I think what made the Shag what it was were the circumstances of how we came together. In 2007 blogs were very important. We still all read the sports pages in the morning. Social media was more about affinity/connection and less about curation and everyone online was primarily consuming/creating long form written content first and pictures second.
The GenXers that formed the original core of the shag came together as a result of our online but also real life shenanigans, after having already been together for 10 years on 2-3 other forums with the same handles (Hookem, OBs, Hornfans etc). Our exodus from Hornfans (basically because we wanted a place to freely talk shit and crack wise) attracted chaos-agent millennials, and the result was chaotic but routinely hilarious. But it was also a smart group, so even the cloak room/west mall content was good, not because it was tolerant, but because it was serious, thoughtful, and sharp. Not to mention that it was in good faith. The angry ex Republicans on today’s CR were still Republicans back then.
Now we’re all 15 years older, which means the GenXers are simply old and the millennials are in the busiest part of their lives. Those of us that are left either still have the same sense of humor and care about the team, but rarely have the energy or patience or time to read, let alone write 500 words at a time, and aim not sure people younger than us think about content in those terms. Twitter sucks. I agree. This place is better and I do come here first. I hope this place is around longer than I am. But the medium is the message and honestly I’m not sure what kind of future forums like this one have beyond your generation.