Forum participation

[IC2]

I'm frustrated with forum participation - and not just here. It seems as though the level of people coming into these forums and actually hanging around, whether it's automobile oriented or what ever your favorite hobby has peaked and is actually dipped. I wander over to the HAMB occasionally and many of their posts have become not much more then chat room conversations with little new/fresh information. I'm a regular at Hotrodders.com - and while I enjoy many of the lounge topics, am really no longer impressed with the thousandth person asking what camshaft his 350 Chevy should run or which heads. Dammit use the Search function. Heck, I've even gotten to the point where I ask/post an occasional thread that I know the answer, though not here, just to move people to do some thinking. There are a bunch of talented people available here and elsewhere - it just seems that the 'spark' has gone. I've gone to the Ford Muscle Forum and they too seem to be running in slow motion. A couple others - withering with virtually no new posts.

I understand that the format here has changed and why Brent felt it was necessary. While I'm not overjoyed with the format, have learned to work with it even with the usual 'No Packets to Send' showing up on a regular basis. I want to stay here, but somehow it has to grow and new faces made welcome - which I believe we do pretty well compared to other sites. Folks register, make a few posts and disappear. Look at the member's list and there are hundreds if not thousands who registered and made an initial post, never to return. Looking at the Where has Ken Thurm gone thread is just one more indicator that forums are slowing and why.

Comments folks (including flames belching)!!

[shine]

i've watched hr.com go down hill for many years. one by one the professional painters and shop owners left . it's really sad too because there are still guys looking for help but get only cheap this or hf guns and duplicolor junk. must be the same with engine builders . every google expert seems to show up at times. i still like the spi users forum. none of the bs is tolerated there. just a collection of really good gun hands sharing info and helping others.

chr seems to be hanging in there. not too much of the bs here. site updates always po old farts like me that can barely turn one on but we get there. also i think as we get older we just burn out on it and have to take a break.
sometimes i wish al gore had never invented the internet......

[HOSS429]

i really dont want to say why my posting has fallen off ....

[Itoldyouso]

I know exactly what you are saying and feel some of that myself. It had me wondering if maybe I have been doing this a little too much and have burned out a little on it. I guess it's like anything else, if you do it too much after a while it becomes less fun than it once was. I know there are times I will start typing up a response to a post and after it is done I will wipe it out and not post because all I am doing is saying the same things I have said a hundred times before, and it seems pointless.

Part of it is the problem is that we are into Summer, and historically particication drops off because we aren't cabin bound and are out doing other things. In the winter more people are looking for entertainment and spend more time in front of their computer.

Don

[jerry clayton]

wow---imagine being cabin bound in Ft Myers!!!!!

[Itoldyouso]

Hey, it dips way down into the 50's here sometimes !!!!!!!!

Don

[shine]

you know it's bad when people in south texas are praying for a hurricane.....

[Weasel Diesel]

I think the economy has alot to do with it too. When you have cash and are building, you are waaaayyy into it and chat more about it. Back a year, and before, I had cash and was building my a$$ off,... I was on here almost every day. Now, the dream of finishing this thing is gone due to the income has slowed WAY down, and I just don't have the umph to be on everyday as it makes life depressing. What was once a definite for sure thing within a year or two, has turned into a pipe dream that in reality I know isn't going to happen now. But, like the song says...You can't always get what you want...right?

[sg4356]

As far as I am concerned When Brent came up with the new forum I had Zero problems changing over. Seems to me that all everyone does is nothing but bitch on chr. From thats already been posted before to you cant sell that on here. You said it all when you said that you dont care if you get flamed because you more than likely will. Just my two cents I am always looking for a deal weather I need it or not . If I dont want to read it I dont. I like reading everyones ideas on a subject weather I think its wrong or not. What I am trying to say is Chill. and let the other members say what they want to say with out getting there ass kicked off even tho it has been posted over and over again.

[Itoldyouso]

I think you have this forum confused with another one. People RARELY get flamed here, unless you are talking about the recent situations where one vendor posted an unusually high number of ads, taking up space that could better be used for member discussions. There are some forums where the members pile on and beat down another member for the slightest infraction, or imagined infraction. That almost never occurs here.

Don

[sg4356]

Just my thoughts. only place iam a member. Like your hot rod by the way.

[rspears]

I think you have this forum confused with another one. People RARELY get flamed here, unless you are talking about the recent situations where one vendor posted an unusually high number of ads, taking up space that could better be used for member discussions. There are some forums where the members pile on and beat down another member for the slightest infraction, or imagined infraction. That almost never occurs here.

Don

As far as I am concerned When Brent came up with the new forum I had Zero problems changing over. Seems to me that all everyone does is nothing but bitch on chr. From thats already been posted before to you cant sell that on here. You said it all when you said that you dont care if you get flamed because you more than likely will. Just my two cents I am always looking for a deal weather I need it or not . If I dont want to read it I dont. I like reading everyones ideas on a subject weather I think its wrong or not. What I am trying to say is Chill. and let the other members say what they want to say with out getting there ass kicked off even tho it has been posted over and over again.

This is probably directed at me, and if so I apologize to the group and will try to not let it happen again. I did post a couple of responses to threads linking back to searches or in one case to a previous "post your picture" thread, both of which I thought should have been caught by a simple search, and neither of which were intended to "flame" anyone. Like Dave said in his intro, it's a bit frustrating to me when something has been discussed at length within the past couple of months, and can easily be found with a simple search, but it gets posted again and again. As I said, I will curb my tendency to direct people to old answers and let things progress their natural course from this point forward.

[ojh]

Jeeze, Dave, did you get taht off your chest? I mean, who really cares about posts. You stick your head under the hood of your car (a sweetie too) and go to work - better yet, find a rusted out old roadster and have at it! You got way to much time on your hands if you think that posts are relavent or not, or if the sites are active or not - right? Think about it, if we are doing what is best taht we do - working/fixing/building/creating - we would pay little attention to the forums. The only improvement any forum has made in my life is communication, i am more open now tahn i used to be.
All i ever get out of a post that i have made is self gratification - admit it, a post is a purely selfish thing where we get a warm fuzzy feeling when we take time to explain - but in reality it does us no good whatsoever and we would actually get more benefit if we rebuilt a carb or some even cleaned the gutters on the shop.
I am trying to curb my posts, cut back on internet time and focus on what needs to get done in the shop. I'll share meaningful stuff, like the carb pressure test post, but i think all of us would be way better off to spend less time on the computor and more time in front of the lathe or english wheel.

[shine]

i'm still trying to find the reference to getting flamed or what ever. what did i miss ?

[IC2]

You said it all when you said that you dont care if you get flamed because you more than likely will.

Not quite sure that I said it that way - but if that's what you think, go for it. As far as reading and responding to everything, I don't

Roger - it sounds to me that you have a bit of the same problem that I have - a wee bit of a lack of patience

Shine - HR.com, yep, noticed a lack of body folks there. I'm weary of hearing about that HF 'purple' gun and seeing the same questions asked over and over, sometimes almost back to back. I had 'lost' the SPI forum for a long while when the format got changed but lately have gone back to at least lurking. My bodywork/painting skills can always use some help

OK - now, how do we do this better here. The format is what it is. It really isn't difficult, it's just different.

I enjoy the folks here, have only been flamed once - and he was banned at least for a while and hasn't been seen but once since. We don't always have to agree, but so far those subjects are usually discussed in a level manner.

The economy can drag some folks down - there is always the Lounge just to have some fun even if your latest build is on the shelf for a while. It doesn't always need to be car/hot rod related. As far as number of posts - heck, who cares, let's just keep in touch

Possibly Brent can send out a 'reminder' that we are still here, alive and moving if not kicking.

Now - I'm going for a ride in my '31