THE CREATION---------Fanspo since its beginning on Reddit was made to be a better version of the Reddit NBA fans and the ESPN trade generator in 1 site. Zach the main (and only creator as far as I'm aware of) created this site 3-4 years ago. Go look at the most popular trades of all time. Notice how their numbers are crazy high and they all have something in common...their all from 3 years ago taking out the very few outliers from 8-10 months ago. Little did he know that was when fanspo would be at its most popular stage. Even with the additions of things like the NFL page and NBA mock draft simulator fanspo numbers just haven't been the same as of 3 years ago. And I'm not talking numbers like the amount of accounts created or how many time the site is opened. Im talking about quality interactions between NBA (and now sports in general) fans. But why is that? You would think that the more you add and change for the better the more popular a site would become. But why has that been the exact opposite for the fanspo community?
REASONING----------- I think the fall off of fanspo can be attributed to the change in fanbase and interactions the site has had compared to its first beginning. When it was first created it had a very targeted audience. NBA fans who loved to talk about teams making trades. But what is it now? It still has people wanting to talk about NBA trades and such but it has grown far more past that. Some things for the better like NBA draft talk, or NFL trade and draft talk. But it has also left the sports sphere. From talking about who someone's favorite musical artist is, to talking about their personal life leading to information being shown that should have been kept private, to what might be the worst of all....people trying to farm views, comments, and upvotes to accelerate their score. The integrity and backbone of the site are still there but it has now grown lumps and growths into different aspects and communities that this site isn't meant to entertain.
The people- The audience of fanspo has changed dramatically over this timespan as well. When it was created it audience was full of older teenagers to grown men who loved to talk and breathe basketball. They were able to give out compliments when needed but most importantly they were able to give out constructive criticism without having to worry about someone getting butthurt over someone not agreeing with them and telling them why. Todays audience has grown more into the middle school direction. obviously you still have adults and older teenagers that still populate this site. Now it is run by the pre teens of America. Sure a majority of them love basketball but they just don't have the mental understanding ( a majority of them) to comprehend everyone not agreeing with them. Now it is not common to see crap posts (different then the obvious shit post meant to bring in views and comments) that have been left to the dead because if you tell little Jeremy that's their is no reason for the nuggets to go out and trade for nicholas claxton for example it wouldn't be uncommon for racial and derogatory slurs, swearing, and eventually getting blocked to occur. It wouldn't also be uncommon for you to notice all of your posts have 2 more downvotes then when you first got on for the day.
CHANGES WITH GOOD INTENTIONS-------- Now Zach trying to evolve the site with the community has changed things along the way. The biggest of which was the petition to remove downvotes. Now some viewed downvotes as a way to get back at someone instead of a nice subtle gesture to show you disagree with someone. Some took personal satisfaction by downvoting 10 of the same person's trade because they told you that there's no reason for the wizards to go out and trade all their assets for mikal bridges for example. But that isn't what downvotes were meant to do. They were meant to help filter out the bad/clickbaty posts and comments that may purge the site from various users. They were the opposite of the upvote. Without bad their can't be good and without good their can't be bad.
Disclaimer:More will be added as I find dates, examples, more information, more ideas. Sorry if it's a bit wordy but I'm just trying to get my point across. I will add a timetable of various additions, changes, etc the site has gone through over its time. I will also get a little bit more in depth about how I've been more disappointed with Zach not nearly about what he has done to the site but about promises he has made and how he has handled major outbreaks that have been a theme on fanspo for the better part of a year and a half.
I am more than willing to discuss your opinions and thoughts on the subject. And if you have some information that you would like to add show me it and if I think it's good I'll definitely add it.
Future talking points TradeNBA (former fanspo) Discord