where have you all gone ...and why !

[NorthernRaider]

Devonian
"Other forums survive and even thrive without the need for articles."

Yes but they cannot exist without the other issues such as regular posters, news, reviews, concerns, what they have done or discovered etc most of this forum is now just a few moderators making noble but token efforts (and I know some of them are utterly disillusioned), the members are mainly readers not contributors who rarely join in, and even fewer who actually start and maintain a thread. All credit to those over on UKP, I may not like them or agree with their policies but they do keep the posts flowing, debates going and attracting new members ( eight in the last week or so I note).

"What this forum does have in great depth is a fantastic bunch of passionate and committed survivalists/preppers, where on many other forums this level of commitment is often diluted by the many wanabees who see it as a fashionable hobby rather than a lifestyle choice."

I think in the last two years most of the former like Invisible etc have been driven off by the latter.

As SD so eloquently puts it is the members who make or break a forum.

I remind folks that this places name is SUK FORUM, not SUK Chat room or SUK newspaper.

[Devonian]

It's not about turning it into a chat room, its about developing an active community of preppers who can connect with each other and from that you will in turn get more people posting informative useful posts, reviews, asking for help etc....

In my experience people rarely learn from reading articles, they learn and develop their skills and knowledge from an interactive involvement, both practically by doing; and intellectually by being challenged and discussing issues and that is where the forum can help.

If all they wanted to do was read articles, then all they need to do is buy half a dozen or so books from amazon and they will probably be able to get just as much from that as they can from forum articles. But that isn't going to provide them with the best means of developing their skills as it so one dimensional.

So going back to my original post, if you want to get more people posting and more people interacting on the forum, they need to feel part of the community and I feel that a general chat section could(??) help to develop that sense of community and make things more relaxed.

@TOF - I wasn't suggesting that a new article is needed, quite the opposite, all I was saying was why couldn't that text be copied word for word and posted on the forum, from which I'm sure a discussion could be generated.

[bigpaul]

I don't know about anyone else but when I first started on survival forums all those years ago it wasn't to make friends and influence people, it was to get INFORMATION not to have a chinwag...now I cannot remember the last time anyone put some decent information on this forum but it seems a heck of a long time ago, I am talking proper survivalist info not what you picked from the garden or what you had for tea yesterday or what your weather is today, but decent information about something concerned with surviving post SHTF, or is that over most peoples heads? in which case I am flapping my gums for nothing.

[TOF]

Dev, the article on the main site was only ever written to be an introduction to a more expansive and in depth thread for the forum, sort of to whet the appetite so to speak. Like a lot of folk though, life has got in the way and I'm still getting it sorted. Never fear though, it will come to pass, just a bit like a number 9 bus, later than advertised.


@BP. Could you write some articles? With your many years of experience, I'm sure you could cobble something together.

[Tarrel]

How do you get an article uploaded to the main site?

[TOF]

If you contact SD Tarrel, he will post it for you.

[Straight Shooter]

Everyone is thick TOF even SD .....struth he had a bloody nerve , asking advice about keeping chickens back a bit ......you know......everybody knows that.........don,t they .......besides I am interested in what you have to say TOF .......I spect you will have summat nice to say bout me now........give you ten mins TOF

[Devonian]

(16 August 2014, 16:36)bigpaul Wrote: I don't know about anyone else but when I first started on survival forums all those years ago it wasn't to make friends and influence people, it was to get INFORMATION not to have a chinwag...now I cannot remember the last time anyone put some decent information on this forum but it seems a heck of a long time ago, I am talking proper survivalist info not what you picked from the garden or what you had for tea yesterday or what your weather is today, but decent information about something concerned with surviving post SHTF, or is that over most peoples heads? in which case I am flapping my gums for nothing.

I think you are missing the point here, it's not about making friends and is certainly not about influencing people.

It's about having trust in those around you and developing a community of like minded individuals.

As you say, when you started on forums, people had a different attitude because the forums were still in their infancy and it was something new and people were happy to post all sorts of information for anyone to see. But now things have developed and matured, plus the glut of information that you refer to, is already out there and posted on multiples sites all over the internet, it simply doesn't need posting again.

Also today people are simply more cautious about what information they post on the internet.

But who are you more likely to interact with (in detail), someone you have built up trust and rapport with, or someone who is an infrequent or new contributor to the forum?

[TOF]

This thread is exactly the reason I rarely post. What's the point?

[Straight Shooter]

If nothing else.......we are all getting involved in the thread .....so something may comet out of it ....of use to some, I hope.....or would you rather the other way............doing nothing ...helps no one.