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What Happened?


Shop99er

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This used to be one of the busiest Regional Forums on the site.

 

I have noticed that participation has dwindles over the last 2-3 years to a pale shade of the past.

 

Why do you suppose that is? Might it be that a lot of the Old Timers are leaving the game? Or the relative noobs aren't interested in the forums? Or both?

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I for one think change is over rated. And that face booky thingy.....well I think there's something fishy about it, I'll never join that's for sure.

 

I'm new here so I don't know of the slowing down, seems pretty busy to me. I can't keep up that's for sure.

 

But do you really think the folks who used to post here moved to FB or Twitter, I don't. I think of FB and twitty as for the young'uns.

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I for one think change is over rated. And that face booky thingy.....well I think there's something fishy about it, I'll never join that's for sure.

 

I'm new here so I don't know of the slowing down, seems pretty busy to me. I can't keep up that's for sure.

 

But do you really think the folks who used to post here moved to FB or Twitter, I don't. I think of FB and twitty as for the young'uns.

Yeah, it slowed down. About the only postings these days is the new stuff from the frog, Moun10bikes new trail edition and events, most notably the cache machines. Then a smattering of folks from other regions inquiring about caches they should find on their vacation.

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One word: Facebook

 

Oh that. :unsure:

 

Not sure I'm ready for it after observing someone's account a couple of times. I wasn't quite sure I really needed to know when someone was out shopping or what they were fixing for dinner but...

 

This might get me to take a closer look. Not sure I want multiple places to chat about geocaching but if the crowd moves on what canya do?

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But do you really think the folks who used to post here moved to FB or Twitter, I don't. I think of FB and twitty as for the young'uns.

Yep. I'm 55 and I'm on Facebook, as are most cachers I know.

 

Not sure I'm ready for it after observing someone's account a couple of times. I wasn't quite sure I really needed to know when someone was out shopping or what they were fixing for dinner but...

 

This might get me to take a closer look. Not sure I want multiple places to chat about geocaching but if the crowd moves on what canya do?

Yeah, I don't care about a lot of the personal details that some folks post, but others of us only post occasionally, and it's nice to be able to check on your friends and see their photos, etc. And you only have to friend those you want to keep up with, so you don't see everyone.

 

As for places to chat about caching, in the Puget Sound area, there's one Facebook page most of us belong to: Cachers of Puget Sound.

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Yup...probably facebook. Our own local group has a private facebook group page. It's a great way to plan geocaching trips, advertise our monthly get-to-gethers, ask for hints, tips...etc. Afterall - most of the folks in our local group have become personal friends and facebook helps us keep in touch without having to sift thru a nationally targetted forum.

 

I like Faceook to communicate with my friends, family, and geocaching folks. You can set things up to SEE everything....or limit what you see. I don't fully understand how it works, but I have most of my friends turned off (notifications/not following). I only see the important stuff from my closest friends & geocachers.

 

I've been visiting forums for many many years for various hobbies....Forums are great as a reference tool to ask questions or just chat/kill boredom or whatever. But....when forums get TOO BIG and have TOO MUCH traffic, you get overloaded with posts and people get stupid & lazy. They don't want to use the search button or google to answer their questions. You end up getting s***-tons of the same question over & over again when you can find the answer by using the search button.

 

If you have a facebook account, then you know how annoying some folks can be posting EVERYTHING. Facebook is just easier to see the 'important' stuff VS a forum that you have to sift thru EVERYTHING.

Edited by Lieblweb
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I'm proud to say I'm not taking part of those Social Media Groups. I have no need to join, as a matter of fact I gave up my Cellphone years ago.

 

I'll use this Computer to check in as it is fun to see what Newbies ask without searching.

 

Each has his/her own way and they need to find their own path.

 

I'm old & in the way, best of all I prefer it that way. :anibad:

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I have noticed over the last couple of years, that the number of Jokes and fun pictures I received in E-mail dropped to nearly zero. A while back I got on Facebook, and found out that's where they all went. :P

 

I have noticed a slowdown in the forums, and wondered about it too. Seems logical it is the same thing. I will have to check out the Facebook page mentioned above.

 

By the way, I am 66, and there are many of my friends and relatives I would never consider kids that are on FB.(most of my friends list is over 40)

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I have noticed over the last couple of years, that the number of Jokes and fun pictures I received in E-mail dropped to nearly zero. A while back I got on Facebook, and found out that's where they all went. :P

 

I have noticed a slowdown in the forums, and wondered about it too. Seems logical it is the same thing. I will have to check out the Facebook page mentioned above.

 

By the way, I am 66, and there are many of my friends and relatives I would never consider kids that are on FB.(most of my friends list is over 40)

My dad isn't exactly a spring chicken and he's on Facebook... :blink:

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As the parent of a teenager and a 20-year old, I can tell you that while most kids have Facebook accounts, that has not been their main social media page for quite some time. The majority of Facebook active accounts seem to be from middle-age or older folks (including my 82-year old mother-in-law). Facebook's ability to filter based on who you want to follow or what groups you want to join makes it self-selecting. From a technical point of view, it's a better social media platform than the forums are for that reason alone. The upshot is that seeing what somebody else has on their newsfeed does not mean your newsfeed will look like that. You only follow people who you want to know what they are up to (typically family and friends) and join groups who you care about what they are saying (e.g. Cachers of Puget Sound).

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I think the ease of use and instant notification of facebook on smartphones makes for an easier interface for many people.

 

But, there just aren't the same kind of conversations (or arguements) that happen on facebook as here. Real names help with that, methinks.

 

While facebook groups and pages make for good meeting places and event posting locations, they just aren't the same as the vast reach of the forums. I really wish that there was more cross-posting going on from these threads so that the important topics covered or asked in either location were discussed by both.

 

I mean, are people on the official Geocaching facebook page learning all of the things that are still discussed by the veterans on the forums?

 

Also, many of the usual suspects from the general forums took off when enforcement seemed to take a turn. They started another forum on a proboard site, and you don't see them as much in Off Topic or the Topics threads.

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I think the ease of use and instant notification of facebook on smartphones makes for an easier interface for many people.

 

But, there just aren't the same kind of conversations (or arguements) that happen on facebook as here. Real names help with that, methinks.

 

While facebook groups and pages make for good meeting places and event posting locations, they just aren't the same as the vast reach of the forums. I really wish that there was more cross-posting going on from these threads so that the important topics covered or asked in either location were discussed by both.

 

I mean, are people on the official Geocaching facebook page learning all of the things that are still discussed by the veterans on the forums?

 

Also, many of the usual suspects from the general forums took off when enforcement seemed to take a turn. They started another forum on a proboard site, and you don't see them as much in Off Topic or the Topics threads.

 

The OP was inquiring about the NW forum, not the forums in general. There generally is not much in the way of contentious discussions here as in other forums. Perhaps because a lot of people know each other and for a large part what was discussed was not all that contentious.

 

As for another site drawing off the participants, only a few from that other site are in the Northwest and most were not frequent visitors of this forum. The one person that was a frequent visitor before the other site started is still visiting this forum so I think the other forum has little to zero impact to this forum. That is probably not the case in other forums.

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I think the ease of use and instant notification of facebook on smartphones makes for an easier interface for many people.

 

But, there just aren't the same kind of conversations (or arguements) that happen on facebook as here. Real names help with that, methinks.

 

While facebook groups and pages make for good meeting places and event posting locations, they just aren't the same as the vast reach of the forums. I really wish that there was more cross-posting going on from these threads so that the important topics covered or asked in either location were discussed by both.

 

I mean, are people on the official Geocaching facebook page learning all of the things that are still discussed by the veterans on the forums?

 

Also, many of the usual suspects from the general forums took off when enforcement seemed to take a turn. They started another forum on a proboard site, and you don't see them as much in Off Topic or the Topics threads.

 

The OP was inquiring about the NW forum, not the forums in general. There generally is not much in the way of contentious discussions here as in other forums. Perhaps because a lot of people know each other and for a large part what was discussed was not all that contentious.

 

As for another site drawing off the participants, only a few from that other site are in the Northwest and most were not frequent visitors of this forum. The one person that was a frequent visitor before the other site started is still visiting this forum so I think the other forum has little to zero impact to this forum. That is probably not the case in other forums.

Right. Yes.

 

But the forums in general have also seen less traffic from "TUS". I don't think it's just an interesting conincidence. I believe that people in general are coming less because of social media, the general vibe of the forums in general, and just plain old "moving on".

 

Why do you suppose that is? Might it be that a lot of the Old Timers are leaving the game? Or the relative noobs aren't interested in the forums? Or both?
I think both.

 

I stopped by the old PDX forum a while ago and found it pretty much deserted. Now I can't even find the website; a newer Oregon general site seems to be the clearinghouse. Most of the folks I learned from are now out of the game or generally inactive. Other forums have popped up, but the old places and people are not in it like they used to be. Heck, the game isn't what it used to be, and the people aren't either. I think it makes it harder to come around to the old hangouts when you start moving on to other things, or away from something you don't enjoy anymore.

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I was with Shop99er on this one. For various reasons I had taken a hiatus from caching for a couple of years, or at least slowed WAAAY down and was surprised upon my return to these forums now, a couple of years later, as to how little threads were on here. After being involved in Facebook the entire time and seeing the flurry of activity on there increase, I completely agree that that is where everyone went.

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I check here occasionally but have not seen a topic of note in a while. The above mentioned local FB group does have some advantages. No way of communicating is perfect, I have some of my best caching friends who refuse to do Facebook or very rarely check.

So here's a question this made me think of:

If we up here in Alaska wanted to be sure to offer help to anyone coming up here this summer, be it by cruise, car, RV or airplane, what are the active PNW geocaching groups on facebook that myself or GeocacheAlaska! should "friend" or become followers of?

 

BTW, this is where most of the action is moving to for AK, but some still prefer the GEAK forums.

 

I know that I used to check in this topic often when I lived in PDX, but not as much when I left in 2009. Now that I'm back west in AK, I try to check in to see what's going on. But, most of my activity for the region is now confined to GeocacheAlaska forums. I still frequent the other sub-boards here, and really don't use the official Geocaching.com Page at all (Pages don't let followers have much of a conversation with others, but Groups do...)

Edited by NeverSummer
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If we up here in Alaska wanted to be sure to offer help to anyone coming up here this summer, be it by cruise, car, RV or airplane, what are the active PNW geocaching groups on facebook that myself or GeocacheAlaska! should "friend" or become followers of?

Cool idea! WSGA and Cachers of Puget Sound are the most active FB pages in Washington.

Edited by hydnsek
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...But, there just aren't the same kind of conversations (or arguements) that happen on facebook as here. Real names help with that, methinks...

 

I have to admit. I've been arguing with a few of the friends I picked up with the facebook freemium games. They haven't all blocked me. I dumped the games though. Too time consuming. I popped into the forums after 3 years because I actually found a cache today. A nano. On a fire hydrant. Yes that fresh ducktape feel just can't be beat. The view of the storage sheds was awesome. Acutlly what was awesome was taking time out from the normal commute to just stop. Even if it was a dadgum nano.

 

Ironcily I really don't like FB pages for caching things. The Idaho One is slow. I'd rather be in the forums.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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I for one think change is over rated. And that face booky thingy.....well I think there's something fishy about it, I'll never join that's for sure....

 

It's on the way out. Not sure what's going to replace it though. Instagraming Nano's has a certain appeal. Mostly to be obnoxious.

oovoo.com seems to be the newest thing kids are going to. They're leaving FB in droves.

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I am not sure why we have stopped dropping in and out of here but I can say that I dropped off Facebook and really enjoy the the time I have freed up, as well as the drop in blood pressure.

 

A lot of the people we used to cache with and around seem to have dropped off the radar for some reason or the next. Micro containers, Nano containers and power trails could be the reason. (I still refuse to call nano and micro containers caches.)

 

As for caching itself, we have just completed our own mini challenge of 1,100 days and 3 years. Today is the first day without chasing a listing of some sort or the next.

 

Now, we can chase cache's for the enjoyment of it instead of trying to fill in a date.

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Generally speaking, the threads become too contentious far too easily these days. People will tend to avoid posting after a few of those kind of confrontations.

 

Oh, ummm :unsure:. Sorry about that.

 

I agree with TotemLake, that's the main reason that most people I know tell me that they don't come back. People can be nasty in here, without a need for it. Basically most of the nice people want nice conversations and when it gets nasty they leave to get away from it. Not sure what the says about us that remain lol

 

Though I disagree about 'these days' implying that it's gotten worse. Refer: Godwin's law from 1990

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Some of the topics get rehashed over and over again.

 

After a while you can only discuss swag quality, LPC's, power trails, disappearing travel bugs, what you carry in your knapsack and complaints about the optional annual $30 membership fee some many times.

 

FYI, I use Facebook but even the geocaching pages I have "liked" there get little traffic.

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Generally speaking, the threads become too contentious far too easily these days. People will tend to avoid posting after a few of those kind of confrontations.

 

Oh, ummm :unsure:. Sorry about that.

 

I agree with TotemLake, that's the main reason that most people I know tell me that they don't come back. People can be nasty in here, without a need for it. Basically most of the nice people want nice conversations and when it gets nasty they leave to get away from it. Not sure what the says about us that remain lol

 

Though I disagree about 'these days' implying that it's gotten worse. Refer: Godwin's law from 1990

But, of course, Godwin's law was referring to the wild unmoderated usenet groups. But it does have application to forums. I might have missed it but this regional forum seems fairly, well, nice. Some other forums on this board get a bit wooly, but given the OP was asking about this forum in particular, not forums in general, do you have instances where the conversation got nasty in this forum?

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Generally speaking, the threads become too contentious far too easily these days. People will tend to avoid posting after a few of those kind of confrontations.

 

Oh, ummm :unsure:. Sorry about that.

 

I agree with TotemLake, that's the main reason that most people I know tell me that they don't come back. People can be nasty in here, without a need for it. Basically most of the nice people want nice conversations and when it gets nasty they leave to get away from it. Not sure what the says about us that remain lol

 

Though I disagree about 'these days' implying that it's gotten worse. Refer: Godwin's law from 1990

But, of course, Godwin's law was referring to the wild unmoderated usenet groups. But it does have application to forums. I might have missed it but this regional forum seems fairly, well, nice. Some other forums on this board get a bit wooly, but given the OP was asking about this forum in particular, not forums in general, do you have instances where the conversation got nasty in this forum?

 

True but what you are also saying is it gets bad to the point where mom or dad says stop it. So it still heads that direction... Granted that isn't too bad compared to some places and for the most part, it's nice. But the un-nice is still going on, especially when they're here for a touchy subject, like a question about a log or something. And it doesn't have to get very bad for people to want to be somewhere else.

 

And sure the NW forum is nicer on the surface than others, I agree, but only because instead of people acting aggressive they act passive-aggressive. People here try to seem nice even when they're really being mean.

 

It's happened to me several times, there are a few bullies in here. I stuck to my guns which is why I'm still here rather then have left myself. I understand you want some backup of what I'm saying, and I understand if you don't take me for my word, but I'm not going to go back and dig it up. More about using my time elsewhere than fear that I'm full of it, though that is always a possibility.

 

[edited for spelling, then reedited to add this note]

Edited by _Shaddow_
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