The decline of LSD activity.

[EarlCat]

lack of useful search function.  this place started going downhill as soon as that disappeared.

^this.

I think most people involved would *like* to see this place become a significant and contemporary source of law school advice.  But I don't think that many people care enough to brainstorm and then do something.  As a mod, I have no control over anything this so I guess my brainstorming is futile.

This site uses SMF version 1.1.1.  The current version is 1.1.10.  We are long overdue for an upgrade.  The homepage making the site look like its down every other day is a big problem.  The lack of a search feature is a bigger problem.  There IS a search button--all the mods have it--but the server is so clogged it doesn't work.  I know at least one person who has offered to upgrade the site and clean up the database, but for whatever reason has not been given a response.  It's sad, because I think historically this forum has provided higher quality advice than TLS.

[botbot]

FWIW, I rudely sent Andrew a "sell me LSD" email.  He didn't respond.

[Scentless Apprentice]

I think I had guessed somewhere around $10k. Not bad.

http://www.cubestat.com/www.lawschooldiscussion.org

(link taken from a thread on TLS)

[Scentless Apprentice]

What is a site like this worth?

We would need to know the montly/annual expenses, and the monthly/annual revenues. Then just do a simple market analysis of the law school messageboard industry, and then add any discounts or premiums based on this research. Some numbers would have to be discounted to their present values. What are we looking at ..under or over 10k?

Pats self on back.

[EarlCat]

I think I had guessed somewhere around $10k. Not bad.

http://www.cubestat.com/www.lawschooldiscussion.org

(link taken from a thread on TLS)

Is that based on average daily pageviews over the last 9 years or over the last year? 

[Scentless Apprentice]

I'm not sure. It's hard to tell from looking at that page. That little graph shows activity for the last year, so maybe that's the answer.

That would be a little more reasonable than since the site started. In the 9 years the site has been around, there have been new entrants. If I was buying a business I'd be less concerned with the landscape 8 years ago, as opposed to more recent data, taking into consideration new entrants and recent demand.

Who know how accurate that site is.

[EarlCat]

I can't imagine with the current traffic it's worth near that much.  AdSense doesn't pay that much, and I can't imagine some of these off-topic ads are getting too many clicks.

[TimMitchell]

I can't imagine with the current traffic it's worth near that much.  AdSense doesn't pay that much, and I can't imagine some of these off-topic ads are getting too many clicks.

You saying an online degree from Lincoln is a bad idea?

[nealric]

Some recent numbers on activity: (threads/posts/new members)

October 2009    362    2729    370    540
September 2009    284    3115    270    160
August 2009    278    4418    290    131
July 2009    424    9588    381    159
June 2009    531    10696    429    180
May 2009    547    12252    428    176
April 2009    550    15092    514    220
March 2009    604    15218    491    196
February 2009    557    14843    453    199
January 2009    626    21074    443    201
December 2008    785    27743    445    232
November 2008    702    23912    460    296
October 2008    1012    23301    598    610

As you can see, site traffic is down precipitously from this time last year. October is usually a peak month for site traffic, and the number of posts this October was actually down from September.  Frankly, I'm afraid this site will be pretty much completely dead by spring at this rate.

My thought: the problem is that there is little to differentiate this site from TLS. It's set up to attract the same basic group of posters. Even fixing all the errors on the site, it has already lost the critical mass necessary to really sustain discussions. People were still signing up last October and posting questions, but there weren't enough people posting in the threads to really sustain discussion. What LSD needs is a new Niche.

XOXO has the elitist/political incorrect shoot your mouth off under the cover of anonymity market
Abovethelaw has the blog style market cornered
JD underground has the bitter grad market covered
TLS has the 0L (and increasing the law student) market covered

Any ideas where LSD can go to differentiate itself?

[Pardon Johnny Cash.]

Some recent numbers on activity: (threads/posts/new members)

October 2009    362    2729    370    540
September 2009    284    3115    270    160
August 2009    278    4418    290    131
July 2009    424    9588    381    159
June 2009    531    10696    429    180
May 2009    547    12252    428    176
April 2009    550    15092    514    220
March 2009    604    15218    491    196
February 2009    557    14843    453    199
January 2009    626    21074    443    201
December 2008    785    27743    445    232
November 2008    702    23912    460    296
October 2008    1012    23301    598    610

As you can see, site traffic is down precipitously from this time last year. October is usually a peak month for site traffic, and the number of posts this October was actually down from September.  Frankly, I'm afraid this site will be pretty much completely dead by spring at this rate.

My thought: the problem is that there is little to differentiate this site from TLS. It's set up to attract the same basic group of posters. Even fixing all the errors on the site, it has already lost the critical mass necessary to really sustain discussions. People were still signing up last October and posting questions, but there weren't enough people posting in the threads to really sustain discussion. What LSD needs is a new Niche.

XOXO has the elitist/political incorrect shoot your mouth off under the cover of anonymity market
Abovethelaw has the blog style market cornered
JD underground has the bitter grad market covered
TLS has the 0L (and increasing the law student) market covered

Any ideas where LSD can go to differentiate itself?

Have you noticed a substantial decrease in T25 posters and an increase in T2/regional applicants?  To me, there's a noticeable decrease in those applying to Harvard (and like schools) and more people applying to Houston and Oregon.