When I first started shopping and joined this forum - it was 2017 and things here were hopping and very feisty, sometimes downright mean and nasty. Almost a turn off, but I learned a lot....at least it was about the shopping and not about getting political digs in.
I popped in and out and then during the pandemic - lots of discussion and then since the pandemic?
spotty.
Sometimes things pick up, then they wane.
Myself over the past several years? there have been times when I didn't check these boards for MONTHS.
Life happens or we don't have time to shop for whatever reasons.
I miss reading the posts of some long time posters because they were funny or interesting or very smart about shopping and I learned a lot.
I wonder about them.
Do you suppose they give up shopping?
Maybe they got a full time job?
Maybe they're ill?
Maybe they passed away ?

Maybe this is all part of what we chat about here - the MSing is fading and so that means the people are too? Discussion boards have given way to social media...so there's that too. FWIW, I find discussion boards have a higher level of discussion, people actually read and respond intelligently. Social media is often a bore, soundbites from hell and reading comprehension is nill.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2025 11:33AM by BarefootBliss.

All of the above, plus a couple have been barred from the forum. The in-fighting was entertaining.

@LIJake wrote:

All of the above, plus a couple have been barred from the forum. The in-fighting was entertaining.

This is how it goes and it doesn't even matter what the subject is. I was once banned from a fishkeeping board because I refused to remove certain "enemies" of the board from my Facebook friends list. Not even joking, that is some high level invasive, petty, and absurd by power drunk "moderators".
Something about hiding behind a keyboard brings out the absolute worst kind of behavior.
But, hopefully they just got new hobbies or jobs that keep them from needing or wanting to participate.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

Discussion boards have given way to social media...so there's that too. FWIW, I find discussion boards have a higher level of discussion, people actually read and respond intelligently. Social media is often a bore, soundbites from hell and reading comprehension is nill.

This ^^^^

I think there's probably just as much desire for MSing as ever with retail prices increasing, but many newbies are battling that out on social media.

While I am active on social media, it's more about pics & one-liners than people having actual discussions, so this, to me, is the best place to address MS questions. If you don't want to put in the time reading/writing here, it's probably not a fit for you.

Or perhaps I am just getting old.

I noticed the same thing and the decline of new/interesting topics. Also less activity from some very active contributors in the past. I still enjoy Terminator Bob's posts. I miss his Terminator stories as he has not posted one in a while.

Maybe I'm getting old too.

I don't do social media even though I have a 6 figure stake in META. Wifey will send me some instagram memes when she thinks I will like them, but that is as far as I get. A buddy will send me tik-toks, but I told him I won't open that crap. So if he wants to share something, he needs to find it on youtube, reelz, or instagram.

This forum is the extent of my social media. I am not even into twitter. I am not interested in "following" anyone. I really don't care who said what about whatever issue they want to commet on. People can be "influencers," but they are certainly not going to influence me.

I agree that social media has killed a lot of discussion boards. I started mystery shopping in 2000 and I relied heavily on the boards at Volition to build my knowledge and give/receive advice. I don't know why I stopped visiting but by the time I got back there a few years later, it had all but disappeared. I'm glad I found these boards!

Yes I have been wondering too what happened to all the interesting discussions and people on the board. I wonder if some of them just faded from mystery shopping during hte pandemic and perhaps found other perhaps more profitable side lines or regular fuller time jobs in the aftermath. I know in my state there has been a big jump in minimum wage these past few years leaving the earnings in mystery shopping way behind in the dust somewhere. It is becoming less and less profitable compared to other lines of work. And more work at home opportunities may have taken some of our prior friends on the board who needed more flexibility in their schedules at work and that was the reason they turned to mystery shopping.

In 2003, shortly after joining the Volition board, there was a thread dealing with the reduction of shopper's fees. That situation has continued to this day. In my case, the dependability and attention to narrative no longer exists. Almost all of my jobs consist of category 3: The defrayment of travel expenses. IF other folks have been unable/unwilling to adjust, it is normal they would have faded away.

I agree with the post of SandyF; it includes several logical points.

There’s several reasons for the decline in popularity of forums. I’ll elaborate on two that have had the most significant impact on me:

I’ve been a member on this board for a few years….we’ll, technically I have. Early on, I stopped visiting for awhile (months? a year?) because I just didn’t enjoy the nitpicking pettiness of some of the participants; always needing to admonish others for what they did ‘wrong’. It was wasn’t fun.

Another reason for the decline in popularity is, as mentioned earlier here, over-moderation. A ‘deals’ board that I had frequented many years ago used to have moderators that placed people on time-outs or banned them. I understand what they were probably attempting to do, but it just felt like there was always this feeling to ‘please’ them and the threat of being banned for writing something that someone didn’t like. So eventually I stopped visiting. Years later, I dropped in on that same website and was really surprised to see that it still existed and that it still had forums. When I visited them, it was so sad. They used to have hundreds of posts from hundreds of users every day. But when I more recently, I could see a post from a few people every few days. I joined and wrote my thoughts about the (then) present condition of the forums, how it was sad to see, and then I relayed my story about the over-moderation issue that I thought may have been a significant contributing factor. Can you guess what happened next? When I checked a few days later, my post had been deleted by the moderator. LOL! I think it was less than a year later that I thought to see whether the site was still up and founded that it wasn’t.

Moderating just enough, but not too much is a fine line. All things considered, I think I’d lean towards no moderation vs potentially over-moderating.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2025 09:44PM by DT.

I never considered talking on a forum about mystery shopping in the beginning. I had a question about something, don't remember what, and someone told me about this forum. When I first came here I introduced myself and a couple people said "hi" and then nothing..

I posted my question and was pretty much made fun of. So I just forgot about this forum for a few years. But I was bored one day a few years ago, and decided to look and see if there were friendlier people here. I was pleasantly surprised. Doesn't mean there aren't still some trolls, but most seemed to have wandered off..

I have wondered once in a while about the guy who traveled a lot mostly through the Southeast, I think. His posts were informative and entertaining. He drove a little Mini Cooper and i can't remember his forum name. Anyone know what became of him? He was a regular until about 4-5 years ago.

I also know that some still visit but no longer, or rarely, post due to insults thrown in the past. It's a shame because it was so nice to read their posts. Although I've been doing this for @20 years, I enjoy reading and learning from others who have been down paths i will probably never cross.

That was bgriffin. I sometimes wonder about him too. I found his posts entertaining and informative in a suffer-no-nonsense way. I remember he had rental properties and used to work in IT. There is a good chance he went back to full time employment. But leaving without so much as a so long gives us license to imagine all kinds of crazy stuff.

I learned a lot from walesmaven and apparently she's disappeared from here...very smart, very wise, no nonsense and helpful.

I remember bgriffin!

If anyone is wondering about ceasesmith, she moved to California, is having some much needed surgeries, found love, and a part time job. She still mystery shops and in general, is a much happier person on the inside. Before moving, she NEEDED all of you to keep the depression at bay. Even for me, it’s a little lonely not talking to her as much as I used to, but knowing she’s not lonely anymore, makes me that much more happier for her.

How about Irene? She was a hoot sometimes. I believe she moved to be near her sister and stopped shopping...a thousand times

Interesting story about ceasesmith. I forgot about that contributor for a moment, but certainly remember now that someone brought it up.

yes, Irene had great stories of when she was able to mystery shop for glamorous purchases. I was a little jelly.

@MsJudi wrote:

How about Irene? She was a hoot sometimes. I believe she moved to be near her sister and stopped shopping...a thousand times

Last time I texted with Irene, she had also found love and was concentrating on that, rather then shopping

And thinking back to when I was really active, it was also when I was single and not working as much. My career and my home life doesn't leave as much time for MS activities. I am more active in the forum than actual MS. I do have 3 shops this month, which is a lot for me!

maybe instead of Love on the Spectrum.....they could have Love on the Mystery Shopping? :-)

Document all these shoppers who found love

I'm married with kids and do as many dining out shops as I can. Wifey is a baker, not a cooker. So if we can eat out, it's easier on us and means no dishes either.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2025 07:16PM by hbbigdaddy.

I have only been a part of this group for just under 2 years but I have learned so much from all of you. I would not be as successful if I hadn't found this group. I am thankful for all of the tips, advice, rejected shop stories, etc. I love that everyone has made mistakes and has also had great success.

I don't know most of the people you are mentioning but it is nice that a new group has come about to share their stories.