Unfortunately, this forum seems...DEAD.

I’m sorry i haven’t seen your threads. But it is hardly dead. Lots of the daily posts with daily carry and new mail finds are constant. Hope you change your mind. BTW!!! I just got into ARC pocket organizers. And that is totally enchanting me now. So, no. EDC is not dead for us mere mortals.


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I must say that I'm mostly a lurker and haven't thought about it that much. I'm mostly in to multitools and are not allowed to carry a gun or fast assisted knifes but there are a lot of other info and stuff to find here

[It's not failure if you learn something from it]

 

People could be busy...

 

This is the most active forum I follow. You want dead, check out the Audi forums.

 

I've posted content meant to generate discussion and the most interaction it's gotten was a few likes and some "good post" replies. Granted I didn't explicitly ask for interaction or responses, but being a forum I guess I just expected it. No other forum I've been part of has required me to ask for responses to an essay: people just read it and respond (or don't read and respond with TLDR )

Here though no one seems to really want to talk. I see more picture threads than anything: "post pics of your ___" or "check out this thing I just bought". I get it, people want to show off their stuff and that's fine, but it seems very little actual talk happens. Maybe people just have nothing to say, and I find it sad if that's the case.

People might be busy, sure, but it's been this way for at least the 2 years that I've been here.

 

Yeah, the forums used to be more of a draw, I feel. With more discussion. I think some changes have made things (posting/sharing of images) at least more difficult, for folks who wanted to do so. Way back when, used to use imageshack as the free image host which allowed hotlinking. Then it went to a pay-for-use plan. So I moved over to photobucket. And they locked down free accts so hotlinking wasn't allowed. I suppose that the ones who use a mobile device to post can use the image hosting of the tapatalk app, yet maybe not having a dependable image host discouraged some folks from continuing to share stuff here? I moved on to imgbbdotcom to upload shots, and when I can, I attempt to discuss/share more than just an image.

However, I think some folks have moved over to lrkin' on sosche media, like at ig, since that's where some makers frequent. & folks can upload images there easier/more conveniently.

Though, yes, while a person can upload media to their hearts' desire at ig, it does (or can) lack the correspondence and interaction that one could (or used-to-expect to) receive in forums with dedicated forums/threads. I feel like, havin' the ability to upload images/media easily and discuss topics all in one spot would be best, yet it's fragmented now when folks might check out images at ig while the dedicated discussion's (or is more suited) elsewhere.

For my involvement/participation - I've had less time to be online here to post. For instance, yay, @DCBman, for commenting about the fam gift , which I sorta wanted to share, yet I didn't expect a bunch of folks to recognize it to actually talk more about it. And then, that thread's theme seems like it's more of a post-and-talk-a-little-bit deal, yet don't continue the discussion or it'll detract from the rest of the thread by bein' off-topic, or something.

So when I do get the opp to post, I haven't always replied and just lrk to see what's new... Or, am actually surprised when I see a reply. Otherwise, I'd share and post more in some threads, yet feel like what's shared doesn't seem to continue the conversations, so why continue? Haven't totally given up on forums, yet activity has def gone down. For instance, I was sorta encouraged to share more of the stuff I collect, and now and then have been able to share some, yet haven't gotten around to post more, 'cuz, for what I have shared, it didn't seem like it meant much to others, so I haven't felt the urge/need to share the rest. Wonder where folks have moved on to? Do they continue such discussions like they used to elsewhere (even usn's got less interaction)? Or have they all gotten too busy? Or is this format not what folks want anymore? Things have changed, yet not sure if it's to something better, or forum discussion's "old school" and not cool and folks want to continue yet just don't. I think a lot have migrated on to ig... Maybe not. Just speculatin'.

But yeah, some folks do have bigger budgets w/ expendable income to spend, and they do share what's new on their wrists a bunch, so I think they've got their spectators and will continue to post, yet otherwise, I suppose I haven't taken the time/effort to continue to cultivate communication like I just expect should be happening. Lo siento...

 

Well I still post fun stuff.

I'd say forums in general have declined in popularity. Which is a shame.

It seems more of what was once posted in a place like this is now popping up in groups on FB. Which for me anyway, given my increasing reticence about a platform like FB, means my participation there will diminish too.

15, 20 years ago I was really active on a variety of forums. I also really enjoyed blogging. But it takes up a lot of time. Beyond just creating something, the photographing, the editing of the photographs, the writing, hosting the photographs, posting it all; it gobbles up a huge amount of time. Which cuts into the time I have to make things. Which I would rather do.

Another thing that started to really irk me about forums was the staggering number of people who were too lazy to use the search button, but expected people to drop what they were doing and write out an answer to their repeated for the umpteenth time question. Even though people had already spent their valuable time providing an answer.

 

I understand the frustration and most of my activity on this forum is searching for old information. There is a flipside, however, redundant questions are activity, nonetheless, and an opportunity to share/glean new information/opinions. I honestly don't mind seeing repeated questions or new threads covering gear we've discussed previously.

 

I agree with a lot of whats being said here.
Forums are a dying breed. Sadly. But this forum seems to be dying faster than any other I frequent.
I think maybe what I considered to be this forums greatest strength when I joined, could also be its biggest weakness; it encompasses a very broad spectrum of tools, gadgets, skills and use cases. So while it has the potential to be a one stop shop for a diverse set of interesting topics, it doesn't seem to create the same engagement and attract the really knowledge people that more specialized forums seem to still do.
IMO forums are a place to learn and share experience and knowledge. I couldn't care less for the superficial picture posts and ephemeral discussions on IG, FB and such. But, if that's what you're after, an old fashioned forum can never compete with those platforms. And, yet... pocket dump/simple picture threads are pretty much the majority of posts here atm.

Another, even less encouraging observation I've made across several forums the last couple of years is that very active users goes silent over night. Considering it's my impression forums tend to have an older user base than more modern platforms, the pandemic we've been going through in the same time period, and what demographic has taken the biggest hit...I fear there might be some personal tragedies contributing to the downturn in forum engagement.

 

Oh man, I meant to mention that possibility as well. Way back when, in July of '06, the pilot episode of HEROES happened to be "available", and, for folks who viewed it, the online fans were all talkin' and speculatin' about the show at new forums which popped up for HEROES, a few months before the show even premiered that fall (and they even made the revised first ep available for the Apple iProducts and at yahoo; early on, the writers and other creators of the content were also active and chattin' with folks at 9thWonders, and you could interact with 'em, inundate 'em with questions, get insights into the show, and I even got some cool swag from some of the writers/behind-the-scenes makers...). They were really good at making the show a "transmedia" event (where the story was told on multiple media platforms).

Anyway, one of the biggest (at the time, though subjective) contributors to discussions/theories/predictions was a guy we only knew by his username, which I thought was pretty clever: SuperOrdinaryGuy. When forums needed moderators, he was one of the early ones chosen to help guide the discussions (also, back then, he was one who helped folks understand that fb wasn't actually all that great as a community, that Zuck didn't have folks' best interests in mind, and privacy was a huge issue when using it - so that influenced me and I never hopped on). Then after this one weekend, he didn't continue posting. At all of the forums he was active in. No responses to personal messages either. It was like there was all this momentum, with the guy really makin' an impact in the new "communities", and abruptly, nothin'. And since we didn't really know the guy, it was like a weird loss, with no wrap up.

Anyway, hadn't really paid attn to forums enough since then to notice stuff like that happen anymore (and back then, at least for one subject, it was maybe more close-knit to see folks at more than one site), yet @aicolainen, yeah, if you've noticed that that has happened more recently, I suppose that there were reasons in the person's life to do so. Ugh/bummer.

 

I have little doubt that forums have seen a decrease in usage as sites like Instagram, Facebook and Reddit have picked up. IG is built for pictures and video shorts: there's little real interaction but it does serve well the purpose of showing off your stuff. Facebook's algorithm suggests groups you might be interested in based on your posts, comments and like history, you join those groups of like-minded people, and never have to get off Facebook. They bring the content to you, without you even having to ask for it. Even EDC Forums has a Facebook group*. And Reddit.... I can't really comment on Reddit because I don't use it (I dislike it's structure and format) but I know people that prefer it to traditional message board forums.
*(I choose not to use the EDC Forums Facebook group because I prefer to keep my anonymity online, at least as much as practical.)

And it's not just our genre that's seeing this. I've been seeing this shift for years now with video games: studios do more interaction with fans/customers via Twitter, Facebook and Reddit than they do on their own forums, if they even have a forum in the first place. Wouldn't surprise me if other hobbies/interests are facing the same issue.

 

Yep, the times they are a-changin'... Even older than forums? Email lists! Mentioned it previously, yet before (a ton of) forums and all the social media offerings, Thomas Zoss had an email list you could subscribe to which'd send out the current discussions of the various writing instruments (yet, mostly FPs...); to reply to a discussion, you'd send an email with a "re:" to the particular subject and send it to the list's group email addy, and you'd receive the various emails as they were sent or you'd get a digest of the emails for the day. & that was actually sorta active until August of last year. Discussions had really progressed/evolved past that sort of communication, yet I wonder if there'd still be discussion at forums if ig and fb groups weren't around?

Oh well, as ya were...

 

I blame Facebook

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.

Grizz

 

I would have to agree to that statement.

I refuse to do IG, fakebook leftddit and so on. They all seem to have people who only appreciate branded stuff and not homemade items.

For me I spend my time designing and making and just as @Exploriment stated it takes a lot of time to photograph, upload, publish. I used to do do a lot of the on another forum since it has its own gallery but more and more people just like to criticizes if it does not look factory made. So I stopped. Maybe if this forum was able to directly host pictures there would be more posts, as least from me.

I used to input the information that I know about questions that where asked only to get ignored or bashed because I did not answer to the exact question exactly how it was stated. So why bother since I am not a writer.

One thing I fine amusing is people posting the same photos over and over and they do not put a description who or what the items are in the post, like everyone already knows what in the photo. I actually find that irritating, is this not a EDC forum to talk about the stuff we have or want...

Just my two cents.

 

Taking a quick glance through this forum, I find 11 threads that I’ve started. You replied to all of 2 of them. I notice that several others here replied more reliably in those same threads. I just can’t figure out your lack of participation in those threads because each one was incredibly, intellectually stimulating, and I was sure everyone including you was going to jump in and discuss their own personal point of view on each topic. I guess you had your reasons. Of course I’m typing this with my tongue in my cheek , but I do think it’s a point worth making considering the subject of your thread here. We get excited or interested in something, we post, others maybe not so excited or interested, glance at the thread and move on without comment. We later do the same in another’s thread. People tend to be a self centered bunch. Our worlds revolve around us. With all of that said, I do agree that the threads other than the show and tell threads are getting pretty sparse in terms of conversation. In comparison, the place seemed to be booming back around in 2008-9 when I first stumbled onto the site. I still enjoy hanging around on these forums and trying to get a good edc conversation going from time to time.


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