Low Activity Forums

Dave is in the Coterie club of Dunn's, which stemmed from The Pipe Smokers Ephemeris.

An old pipe pipe periodical that started in 1965 and went til about 2005ish. Articles, collector directories, news and events and interviews, that type stuff. The club is T.U.C.O.P.S, what you see as Dave's avatar. The Universal Coterie of Pipe Smokers.

A pretty nice tribute....

www.henryzecher.com/tom_dunn.htm

The books list for $450.00...

I miss him too. Tom Dunn was a great benefactor to the hobby; much of his work was funded by himself. He answered every letter that I sent him and he wrote with such a personal note that it made me feel like we were old friends. Brings to mind the hobby in the twilight of the internet and prior. It's hard for me to remember keeping up with the pipe hobby before the internet, but many of us did so, with pen and paper, telephone or in person.

Photo posting is pretty darn easy... though it is best with a 3rd party photo hosting site. We do have forum storage to do attachments, but it's limited and they charge us for it. The result is that when it comes time to clear out some storage, previously posted pictures may become dead links.

My preference is Imgur.com. It's free, simple and not ad-ridden like PhotoSuckit.

The problems I have with photos is mostly due to what I mostly use when I connect to the forum. That being a very old iPhone that I am able to use because I eschew updates. Lol

So I am unable to download the app associated with imgur and I don't see an upload option in the webapp. I typically play on the forum when I am smoking and this puts me outside with my phone.

Mostly good points; however, group META turns off many as well. Everything tends to turn into static noise and many sites have become victims of their own success as a result of navel gazing in this regard. 

Lurking is totally cool. It's a good way to learn and become more comfortable with the pipe before opening up in any particular forum. Open your ears before you open your pie hole was what my WWII veteran grandfather always impressed upon me - Sage advice. 

It's not about the site - It's about the individual pipe smoking journey whether it's an occasional indulgence, simple hobby, passion or lifestyle. The site is only a potential enhancer for any. 

Inbreeding, LOL, all you same old guys post and take over every site which becomes available. Calling total BS on that one. 

Sorry for the rant. Just hated the above post from a fellow poster whose advice I greatly respect. 

Speaking of my own personal experience.The problems I had staying active in a forum
deal more with content than with moderators.The forum threads get boring and tedious.
Even threads which deal with a topic of interest to me will get derailed with innocent
jibes and silly jokes and it seems that the OP leaves and the others mods included have
no interest in returning to the original question or comment.Or worse,the group becomes
too focused on only discussing a limited number of topics.We have threads for food and
drink,music, and books.We have threads asking about other hobbies.We need to further the
discussions in these,and maybe start threads on some of the specific hobbies mentioned
in order to get the lurkers interested in commenting.And when they do comment we need to
respond to them,not just a "Like" but an actual response letting them know that their
input is appreciated.We need to show how our hobby isn't just a few minutes a day but a
part of our daily lives and how it is integrated and complimentary to our daily activities.
I hate mowing,absolutely just want to hang the mower in a tree and beat it like a pinata.
BUT,if I have a pipe packed and ready it turns into a nature excursion,I actually enjoy
chasing the grasshoppers around with the mower.Reading a new book is much more pleasurable
when I have a nice English blend burning.And washing the car becomes a game with a smokey
Maduro cigar.It has to be more than just what I smoked today,but include what I was doing
that became that much more enjoyable because it gave me an excuse to light up another bowl.
Tobacco blends are more than their flavors,what are the memories associated with it,what are
the insights or ideas the pop up with that fist pull on the pipe.I just saying we need more depth
to our online conversations.Sorry for the rant,I'll go sit in a corner and puff now.

I don't think it's about blocking posters I don't like, or anything like that, nor did I suggest that in my original post. 

When I look at a forum I look at topics.  If I see a topic that looks promising I'll look at the tread.  If the posts are informative and I think I have something worth adding I'll post.  I have no compulsive need to post.

But if I open a forum splash page and see nothing interesting I move on.  And if I open that forum's splash page over a period of time and see little to no action and little to no posting, I move on and stop dropping in.  So unless the membership is engaged, as we are in this thread, the forum is a waste of space.  That's what I'm saying.  The purpose of a forum, at least for the past several thousand years, is to provide a space for people to come together to exchange ideas and views on particular issues.

Just to be deliberately provocative, let's look at Lurking is totally cool.  Lurking IS totally cool, but Participation and Involvement IS totally cooler.  When you engage you learn more, perhaps make some connections, maybe help some others.  You take a little risk, and risk in life is necessary and empowering.  Moreover the case could be made that being a lurker and only a lurker is semi-parasitic.  I'm saying semi-parasitic because the total lurker isn't pulling the blood out of a forum so much as not putting any into it.

It's not about the site it is, and it isn't.  Maybe it's more accurate to say that it's about the environment.  Pipes.org died because the environment was toxic.  The moderator actively ridiculed posters and there were a few clear sycophants who occasionally ganged up on posters.  This went on because the site owner was uninvolved.  And when the owner decided to migrate to a new platform, he did so in such a haphazard manner that the link to the forums was completely lost and he took too long to address it.  In addition, the requirement that all posts be reviewed before they could appear led to long delays that would offer no competition in today's forum environment.
Where the environment is friendly and encouraging, people are more likely to participate and participation is what makes a forum a forum, by definition.

Inbreeding, LOL  Don't know about you, but I'm also a member, by invitation only, at several forums that are private and you don't get to see them on the Web.  They're not bad places, but they're very limited because there is little change amongst the elected membership.  That's deliberate, but after a while the lack of variety and the level of predictability becomes stultifying.  There's no reason for me to visit when there's nothing new.

Some people think that forums in general are on their way out, that just as they replaced the Usenet bulletin boards, they in turn are being replaced by other social media like Reddit and Facebook where there is more energy.  I don't know if that is true.  But the last point I'll make is that members come and go.  You can't rely on the same people being part of the scene year after year, which means that the administrators and membership need to stay relevant to changing times.

sablebrush52 Yes agreed for the most part. Usenet is still in use, BBS are still in use, and so is IRC. I wouldn't say forums are on the way out and that's a separate thing.