where have you all gone ...and why !

[Devonian]

I don't know about anyone else but when I first started on survival forums all those years ago it wasn't to make friends and influence people, it was to get INFORMATION not to have a chinwag...now I cannot remember the last time anyone put some decent information on this forum but it seems a heck of a long time ago, I am talking proper survivalist info not what you picked from the garden or what you had for tea yesterday or what your weather is today, but decent information about something concerned with surviving post SHTF, or is that over most peoples heads? in which case I am flapping my gums for nothing.

I think you are missing the point here, it's not about making friends and is certainly not about influencing people.

It's about having trust in those around you and developing a community of like minded individuals.

As you say, when you started on forums, people had a different attitude because the forums were still in their infancy and it was something new and people were happy to post all sorts of information for anyone to see. But now things have developed and matured, plus the glut of information that you refer to, is already out there and posted on multiples sites all over the internet, it simply doesn't need posting again.

Also today people are simply more cautious about what information they post on the internet.

But who are you more likely to interact with (in detail), someone you have built up trust and rapport with, or someone who is an infrequent or new contributor to the forum?