Happy Birthday, Tad!!!

He's cheating on us with facebook!

(jk, he doesn't post there that much...more than here, though)

While I'm being verbose (procrastinating), any US tour plans happening guys?

Guys?
Am I talking to myself here?

Helloo!

<echo> Helloo!   Hellooooooo!   Hellooooooo! </echo>

ArcticSwan360 wrote:

While petitions are pathetic when it comes to the degree of persuasion one would hope for, I still say we start a mock one here and now, that is for Tad to visit the Forums as much as he used to. His absence was the main reason I slowly drifted away,...

You're not alone, Stefan. I know most of us wish Tad could spend more time on these boards again, and I know that others have drifted away for the same reason.  I have some doubts about how successful we'd be in getting him to return regularly -- and certainly would not expect to see him back on the boards like he was in the early Smarch days (more on why in a moment).

For now, though, you can interact with him on Facebook, which is where (as far as I can tell) he spends most of his online social time.  I'm aware he also posts to a few other message boards on occasion (I'm thinking of one of the comic book sites, though I don't actually know which one), but I know he's active almost daily on Facebook.  He doesn't make a lot of posts in any given day, but usually pops in there to (at least) change his profile pic -- and that habit has gained quite a following, too, the pix are quite amusing/strange and oh so Tad.

I've never discussed this with him directly, though have contemplated doing so many times, so what follows is purely my own speculation and opinion and not based on anything specific that Tad has said (unless noted otherwise). 

I think there are several things -- a combination of life events and the evolution of online socializing -- that have caused Tad to migrate from these boards to Facebook as a regular haunt.

I think one of the main reasons has to do with the "neutrality" of the venue.  On Facebook, Tad connects not only with fans and online friends, but also with his family (he's got a huge family!), friends from school days, neighbors, and colleagues. And though he's not said so that I've ever heard or seen, I'd imagine that he wants to use his limited online time in the most "economical" way possible, to connect with as many people as possible with the least amount  of effort -- ie, go one place to stay in touch rather than have to hop around several locations on the internet and end up having to repeat himself over & over answering same questions or relating same stories about what's going on in his life at any given time.

So why can't the Smarch Boards be that central place?  I'm thinking that many (perhaps most) of those people (family and colleagues and school chums, in particular) would likely hesitate to interact with him here on his own website in the same manner as they do on FB. Facebook is more neutral territory with everyone pretty much being equal -- it's like a big neighborhood block party. Here, on the other hand, it's "Tad's Place" -- and they may not quite understand the "rules" (not that we have any, but that's beside the point). They probably expect a certain culture here, and perhaps even think they'd have to always talk about Tad's books or whatnot.  /If/ this is a factor, it's likely to be unconscious (or is that subconscious? I always get those confused ;)  -- but my guess is it plays a part. Plus, those people are already on Facebook, and for same economies, it's just easier to interact with people there than to leave that site and go to a different site (in this case, here) to seek out one individual.

I think site accessibility may also have something to do with it.  We've long had problems being open to everyone here. There at the end, the original Smarch boards were closed to all newcomers (because of the 'bot problem), and then after the move to tadwilliams.com, the boards were inaccessible to a lot of people because of the crappy way the message board software was set up on the site (with that awful port that was blocked by a lot of firewalls). There were ways around it, sure, but I know the effort was off-putting.  At least we've solved that particular issue now, so perhaps we can attract more people to come play with us here eventually.

And finally, in terms of "venue" -- especially the "look and feel" -- Facebook has lots of bells and whistles and gewgaws and stuff.  You can have an avatar/profile pic; you can post pictures to your own albums and share them with friends; it's easier to post links and videos and they get automatically embedded in your post -- Visually, it's more exciting.  I know we could add some of that functionality to these boards -- and maybe it's time to talk about doing something like that.  Before the move to tadwilliams.com, there was a lot of discussion about what we, the Smarchers, would like to see -- how we'd like the boards to look and feel. At that time, there was a general feeling that we should not allow posting of pictures (there was also a bandwidth and storage issue then that we don't really have now), including profile pics.  I know that those features can be activated here if we'd like to.  I'm not sure if there's a way to post videos and other media or not, but we could look into it.

So maybe we could "update" the boards a bit to be a little more like FB or other social sites. Maybe that would make us more attractive as a place to interact. I dunno.  Something to think about.


As for other reasons, well, I think life itself has definitely been a factor for Tad. He has much less time now for online socializing than he used to.  The kids are growing up -- pre-teens/early teens -- and Tad is a really awesome Dad. He wants to spend as much time with Boy and Girl as possible, so that naturally takes time away from online anything. He helps with school projects and homework, and he and the kids were recently in a local production of the Wizard of Oz which ran several weeks. More recently he mentioned working on a (float?) with Girl. There's always something happening with kids.

I also know from his comments on Facebook that life has been particularly stressful and trying these past couple of years. Most recently, he and the family have been selling their house and buying a new one (which is an ordeal, to say the least; if you've ever done it, you'll know what I mean).  In fact, today is their moving day -- finally! (The sale and move have consumed life since about beginning of May this year).  Then there are the pets (4 dogs, 2 cats, a turtle, and.... I've lost track of how many other critters... a lizard, I think; sometimes seamonkeys).....  Tad has a full, yet rather chaotic life -- as far as I've seen, anyway.  I know he frequently laments not having time to go play basketball or do the music thing with his band....  And to all that regular life busy-ness, you have to include time for paying attention to business (including some travel) and writing time.

(He's working very hard right now on a new urban fantasy noir thriller series; but I'll address the latter part of your post in a separate post.)

It's because of all these many things I've really not been able to bring up the "why don't you ever post to the boards anymore, Tad?" question -- not that I'd word it that way, mind you.  I know he really regrets not being able to (in evidence, the title of this particular thread: Tail Between Legs), and I'm quite sure he wishes he could spend more time here.

Perhaps, once their move has settled down a bit, I'll actually be able to bring it up. Or someone else might before I do. (I don't have any special access or anything, despite what it might seem since I handle the site for him; I actually very rarely have direct interaction with Tad -- only once or twice that I can think of this year so far, and those were via wall posts on Facebook.)  I really do need to talk with him about his Facebook and his blog, anyway -- and today he answered someone's question about whether he was going to be on Google Plus (he said, essentially, "probably, but it will have to wait until post-move and when life settles down a bit).  So I have no idea whether he'll suddenly move from Facebook to G+... but wouldn't surprise me if that eventually was the transition. So that, if it happens, will also impact his blog. (That's another subject, semi-related, but I won't go into it here.)

In any case, let's talk about possibly updating our boards to be a little more "current" in terms of how the popular social media sites look and feel  (in a new topic, probably would be a good idea) -- maybe that will make us more attractive for more interaction here.  Can't say it would bring Tad back regularly, but who knows?


'k. I've worn myself out now. Will have to come back to update you on his current writing projects and plans (the little I know about them, that is).

Yours garrulously,
strangeshe (Lisa)

*dusts the place*

Poor old Doghouse. Abandonned & lonely.

Dog Sighting. Will he delurk?

So, this was the last Doghouse.