I quite like the new format. I think, though, that footfall has declined.
Unscientific, based on the observation that there are fewer late night posts and that threads which you might think could create momentum often peter out quickly. The data are available to AB techies, so
Ab Editor can provide authoritative comment.
VE's anecdotal evidence? Well saw a super question - "This is the punchline - what's the builid-up?". Went on for a long time. Lots of dirty, but funny jokes evading censorship.
Another example, wife watching Heartbeat asked me if it was Joan Baez singing Baby Blue. I posted the song and quoted my wife. Didn't expect many answers, but all the Baez fans responded and one of the guys had been in a Parisian bar with his wife or lover while Joan was doing a bit of singing and playing gratis.
This is social media doing social things.
Fast forward to "new format" times. Somebody posted a question "Best insults?". There's a rich vein of material to be mined. Could have been a thread with several hundred postsand a lot of fun.
Didn't last two days.