappoints me as I feel like I “know” a lot of you and will miss those voices. I guess there is no way to be able to find out what is going on in those folks’ lives anymore 
Yes I have also been disappointed to see several members I used to look forward to reading in the “banned” category. Posters develop an ethos through their contributions over time and I do miss seeing them.
I come here to get ideas about food and travel, and I also lurk on the “caring for parents” and “wedding” threads because of things going on my life. I felt disconnected from the world when the whole Covid thing started so I’ve started coming back here after a hiatus.
Post re banned members: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/community-forum-issues/2192785-concerns-re-banning-long-term-members.html
For me it’s a lovely and touching real life soap opera.
I’ve followed some posters for more than 14 years: The highs and lows of their kids’ college searches, same kid on a “single, with no romantic possibility in sight” thread to a wedding thread and then the grandparent thread; impact of the 2008 recession, empty nesting & happy retirements, selling houses & buying houses, health journeys, and very sad personal losses and tragedies.
When I read posts from long time members, I can recall most of what they have shared with us over the years. Since we have writers among the long time participants on this board, I won’t be surprised to recognize some of these stories in upcoming books, and keep expecting to.
So, losing the long term posters, still willing to participate, really spoils it for me. The site evolved over the years. I’m not using CC for the purpose for which it was created.
^^^@alh, that is a beautiful, poignant post. The connections here are not always fleeting - they have been memorable and long lasting.
I lurked for awhile, then finally joined in Jan 2009 when my older child was a HS senior, she had already been accepted ED at her school. Figured I would stay until my younger child started college That was in 2014. I’m still here. Like @alh, I really enjoy so many long time posters and hearing of their own journeys while posting of mine. There has been a real sense of community here and I feel a loss when someone I have followed for several years seems to drop out for whatever reason that might be.
A thousand times yes!
Like so many others, I joined the site when my son was in high school, and never left. It’s my major social forum, where I can learn about and discuss just about anything. I’ve gotten tons of help not only with helping the son move through life, but also for our relocation and many other life activities. I did continue on the college type forums for a couple of years after son’s graduation, but after that my personal knowledge was no longer useful.
I love that you can ask about anything and get helpful answers. My favorite was ages ago when my husband was going on a business trip to Russia (manufacturing area) and we couldn’t find anything about the hotel he was supposed to stay in. I finally found someone on the International Students Forum who was familiar with it.
I’ve made a real life friend, and have met other wonderful posters in person. There are a few of you that I would dearly love to meet someday. Also had numerous PM conversations which have been very useful. And to be honest, there had been posters who have kept me off threads and cautious about commenting because of the tenor of their responses.
There were posters who were using the forums to criticize and attack the forums and moderators, who would state they knew better how the site should be run, who took umbrage at any kind of rules or control, and who dominated the threads. I can only imagine what was happening behind the scenes.
The Parent Cafe seems to have settled down into a friendly and useful place to get away from stress. It feels like the people posting are the ones who truly want to engage in cordial interactions. I pop on several times a day, just for fun and curiosity.