@helloforum
PROTIP! Recruiting.
Part of the popularity of the forums here is that while we might censor bad words, kiddie porn and spammers, we do not censor ideas. We have had various boosts in interest/membership over the years at various times because we're the place that lets dissenting voices speak up as long as they stay within the MA (membership agreement). While other sites have admins/mods who will actually jump into an argument and suspend or ban a person taking a contrary point of view, we try not to do that.
This has happened with Bigfoot, 911 CT, Holocaust Denial, Amanda Knox, and a few other topics. It's not that the majority of the board isn't of a dominant position on those topics. We do somewhat agree (there's no bigfoot, 911 CT is fantasy, holocaust denial is horrific bigoted fantasy, Amanda Knox was railroaded) but we will discuss nuances, but more important to people on the fringe who want to promote those contrary beliefs, we will let them have their say and will pick apart their arguments. Other boards get tired of all the crap and shut down the conversations.
And the thing is that True Believers tell each other on other sites that "you're allowed to get into a good argument over at the JREFF/ISF". And if you give them a platform, they will come. If you have no members, though, you can get over-run. But if you can allow controversy and get some subject matter experts (we have numerous) to solidly counter the woo-ish beliefs, you can attract membership.
The quoted post is an example of the result. There are still 911 CTers out there. The poster is one of them and sees the entire forums through that particular interest. 911 CT debunking is greatly a pastime for most of us by now. I occasionally chime into a thread, but rarely. We have people who are very much better informed on the topic than myself, even though that's the thing that got me to sign up here, originally. They come for the CT or the UFOs or the Psychics and they stay for the cookies and peach pie!
