I don't object to people coming here for support and camaraderie while they go through this difficult process.  In fact, I think it's an important part of the forum experience for many. Just look at the number of times people remark on how relieved they are to receive encouragement from others who are going through the same ordeal!

It would be great if this forum could serve both purposes well.  I think this could be done by having a "lounge" where people who want to share experiences or just generally chat.  If the forum manager could produce a series of "sticky" chat topics that stay "up front", these stickies could serve that purpose very well.  And if people could then develop the discipline to keep social posts to the lounge, people looking for specific information could find it more easily.

It might even be worthwhile to have sticky topics on subjects that many people ask questions about -- police certificates, medicals, establishing proof of common law, organizing your submission, qualifying as a sponsor, etc.  

Of course, the forum managers may not want to do any of this.  But we could still make this a more useful forum by starting our own "chat" threads when all we want to do is 'talk'.  The recent "Go Canada Go" thread is an example -- we aren't going to find any "useful" information about immigration on it, but it sure is fun, and nobody is going to waste time searching through the posts for a nugget of important information.