At the end of the day, however, it comes down to who uses it. Since bitcoin was advertised as a way to make a quick buck (I quadrupled my money in one week), a high percentage of the new members were uninterested in the culture of bitcoin or how it works. This led to a rapid decline in the quality of posts IMHO.
I don't know where you heard about it, but I knew it as a way to transfer funds securely and relatively anonymously. Not a ponzi scheme.
I apologize if I were unclear. I meant that the user base grew significantly as/after the price jumped to $30/btc. These were the new members to which I was referring, which of course is a blanket statement and doesn't hold true for all of them. I most enjoyed reading on the forums prior to bitcoin hitting $1.20.