I think what you are seeing is a simple "over-organization" of the forums here. When I joined in 2000, there were forums based on the year range of Mustang, and then forums for the specialty stangs.
Now there are at least 3 sub forums within those original forums. Why the heck do we need a separate "Talk" and "Tech" forum? What happened to making the "Lounge" (Former AAG forum) a place to ask any general question?
That is why this place seems dead, topics are being placed in more specific areas so it seems like participation is low.
I say get rid of all the sub forums and take it back to what it used to be like years ago. Simple is better. That's how all the other club-type websites do it now.
i think one great thing about stangnet is theres very lil bickering and flaming going on. certain svt sites are often trolled and they turn into huge pissing contests. almost makes u feel like ur reading an ls1 board. minus the 06 z06 curing cancer and making world peace stories while running 4 second 1/4 miles. my consensus of stangnet is that its basically a 5.0 forum. i love that. theres plenty of cobra forums all over the net. its nice to be able to talk to people who still love pushrod engines.