Slow down of forum participation

[beejaytx225]

Granted I've only been here since March of this year, but it feels like the forum has slowed down drastically. Maybe it's the move towards more modern apps like Facebook and Instagram. But maybe it's the current situation in everyone's lives right now. Not really sure. Loads of good info stored on the server. What's everyone else's input?

[390FE1972]

I think a lot of people use the Fordification facebook page now, there seems to be a big following there. Either that or they are all trying on their new masks to be compliant.

Just my

[sargentrs]

The forums have over 8000 members but only a small percentage are active. The FB page shows 18000 members. I've resisted starting a FB for decades but opened my own a few weeks ago to join the FB group. Still. I prefer the firums. Call me old school but I like the forums better.

[sparky72]

Yeah, I like forums much more than I like Facebook, although I've never used the Fordification page (haven't had a Facebook account in years). I just like the feel of forums much more. Slower paced and easier to convey more information, plus they're really easy to search through archives.

[CH3NO2]

I was thinking the same thing a few months ago. I finally joined the FB group just to see what was going on. I much prefer this forum over the FB group.

[Ranchero50]

Forum lasts forever, the FB group repeats every couple days with the same questions...

[1972hiboy]

its slowed for sure since I joined up. Hell there used to be a open chat room here and i would live chat with members during the day. But eventually participation dropped off.

[sparky72]

Perhaps we need a Fordification Discord

[Ludachris]

As a forum owner myself I can share a unique perspective... Forums have a few big things working against them these days, unfortunately. The obvious one is social media pulling users away. FB is a toxic mess for the most part, but it's obviously light years ahead of forums in terms of technology and user interface - as much as I dislike it, it's so damned easy to use, and the masses have adopted it and use it far more than they do forums. Forum software technology has lagged behind in that regard in a huge way, though there are some strong forum platforms out there that have made some decent steps towards modern standards.

Another issue that not everyone is aware of is that most forums were sold off to a couple large networks over the past decade or two, and those networks have largely run most of the good forums into the ground with their policy of filling them with tons of ads and running them on autopilot, never updating the forum software to keep up with modern standards. The poor management of most forums combined with the mass adoption of social media apps has had a devastating affect, and it's led the masses to be believe that forums are dead (or are dying off), which isn't necessarily true for all forums out there, but perception has a way of being reality. Sadly, most people who visit forums these days just go there to search the forum database for the info they're looking for, they don't actively post and interact with the members. Eventually, as fewer people participate in forums, less data gets archived, which means even some of the archived info will become less relevant over time. And that means Google will show fewer forum threads in search results. It's a snowball effect.

The remaining independently owned forums out there are going to need some real effort put into them in order to remain relevant and avoid turning into data archive ghost towns. All of us here know that forums have some real advantages over social media, but those advantages are going to have to be promoted regularly via marketing efforts by forum administrators, which wasn't necessary back when forums had no real competition, but it's becoming critical now. Problem is, many of the remaining forum admins (like Keith) don't always have the time or resources to do that consistently. It's tough enough keeping the forum updated and addressing other issues, like updating forum software and trying to implement new features.

The odds are stacked against forums like this, that's for sure. As a big fan of the bumpsides and dentsides I'm hoping this forum won't die off, but the trend doesn't look so good. I actually reached out to Keith to discuss this with him.

For those of you who want to help, the best thing you can do is to keep participating here regularly, posting good content about your projects and linking to that content from other places (like FB), inviting people in to view it and engage with it. I'm hoping to purchase a bumpside (or dentside) project of my own soon so I can try and do the same.

[Big specht]

Bookface has killed a lot of forms that were full of good info that was easy to search. That is the Main thing I don’t like about bookface is that it’s not easily searched. I’ve tried to search some builds that were mentioned here they are pain.

[jamesdfo]

It's the middle of summer, and when the weather is decent, WTH would you want to be inside on your PC reading a forum when you could be outside doing any number of other activities?? So, IMO, not all that surprising that forum visits are down some at the same time of year that the weather is about as nice as it gets.
Compare the numbers with January, see if there's any correlation between it being below zero (in a LOT of places) and the participation at that time:)

And as for FB, NOT INTERESTED......it's for people who like instant gratification, and as already mentioned, if your'e trying to find info, good luck, and I'm sure when you ask a question, the people that have ALREADY answered that question twice in the last week can't be bothered to answer it again (and I don't blame them), which leads us full circle back to "searchability".....

Even here on the forums, I see the same questions asked over & over, so the search function is underused.............

[Ludachris]

It's the middle of summer, and when the weather is decent, WTH would you want to be inside on your PC reading a forum when you could be outside doing any number of other activities?? So, IMO, not all that surprising that forum visits are down some at the same time of year that the weather is about as nice as it gets.
Compare the numbers with January, see if there's any correlation between it being below zero (in a LOT of places) and the participation at that time:)

And as for FB, NOT INTERESTED......it's for people who like instant gratification, and as already mentioned, if your'e trying to find info, good luck, and I'm sure when you ask a question, the people that have ALREADY answered that question twice in the last week can't be bothered to answer it again (and I don't blame them), which leads us full circle back to "searchability".....

Even here on the forums, I see the same questions asked over & over, so the search function is underused.............

Or compare the traffic and activity to this time last year, and the year before, and the year before, etc. There might be a little drop off in activity when people are outside enjoying the warmer weather, but from what I've found over the years is the more that people actively work on their automotive projects, the more they like to share what they're working on and ask questions to get help. If they're not doing it in the forums, they're likely doing it elsewhere (don't need to be inside to participate on forums anymore with smart phones making up a big percentage of online activity these days). Another interesting data point would be to compare the number of posts per day/month here in the forum to the posts in the Fordification FB group. That will tell you how much participation for the platform is shifting over to social media.

One of the forums I operate is geared towards people who track their cars at racing circuits and autocross. The warmer months is when the forum is most active since the excitement for the racing season is in full swing and people are sharing what projects they're working on and how their racing events went. There is a great group of members in that forum, but FB still sees a lot more activity around the subject these days. That's just the reality for most automotive niches. Social media might be toxic, full of narcissism and lazy people who don't care to research before they ask a question, and it's a black hole for good tech information that can't be searched later, but it's still pulling people away from forums in large numbers. Bottom line is, forums need to improve in order to slow that trend - I don't know that it can be stopped or reversed, but it might be possible to at least slow it down. The glory days of forums will likely never return, but they can still be valuable communities and resources with some vision and effort.

[JoshT]

Might be slow, but I'd rather use this format than a Facebook group any day. They are completely different, but some people just can't understand it.

I posted in an FE facebook group the other week asking for recommendations for a traditional Forum dedicated to FEs. From the replies I got, you'd think the world was about to end. I'm interested in reading what people are doing on there, but not the format I want to use for asking questions and interacting.

[flyboy2610]

I don't, and won't, do FB. I used to have an account, but deleted it.

[mac6150]

I've been tied up with other business, so haven't been on much. Plus I think I am caught up on my truck projects for the year. I agree with others who have posted and am not interested in facebook, although I do belong to the group. I prefer the forum for information. I have a few projects for next year on my wish list: a new seat from TMI, aux fuel tank, rerouting the exhaust. For now I have too many other projects going on. The one unexpected thing from the COVID-19 virus is that I am working at home, thus more time to work on all the home projects. Anyway, the forum remains a valuable source of information.