Funny you would think so? Seriously? Actually, funny that you would NOT think so.

Let's point out the obvious here, the new DU3 format was released when it was only 40% done, with a huge backlash from many many members. The site is now focused on making sure everybody says just the right things, jurys to make it easy to make sure nobody uses words that might hurt anybody's feeling, EVEN INDIRECTLY, but the focus should be on providing the same functionality as before, not less functionality, and treating members like adults in a democratic society. The content is continuously stale, you have to search for interesting stories instead of the other way around, but the search functionality is minimal at best.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS!!!!!! IT IS CALLED CAUSE AND EFFECT. So, in the last 3 months, during the Republican Primaries, during the debates no less, with the 6 most extremist Republicans contending and actively promoting their crazy agendas, right during an election year, and during 20+ Republican debates, the traffic is down 25%. Let me point out that it is down 25%, when it should be up 25/30% with an improved version of the site. Hmmm. How much does 50% change in traffic equate to in advertiser terms?

Sure, you can act surprised that traffic suddenly took a nose dive starting with the release of DU3, but nobody who has been complaining about the new DU3 will be surprised in the least.

Am I upset about the changes? Of course. I lost one of my enjoyed passtimes, visiting this site. The plus side is that I no longer compulsively visit the site 20 times a day, so at least I get more work done.

6 months from now, when the site is 50% of what it used to be during the time you should be setting record numbers in traffic, you can make the same argument and act really surprised.... thinking that it is funny anybody would try to connect the new format with the loss of traffic.

Realistically, if traffic suddenly goes down on a website, it is logical to examine what would have changed. If I were trying to solve the mystery and analyzing the site and just around the time that the traffic started to decline there were a flurry of people saying "I hate the new format and changes and not using the site anymore", it would be insane to pretend that the connection is purely coincidental.