When you click on the little symbol to the left of Kai, it is basically an advertising platform for ai. So this appears to be an advertising platform popup that you can’t make go away. I wasn’t sure if it’s basic purpose was to irritate people enough so they leave the forum, but now I realize it is likely just something that is income producing.
@abasket I never see it in the Parent Cafe but I do see it in almost every other one: college search and selection, admissions, tests & prep, financial aid…
I feel like the articles are available by searching not just the forums but via internet search engines. If you are looking for personal connection or advice, reading an article isn’t going to cut it. Quite frankly, if that was the reply I had gotten on my questions, I wouldn’t still be here. It doesn’t just discourage posters asking questions but also discourages people who might like to answer.
You have such a way with words! You expressed this wonderfully. (I also liked your reply in another thread to relatives who might be insulted if someone didn’t want to get together with them over the holidays because of differences in covid-19 prevention measures taken.)
I’ve also noticed that paid staff, in an attempt to drum up activity, will post an article about a subject that is already been discussed elsewhere on CC. It makes me wonder if they really want the parent input, despite what they proclaim!
Was there some recent occurrence that resulted in the banning of long term posters?
The updates to the site drove some away. I don’t know why they had to fix what wasn’t broken-a few times.
COVID uncertainties have put a damper on everything college-related.
CC is so quiet.
Really hope the admins are reading this thread and taking notes.
I don’t think the latest loss of members is due to site updates. Honestly, I think so many of us have lived through so many of those it’s like “ok, whatever”.
Yeah, it breaks moderators’ hearts, too. 
@pishicaca it doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally a long-time user is banned after many, many warnings (like 20) and multiple timeouts. The moderating team has had many discussions with these users by that point, so they shouldn’t be taken by surprise when it eventually happens. Other users, however, don’t have the advantage of seeing everything that goes on behind the scenes, so they sometimes think moderators are acting arbitrarily. That is not the case.
The Political forum was gone by the time I joined, but other moderators told me they did their best to keep it open. People got very nasty and just couldn’t follow basic rules of civility. Kind of like what I’m seeing on Facebook these days. That’s why I’m taking a break of Facebook. I don’t want CC to be like that.
Don’t just take a break. Delete your account. I paused my account a couple of times, went back, and finally just deleted it. Reading more books now (including Surveillance Capitalism). The people I wanted to keep in contact with I did through other channels.
I don’t believe in an afterlife, but sometimes I wish I did, so that Zuckerberg could get what he deserves.
I’m about to start reading a book I took home from my mom’s house:
Lucky Child - a Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind
It’s copyrighted 2005, so older, but looks interesting.
I haven’t read an actual book since The Librarian of Auschwitz back in Feb. Now that I’m at FIL’s and there are no farm chores, I have three on my list for the month.
If anyone is curious, the other two (both from my mom’s) are:
We Went to Heaven Before We Died - Tales of the Quebec Bush, Copyright 1991
and
I Went to the Soviet Arctic, Copyright 1944
I’m looking forward to reading them.
Agree with most all posted here. Definitely miss the intellectual discussions, the quantity of smart, clever folks here, the witty banter, and knowing that if something happened in the news I’d probably hear it first here on cc. But as for some longtime posters getting banned, I see it differently. Even with all the constant changes around here, most longtime posters know the boundaries, and to get themselves banned they must have really pushed the envelope or stepped over the line, perhaps one time too many. Sadly, if given enough rope, some people may hang themselves with it.
Or something.
Looks like the biggest increase is in “facebook likes”. https://www.trackalytics.com/website/collegeconfidential.com/
I think the reason some of those threads do not catch on is due to water being poured on them before they catch light! Some of us have not been around long enough to know that a version of, for example, the ‘garden gate’, (back fence) was started when the kids of those parents, were still in diapers! Personally, I think its fine to start something ‘new’, even if it was original to last century! For those of us who have not been around long enough to Sin in The Alley, we enjoy the refreshment of the ‘Garden Gate’ (back fence)! I also feel that sometimes, threads are not given the time to grow wings, before they are clipped and shut down, or somebody resurrecting a similar thread from aforesaid last century!
I’m very warmed about the civility of this particular thread. Kudos to everyone who has posted such nice things.
I wish politics could go back to where they were say 15 years ago. When it was ok to have differing opinions and not so polarizing
I don’t remember seeing “Let’s Twitter” or anything about a “garden gate”. Completely don’t even recall these.
My “whatcha doing this weekend” threads seem to get good response. Maybe because weekends bring more opportunity for most (especially those who work during the week) to do extra stuff.
I wonder what happened after May 8, though? For some reason, the charts end there.
Where are you seeing May 8? I can’t find that. Its says it was last updated yesterday (9/14) and also the Alexa traffic graphs on the right look current. Am I looking in the wrong place?
**Oh, update-- I looked on my computer instead of my ipad and see you can run your mouse over the end of the graphs, which end on May 8. No idea why. Anyone else here have an idea?
I agree. It’s your turn. That’s only fair.
Maybe it’s time for some of us old-timers to just move on and leave CC to those whose children were in diapers, or not yet even born, during what we nostalgically recall as the CC glory days.
How you increase participation is a difficult question, but asking what folks want to talk about seems an excellent start.