Where is everone?


Sweet-Chuck

Sweet-Chuck

Member
Is it just me, or has activity on this forum greatly reduced over the last year or so? When I fist joined in 2014 ish, I felt like I could log in every day and there were just so many new posts, updates, pictures, etc. Now, there appears to be such limited activity :( I know that this time of year attention turns to other activities, but I've noticed the decline for at least 2 winters now. SC
 
Prolly workin on their railroads, out watching trains, working longer hours or dead.
Me, I retired last May which gives me more time for long road trips on the Harley.
 
I agree with you! Unless your involved in the ANPL Dinner Car, this forum has had it's swamp drained!
 
Was down in the train room running trains. Just came up for some fresh ice tea. Wish I could work on some model railroad projects as the work bench is cover with them. Back to the train room.
 
A few minutes ago as I write this (March 26 at 6:58 p.m. ET), there were 191 people on this forum -- 12 members and 179 guests. The stats are shown on the upper right of the forum home page.

I don't know how it compares to a year ago, but 191 is more than I expected.

- Jeff
 
Sweet-Chuck said:
Is it just me, or has activity on this forum greatly reduced over the last year or so? When I fist joined in 2014 ish, I felt like I could log in every day and there were just so many new posts, updates, pictures, etc. Now, there appears to be such limited activity :( I know that this time of year attention turns to other activities, but I've noticed the decline for at least 2 winters now. SC
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Have to agree with you,not much going on 12 members is nothing, and guest don't count because they can't give input.I talk more trains on a John Deere forum I belong to then this one,and that's only one thread.
 
jdetray said:
A few minutes ago as I write this (March 26 at 6:58 p.m. ET), there were 191 people on this forum -- 12 members and 179 guests. The stats are shown on the upper right of the forum home page.

I don't know how it compares to a year ago, but 191 is more than I expected.

- Jeff
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Most of those guests are robots or search engines of some kind, searching/scanning the forum. Click on arrow next to "Members" in the bar across the top, and then click on "Current visitors" to see who these guests are.
 
I personally went to better pastures where more people are involve. I still stick around in case some valuable info would help me in my layout. But I've noticed that if you want coffee, talk about temperature and post a few pictures here and there, this is the place. If you post in another thread and you only want 2 or 3 and even no replies, this is the place.

Someone once said he thought the hobby was dying, I personally think forums are dying and social media is the place to be. I think forums are a virtual shopping center where people (mainly older people) gather to talk about anything and everything. I've been part of 3 forums and 4 Yahoo groups, which are all text groups and the result is the same. I'm now part of about 20 Facebook groups, Admin of 2 of them, active in my MNRA division and very active in a live group almost every night, therefore if I have a question, I will get lots of answers in less than 12 hours. When I make a post, I'll have over 500 views and about 50 comments in a day. So where should I hang out? Yes there was more traffic when I started this hobby 4 years ago, more people would pass comments, but people get older and it seems that they don't want to be bothered.

Today, people want fast interaction, to be able to get a fast response and be able to discuss the solution in a very fast time with as many people possible. I once asked a question here and it took almost a month to get a final answer. Also with all the new technology, the new ways of doing things, how can someone who is DC, old school and has a finish layout be interested in helping a DCC or a DCC++ or even bother to answer questions to new people coming into the hobby? Just look at the people running NMRA, they can't let go of the old ways.

Don't get me wrong, not everyone is like that. I'm 61 and very passionate about this hobby, I answer about 10 questions daily, part of a live show to answer questions and go out to other layouts to help people (as much as 1-2 hour drive). The coffee shop is a very friendly community.
 
Much as I have reservations about Facebook, it has become the replacement for a web group pages and a lot of other forums. It is too easy to use and also good for family and close real friend communication. I keep a very tight reign on what I allow on my own Facebook page and use the Facebook Purity add on to tighten if far beyond what the Facebook application settings allow.

I have tried a blog (https://srandsp.blogspot.com but find that requires thinking like an author of a set piece. I use it as a home if I want to write more extensively than a simple such as a series I did on finding the right spray can boxcar red or my travels on a friend;s private car (before Amtrak screwed that up this year.)

For those of us who still like the yahoo groups email conversation format many have migrated to the groups.io platform. Many of us are into special segments of the hobby such as resin and plastic pre 1958 (steam era) prototype building as well as a few railroad specific groups.

One forum I use a lot is the British RMWeb.com forum. Very active and professionally managed. But then maybe the Brits just have not suffered the same shift to mega platform Social Media.
 
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Many have moved over to facebook it seems, or have fallen away from the hobby for one reason or another. Right now locally, the weather is starting to improve, so I am spending more time outdoors with my garden railway, antique garden tractor and working on our Jeeps to get ready for some off road trips.
 
Hawkesburytrain said:
Yes there was more traffic when I started this hobby 4 years ago, more people would pass comments, but people get older and it seems that they don't want to be bothered.
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Lloyd: Your entire post was enlightening. From my own point of view, you are probably correct. I sometimes feel that I spend too much time on this or other RR forums, and not enough time working on the layout, or around the house. The problem with the forum foremat, is if you are not on a laptop or desktop computer, it's difficult to follow and exchange ideas. I dumped FB maybe eight years ago, when the model railroad community did not have a large presence on FB. Now many of my interests do. I may have to reconsider. it's only recently, that I have ventured outside of the coffee shop, to engage other topics.

Boris
 
I don't participate at any Social Media, other than these types of Model Railroading Forums, if they can be called Social Media. I simply have no interest and I do realize that this may be to my detriment. With all the problems which seem to keep cropping up on those types of electronic communications, plus the fact that they make their owners a butt load of money, I'll just keep to this types of places, thanks!
 
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Mark: I agree with everything you said. I have no desire to do social media and hope forums aren't becoming a thing of the past, as I have been on a dozen or so and enjoyed most of them.
As far as keeping this forum alive, I try to post often, but working 70 hrs. per week, limits me. I hope this one stays alive for years to come.
 
max diyer said:
I try to post often, but working 70 hrs. per week, limits me.
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There's the answer as to why the forum traffic is frequently sparse. With the so called "social media" people are exchanging tweets and texts, even when good judgment says they shouldn't. On a forum, while it can be done, it's not as easy to "stay connected" all day long.

Boris
 
Interesting theory that many users MAY have migrated to more immediate platforms (like FB) and the forum activity may be declining because of it. What's weird is that I am a big social media type, but wouldn't consider it for an exchange of ideas, discussions, etc for model railroading. Social media is just too fast for our hobby, in my opinion. I like to scroll through the post of someone's build-read over ideas for making trees, etc. This forum allows me to do that at my leisure. I would miss so many posts and details on social media (I think) because even though I may see something in the morning, later that night that post could be buried. For me, this hobby (or at least MY speed of progress) is painstakingly slow and is better suited to the forum. Anyway, I realized the other day that the activity on here seemed to be significantly less than in the past-even though the last winter I figured to see more updates from people on their projects
 
Chuck, unfortunately lots of people don't know how to use the social media platform. For example, when I see a post that I like, I will save it, therefore if it gets buried, I don't care because it is saved in my list so that I can go back to it any time. People that are scared of their identity being stolen or having to see garbage are the ones asking for it to happen. I have two Facebook accounts, one with 20 friends for family ONLY, so that we know what's happening in the family, the other is ONLY train related NOTHING else, I have full control. For every group or page I join, I control the notification I want to see. If someone wants to follow my page, before accepting, I will check them out and I can always ban them later. If you don't want to follow a person, you can follow groups or specific pages dedicated to a persons layout or a special interest, such as weathering or operations, etc.

The way I see it, lots of old folks don't like changes, lots are set in their ways and lots are closed minded. They will only see the negative aspect of something new. I try to be open minded to everything new, but sometimes I will need lots of explanation to understand why I should accept the changes, but will never throw it out the window before trying it.

You don't need to migrate to the OTHER side, you can stay here and talk about the weather and how your day is going AND help people with their hobby or get answers to your questions, see wonderful layouts being achieved and all the new stuff people come up with on Facebook and Youtube.

To each their own, but those on social media will tell you, we definitely get more out of social media than forums, I know I do. Just look at Ken's, Dave's, even my layout thread or others and if there's more than 2 reply posts on an average, that's about it. I get 50+ per post I make on Facebook. I agree that if you've got nothing to share, that you don't want to help others or are not interested in what's new, than yes, no need for social media.
 
I guess I've been sort of part time for awhile but I'm getting back into the swing of things now.
Had a couple health issues, a new camper taking up time, and didn't have a layout for awhile due to a possible move.
I'm just returning to "normal" ( Whatever that might be) so I should be a bit more active now.
I was checking out another forum for a bit but it was nooooo where near as friendly as here! :cool:
 
I think too that with the manufactures have trouble with the overseas factories things weren't coming out or supplies were not replenished.I'm trying to build a layout but things I need are out of stock.When your doing stuff your more likely to ask questions or get info in a forum.If there's nothing to do or show off then the forum becomes sparse.
 
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