I saw the other day where someone said people’s interest in forums are beginning to die off. If so, I wasn’t aware of it. However, I have noticed a decline on this forum over the past year. Did I miss something ?.. I have to admit that I do find the restrictions here on trains.com frustrating at times as to what we can and can’t say or talk about, but I guess the sponsers have their reasons. And you need not even go there about how “other forums” are because I’ve seen first hand about how out of control they can get - to the point that it’s a waste of time to even post anything on them because most of the members are immature teenagers out to do all the damage and destruction they can to them. They use them for insulting and running oneanother down. Well. I could care less about the other forums as long as this one doesn’t go anywhere…
I think forums are growing and are a new and expanding resource to the hobby. They didn’t exist 10 years ago, unless some of you Internet veterans remember USEnet newsgroups (rec.models.railroad, anyone? :)) People with a question would either pick their LHS salesman’s brain or wait months for MR or RMC to reply to their question over snail mail – that is, IF their question is published. The fact that these forums are multimedia in nature and not just restricted to text makes it an even more important asset. Posting pics of published models, prototypes or YouTube video links to layouts in motion provides an indispensable knowledge base for the hobby.
If it weren’t for forums, I wouldn’t have known about foam layout construction, nor where to find it in my area!!!
Yes, I suspect they are growing, but not if they are chaotic, unpredictable, coarse, filled with boorish members, argumentative, and/or highly polarized politically or religiously. Who needs that type of experience?
So, some fora will disappear, others will take shape, their ways of doing business will evolve, and I feel that they are likely to become better over time, as a whole, due to the natural attrition of the less wholesome and more contentious ones. Of course, some of these latter ones will flourish here and there because they will sustain the lust of a critical mass who feed on such dreck. Sort of like flies to …you know.
Amen to those notes selector! I personally think that before this forum grows too much more, perhaps a second moderator should be considered. I have seen, and unfortuenately been sucked into, a thread or two that has gone horribly astray.
I for one appreciate being able to come to this forum and know I’m not going to be subjected to all sorts of unnecessary vulgarity or arguments about whose politics are better or which religion is the “true” religion and so on.
Maybe it is us that are becoming extinct; I dont know.
These forums have been through alot in the last 2 years or so. For me, I think people are being more careful what they post and it is better than some other internet sites out there.
What some people dont understand that the Internet can be forever. One bad post has the potential to deny credit, employment etc if the right conditions are met in the future.
Example
:My boss is a jerk and a block of wood. He sits in his air conditioning and issues decrees around his snack food and drink all day.:
End Example.
Suppose 10 years later someone does a background check and finds this little wonder stacked in the Internet Way Back Time Machine and can prove that I wrote it? Imagine what it would be like if really bad words are thrown in there.
I find the rules of this forum to be what is needed to keep this forum a wholesome environment. You may have grown up differently, but there are children that come here and if i were a parent (I am a parent but the birds have left the nest) I wouldn’t want my kids subjected to a lot of the trash the internet has to offer. (I kept blocks on the computer when the kids were growing up to keep them out of “free form” chat rooms and “any thing goes” types of forums because to me, I didn’t want my kids subjected to it at such a young age. They will loose their innocence soon enough. )
You must also remember that not only are there rules to this forum, but also, MRR is a business and they must hold to certain standards in order to stay in business to keep people buying their product.
Personally, I could care less what anyone thinks about their personal beliefs or ideology but that needs to be addressed at other appropriate forums that address these issues. This forum is family oriented, model railroad related, and the rules must apply to keep this site a good environment for the general public as a whole. …chuck
Tracklayer,A lot of folks get tired of answering the same old questions over and over…Some have thin skin and takes others comments to heart.Some tire of “forum experts” arguing with everything they say or if they show the simpler side of the hobby they are immediately jump on.On the bright side many leave general forums and seek special interest forums such as prototypical operation,layout designing,prototypical modeling,craftsman etc. Some even cut being active to one or two forums that fill their needs.
The whole thing with these forums was a lack of popularity when they were revamped, and supposedly some people did leave. But there are so many others out there it’s hard to judge. I personally don’t think the forums will die off, after all it’s the modern way of doing things, unless the hobby dies off. And contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that is happening.
With Web 2.0 website features coming out, one of the cornerstones is a more interactive community online. Are forums dying? Are people leaving the internet in droves?
In case you haven’t noticed, the usage of the internet is growing and more and more web sites are popping up all the time. While Web 2.0 may change forums as we know them today, the ability to get online and discuss things of interest in some venue will continue and only get better.
As to forum rules, remember Kalmbach owns this web site and the forum is like them opening up an electronic form of their living room and letting us discuss things for free. Freedom of speech only applies out on the public streets.
If you come into my house and begin discussing something offensive to me, I can show you the door and be completely within my rights – and the law will back me on that. Same thing here. Kalmbach is completely within their rights to set limits on what we can and cannot discuss in their “online living room” and if we get out of line, they are perfectly within their rights to give us the boot. Get used to it – it is common courtesy to watch your mouth in the civilized world. [swg]
I would only add that these forums have been indispensible to me, being a newbie and having joined earlier this year. Though I’ve gotten a lot of info. from several of the MRR books, MRR itself and members of my club, the back-and-forth/feedback here has given me a lot of insight into the hobby.
Personally I am very thankful for this forum. There are many genuine experten here and I have learned so much. It beats reference books, especially in the area of specific questions, for which you can get a specific answer without wading through a lot of irrelevant stuff. It’s also been great for letting you know where to go to find a lot of hard to get items.
I hope it’s around as long as I am and vice versa.
I think this forum had a hickup because of the change of software. It has only been recently that the search engine started working again, and now the editor seems to be better (don’t stop - add a spell check please), then add on top of that it occured in the middle of the summer slump anyway.
As for forums in general, I am guessing the author of that comment was probably one of the bunch that (two years ago) ran out and started their “own forum”. Then they found out they couldn’t get along with each other, so each person in the group started “their own” - or worse several. The plans were all way to ambitious, they never attracted anyone new. Call them up and half the page was pinned messages of rules and “secret” places for the forum operators. Then there were the silly ones where anyone who signed up 10 people became a moderator. So everyone signed up the same set of people that were already on all the other forums and everyone was a moderator - but there were no participants. When things did get posted they were either duplicates of things posted here or things like “im bored so I’m posting this message”, Or “its my birthday” type stuff. Of couse interest in forums like that is on the decline. I’m not certain there was any real interest to start with. I am convinced many people spend more time posting, and “running” forums than they do researching and playing with their trains.
Most forums are run by a few people who think they own them so there is not much discussion going on. When that happens people find other things to do or other places to do them
Pardner, as long as a large amout er people have one common intrest, and need to share ideas, methods, and techniques, there’ll always be a need fer at least one forum on the subject (includin’ model railroading), so rest easy.
Forum extinct? I think not. The recent windstorm in the pacific NW knocked a tree down on the fiber optic feed from Spokane Thurs, nite and I just got back on. Had to pick this up from page three. The other day I noticed that in the evening the posts were coming in about every 5 minutes. This is not a scientific study but a glance down the page showed that fact and they were generally good posts. This is a good forum I like the regulation. I check this and FSM’s once or twice a day usually in the A.M.
I must admit that I never read the rules. I know that I should, but I respect those that provide the forums, and keep my posts at a point that they would be repectful of any forum. I’m currently involved with three model railroad forums, one model car forum, one science fiction writers forum, and two wood turners forum. I’ve seen growth in all of them, and those who use them are considerate of others. All of the forums that I’m in contact with are informative and geared towords the improvement of their respective hobbies and hobbyists.