Is forum participation changing?

[Cubs]

I find it utterly obnoxious for some reason when a forum might have a private board or thread that only a select group can take part in.

I used to be on a rugby forum years back where they introduced 'Private Rooms' for each national team (Wales, Ireland, etc..) for select members to join. I thought it would be fun and felt all important when I was invited in to one. Turned out it was a way for small minded people to feel big and special whilst they bitched about other people who couldn't read what they were saying. I left the forum after a couple of weeks. That sort of elitism isn't for me.

[Mason]

Forum...

What is a forum?

I would never do that sort of thing, old chap.
All that posting and commenting.
Not for me.
Not at all.....

[Hammers]

LAF fills all my needs. I have dabbled with my own site etc but LAF is robust and collaborative. I have given up posting my stuff anywhere else, I upload my images on my own server and link them here.

No offence to Chris and Alex, but I do think the format of LAF is starting to feel a bit dated. Given what is available out there the filtering functions are less than what they could be and he format would do well with some adaption to mobile devices.

All this would of course take quite a some time and money to implement. I don't know, maybe a kickstarter could finance a face lift?

[levied troop]

I see a tendency to more and more being moved to facebook. But I really really don't like it. Because as facebook is really a rotten media format for storing information and having longer discussions. Because once things get off your front page it is basically gone. It really takes some digging to find it again. Facebook really is only for a quick fix of someone falling down stairs or some video of a cat.

Forums on the other hand are virtual libraries of everything cool. I sometimes revisit threads that are several years old to find inspiration. They are easily found via the search function. Sometimes I even just travel down the rabbithole that is the related post at the bottom of the screen.

That reflects my own view so accurately I can’t improve on it.

The transient nature of Facebook and some of its real world problems do make me wonder if it will be around in 10 years time, whereas I can see forum-based structures being around indefinitely.

[Andrew Rae]

The whole 'private' thing is one of my bugbears too. It's not just FB either. I find it utterly obnoxious for some reason when a forum might have a private board or thread that only a select group can take part in. With FB groups I wish more would actually be viewable by non-members because at least then you could see whether the group is worth joining in the first place. It's not as if they're hiding porn!

I think the private thing on Facebook is a consequence of open groups being visible to friends. I remember when the Frothers group started it was open, but posts and comments were then shared with the friends and family of the members. No one needs to read that shit unless they’ve chosen to!

[Hobgoblin]

Dear Lord man, are you condoning the use of a false date of birth online?! I'm outraged!

I always wondered whether your screen age nodded to the noted aesthete and art critic Brian Sewell. He used to claim to be 103 and - somewhat surprisingly - was also a rugby enthusiast.

What's great about this forum, I think, are the inspiring projects, the melange of styles and the depth of discussion. I might occasionally look at other forums when search results (game reviews, techniques, whatever) point there, but little tempts me to stay. There are lots of blogs that I regularly visit (Gardens of Hecate, The Convertorum, Iron Sleet, etc), but I haven't found nay forums that match this place.

[stone-cold-lead]

I think the private thing on Facebook is a consequence of open groups being visible to friends. I remember when the Frothers group started it was open, but posts and comments were then shared with the friends and family of the members. No one needs to read that shit unless they’ve chosen to!

Maybe people just need to stop sharing everything they see on the internet!  That's exactly why I don't have a friends list on FB. It's all slacktivist rainbow filtered profile pics and inspirational quotes. Although I guess a Frothers group might be a little more incriminating.

[Daeothar]

...I remember when the Frothers group started it was open, but posts and comments were then shared with the friends and family of the members. No one needs to read that shit unless they’ve chosen to!

A better way of self-moderation I can't imagine...

[Andrew Rae]

You can't self-moderate other Frothers.

Anyway, my facebook is purely for work and hobby. My 20 'friends' (needs a prune) don't get a look in!

[uti long smile]

I hadn’t really noticed a drop off. Don’t look at TMP much these days - clunky and often filled with peculiar views.

LAF is my favourite place. I visit regularly each day, to revel in the eye candy and the good company. Yet to find a friendlier place. Thanks to LAF I have met lots of talented and genuinely lovely folks, some of whom have become good friends.

It basically inspired me to start Crooked. I still feel guilty and a bit dirty every time I post something with the commercial tag. I wish I had time to post more, but I wish I had time for more hobby projects to post about in general!

Facebook is good for me as a micro-business. I can reach lots of folks who may never have heard of me and it also builds a little community. I have never really got on with Twitter, but suspect that and Instagram would build things further.

I do use Private FB groups too, but that’s to manage the work of specific projects and teams (development, playtesting etc) rather than as a wierd elite club. Don’t get that at all!

[Dave Knight]

My first introduction to forums was TMP which I used to visit a lot and found very useful.  It still has its uses but appears to be more and more US right wing centric which can leave me quite exasperated so I just dip in and out now.

LAF is much more agreeable a site to visit but tends to be more painter than gamer focussed and again I visit it much less frequently than before.

The forums I visit most days are those of the Society of Ancients and Society of 20th Century Wargaming.   They are much smaller and more focussed on areas that interest me.

On internet interaction generally most of my online time is facebook.  My Club (Falkirk and District) has its own page and it is great for seeing what is going on, arranging games, general chat.  I follow lots of other wargames pages and am always seeing interesting stuff.

So in terms of general trends I would say away from yahoo groups (remember them ) with forums hanging on but slowly losing ground to facebook  but still with a place for a few years at least.

Oh and blogs - I have one and read other people's but as with the forums I think they have reached a peak and now are in gradual decline.

[Charlie_]

I love LAF.

Since I returned to the hobby a couple of years go, this forum has pretty much been the only place I go online, and browsing this was the inspiration to get started again the first place. What I'm mainly here for is big impressive project logs, and discussions on historical things that interest me and general hobby / gaming discussions.

My interests are quite narrow (late medieval), so I don't really look at any of the other boards except the Medieval and Renaissance ones (plus the fantasy board, general hobby board and the workbench), but when I occasionally do I'm always reminded at what a wealth of other fantastic stuff there is here on periods and genres I thought I had little interest or knowledge in.

I do often wish there were more people posting stuff and starting interesting discussions on the medieval board, but then I guess I should probably just 'get out more' and look at other eras and genres. I couldn't possibly say whether there is less stuff being posted than there used to be... If it sometimes seems like that to me, it could be because the 'honey moon period' of browsing old threads and projects is over?

I hear a lot about TMP, and my morbid curiosity has led to a lot of 'research' as to what all the (negative) fuss is about.... and I do casually browse it, but don't really ever see anything there that I don't get here. It does seem like a very weird place. The Medieval boards are a bit of a wasteland really.... There seem to be little threads on users' actual painting work, and when there is it's already been posted here. Every now and again there is an interesting long discussion which is worth reading, but the weird, dated layout doesn't make things easy, and there seems to be a lack of any sort of community or atmosphere. And don't get me started on the reposting, my friend (smile). I don't really look at any of the other boards there, and I'm aware there is a mind-boggling array of them.

I've never used any other forums, and indeed have never really found any that look worth signing up for.

I don't like (or really understand) the idea of using facebook for this hobby. I have a facebook account and regrettably concede it is useful socially (though my account has been wiped of any personal information, I don't like the idea that people can look me up there and see what school I went to, etc), but have never really considered using it as an alternative for forums like this. The forum format, when done well (I consider it done well here) is perfect for hobbies like this I think. The only hobby facebook page I look at is the Perry Miniatures ones, to see their new release and their amazing battle reports, but I never comment or 'like' anything.

I like blogs, and am happy to be redirected to peoples' blogs from posts here. Putting a few pictures and some words, with a link to the blog for further photos if people want to see more, seems like a perfectly fine idea to me.

I've often wanted to do my own blog, but in the end decided that just having one good long thread here for my project is the better idea for me. I do still think someday I will have a site to showcase my 'finished' project with photos of all scenery, units, etc in detail, plus battle reports, my rules to download..... but only when it's 'finished'... and when does that happen?

Long live LAF!

[boneio]

I see a tendency to more and more being moved to facebook. But I really really don't like it. Because as facebook is really a rotten media format for storing information and having longer discussions. Because once things get off your front page it is basically gone. It really takes some digging to find it again. Facebook really is only for a quick fix of someone falling down stairs or some video of a cat.

Forums on the other hand are virtual libraries of everything cool. I sometimes revisit threads that are several years old to find inspiration. They are easily found via the search function. Sometimes I even just travel down the rabbithole that is the related post at the bottom of the screen.

This, mostly.
That said, I've just recently found new friends and a much more social experience around the hobby on Facebook.
Both forums and social media have a place for me, but for real lasting discussions or showcases, it has to be a forum.

[Elbows]

I have recently got the facebooks and I am in two minds regarding it. I like the hobby related groups especially the 3d printing terrain and miniatures ones. It is so refreshing to have somewhere where people 'get it' and are enthused about it instead of the same tired crap over and over again.

What I dont like about it is the targeted advertising the general lack of privacy and being over informed about stuff I would rather not know about my friends.

Unfollow them all.  Seriously - my "feed" is nothing but stuff I choose to see.  My adblocker blocks most of the advert stuff - but it's still there in the margins.  It's quite palatable when you get it dialed in correctly.

[warlord frod]

This is one of several forums I frequent daily. The fact that I find three pages of posts since my last visit seems to indicate no significant drop in activity. I do think the photo bucket event did ding a lot of posters. I sure was annoyed to have all my pictures disappear and have to find another service that would enable me to post pictures again (Flicker)  But I love this forum because, as others have already said, we maintain a civil, friendly, helpful place to discuss our hobby.

I do check some blogs and an occasional facebook site but prefer this format. I will still check sites where there is little to no activity if I have an intense interest (MKRealms for example) At any rate, I will always come here for inspiration and the privilege of entering a thoughtful discussion now and then.