Forum or no forum, that is the question

[+FourFunKiwis]

People come and go from forums. They come, I think, generally out of curiosity and a desire to be a part of whatever the Forum represents. Many leave... as I will soon leave this one, because some Forums have way too many "bullies", who prefer to criticize rather than contribute. No matter what someone shares, the bully finds a negative to it. I've noticed some bullies here, in my short time aboard. I'm not likely to stay around too long, as doing so is to condone their behavior.

 

I'm sorry to hear that - I enjojy reading your posts.

Edited January 25, 2015 by FourFunKiwis

[cezanne]

People come and go from forums. They come, I think, generally out of curiosity and a desire to be a part of whatever the Forum represents.

 

Actually if people come for the second reason, indeed social media might be the better choice for them. For me it's the other way round, social media are a no go for me and far to superfluous and with the focus on liking each other.

 

I'm not sure what you exactly mean with bully as even though I have been around in this forum for many years I do not share your observation in bullying. I have to add that I concentrate on a few subforums and for example the getting started subforum does not interest me at all. For me the purpose of this forum is to have discussions and to read about different opinions while some cachers seem to get annoyed if they start a thread and get replies that are not a positive encouragement of the suggested ideas. For me it's not like in school where a teacher should try to encourage all sorts of constructive contributions and shouldn't not stress his/her own opinion.

[+coachstahly]

I don't think bullying is the right word, but you need to have some thick skin here in order to stick around. There are some posts that start out with innocuous questions or comments that tend to diverge into two divided camps who vociferously support their opinion to no end. Most of the cachers in my area don't visit this forum because of that. When I talk about being on here or talk about the threads being discussed, I get comments like, "you're crazy" "Why would you go there?" "I don't go there. They're mean."

[Mr.Yuck]

People come and go from forums. They come, I think, generally out of curiosity and a desire to be a part of whatever the Forum represents. Many leave... as I will soon leave this one, because some Forums have way too many "bullies", who prefer to criticize rather than contribute. No matter what someone shares, the bully finds a negative to it. I've noticed some bullies here, in my short time aboard. I'm not likely to stay around too long, as doing so is to condone their behavior.

 

I'm sorry to hear that - I enjojy reading your posts.

 

Me too. You need a thicker skin, Dude. Narcissa wouldn't harm a fly. A tick that attaches itself to her while caching, maybe.

[+cerberus1]

One on a local site said he didn't like going into the forums due to negative posts.

If someone didn't agree with a statement he'd made, they'd contest it.

He said on (the social site) an admin would stop negativity, by removing those posts.

I simply asked what kind of conversations can you have if everyone's agreeing with each other.

- He must have thought it negative, as he never came back.

[+cerberus1]

The problem I have is now you have to find all the various regional, sub-regional, etc. etc. etc. groups on FB or wherever to find local information.

 

When I traveled to other states, I would come to these forums, and post "What are the best caches in xxx area" in the appropriate forum. Now I have to scour the web to find the right group to post those questions.

 

Here in New England, there are several FB groups that cover the area (where there was only one here at GC). There's huge overlap, with multiple groups covering any given area, and you have sometimes have to post in multiple groups to get everyone that could be affected. It's a major headache.

+1

We noticed that too, when the migration from regional forums to fb started.

Still see it here sometimes in the regional forums.

- A person two weeks into the hobby with 3 finds just started a fb page.

At one time my area had 4 fb groups for a 30 mile area.

 

I think much has to do with the creator's own self-importance...

[+hzoi]

The above title is from the forum at Canada's Capital Cachers website in Ottawa.

 

Here is the first item posted on that thread by kirok who started the thread:

 

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With the popularity of social media, forums are a dying breed. I personally find myself visiting this place so rarely that it seems pointless to continue it in the form it is today. That said, thee is a lot of useful tips, tricks and info still scattered about in these forum pages that we don't want to lose.

 

So, do we continue with a forum in it's current format (along with the mostly pointless CCC wordpress splash screen on the front end), or do we work up a Wiki of sorts to house the useful information and do away with this forum in favour of the groups on Social media?

 

What say you?

 

The irony of it is that nobody is going to read this anyway. LOL.

 

******************************

 

Here is the link to that thread:

 

http://canadascapitalcachers.ca/forum/index.php?topic=1890.msg14174#msg14174

 

I love forums like this one where you can discuss geocaching, read stories of caching adventures and tell your stories.

 

What do you think?

 

 

PAul

 

I have been involved with three local groups now that each had websites with forums. (Fora?)

 

Each one started out vibrant, each one has gone dormant and been relatively forgotten in favor of the group's facebook page.

 

One thing that might make the decision easier: hosting your own domain costs money (as a domain owner, I should know), but facebook is free...