Ripping Good Yarns: Where Have All the Rippers Gone?

I had a dream.

Well, not a huge, grandiose dream.  Just kind of a vision, a hope, of something I thought might be fun.

In the earlier days of my Facebook participation, I noticed that there were a lot of negative natterers on a lot of posts.  People for whom it was more important to diss yours and other's conversations than it was to participate.

Want to post about a TV show?  You might get derisive comments about that show, or insults about how it is a waste of time to even watch television, how they are vastly superior to you because they have more important things to do.

Want to post about a movie?  you might get lectures about how expensive movie theaters are.

Want to post about reading?  Don't even get me started about non-readers.

I thought it might be fun to have a place where people could discuss and share without having to be harassed.  A place where people could vote and have their own Hall of Fame or best lists.  Where you might discover, by seeing what other people were in to, something new and exciting to watch or read.

So when Facebook began offering groups, I thought I would take advantage of it.  Ripping Good Yarns, a name that I had in the back of my mind for decades, was stated, centering on the discussion of fiction and storytelling, the more melodramatic and serial in nature the better.

There have been many good discussions and postings over the last couple of years that Ripping Good Yarns has been in existence.No one ever has really gotten nasty or offensive.  all have participated in the spirit of the group.  We do have a Hall of Fame, although nominating and voting has been spotty.

For better or worse, I get to see the traffic on the site.  At its height, 15 to 20 people were looking at each post.  Now it's down to three to five.  Why?

Most of it is in the ebb and flow nature of Facebook.  People's level of activity varies greatly.  Some will be active over a few weeks and months, and then literally disappear.  I also think it is in the way that Facebook presents groups.  If you don't visit a group, Facebook does less and less to draw your attention to it.  Some who participated in it at one time have forgotten that it exists.

I have had a few people ask to join the group recently, but a good share of those have been from other parts of the world, and their primary interest seems to be to sell you something.  I don't want to boost traffic by turning into a marketplace.

I hate to give up on the idea.  I still think it's sound.  And it's a good supplement and focus for my blog.  I just don't know, with everything else I have to do, or want to do, whether I have the energy to keep it going.

Nevertheless, I will keep trying as best I can.  I will be starting the nominating for the next movie entrant into our Hall of Fame, although I fear that it might be like a tree falling in the wilderness.  Those of you faithful few who are still wandering in, please fell free to post on any related topic that you want to - the more that post stuff to it, the more participation we will get.  Mucho kudos to Benita Vierke Collins and Barbara Griffin in this regards.

I have to refocus on trying to get some ebooks on Amazon, and learning my Scrooge lines (trying to memorize that much stuff really makes me feel my 58), but I promise.  I will do what I can to revive Ripping good Yarns.  Like I've said before, I can be a stubborn old cuss!