[Brinniel]

Yeah, the Barrow Downs does run in its own cycles. When I joined the Downs, the forum was a very different place. The FotR film had been recently released and there was a flood of members joining. Some were long time Tolkien fans, some read the books and fell in love after they heard about the movie (like me), some were plain movie fans who hadn't read the books at all, and some were just Leggy-boppers. It was an interesting mix which kept things interesting, but while the forum was very active it did get tiring to have the same questions asked, members who couldn't write in complete sentences, the girls gawing over Legolas, and the RPGs that rarely went anywhere (back when there was a Freestyle RPG forum). A lot of this was due to the movie bringing in a younger generation of members who were perhaps not as mature. I wasn't quite 14 when I joined and a large percentage of BDers were around the same age or somewhere in their teens. I appreciated that at the time since having peers made it more comfortable to be on the forum without the pressure to be excessively intelligent. But now that I'm much older, I can see how a bunch of 13-year-olds taking over the Downs could be a bit of a nuisance for the older and more mature members.

Over the years, the movie hype died out, fewer members joined and many left, and the ones who did join later on were part of a different generation; they joined because they love Tolkien, not the movies. And today it seems the average age of BDers is somewhere in the early 20s'; part of it is because some of us earlier members have grown up to reach that age and also people in this age group tend to frequent the internet much more than other age groups. Also, the BD is much more worldly than it once was; there were always some members from other countries, but there were a lot more Americans around. Now it is more evenly spread out and I love that there's so much more diversity. The Downs is much quieter than it once was, but I prefer having it that way. Because the members here are dedicated and insightful. This forum is more intelligent than other forums I've seen. For one thing, over here our non-native English speakers can write better English than most Americans on the other forums. What I love about the BD is that with fewer members, we are more of a community than I've ever seen on any forum, which has enabled me to make many close friends who have influenced my life for the better.

It's always sad to see members disappear and there are many that I miss. But people move on with life and not everyone can stay attached to a forum forever. And once you disappear, it can be difficult to return after a long period of time. I left the Downs for two years and it took a lot of effort to bring myself back because it wasn't easy to return to a place that was while familiar, completely different that how I remembered. The entire forum had gone through a makeover (new server, I think), most members I knew were gone, and there were many members I never met who had already been around long enough to become quite reputable, plus there was this strange sensation going around called WW which took me an extra year to figure out. This is most likely why some old members who try to return will disappear again; they realise the forum moved on without them and suddenly a place where they were once comfortable feels so foreign. I'm glad I stuck it out since I've become even closer to members than I did before I disappeared, and I do love it when I see old members return to stay awhile. While it is sad to see members that everyone once loved slowly fade from existence, at the same time there are always new members who join and become part of the community. Old inactive members become memories, newbies become the experienced members who welcome in more new members who will in time develop their own reputation. So the torch gets passed on.

I must say that what I love about Facebook is that I'm able to connect with BDers and get to know them better than I ever would on the forum alone. It has allowed me to develop close friendships and also keep in touch with BDers who are no longer active...such as Amanaduial, Encaitare, tgwbs, Roa, Orominuialwen...the list goes on. I am closer to some Downer friends than I am with friends in RL...many of which I have now actually met in person.