Whats happened to this forum?

[westcountry]

When I first came across this forum,it was alive and buzzing with new posts every day. Posts asking for advice( such as some of my own). Posts on peoples experiences in their first working tests, their first trial , their first days beating or picking up. I enjoyed the forum and got some good advice from lots of different contributers. I even met some nice people that helped me get on with spaniels. There was even a jokes page.
Now we are down to no new posts for two or three days. The forum is dying, its not fun anymore. There seems to be the same half dozen people posting and much of it boring. Has it become a chat room for the few?
This forum is in danger of dying. I think that would be a shame. So I ask all who read this to post a reason why they have lost interest. I realize that FB and other social media sites have become the norm but surely we can make this forum more interesting.

[Naj]

Considering it’s the only gundog forum still going I think it’s done well to get this far. But we have to keep it going for Wullie’s sake, if nothing else. Face book is beyond him .

Seriously though, face book is simply more popular, especially with younger Folk. And you need younger folk, plus a wide spread of experience, if you are to have a vibrant and active forum. There’s more choice on fb and much more traffic. And such diversity that you can sit wherever you feel comfortable, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for you can simply start your own group and it will sink or swim, so it’s where everyone naturally migrates to. Its self perpetuating. It’s the same for every hobby that you can think of. Gundogs are no different.

Naj

[canismajor1]

When I first came across this forum,it was alive and buzzing with new posts every day. Posts asking for advice( such as some of my own). Posts on peoples experiences in their first working tests, their first trial , their first days beating or picking up. I enjoyed the forum and got some good advice from lots of different contributers. I even met some nice people that helped me get on with spaniels. There was even a jokes page.
Now we are down to no new posts for two or three days. The forum is dying, its not fun anymore. There seems to be the same half dozen people posting and much of it boring. Has it become a chat room for the few?
This forum is in danger of dying. I think that would be a shame. So I ask all who read this to post a reason why they have lost interest. I realize that FB and other social media sites have become the norm but surely we can make this forum more interesting.

For the reasons you state.

[PRH]

It is also going to be pretty quiet at the moment. The shooting season is long finished, the tests and trials have been postponed or cancelled. It is however a lot quieter than when I first joined 11 years ago.

I don't do FB, but are there links from FB to the forum?

[trekmoor]

I am a "founder member" of this forum and it certainly has become a much "quieter" sort of place. F.B. is mainly to blame ….but it takes folk to go on it to make it work. If those same folk posted into here instead of F.B. this forum would still be "lively."

F.B. has a format that I do not like. It just sort of drivels on and on …..a bit like Naj really !
Finding the answers you want in F.B. is a bit of a struggle....it's all mixed into a huge jumble of people, concepts, questions and answers.

People seem to like to socialise in that manner but it is not for me.

Most forums, no matter their subject, are suffering from a lack of use. Their members are also choosing F.B. as a means of exchanging information. I'm a member of a sea angling forum and weeks go by with nobody posting in from England , Wales or N.Ireland. The Scottish section of that forum is also very quiet but we do post in every few days.
It has become even quieter on there over the last week or so. One reason for that is that the winter species of fish are moving offshore while the summer species are just starting to move in ....so with few fish around to be caught the anglers have little to write into the forum about. ------And now the polis arrest you if you go fishing !

Much the same thing happens with gundogs at this time of year. The shoots no longer take place, the field trials are finished with and the tests are just getting started ….or at least they were before the C.virus reared it's ugly head.

There is very little to post in about really.

Wullie

[WGD]

Bill - if it wasn't for our ill health and your "a big boy done it and ran away" story about scud books there would be even less to talk about

Think you're right though, it's a quiet time of year anyway made worse by the total lack of activity in the world generally.

I don't post anything like as much as I used to, I like the stories but did find (on this and other forums) the content got a bit repetitive after a while, especially when responding to newcomers posting looking for advice.

Contributing when I first joined the forum was fun, but contributing to answer the same question about the same issue for the umpteenth time of asking became a bit of trudge and not how I would choose to spend recreational time.

At times like this a little more activity would be nice though.

[ips]

Well, i used to.post a lot....as you know but recently i havent been out shooting or training (as i gave up training on anything other than birds a couple of years ago) i haven't had any issues so havent had anything to post about. I do look in at least twice a day but have had nothing to add to any of the few posts. Also if i am totally honest i have posted quite a few pics and updates etc but had no replies so i assumed that nobody was interested anymore which kind of put me off wasting my time posting.
Yes fb is probably a big factor but to be honest i prefer the format of a forum as any reference type posts just get lost on fb.

[CockerCanuck]

Well, since I have still been posting I must be one of the half dozen providing boring content.

Perhaps it is a generational thing. I have said before I think of the few forums I participate in a lot like a friendly local pub. You can come and go whenever you please, there are usually familiar faces there you can chat with about subjects of mutual interest in a very relaxed way. I am on FB but I find it more like a shopping mall with all the bright colours and flashing lights and way too many people coming and going, most of them strangers.

I first came upon this forum looking for advice on my new British bred Cocker, as there are very few resources devoted to them here. I found friendly and helpful people who I enjoyed chatting with so I have stayed on long after the original purpose was served. I enjoy the somewhat different approach to dog training and shooting than I get from the many NA forums and FB groups devoted to the same subject. However, I hope by interjecting a NA point of view people don't feel I am detracting from the fundamental British nature and character of the forum. That is certainly not been my intention when in fact it is it's British flavour which attracts me.

[Judy]

Well, since I have still been posting I must be one of the half dozen providing boring content.

Perhaps it is a generational thing. I have said before I think of the few forums I participate in a lot like a friendly local pub. You can come and go whenever you please, there are usually familiar faces there you can chat with about subjects of mutual interest in a very relaxed way. I am on FB but I find it more like a shopping mall with all the bright colours and flashing lights and way too many people coming and going, most of them strangers.

I first came upon this forum looking for advice on my new British bred Cocker, as there are very few resources devoted to them here. I found friendly and helpful people who I enjoyed chatting with so I have stayed on long after the original purpose was served. I enjoy the somewhat different approach to dog training and shooting than I get from the many NA forums and FB groups devoted to the same subject. However, I hope by interjecting a NA point of view people don't feel I am detracting from the fundamental British nature and character of the forum. That is certainly not been my intention when in fact it is it's British flavour which attracts me.

Absolutely not, CC, your posts are interesting, don't be put off!
The whole point of a forum over Facebook is the continuity and the records of people's past posts which can be enlightening! Farcebook is here today gone tomorrow, you ask a question and get a stream of conflicting answers which vanish down the page faster than a rabbit down a hole, mostly just as well.

[westcountry]

Well, since I have still been posting I must be one of the half dozen providing boring content.

Perhaps it is a generational thing. I have said before I think of the few forums I participate in a lot like a friendly local pub. You can come and go whenever you please, there are usually familiar faces there you can chat with about subjects of mutual interest in a very relaxed way. I am on FB but I find it more like a shopping mall with all the bright colours and flashing lights and way too many people coming and going, most of them strangers.

I first came upon this forum looking for advice on my new British bred Cocker, as there are very few resources devoted to them here. I found friendly and helpful people who I enjoyed chatting with so I have stayed on long after the original purpose was served. I enjoy the somewhat different approach to dog training and shooting than I get from the many NA forums and FB groups devoted to the same subject. However, I hope by interjecting a NA point of view people don't feel I am detracting from the fundamental British nature and character of the forum. That is certainly not been my intention when in fact it is it's British flavour which attracts me.

Absolutely not, CC, your posts are interesting, don't be put off!
The whole point of a forum over Facebook is the continuity and the records of people's past posts which can be enlightening! Farcebook is here today gone tomorrow, you ask a question and get a stream of conflicting answers which vanish down the page faster than a rabbit down a hole, mostly just as well.

Can agree with that Judy/