Many of us are also shy or reluctant to make public statements but rather like to reflect and think silently on their own.
I support Vesa's feelings. Because it is a matter of feelings. "Say what you think" does not work as an invitation to speak or write. Reasons?
-shyness
-lack of confidence in addressing unknown partners (a picture does not remove the natural reservations).
-lack of a purpose: are you helping unknowingly to write a manual, are your ideas going to be sold without your consent (or benefit)?
-lack of fun: in a dinner you may talk just for the sake of it, but that is easier than pressing a lot of buttons and re-reading for typos or silly statements (which remain recorded for ever and accessible to the public)
-lack of reward: for some, exhibitionism might be the reward, for most, the fear of reactions (or worse, the probable absence of reactions!) will prevail.
-lack of "correspondence": unlike e-mail, where the old codes of reply are valid, there is no guarantee of response in fora.
In summary, as a mechanism for discussions, fora are inadequate and far from providing the right atmosphere.
(I will search for positive aspects for the other forum. Why two separate?)
By the way, I separated the forums to focus on negative and positive aspects to try to stimulate people to think in a single way while they were making a single post--a sort of devil's (and angel's?) advocate approach to get issues on the table. I hope it works, but it does ask for participants to take one side at a time, which might be difficult. So far, people may be having difficulty listing positive qualities. That alone is interesting, but the week is still young.
Actually this happened to me in this forum. When I logged in after a while, there were quite a few new discussions initiated. As I felt I was already late, I thought hmmm, I may take some time tomorrow to read them all and contribute… Then I postponed and postponed again. On the other hand, when I receive an e-mail alert, I tend to act as soon as possible.
This makes me think that on the future discussion forums I will always set them up by forcing everyone to originally subscribe.
If you prefer, I could make a change for everyone who might not know how to subscribed. Just let me know.