This Poor old Forum.

[joella]

Hmm,
My feeling is that these things go in cycles, and the forum is loosing out to facebook at present.
Facebook and the forum are very different things, here on the forum, answers to requests for advice tend to be thought out and comprehensive in their response. The wealth of experience and wisdom is a very valuable asset.
Facebook, on the whole, tends to be more geared towards instant gratification via ‘likes’ etc, although there are of course exceptions, the help on offer is not in depth.
I wish I knew what the answer was, I seem to remember at least one post on here that ran and ran, it was so useful, I think it was a question about stone setting - about 11 pages worth! Very helpful, I followed it avidly. That would never happen on fb - but I’m preaching to the converted, it’s how to get all those fb people to come here and give it a go - without the reward of instant gratification in the form of ‘likes’ and inane content free responses. Surely people will tire of it, and return to the more sustaining forum - generally, it’s like comparing a packet of crisps to a 3 course meal!
All I can think of is for those of us who do use Facebook, to suggest the forum to people on it whenever the opportunity arises. The problem is that so many people use Facebook for so many things, so they are already there anyway, so it’s sort of delivered straight to them on a silver platter - they don’t have to go to it, it comes to them. What we really need is an already well established Facebook page to direct people to the forum. I’d suggest gojd, but they have their own forum now.

Also, ahem, not sure how to put this delicately - but, not wishing to annoy or offend anyone, but, as people are on fb anyway for so many things, they won’t just leave it if someone is a bit say, snippy, judgemental or dismissive etc - but the forum is another matter - people just wont come back, because they don’t have myriad other reasons for being here. (I know, I can feel all the eye rolls and sighs - and the forum is a very friendly and hugely supportive community of people), but it’s worth remembering that if we want the forum to survive, we don’t have the luxury of fb, we can’t afford to alienate people. ......I hope I haven’t alienated anyone with my last comment
Sue

[Dennis]

People are so touchy these days, i guarantee three or four members have gone to get counselling as a result of your comments, Sue. Never mind. they will emerge all the stronger for it. Dennis.

[Petal]

I'm not a fan of Facebook either; I've seen the damage it can do to young people and others, who feel much more isolated and depressed as a result of people posting piccies of their 'perfect' lives etc. They think they have to look 'perfect' or they won't make any friends. Yes, they make it easy for people to keep on using it, but I don't think that's a good thing.

I've been on this forum from the start and have learnt an enormous amount of information from both professionals and amateurs alike and it would be a great shame if it were to get even quieter, or be shut down. I think the few that are still posting are doing a fabulous job and should be applauded for keeping it going.

We really all have to do our bit asking and replying to questions, posting pics of stuff we are doing etc. The other thing is that the reduction of spammers might help, as we've had a few more of them in the last few months, especially replying to really old posts, with yet another silly question/comment.

[CJ57]

Aw but Jules I quite like spammers for a bit of baiting. The problem I find occasionally is that I’m not sure whether it’s a spammer or someone who is particularly thick so I ignore them for a wee while and then Peter spoils it by removing them before we have some fun. Fun with Spam ( sounds like a children’s book) used to be a bit of a pastime on a quiet day

[enigma]

I agree Sue with your well thought out post although you know nobody would have read past the first couple of lines if it was on FB LOL.
Im not sure about the being snippy bit though, we do need a bit of entertainment now and again and it does only seem to happen when its warranted.
Looking forward to Fun With Spam

[ps_bond]

Aw but Jules I quite like spammers for a bit of baiting. The problem I find occasionally is that I’m not sure whether it’s a spammer or someone who is particularly thick so I ignore them for a wee while and then Peter spoils it by removing them before we have some fun. Fun with Spam ( sounds like a children’s book) used to be a bit of a pastime on a quiet day

I have many recipes using Spam if that's needed. A particular favourite is Spam musubi, which munges together different cultures quite impressively.

I tend to look at the diction used by spammers - there's a small number of identical patterns they use. Posting 5 or 6 random requotes on old threads is no challenge; actually involving themselves tends to make me pause even if I'm absolutely certain they are as I suspect.

[TDA20]

I completely agree with everything you've said Sue. This forum is a wealth of quality information and detailed responses in a way that isn't suited to social media. I think they serve different purposes. Facebook is good for answering a quick question but anything more in depth the forum would be better. In terms of searching, is there any way to improve the search engine here so you can reliably search for more than one word? It may just be that I don't know how to use it properly :/

[Dennis]

It's not much of a search engine unless you can put in just one key word.
However if you search the web, the reply on this forum often comes up. Dennis.