tboykin Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 As many of you know forums cost money to maintain, and some forums will not host company-specific sub-forums if the company does not offer financial sponsorship. If you choose to look at this as paying a toll, well that is one way to see things. I think this is a testament to Steve's DP forum in that he spends so much time as admin doing work for free, and we all reap the benefits of the platform! Carl and a few others pointed out the reach of social media being farther than forums. This is also true, though it can be more difficult to find relevant info on Facebook/Instagram/YouTube. The great thing about forum posts is that they should in a perfect world last forever. I can't tell you how many times I have found good detecting tips, vehicle maintenance, or construction advice on a post that is 5 plus years old. Good luck finding the same info on Facebook's infinite scroll! But the times they are a-changin' and whether we like it or not, more people spend their time on social media than forums. This is backed up by traffic statistics as well as growth numbers across multiple channels. It is sad that this particular forum in question decided to nuke the White's forums, but even sadder still is that very few people will notice (present company excluded, who prove by their presence that forums still serve a valuable purpose). 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Steve Herschbach Posted November 26, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 26, 2018 Traffic on this website is increasing so I don’t think it is as simple as people leaving forums for social media. There simply are more venues these days and traffic has been fragmenting between them. It’s called competition and some old forums got complacent. The main thing is the old forums are no longer the only game in town, yet I bet their banner fees have never gone down. It is all about eyeballs per dollar and they must not be cost effective / price competitive in today’s environment. Google Ads pay the bills here, so I am not quite working for free. The hourly wage is nothing to brag about however! 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubious Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 3 hours ago, tboykin said: As many of you know forums cost money to maintain, and some forums will not host company-specific sub-forums if the company does not offer financial sponsorship. If you choose to look at this as paying a toll, well that is one way to see things. . . . Well, Facebook's loss. I trust White's is putting the money saved there into better use somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal_Cobra Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 On 11/26/2018 at 8:12 AM, tboykin said: This is also true, though it can be more difficult to find relevant info on Facebook/Instagram/YouTube. The great thing about forum posts is that they should in a perfect world last forever. I can't tell you how many times I have found good detecting tips, vehicle maintenance, or construction advice on a post that is 5 plus years old. Good luck finding the same info on Facebook's infinite scroll! I prefer Forums to Facebook, their just better organized and easier to find what you're looking for in general. That said, you can actually do a decent search in a FB group, and further refine it with filters, but I agree that it's generally much easier to find stuff on a well run and organized forum, such as this one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubious Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Don't give Facebook any information you would not want govt or hackers to have. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoopjohnb Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 On 11/23/2018 at 2:48 AM, Geotech said: I also don't pay any attention to social media, but you & I are in the minority. That's where the younguns hang out. At a recent dealer convention we were promised 35 new or revised machines. We actually got to see 1 prototype and 1 rip-off from another company. Even the Big Dogs steal bones. In stead we got all the social media CR@p and 1 figure stood out for me. Those kids with a prostetic cell-phone attached to their fore-arm on average check Facebook 40 times a day. So that is where todays marketing is focused. Our current CEO couldn’t tell you the difference between dull and sharp side of a unit. We sell Stihl ? And they live in clean hospital white offices crunching turnover numbers and discounts on their laptop. Even the good old manual has gone extinct and been replaced by an APP. Within the near future I see the mechanic becoming extinct as well. Parts are becoming increasingly expensive. Add some labour to it and they are cheaper off buying a new one with a loyal customer deal. Times are changing,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSC Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 I vote for the forums format, this one is great, never have and never will visit mindless social media. Shame that so many folks have been spent so much of their time on them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☠ Cipher Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 In the forums/social media shakeup, those that stay in the forum game will reap the rewards. Forums that stay focused on organizing information, and filtering trolls without becoming draconian about their rules will survive and grow. This is one of those. Forums like Findmall, TreasureNet, etc will die out with the old timers due to their own silliness, draconian style, and focus on the bottom line rather than the hobby itself. I like the combo myself. I like coming here for serious business (research, fruitful, engaging,conversation) and organization, and I like the freedom of social media. The endless scrolling of social media is the reason good forums will continue to exist in the short term, until social media learns to provide methods to organize. Serious troll free engagement is the reason some will always survive. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redneck Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Steve, you definitely have an awesome forum here. It looks like findmall is dying a slow death, not a lot of posts anymore on a lot of their forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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