I think there’s a move in professional figure skating called the reverse death spiral. That seems to be what’s happening here – still.

When I was an active member of TIGHAR’s forums in the US, executive director Ric Gillespie unilaterally decided to restrict the previously open and free forums to only paid members. He said this was to improve the quality of the posts. In a matter of weeks the number of posts went from 15-plus a day to two or three, sometimes none. Whole weeks now go by where NOTHING is posted. I would post a graph here that I have of the precipitous decline but can’t be bothered with the new format here.

The TIGHAR forums have become a self-reinforcing echo chamber for the views of Gillespie and the chosen few who remain willing to pay.

But at least they serve that purpose, for Gillespie if no one else. I’m not sure what purpose Key sees its forums as serving anymore.