I've been here for a very long time and have felt that way for quite a while. I continue coming here because the wealth of information for the price just can't be beat.
I rarely even come over to the hair side anymore because you can only read "What conditioner gives you the best slip?" and "How long did it take you to grow to WSL?" so many times before you want to scream.
I mostly stick to the other areas of the board.
I've been here awhile, and I have noticed that the dynamic of the board has changed. Some of it is due to older members (who had a strong board presence) kinda fading out, and others taking their place (not necessarily bad).
And some of the changes were subtle shifts as we adapted to board updates. When I joined there weren't
nearly as many alternate forums on here. So naturally if you were on here then you were more likely to be spending your time in the hair forum. So "old" heads tended to hang around the hair forum more and were able to drop knowledge for newbies (like me).
And some of the change has to do with simple things like a "thanks" button being added. Before, you had to enter the thread and make a post to thank someone. And along with thanking them, people would often drop little nuggets of knowledge themselves about the topic. Now people can hit the thanks button or the "like" button and keep it moving.
Anybody remember how many "shout out" threads to members we used to have? Some still pop up every now and again, but not nearly at the frequency they used to be. Those threads also served as a way to congratulate members on a job well done (I recognize that we still have the feature of the month).
Yes I do feel that way most of the time but I look in here once in a while to see if there is anything new going on like products. That's what I'm doing today. I mainly look and post on other threads now.
I don't hang out in the hair forum much anymore, but it is beneficial to drop by every now and again. That's how I found out that one of my die hard staples (from before I even started my healthy hair journey) was very recently reformulated (Roux Porosity Control).
I understand what you mean about the changes and the atmosphere here not feeling the same. But I agree with those who mentioned that LHCF is not just about hair. There's a lot of good discussions happening in the other forums.
For example:
- There's some great info in the career section. I've learnt a lot from there. Also, over the past few months, lots of ladies have helped each other source writing side gigs and are making extra money to meet real life goals.
- While its not of interest to everyone, there was a cool relationship thread where ladies who knew eligible bachelors were connecting them with single sisters on here. From what I read, there were some cool connections made.
- No too long ago, there was a thread going from women who suffered from depression. The thread allowed them to connect with other women of colour who were going through similar issues.
While hair is what brought people here, I really think it's a place where you can connect with other black women about (almost) anything.
As I've been on here longer, I've really started to appreciate the other forums. And they help keep things fresh. When I get tired of one I can sample another for awhile. But I think I do spend much less time on here (in any of the forums) than I did for the first few years.
I've been on here two years. Didn't consider myself "old school" until I saw when the OP joined. So, I guess I can comment. I went hard when I first joined. I was on here sometimes 12-16 hours a day--researching, reading, learning. Of course I don't need to go that hard anymore, but there is still valuable information on here that I am still discovering. Look not so much at the new, but go back to the old, very old, threads from before you joined. Unless you've perfected the treatment of your hair, and its exactly the way you want it, then there is more to learn. And even if you have, like the other poster said, stay and help the newbies. If all the old heads leave then it becomes the blind leading the blind. I know I didn't join so I could hear from someone else who just joined. I wanted to hear from someone who already made the journey to BSL and had wisdom to share.
I don't consider myself a hair guru by any means. I'm only an expert on my hair. But it did hit me the other week, that after all this time, I've become one of the board's "old heads." I
definitely don't think I have a following of newbies waiting for me to post and drop some nuggets of gold or anything.
But I sometimes do try to visit the hair forum more often and pay particular attention to some of the threads from newer members. Especially the ones with words like "please help me!" in the title.
I try to post if I think I can add to the discussion, or maybe just to re-iterate a great idea already posted by someone else.
One will never know everything about hair care or anything else.
I still enjoy the hair part of this board ever now and then after all these years... I too was at other hair growing sites before this one, so it's been 10+ years.
I do spend considerably more time on the other parts of this board though.
Agreed.
I am primarily lurking now a days as well.
I used to mostly lurk when I first joined and then hit a patch where I was on here posting much more frequently. But now I've sorta fallen back into posting less. I know people who have been on here less than 6 months that have more posts than I do.
I've been here awhile and love all parts of the board. I've reached my goal so I guess that's it for me. I have nothing really to add because it's been said over and over again but I do check back for the hit/miss thread because I'm always looking for the newest bestest condish, tips, techniques, etc.
I've surpassed my original hair goals (though I am trying to make it back to my longest length after a hair cut). But for the most part I'm very satisfied with where my hair is now. But I've not reached the pinnacle of perfection (and never will) so I can definitely still benefit from the vast knowledge of other posters on here.
I hope you'll stick around, OP! 
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