The (Possible) Decline of College Confidential

College Confidential Community
1

As a sporadic lurker for the past few years and a sort-of active poster for one, I’d like to point out a couple things I’ve noticed in my time here…

The site seems a lot less active than it used to be. Awhile ago, the first page would all be posts made in the past couple hours. Now it’s more like a day and a half, and while that doesn’t sound like a lot, it means that there are only a couple main threads people are browsing through in each subforum. College Admissions and Chances are exceptions because they’re filled with one-time posters who make one thread and then disappear.

That’s another thing I’ve noticed–a giant influx of new members. Which is great! But like I said, they tend to disappear after making 3 threads and not responding to a single one. Or they ask questions that could be easily clarified with a quick Google search. But what about the old members? I feel like posters that I would run across on old threads don’t come on here at all anymore, and it’s not limited to just the mere masses (you know, moderators and stuff).

I looked it up, and the Alexa rank confirms it: <a href=“http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/collegeconfidential.com”>http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/collegeconfidential.com</a>
Down 1000 in the past 3 months, and it seems to have been declining beforehand too. Bounce rate, time spent on site, etc. have all declined as well. I can’t help but wonder if the layout change precipitated this or if the exodus was already underway when it happened (and yes, I’m aware it’s staying). The talk.CC splash page with the same stock photos and clickbait-y links makes it look a bit like AOL as well.

I’m not looking to bash anyone or the site–just making some observations. And it’s true that perhaps many users on here have a shelf life–as a college freshman, I see myself migrating to other sites as this one has mostly served its purpose. And since rambling like this isn’t very conducive to discussion, I’ll ask this: Do you think CC is going downhill, and if so, is there a way to reverse it?

Thanks!

2

I’m afraid you’ve hit the nail on the head. Like the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Too late for CC, though. I don’t think they have any intention of going back to the old software, even though the majority of the site users preferred it.

3

I’m back on a new ID after a 4 year hiatus. I have no problems with the new software, but I can tell you typing well thought out posts on an iPad is a bear. I can’t help but think I’m not the only one with this issue. I’ll read, but rarely post unless it’s in reply to an inquiry I’ve made. The typos I make alone make me nuts.

4

^^^ case in point - just had to edit due to typo.

5

I don’t know why they changed the layout. Was perfectly fine before.

I would not be against deleting What Are My Chances forum and highly restricting College Essay forum (maybe require that posters have 100 posts before posting there - limit the huge amounts of new accounts volunteering to “read” essays).

Of course, those two forums are also what brings a lot of new members to the site…