It Seems Like Internet Forums are Dying

DHBP and a few traditional archery and kayak fishing forums are the only ones I look at these days. The discussions are still civil and respectful, even when we disagree. I also feel like I know many of you well, even if we have never met in person.
Regarding Facebook....my teenage daughter says FB is for "old people". She and her friends prefer media like Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.
 
Tom,

Mooney passed in 1973, shortly before the first time I ever visited the shop in Dover. Joe Wooster had been a friend of his and had a bunch of stories about how he could shave down a piece of ivory (using just a knife) to unbelievable tolerances in order to make the most delicate parts imaginable for use in his train models.

His son David runs a company that specializes in ivory & bone saddles, bridges and bridge pins for guitars. Matter of fact, I purchased a set of his dyed bone pins for a Classic Guild, Studio 24 that I have. Another son, Michael, was supplying Martin Guitars with Ivory pins for classic restorations. Not much of the ivory stuff around now - but Mooney must have had a pretty good pre-ban stash.

View attachment GuildAc.jpg
 
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The topics most often discussed here are more heritage related and since the group is from multiple countries/states, and has a certain "maturity" ;-) , it doesn't get trolled.

The collection of wankers on the internet is a special event in our history as a species. Very glad to find a group whose dysfunctions match mine....

....and glad it's not in a Facebook format.

As much as a social site, this forum is informational and educational.... it is a resource. Google search "repair herter's decoys"~you don't get a link to any FB page.

Steve's Cassiopea build wouldn't exist in a searchable format on FB.

Additionally, all that is "free" on FB is the page. Their algorithms select who sees what, when and how often updates and pages happen, etc., to the point you may not see updates from your friends that you should be seeing updates from. AND~ your brand has to reside in their framework.

I liked Tony's FB page, been there once and can't say I've ever seen a post update in my "feed". I've been to Tony's web page several times and had discussions about his product on another forum where we were agreeing on his solution possibly being the best thing in decoys in our "young" lifetimes :)

FB/Instagram/etc. are affordable, but they require a ton of work and dedication..... Zuckerberg isn't doing the work for you, only providing a frame similar to Gossamer.

Forums are certainly contracting, the internet itself is old now and the accumulation of information is a keyboard away.
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Rob, Check your facebook setting as you should receive notifications per your settings. And searching facebook is tricky but once you learn how its easy. Hashtags work. and sure you could follow any specific post or thread by starting a specific album for photos etc. Even I am not real keen on all the things you can do on Facebook because I just dont have time to figure it all out but there is lots that can be done and they update it all the time with new things you can do. Its great for us and our business. And we will continue to use it and plan on some other social media pages as well soon once we get some free time to work on setting them up.
 
Tom,

Mooney passed in 1973, shortly before the first time I ever visited the shop in Dover. Joe Wooster had been a friend of his and had a bunch of stories about how he could shave down a piece of ivory (using just a knife) to unbelievable tolerances in order to make the most delicate parts imaginable for use in his train models.

His son David runs a company that specializes in ivory & bone saddles, bridges and bridge pins for guitars. Matter of fact, I purchased a set of his dyed bone pins for a Classic Guild, Studio 24 that I have. Another son, Michael, was supplying Martin Guitars with Ivory pins for classic restorations. Not much of the ivory stuff around now - but Mooney must have had a pretty good pre-ban stash.






Back in the day he was on Johnny Carson. In the model of the tin plant assembly line one of the characters is my grand father. One of the main things they make now is Warther knives. Very nice cutlery. They used to have a giant swing outside his original work shop that you would swing out over the drop off on the back of the property.
Tom.
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As a side conversation... It seems to me the proliferation of "expert" hunters with logo hoodies and trailers full of the latest sponsored (logo) equipment (for which they paid big bucks) has dropped off. Don't see them, hear them or suffer through them on forums the way we did 5 or more years ago. That may have something to do with the drop in traffic and it isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Jeff Foiles demise was a symptom of the greater disease. Maybe this is a period of healing where we can get back to showing some respect for the history and traditions of our sport.
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I agree Paul.....Thank God...

The constant chest thumping and bickering drove people away...myself included.

Respect the heritage. Respect the quarry.

Long live duckboats.nets !
 
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Eric - Good discussion. Two points...
  1. Making your own ducksboats and decoys is old school yet, are timeless principles of which many meet on this forum daily to share and learn. We are dinosaurs and okay with it.
  2. It's good to self examine what we are doing and, how we are doing it however, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
New medias will come and go but, this forum has been the only stable one most of us have been part of. It still amazes me how active this forum is and the quality of people that participate here. My suggestion is to look for ways to build on an already good thing.

Thanks for asking and I too appreciate all you and Chuck do. Pat

Pete - You could shoot more than one box if you gave up watching the Packers Sunday afternoon... Most Bear fans go through multiple boxes of shells even during a decent year...
 
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but also the whole cyber scouting factor in my opinion. You can post your unedited hunting pictures to facebook and have direct control over who can see what, that being said this is the only hunting forum I actively participate in anymore.
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Part of the reason for sure.......The key phrase is "direct control" you don't have to deal with trolls and clowns....and as a Business its a no brainer to advertise on social media...virtually no over head.
 
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Two things:

1. Hunters are learning loose lips destroys a good thing quickly.
2. ADHD

This is the only forum I use besides an occasional wise crack on Facebook. Please do not change it...

Regards,
Kristan
 
I am not old nor rich nor young nor poor. I have enjoyed this forum through the years when I built my boats and learned to carve decoys. I lost interest in other forums because of the chest thumping like most. When people ask me why I like this forum I tell them for the most part it's a bunch of older guys who enjoy the history and the doing of the sport and are happy to share their wealth of knowledge. And for the most part A-holes don't stick around because its not tolerated. That said I have not been checking the site daily for the past year because I have taken up another hobby, bow building, and found a similar forum of older guys willing to share. Now the big conflict I have is to build a bow or carve a decoy..... Decisions, decisions. I will just echo what has already been said, this forum is different than most and if the younger generation does not want spend the time to have a dialog (I know my 15 year old daughter does not) and 3 word texts with improper grammar and spelling are the norm then let them have it. Someday they will figure it out. As for this place I can only hope it survives because I enjoy it every time I log on. Oh yeah I hate facebook, snapchat, instagram blah blah blah
 
but also the whole cyber scouting factor in my opinion. You can post your unedited hunting pictures to facebook and have direct control over who can see what, that being said this is the only hunting forum I actively participate in anymore.
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Part of the reason for sure.......The key phrase is "direct control" you don't have to deal with trolls and clowns....and as a Business its a no brainer to advertise on social media...virtually no over head.
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Can you edit away anything you post on FB like you can here? :).
 
Here I am, late to the party as usual and to be expected...

I WILL NOT post to The Facepage. I hate it! Aside from people sharing every thought that crosses their brain like they are all gems (to which Twatter is even worse), there is the intellectual property rights aspect. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you post on The Facepage becomes property of facebook.com...thoughts, pictures, you name it. You become famous, they can publish a book about you (awfully nice of you to write it for them). They are a monster. I want nothing to do with them.

Yes, Internet forums are loosing strength overall, but frankly there was probably too many anyway, and most of them are split into too many subforums making it hard to keep up with all the chatter.

Chuck
 
I've noticed the same thing. The CT page at Duck Hunting Chat is basically dead, and there is little going on at the Refuge Forums New England page either. BUT, on facebook, I found a CT waterfowling page that has a lot of younger guys on it.... and the seem to be aching for hunting partners and education.... Lot's "of I'm hunting area XX tomorrow, anybody want to go?" We older guys don't shout out like that. We would just go alone, sit with the dog and have coffee..... Back in October I found myself the old man of the marsh. Had an 18 yo brother of a 30 yo protege with me and we met 3 college kids at the ramp.... I don't feel old.... but it felt good to see some younger guys out there. An oddity in CT....except for Finch, but he spears fish instead of baiting a hook. He's an anomaly....lol
 
Phil told me to check out you all a couple months ago and I'm glad I did. This place is what the Wisconsin forum on the 'fuge used to be like. You guys are more genuine than the 'fuge by far. It's a relief. But as far as the forums dying, I see it too. It's up to us to keep this place alive.
 
Jim G said "We would just go alone, sit with the dog and have coffee"........and that's how I prefer it. I get all the "social interaction" a guy can stand at my workplace
 
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Some random thoughts: This is the only hunting related site I visit. I rarely post...I just enjoy looking at the photos of boats and decoys, and reading the interactions among members. I do have a Facebook page, and I visit it often. I am VERY selective about who I "friend"; if a person requests that I friend them, I go to their page. Any posts about religion or politics, and I immediately decline their friend request. My passion is atlantic salmon fishing and tying atlantic salmon flies and streamers. I belong to one or two groups related to that, just to look at flies, mostly.
I'm sort of bringing myself to whatever point I have: I belong to several atlantic salmon fishing forums. It is on those forums that I learn and more importantly, have made lasting friendships. I now fish with folks that I initially had interactions with on a given forum. On a forum, you can post or read a step-by-step on how a certain fly is tied, or learn what is working on a given river and enjoy the sights and sounds of someone's trip. Beginners can find a wealth of information on getting started, and don't get flamed for asking. A couple of the forums have very strict rules (e.g., you can't post a hot link to another or your own sight, vocabulary, etc.), but my favorite one is very free wheeling (I'm not sure if there are any rules there, lol) and the most fun of the bunch.
A forum (like this one) provides the opportunity for the closest thing to personal interaction the internet provides. Facebook, well, not so much, in terms of real, meaningful interaction. Sure you can comment on someone's latest photo there, but that's about the extent of the interaction. It does give me a "free" way to direct a couple thousand people to my blog when I have a new post via the limited friends I have and groups I belong to, but I could never post a story about an entire week in Salmon Camp there. Actually, most any friend I have on facebook was already a friend from a forum.
Forums provide a place for like-minded individuals to enjoy each others company, in an odd digital way. I don't think facebook can do that. (I have no clue about instagram or any of the other sites of the type.
Anyway, just my two cents...and I hope this forum stays right where it is, as it is.
Gary
 
Very few people I have to share the ocean depths with here. I'm zipper lipped about spearing too.

I would be diving right now but my buddies can't take the cold as well as me.

When I went down to Texas the guy called me the most redneck northerner he ever met. The last thing I want to be is normal, especially my generations "normal."
 
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