As a long time boards user there isn't actually much wrong with the majority of the forums on the site. I visit regularly and the majority of threads I read are aggression free and largely self-policing. Gardening, infrastructure, regional, money, food and numerous others are interesting, informative and useful. Some forums do (or did in the past) play a very useful role for example PI, Jobs, IOFFL, LGBTQ etc. While the majority of mods are pretty decent and hard working, there are a few that are quite annoying and frustrating to deal with and come across as being on a bit of a power trip but that's hardly unique to boards. I avoid CA and Sport like the plague (they are as bad as politics.ie at its worst) and only visit AH for a laugh very occasionally and never post there. Overall I enjoy using boards.ie and find it far more agreeable than X and the like.
In terms of fixing it I'm afraid the problems are pretty deep rooted and are largely centred around ownership and direction. The owner(s) don't appear to have a clear idea of what they want or where they are going. Their involvement and interjections are pretty random and inconsistent. The Vanilla debacle should have been put to bed years ago rather than being allowed to drag on and on and on. And there needs to be a viable financial model, be it commercial or not for profit. The handling of the current "save boards" campaign is a case in point. The "launch" was cack handed, I suspect the majority of members aren't even aware that there is a problem, the lack of engagement by the those in control in the poorly named "Important News" and "Subscription" threads borders on disinterested if not disrespectful, they haven't even responded to suggestions such as "can I give more than €50", and they are in danger of burning through whatever goodwill (much of it nostalgic) remains. I have no axes to grind, and I stay far away from the endless whining about Vanilla, Mods etc etc but it really seems to me that someone needs to take boards.ie by the scruff of the neck and shake it into shape. With its large membership, broad scope and accumulated respect it's an invaluable resource and it would be a shame if it were not to survive. I subscribed twice over the weekend, in the hope of making a difference and would happily throw more into the kitty in the hope that it will be there for others in the future if I thought there was some sort of plan and there was a mechanism to do so.
