Reasons Aspies don't join/leave WP?

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I've noticed that WP has a relatively high turnover rate, and I often see profiles of individuals, even veteran members, who make insightful posts for a few weeks and leave.

I wanted to ask if members are aware of individuals on the spectrum that a) decided not to join WP, or b) left WP, for one of the reasons mentioned above. This could include people you know online and/or offline, including friends and family members.

Please feel free to provide additional detail if you feel that the categories above aren’t sufficient for your answer. I tried to include responses that have been mentioned in related threads. Please note that I took several of the responses from the feedback on a prior thread that probably did not have sufficiently detailed questions in the poll, and incorporated them into this updated poll.

I would ask that members please limit this thread to explanations and questions. I am not creating this thread to argue if the above perceptions are right or wrong, only to collect data. "General Autism Discussion" is always available for debate and discussion (as is PPR).

As always, these responses are ones of perceptions of other people, so I understand there is always room for ambiguity or miscommunication.

Lots of people tend to go through posting cycles, alternating periods of intense posting followed by breaks from the site or lurking. Down in PPR, we see issue specific members, who disappear for months at a time only to reemerge when their single topic of interest is being discussed. I for one have a definite WP "mojo" that comes and goes; when it's on, I can type as fast as I can think and all the right words come naturally, when it's off, it's a struggle to get out a one sentence reply. My posting definitely waxes and wanes with the mojo. That, and getting a new video game can knock me off of WP for a few days or weeks, if it's a good one.

I know someone who joined but did not stay primarily because they had a lot of language issues and they felt that this place was geared towards people who use 'big words' and fanciful language in general, and they felt intimidated by most of the posters.

Personally, my activity on this forum fluctuates depending on a multitude of factors. The main ones being my ability to communicate (my language skills are variable, I experience times when I can't type coherently), my interest in the topics being discussed, and how I'm feeling within my self in general. I use this site more as a support aide than anything else, so if I don't need the kind of support that wp gives me (which I mostly get from reading through other peoples threads) then I feel less of a desire to visit.

Frankly, topics on WP are cyclical. Go away for six months, and when you come back you see the same questions and discussions just with different people.

That hasn't made be quit, but I can go long stretches without WP and know nothing too exciting will be missed.

I've brought friends here and they left for these reasons:

Too much drama
Same stuff posted over and over and same questions asked
People moaning too much and do nothing to fix their issues
People using their AS as an excuse and blame their issues on everyone else
Got bored
Lost interest
Forgotten about the place
Got busy
Too depressing and negative

And I like Wrong Planet, and would ask that we keep the baseline in mind.

Whether it's sports or politics or kayaking or raising alpacas, the Internet in general has a lot of turnover.

I've thought about leaving several times because I find the site depressing, so that's my best guess. Hearing a whole bunch of people with problems similar to mine complain about how much their lives suck isn't as uplifting as one might suppose.

Yes, I know people who left or didn't join WP, but I'm not going to tell you who they are or why the left/didn't join.

I think about it, but WP is still an anchor for me. There's always going to be repetition, but I'd still rather hang around than to feel adrift and unrelatable.

I go from one extreme to another - I either post a lot or not at all, depending on how available I am to use the site and what mood I'm in and whether there are any topics that interest me

The site is a fluid entity, not static, so I wouldn't expect people to always be here - they will come and go according to need and whether they feel they want to contribute to the topics available

Also how to you define anyone as leaving?

The gaps between peoples' postings just vary as far as I'm concerned

If you miss certain people why not pm them to see how they are

I've left for a brief period in 2007 and than once again in the Summer of 2009. The reason that I left in the Summer of 2007 is because a favourite member of mine put an end to our friendship and I was still bothered by it.

The reason I left for a while in the Summer of 2009 was because of my bad attitude and what I let it do to me. I wasn't going to come back to WP unless I changed both myself and my attitude. I came back that September after going through that positive change. I felt lovable again, so I've decided to give WP another chance and I haven't left since.

I wasn't going to be here with a cynical, punkish attitude.

The times when I seriously think about leaving there is usually an excess of "AS is superior to everyone" going on.

So far, though, I haven't actually left.