Seems rather quiet or is it me?

[markp76]

Since joining the forum last week I have to say I'm rather shocked at the lack of use it receives, to quote northking from a different post "Maybe if the forums were a little less negative more people would drop in." I'm not finding the forums/fb pages negative just very underused by the members if ppl look and don't see many new posts they just flick to the next page/link/forum (or it may just be me) any way criticism over the school run beckons :-)

[frosty68]

It's not just you..social media means forums need to work really hard to build community

And to work consistently

[The Tares Clan]

It is quiet in here but that could also be down to the time of year.

I realise that social media will have its impact but not everyone wishes to be on Facebook/Twitter and I can understand their reasons for it.

However, the forums are only as good as the participants within that forum, so we are out own worst enemy in a way.

Reading between the lines, there are steps afoot to try to make participation here more regular but we will always have the situation where one person prefers forums, another facebook etc.

We can only hope that the new committee and commitment that I have seen in the last few weeks is maintained and that things will start to change and the forums will be a meeting place and a place to go for information relating to our hobby.

There is also the situation that website has been come "flaky" and this may have put some people off. We need to look at the value of the hosting - it maybe cheap but if it does not work, that makes no difference. I know that Cass has been working hard at getting things moving and there are actions from the last committee where the hosting is to be looked at, so maybe that will be a thing of the past.

Markp76, is there any questions or issues which you have which could be discussed within the forum ?

[northking]

Completely agree Stuart, we are aiming to make the web-site and forum a one-stop shop of Geocaching delights for everyone. The web-site hosting is under severe scrutiny as is the web-site appearance and the forum content. Keep coming back and we hope that the forum will be a little more vibrant and the experience a little less frustrating!

[frosty68]

... we are aiming to make the web-site and forum a one-stop shop of Geocaching delights for everyone.

Great plan, it'll involve more user participation of course, with 9 people ruining the organisation it'd be nice to see more posts from you guys trying to engage the visitors, welcoming people when they make an introductory post seems an obvious way to both grab their attention and interest, and show that they're part of a community, not just a number.

[mollyjak]

I agreee totally and all of the above are being worked on

I think most forums have become victims of Facebook or twitter but it is up to all of us, as cachers and members to use it.

So New Year's Resolution - pop in every day, post four times a week and start a new thread every 2 weeks LOL

Only joking - but pop in and post when you can.:socool::socool::socool:

[mollyjak]

Great plan, it'll involve more user participation of course, with 9 people ruining the organisation it'd be nice to see more posts from you guys trying to engage the visitors, welcoming people when they make an introductory post seems an obvious way to both grab their attention and interest, and show that they're part of a community, not just a number.

Are we ruining it or running it?????:lol::lol::lol:

Sorry I tried to resist - I did - I really did and then I couldn't any longer:lol:

[frosty68]

Oops, I rarely proof read what my phone thinks I want to say

[mollyjak]

I blame my laptop - it can't spell LOL

[Team Microdot]

I think gradual and repeated dilution is to blame

I've been involved in some great vibrant forums with loads of activity and seen them gradually decline as smaller forums emerged which focused on more specific geographic areas, with the hope being obviously that all of them would continue to thrive and grow. All too often though the result is the opposite of what was hoped for as the content becomes ever more diluted

I think it's a bit like supermarket shelves (hold on - he's lost it now - where is he going with this?).

Supermarkets like to keep their shelves full - which sounds slightly counter-intuitive considering the fact they want to offload as much stuff as possible as quickly as possible in exchange for coin of the realm - but my experience bears this out. I would say the logic is that people can't buy from empty shelves - so keep them full and make sure there's something for everybody, and people will keep coming back. It's also fairly common to see staff, when stocks are running low, re-stacking everything to the front of the shelving space so that it LOOKS full, even if it's not - to perpetuate this image that there's a steady supply and massive range to choose from.

I think this is why social media works as well as it does - because it pools a wide range of content from many sources in one place - and makes it easy to consume - the shelves are always full and people love to 'shop' there because they always find what they are looking for

All too many forums though have become dusty corner shops with very little on the shelves - a chicken-and-egg problem as without content there are no visitors, and without visitors and more importantly posters, there's no content :wacko:

Even within GAGB's channels I think this same phenomena exists - what little content is available is distributed across shelves in multiple different 'stores' - and people won't 'shop' in 'stores' which don't stock what they are looking for

[northking]

So maybe we should move all of the 'products' around a little bit so you have to wander around looking for them

Point taken though, we're starting a couple of new lines and hopefully restocking some of the top sellers..

[Palujia]

Start re-running popular items - such as the GSAK users guide, reviews of GPS types and items on such associated things as letter boxing, trig pointing and other branches of GPS/map using (orienteering perhaps)
hints and tips (follow the arrow etc.,)