It’s a shame people are so taken by social networking these days, as that excludes those who enjoy simply watching activity on a forum and therefore limits a band’s exposure.
This is partly true, but partly not - social networks, in some way, are something like a forum with members invited by you, so you mostly interact with people you already know (and like!), there's no trolls and so. Plus, they add - where available - the one-to-one relationship with musicians and people you're fan of.
And it definitely doesn't limit the band's exposure (I came to know about the newly added Threshold gig 'cos Iris posted it on Facebook), at all.
On the other hand, the forum gathers fans from all over the world, so it's good to get to know people with the same interests. As a long time member of this forum, I've always noticed lack of activity in parallel with lack of news from the band, and viceversa: when Dead Reckoning was just released, for example, there's been a lot of posting and lots of new members.
So I expect this forum to be pretty much "alive" when the new album will be out!
Last thing: internet keeps on changing every day, and so does the way we "virtually relate" to each other: first there were Mailing lists, then IRC chats, then forums and communities, then social networks (Myspace first, facebook now): I think that every band (epsecially those who still haven't reached that
critical mass) has to "follow the trends" regarding the way to interact with the fans, and I appreciate the fact that Threshold still has the forum in parallel with the new social networks, as facebook, myspace, twitter and so.
