TrailBadger

Social Media is the main culprit as this medium has drawn the lift our of these type of forums and reverted it back to sites like Facebook and Google+ .I for one would rather use the old school format

In order to spice things up and diversify, I've requested that a blog section to the forum as a means of allow us to blog about our adventurers without having any interruption as a closed type format to any sort of comments. Our blog, Our thoughts, Our View & our adventures etc.

ShutterBug

Ditto!

I've been saying this for a while on another forum I hang out on. I hear it all the time "That place has no activity." But then I ask, "How many times have you posted in the last 6 months? None? Well, there's your problem!"

My point being - If you want the forum to live on, then quit waiting for someone else to give it some life, get off your ass and do it yourself.

TrailBadger

Again, for us it's more of a privacy concern now more than ever. If I was able to post my build yet allow only those I wanted in to see it's progress then I would gladdy rekindle the build. Lord knows the vendors would love to this also as several have taken an interesting several component within the build that they've never tried before.
I'l have to weigh the pros & cons of this whole ordeal and see if some adjustments to the forum can be implements as to allow for a private build page. In addition, not only is the build a private matter, it's the way others respond to the build adding unwanted comments or suggestion.
The point it, our build is just that & isn't open to discussions. Thus allow me (us) to have the control to moderate our own build or topics if it comes down to that. granted I've been told the discussions are meant to involve others, but the build should be held separate from these discussions.

Cutman

I've got to tell you from my experience here (about 4 years). There are a lot of grumpy douches who will answer "just Google it" or, "there was a thread for that a long time ago" instead of just skipping over the post or offering some type of valuable response. Part of the purpose of this forum is to find answers to questions/problems we all may run into along the way. But the other purpose is to interact with REAL people that have a common interest. They may actually be nearby, whereas you can meet them in 3D one day! Is effin crazy right? In conclusion, it's so much easier to not answer the 10,000th guy who asks what lift he should buy, than is it to be a douche. Interact. Or don't. Play nicely. And don't be a douche.

TrailBadger

Possibly the fear of rejection or the fear of confrontation. Who's right who's wrong, doesn't matter we all have our own opinions.

ppilotmike

I have never been a big poster on any of the forums I follow. I think forum activity is just dropping off across the board. If you think this one has slowed you should check out any of the HD forums. I know as I have aged I spend less time on my computer, just rather be outdoors. I enjoy reading this forum and seeing what others are doing with their JK's. My Jeep is my daily driver so it has few modifications. In 45K miles it has been relatively trouble free and has done everything I have asked. I have followed Mr T's saga from the start and find it very interesting along with a couple others. So you guys who are posting don't give up there are some of us out there that just don't say much. So I will end this with a big thanks to all that do keep this a great place to stop by when I have the time. Mike

TrailBadger

ppilotmike

Not sure how dead is dead to you, but as a member of the softroaders forum.. that forum is dead as everyone picked up and went to Facebook. They asked me to come over, but I'm not willing to move to Facebook. However I have used Facebook in the past just to contact a company which doesn't have any other means of contacting them other than through Facebook. There by limiting themselves and missing opportunity but I'll admit that limiting your self this way does cut out allot of the spam emails etc.

ppilotmike

Thanks for the info TB. I have not been on Facebook in a long time, I just never figured out how it worked. I will satisfy my internet Jeep'n here for now. Thanks again to all you guys that post your cool mods and adventures. Mike

marcusjames2

I've been pretty inactive here for a while, for various reasons, none of which had to do with the forum. I would say there were many times I tried to come back on through the iPhone app and eventually realized it no longer works. That kept me off and I just realized there is this other app. I tend to think most of you are overthinking the drop off and I would be willing to bet it has most to do with the drop of the app. These days it has to be convenient for people, which means through their phones. I'm glad to know now that there is garage talk, but that does not come up in a search on the App Store by searching the forum name. I think it's as simple as that.

Ryan0260

I am actually just now seeing this thread. Indeed the forum has been slower than normal for quite some time now. I think there are many factors playing into this, but the release of the JL honestly isn't one of them. JK's are always going to have a huge following, just like the TJ does still to this day. Social media has definitely affected forums in general, but forums do go through highs and lows due to member turnover, loss of interest, and honestly just life happening.

I'm glad this thread was started though. The best way to increase traffic is simply for the active members to participate, and be active. When the forum is active, the sponsors will participate more, and sponsor more contests. I do think this would be a great place to post ideas , concerns, recommendations etc about how we can improve the forum, so keep the comments coming!