Other Forums?

[Runscott]

I was on another forum (non-sports) and a discussion turned to why people disappear from forums. It made me start thinking about the various forums I've been really into, and then left, and why. Except for one where people were threatening each others' lives and another where politics took over, my reason has always been that I just wandered off and forgot to come back. But it also made me think that there might be 'phases' of membership. For instance:

1. learning
2. sharing
3. teaching
4. settling in (some combination of the above)
5. boredom (if no one else feels like sharing the stuff you've evolved toward).
6. being asked to leave

I'm curious what non-sports forums guys like us inhabit. Mine are all history-related except for one on Hot Pepper gardening. I tried a philosophy forum once briefly, but it was really strange.

[jb217676]

I geek out on a few toy forums, mostly Rebelscum and Toyark.

[bnorth]

I was on a forum for ZX-6 Ninja motorcycles for a while. The forum just slowly died out as the ZX-6 became a seriously outdated sport bike.

I still have my bike but only rode it a couple times last year.

[steve B]

I've been on a couple mail lists that were sort of pre-forum and only evolved when the guy running the servers decided to not do that anymore. So they moved to google groups. Both bicycle related.
Plus a few others.

One for framebuilders was really great, lots of very experienced people with sound advice. Then framebuilding got popular, and so did the ill advised used of large waterjet cut stainless names brazed onto the thin part of the tube. Massive heat affected zone, Stress risers... a beginner might get away with it on thick wall non- heat treated tubing, but these kids wanted to use the cutting edge stuff that is not forgiving of mistakes. When five guys all with 30+ years of experience say it's a dumb idea, it probably is.
"You old guys are just trying to keep young creative guys down"
Oh, and along with the bad ideas and attitude.... Insurance is for suckers!

So most of the people with a clue left. Now it's mostly people with a clue who are new ish, but sane. And instead of 15-20 interesting messages a day it's more like 5-10 a week.

The other focuses on fancy bikes, either racing or touring. There's a soft cutoff at 1983, so more modern material are out - sort of- but if it was made yesterday using steel and traditional means and design it's ok. They like older bikes, but it's very mid 1960's to 1983 focused. I've been a member since something like 2000?
I used to read every message. Now, not even every digest. The stuff I'm most interested in started in 83. And even I run out of fascination with "you say your bike is a 1972, but it can't be because they didn't use that more rounded fork crown until 1973"
Ah, but for 73 they used slightly different lugs! so it's a 72! "
ETC...

I'm on a couple other bike boards, but rarely read them. Most of the posts are like "I found this old bike under my porch, it says Murray, and I can't find much about them online so it must be RARE!!!! Some one sawed it in half, what's the best way to fix it. Insert pic of half of something that may have been a bike before the rust gods looked on it with displeasure...
Ok, maybe not that bad, but think of the worst of the Daily "poppage" stuff from the CU only slightly dumber.

I read thee stamp message boards,
One is pretty good, a mix of stupid posts and ones with more interesting content.
Another is really good, especially for Australian stamps. But the owner is.... The anti-Leon. He has at least four accounts, and some insanely pedantic rules about things. And is argumentative, and will argue pretty rudely from all of his accounts if he doesn't like a poster. The mods are just as bad, but mostly police whether a picture (which is MANDATORY) is posted in their approved way, or as an attachment, which puts an "annoying white frame around the picture" - that I barely notice, but apparently doing that makes you nearly as bad as a stamp forger (Or card trimmer)
The third is a really good one, mostly about postal history. It can get simultaneously fascinating and lapse into a coma dull all at once.
Like the epic argument between a couple experts about whether a letter sent from Burma on a particular day early in WWII went to the UK via the US and /or Canada. Or if it went through India to Tehran then Gibraltar OR if it couldn't have because Tehran was closed starting that day so it must have gone by way of India/Baghdad/Gibraltar/UK..... Those may not be the exact routes, I may have mentally blocked some of it.
But they've always patiently answered my beginner questions, and in one case had an answer about an atypical version of a rare cover from the primary expert in under an hour.
(Sort of like here only well, it's stamps, so a bit less "exciting" )

[steve B]

Oh, and on the stamp ones in order

Member, rarely post
Read only.. he's such a Jerk I just can't join.
Member rarely post, as 99% of the content is way above my level.

[Seven]

I was a member of a sports gaming forum for a while when I was younger. As I grew older and my interests shifted more back to cards, I fell away from it, I'm still technically a member, but rarely if ever post.

I was a member of a Sports Jersey Forum as well, for a period of time. It suffered from some technical issues, and the community was small, but did well for itself. It became too much for the person to manage though and transitioned into a Facebook Group. I still have my old Jerseys, but very rarely wear them, as they are much larger on me now considering I got into shape.

Net54 is probably the only forum I'm active on. I feel a strong community here, many nice and helpful people, and I love talking about the hobby and old cardboard. If Reddit is considered a forum, I use that a lot. Mostly for Movie/Sports talk but in terms of traditional forums, Net54 is it for me.

[commishbob]

I used to enjoy a couple of golf forums as I was a club builder and certified club fitter at one time. I also posted on one or two boards dedicated to my college teams (Houston and Nebraska).

All those either folded or were too often taken over with politics which always led to name-calling and foolishness.

These days I'm only active here although I do read and enjoy this board's non-sport card 'cousin'. Not a lot of traffic over there so I may go weeks without checking it.

[irv]

I'm currently a member on a few snowmobile forums, and I use to be a moderator on an atv forum but gave that gig up when I sold my atv's.

I also belong to a couple boating forums, truck forums and an auto oil/mtce forum but I couldn't tell you the last time I visited them?

[seanofjapan]

There is a huge difference between forums where you share a collecting hobby and a lot of members engage in trades or buying and selling stuff (like one about baseball cards)and those which due to the nature of their subject matter don’t lend themselves to that.

The latter kind have really been killed off by the development of social media over the past decade or so. I’ve been living in Japan for the past twenty years and when I first arrived there were a lot of forums dedicated to ex pats living here where we all had lively discussions about stuff.

But the membership on all of them started to die off in the late 00s as people stopped using forums to talk about that stuff. They are all shut down now.

In contrast all the forums that I have joined which survived the rise of social media are hobby related, and I think the fact that such forums are for more than just talking but also trading is what explains why enough people stick around to keep them viable.

[TedWill1939]

I use to be active on a couple history related forums and fishing group. Ive never been a big poster. The better forums Ive been on are pretty heavely moderated with a no politics ect rule. I still enjoy checking in but interests change. I have noticed that these forums have a facebook platform that more people use, which kills off the contributions on the original site. I'm not a social media user, don't know how well it runs.

A lot of the big contributers were older guys who had an old school way of reasearching and sharing knowledge, many passed away. Some of these quality exchanges may be a bit lost on the younger crowd, where quick respones and posts are the norm. Quite a few people hate rules and enjoy having no filter, which contribute to people leaving.

[mikemcgrail]

I lurk around on a cool alternate history forum as well as a few technology related forums.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by mikemcgrail

I lurk around on a cool alternate history forum as well as a few technology related forums.

I have 2 regular sites; this one and: http://zodiackillersite.com/

Guy murders several people, there are eyewitnesses to all but one crime scene, guy writes letters and ciphers (one just recently solved after 50 years, by a member of that site, by the way,) and nobody knows who he was. There are a couple dozen compelling suspects but none are linked to any of the crimes by more than vague, circumstantial coincidence.

It's a fascinating and frustrating mystery, and the site has a lot of information and knowledgeable people, same as here.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by steve B

I read thee stamp message boards,
One is pretty good, a mix of stupid posts and ones with more interesting content.
Another is really good, especially for Australian stamps. But the owner is.... The anti-Leon. He has at least four accounts, and some insanely pedantic rules about things. And is argumentative, and will argue pretty rudely from all of his accounts if he doesn't like a poster. The mods are just as bad, but mostly police whether a picture (which is MANDATORY) is posted in their approved way, or as an attachment, which puts an "annoying white frame around the picture" - that I barely notice, but apparently doing that makes you nearly as bad as a stamp forger (Or card trimmer)
The third is a really good one, mostly about postal history. It can get simultaneously fascinating and lapse into a coma dull all at once.
Like the epic argument between a couple experts about whether a letter sent from Burma on a particular day early in WWII went to the UK via the US and /or Canada. Or if it went through India to Tehran then Gibraltar OR if it couldn't have because Tehran was closed starting that day so it must have gone by way of India/Baghdad/Gibraltar/UK..... Those may not be the exact routes, I may have mentally blocked some of it.
But they've always patiently answered my beginner questions, and in one case had an answer about an atypical version of a rare cover from the primary expert in under an hour.
(Sort of like here only well, it's stamps, so a bit less "exciting" )

Stamps. I used to collect stamps and coins. I'm sure if I checked out related forums I'd be a goner. Same for chess.

Originally Posted by commishbob

I used to enjoy a couple of golf forums as I was a club builder and certified club fitter at one time. I also posted on one or two boards dedicated to my college teams (Houston and Nebraska).

You've reminded me that I was active on a couple of golf forums two years ago. Of course I got into the history and started collecting and restoring old clubs. Now I've got bag-loads of them gathering cobwebs. The golf club forum guys were the most cliquish and pompous of any forums members I've dealt with. It was near impossible to get questions answered and if you weren't one of the good old boys, no one was going to respond to any of your posts. That membership died a natural death - I simply forgot I was a member!

It's been very interesting reading what others are into. It's surprisingly all over the board.

[egri]

I used to be member of another baseball forum. It was very vibrant about 10+ years ago, but several members who had been pillars of it either died or stopped posting, most of the moderators walked off the job, then the trolls moved in. Nowadays it's pretty much dead; I haven't posted there in years. I do poke my head in from time to time, and I really don't miss it. There are a couple other members from there who migrated over to here. If we're counting sites like Reddit, I post over there, though the Red Sox subreddit is increasingly becoming a political forum that occasionally covers baseball, and as I don't like to mix the two and their politics are the opposite of mine, I avoid that subreddit. Some of the larger subreddits, like r/NFL, are generally very well moderated though, so I enjoy those. I'm also a member of a watch collecting forum, though not as active there as I am here.

[bnorth]

I was also on 2 forums for traveling to the Netherlands. I was active on one for most of the 00s when I was going every year. Till about 05 they were both great and had several of the same members on them. Then one of them got taken over by a few trolls. The other is still going. I check it out about once a year just for fun memories. One of the members I hung out for a day in Haarlem runs it now.

I joined Blowout a little before I found this forum. I still visit it a few times a week but rarely post. I also joined another card forum but they couldn't beg, borrow, or steal to get any members. Sending out mass emails and offering cards worth thousands for even posting on the forum couldn't get them members. Then I called out the owner and he deleted some posts and banned me.

[Shoeless Moe]

I used to enjoy Penthouse Forum.

[Leon]

I am on a civic forum but don't go there too often. Every now and then. And don't laugh, Civics can be fun..

[commishbob]

Originally Posted by Runscott

You've reminded me that I was active on a couple of golf forums two years ago. Of course I got into the history and started collecting and restoring old clubs. Now I've got bag-loads of them gathering cobwebs. The golf club forum guys were the most cliquish and pompous of any forums members I've dealt with. It was near impossible to get questions answered and if you weren't one of the good old boys, no one was going to respond to any of your posts. That membership died a natural death - I simply forgot I was a member!

You've got that right. Pompous is about the best way to describe a lot of them. I love golf, not that crazy about golfers. Nowadays I am more of a range rat. I'll head to the range, tinker with my swing, try a few different clubs, and head home.

[commishbob]

Originally Posted by Leon

I am on a civic forum but don't go there too often. Every now and then. And don't laugh, Civics can be fun..

They sure can be. My son loves his. You reminded me that I was a member of a bunch of Mustang forums when I bought mine. It sits in the garage these days and I've lost interest in the forums.

[tab]

Missouriwhitetails is the only one I’m a member to. Guess I still am. I used to be on it daily but don’t really hunt anymore so never get on it.

In he been checking out a scuba forum since I have just signed up for scuba classes with my wife.

[ullmandds]

I'm a member of forums for the cars I own...the camera system I own...mid century modern furniture I buy/sell and own.

My pattern with those is that I join when I have a problem...or question. I may hang out and peruse topics from time to time when I'm looking to upgrade a camera body...or lens...or if I have a question about a car repair...but for the most part I just fade away.