So I guess in my sour mood today that I upset some people on the board.

Obviously, I am on the couch sometimes, but I am not part of the 'core' crowd, so my perspective is going to be different. My issues with the couch are not a secret. I have trouble with it. Feel like an outsider. I don't think the couch is inherently unwelcoming or unfriendly, but so many of you have been in it for so long that I do not think you understand how daunting or exclusionary it can be at times. (I know you say and believe all are welcome which is true. Just in practice it is different. Which you also admit can happen. I know it's not a secret.)

From where I sit, I have seen a fall off in responses to threads outside of the couch. I would bet money that an actual study would show that. Often, the couch will be active but the thread below it will not have had responses for 30 minutes to an hour. People even admit that they may only visit the couch or that it is the first thing they go to. I just think it is sad when a thread where someone asks for help or is in pain gets less than 10 or sometimes less than 5 and then we have the couch or social threads that get 10+.

I have seen first hand how helpful it has been to many of you, but I feel like you may be discounting the aggregate effect. But, perhaps I am alone in feeling this way.