Part of it is that many popular boards have migrated to other hosts. At least two of the boards I use to frequent have done it, and another is in the process of doing so.

As well, people leave boards for other reasons. There is at least one I no longer go to because the owner is, IMO, mentally ill. I am damned if I'll give him an outlet for it by participating. As the movie said: Go peddle crazy somewhere else, we're full up here!!

I think too, that the net is no longer has the novelty value of the 'new thing', and that the thrill of talking to someone in Buttwallow, Arkansas just isn't the thrill it once was.

Or maybe the mild winter is letting people do more....

Regards,
M. Graham
Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage among his books.
For to you kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring,
but to him they are but toys of the moment,
to be overturned with the flick of a finger. -- Gordon R.Dickson