The Angry Thread.

[JD™]

Feeling very old right now. 30 isn't 'old', but it's a milestone I'm looking at head on. Been looking forward to it, but a few things lately have made it feel more significant. 

Thought I'd have a few beers and watch Muse at Glastonbury.

Realised the songs I wish they'd play would have finished college by now if they were human.

[ogre]

recently gone back to their early albums and they are quality. angry because wiggy isn't coming to radfest; he's gonna have a kid next summer so it feels like the end of an era  

[dann2707]

Nearly two weeks in between posts on here. Lame. I miss old tf. 

[tomturd]

In the olden days page 1 of chit chat would have been completely different if you went away and came back 2 weeks later. But for the past 5 years we've had the same 6 threads in chit chat because people there was a strong preference to bundling everything into a 'the' thread rather than a quick turnover of content. That's my angry thread submission  

Edit: Help break the monotony dann - start your own clio thread

[Luke Rainbird]

Aka: Spot the Difference thread.

 

[bing]

Bring back the tinder thread. It was epic

[JD™]

1 hour ago, tomturd said:

In the olden days page 1 of chit chat would have been completely different if you went away and came back 2 weeks later. But for the past 5 years we've had the same 6 threads in chit chat because people there was a strong preference to bundling everything into a 'the' thread rather than a quick turnover of content. That's my angry thread submission  

Edit: Help break the monotony dann - start your own clio thread

That's absolutely not why chit chat is dead, and you know it!

TF used to be the place many would use to generally get information and bounce ideas around. The next generation of Internet users after us lot just don't use the Internet that way. 

[tomturd]

1 hour ago, JD™ said:

That's absolutely not why chit chat is dead, and you know it!

You only need to go onto page 2 of chit chat to see a glimpse of how 'the old TF' used to be. Seriously check it out and tell me it's less interesting than page 1:

http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/forum/1-chit-chat/?page=2

Then check page 3, 4, 5...

If you remember the RSQ thread was started in an attempt to tame the amount of new topics being posted. The other 'the' threads came about soon after, and then... well nothing, it's still the same.

Yes, I agree the current generation use the internet differently. They've moved on, chit chat hasn't.

[JD™]

I'm agreeing with you, but not because you amalgamated stuff into 'the' threads.

Look at the content of those threads, almost no actual conversation. It's essentially status updates in forum topics. 

[Tony Harrison]

22 minutes ago, JD™ said:

It's essentially status updates in forum topics. 

But surely that's all the happy and angry threads are? They're just a place for people to tell something which they 'just have to tell someone', which is more or less what a 'status update' is anyway.

[tomturd]

I'm confused.

In my opinion the 'the' threads swallow up a lot of potentially interesting conversation. Leading (among many, many other things) to the slow demise of Chit Chat. I think thats my point.

[JD™]

10 hours ago, tomturd said:

I'm confused.

In my opinion the 'the' threads swallow up a lot of potentially interesting conversation. Leading (among many, many other things) to the slow demise of Chit Chat. I think thats my point.

Whereas all I'm saying is that the 'the' threads have nothing to do with it. There's no interesting conversation because this isn't where people come to have interesting conversation anymore. I dislike that too, but it's a fact. 

[JT!]

Some of the "The" threads have a use. Car, photography etc. Because they have a specific topic. However, angry / happy could be about anything. Those two should be closed to liven things up a bit. And if that does happen we need to be very strict with people criticizing topics that are deemed petty, insignificant or trivial.

[dann2707]

I genuinely think Facebook is taking over. I far prefer that to post on instead of forums lately. 

[JD™]

11 hours ago, JT! said:

Some of the "The" threads have a use. Car, photography etc. Because they have a specific topic. However, angry / happy could be about anything. Those two should be closed to liven things up a bit. And if that does happen we need to be very strict with people criticizing topics that are deemed petty, insignificant or trivial.

The whole point that brought this up was that there were two weeks between posts in this 'the' thread. It's not like it's so overused it's sapping other topics from being created. 

I can can pipe up about this because there have been only three topics created 'recently' on the front page. One was about the EU referendum, and it's great that enough people were here to have a debate about it. Another was Mike asking for feedback on a mix. The other was a request for 3D design by yours truly. 

That means I was responsible for 33% of new 'popular' content in Chit Chat, and that's ridiculous. I remember a time when I asked for some help about a fridge, got about 30 replies, and then the topic was dead 24 hours later. The 'the' threads didn't kill that, the lack of people visiting did. 

[tomturd]

10 hours ago, JD™ said:

The whole point that brought this up was that there were two weeks between posts in this 'the' thread. It's not like it's so overused it's sapping other topics from being created. 

The whole original point of the 'the' threads was to try and bring a bit of order to an otherwise chaotic chit chat.

10 hours ago, JD™ said:

I remember a time when I asked for some help about a fridge, got about 30 replies, and then the topic was dead 24 hours later. The 'the' threads didn't kill that, the lack of people visiting did. 

I believe you're referring to the 'old TF'. That question, and thousands of others like it, would since have been posted in 'the random small questions thread'. So we have had an opportunity for 1000's of new threads with 30 replies each, but instead we have one thread. That kind of activity (your fridge thread) literally dried up within a few weeks of the RSQ thread getting started, with people shooting down new topics saying 'post in RSQ!'.

At the time there was a need for some sort of order because we had a crazy number of users, and RSQ bought some order. Times have changed dramatically and I simply don't understand why people think we still need that order.

10 hours ago, JD™ said:

That means I was responsible for 33% of new 'popular' content in Chit Chat, and that's ridiculous. 

This is my whole point. How much new potentially new content disappeared into a 'the' thread over just the past month, or 6 years? How many new users, over the past 4 years have looked at chit chat, thought 'this place is dead, there's no new content since 2012' or 'I don't want to butt into this 4 year old conversation' or 'i don't want to post a new topic for fear of it being in the wrong place'?

Edit: appreciate the effort Mark, but don't do it on my behalf, I just get a bit peeved when people say 'this place is dead' or 'i miss how it used to be' whilst at the same time not wanting to change anything, it's a bit late for that anyway (to make that clear: I will not be closing any threads or changing anything or performing any admin duties in any way)

[bing]

Class 1 HGV test yesterday. Near perfect drive, 3 minors. Bossed the reverse. Thought I'd bossed the trailer drop/hookup until I got back and finished the test which I'd now failed, when he told me I'd never checked the trailer park brake, which I do as part of my 1st walk round check. It's the first thing I go to when I'm picking a new trailer up and have done since I started doing the job. He said he was stood right behind me and said he didn't see me do it,  which he wasn't, he was hiding round the front of the trailer out of the rain. Honestly thought I'd done enough to pass. The same guy has failed me twice and failed the other lad who I work with twice now. He's a f**king joke. Gotta go through it all again on Thursday now because of This guy being a fanny

[JD™]

It's alright Tom, I've been in denial about stuff too. f**k facts, (or that this was not a dig at this forum, or that this is not based on just this forum, or that this is the only thing I know anything about), go with your gut. 

[dann2707]

10 hours ago, JD™ said:

The whole point that brought this up was that there were two weeks between posts in this 'the' thread. It's not like it's so overused it's sapping other topics from being created. 

I can can pipe up about this because there have been only three topics created 'recently' on the front page. One was about the EU referendum, and it's great that enough people were here to have a debate about it. Another was Mike asking for feedback on a mix. The other was a request for 3D design by yours truly. 

That means I was responsible for 33% of new 'popular' content in Chit Chat, and that's ridiculous. I remember a time when I asked for some help about a fridge, got about 30 replies, and then the topic was dead 24 hours later. The 'the' threads didn't kill that, the lack of people visiting did. 

Exactly! 

 

I remember when there was so much content and topics filled with so many posts that people used to fall out etc, like I remember me and you didn't get on very well a while ago! Now it's like there's such little content the thought of that happening is bizarre (not that I don't want to get on obviously haah) 

[jeff costello]

also sometimes goes the other way:

i occasionally don't post minor bike maintenace questions, because there is no "quick bike setup question" the-thread that i know of. most times i don't feel like starting a new thread.

Edited July 9, 2016 by jeff costello

[tomturd]

25 minutes ago, JD™ said:

It's alright Tom, I've been in denial about stuff too. f**k facts, (or that this was not a dig at this forum, or that this is not based on just this forum, or that this is the only thing I know anything about), go with your gut. 

I understood very little of that.

I will leave you to posting in 6 threads whilst simultaneously complaining there are only 6 threads, I'm out.

[JD™]

18 minutes ago, tomturd said:

I understood very little of that.

Unsurprising. 

[Mark W]

2 hours ago, tomturd said:

Edit: appreciate the effort Mark, but don't do it on my behalf, I just get a bit peeved when people say 'this place is dead' or 'i miss how it used to be' whilst at the same time not wanting to change anything, it's a bit late for that anyway (to make that clear: I will not be closing any threads or changing anything or performing any admin duties in any way)

No worries - was semi tongue in cheek, but also because I was curious as to whether things were changing with Google.

I can see how it would be annoying hearing people say that, but I don't think it's implying that 'The Forum' is wrong, just that a lot of people don't seem to use it as much any more.  I go on a few other forums, and having been on them for a while they've followed a similar path to TF simply because the way the internet is used is changing for people now, especially when you're part of a niche/hobby forum like this where there's going to be a reasonably inevitable turn-over of older members for younger members.  I used to go on a BMX forum and in its hey-day it was as busy as TF, and didn't have any 'The 'The' threads', but it's still had the same thing of older members leaving and there not being as many new members taking over and bringing it back to the level it was at.  The sub-forums specific to the subject still have a reasonable amount of use (although some of the more knowledgeable, older members being replaced by f**kwits with no idea hasn't helped - this is on the other forum, just to clarify ), but the general chat one doesn't so much and I think that's probably just because there are so many other avenues for people to chat with friends/people over that are easier to access/deal with.  Firing off a random Snapchat message or something over Twitter is generally a lot quicker/easier than going to a forum, creating a new topic and waiting for replies from my POV.  The quality of info here is generally way better than I've found elsewhere so it definitely has that plus side, but for people who don't give a shit about that kind of thing a reply is a reply.  

You can see similar things going on in the videos/photos boards too.  It's way easier for people to just lash out a clip on Instagram or Facebook, so people just do that rather than saving clips for a video, taking the time to edit it and then upload it/post it on here.  It means that media is now disposable as f**k and there's very little that people are going to really have to look back on and appreciate, but that seems to be the way things are going now.  I guess as these things tend to be cyclical that'll go the other way at some point, and hopefully more people will start coming here again too.  It's been a cool thing to be a part of for this time, and that's all down to you and Danny keeping things going despite not getting anything out of it, and not really having much appreciation shown for it.  So have some now - cheers for sticking with it

[tomturd]

edit: for clarity, this is to JD

I think I understand you now.

The next/current generation, as you say, don't use the internet in the same way we do/did. Forums in general are going downhill as people move to tumblr, instagram, fb etc. We're in agreement on that. I have known that for maybe 10 years, I would go as far as saying (with access to analytics on a pretty busy forum) that I saw it happening first hand for maybe 2 or 3 years before there was any real noticeable change for the average user. I can't change that trend, nor do I really want to, I'd just like to make the best of what we have.

My point, and my only point is that I feel (and have done for years) that having a set number of 'catch all' threads limits the amount of conversation we see in Chit Chat. That is the very reason they were set up in the first place.

I don't think TF can be rescued or turned around by deleting threads and forcing anyone to do anything, or that any action at all will ever bring back to 'the old TF'.

[Mark W]

Possibly - using Dan's Clio thread as an example (seem to remember you mentioned it before?), I think that may end up turning people off more than turning them on in a sense.  For a thread like that with high turn-over of new content from a wide range of people in there, you'd probably end up with about 6 or 7 threads with people updating what's going on with them.  While that's 'good' in the sense it makes it look busier, bearing in mind that people were complaining when there was a 'Car thread' and a 'Trials Forum Track Day' thread as there being 'too much car stuff' in chit-chat, I'm not 100% sure that it would work that well.

I definitely get what you're saying about it, but I don't think that, using the car thread as this specific example, it would yield too much.  If there was a lot of other stuff going on too then I guess it would stop there being a barrage of "check out my sweet new wing" car threads, but because of how popular that thread is I think you'd struggle to break that kind of monopoly.

EDIT:  Should probably say - sorry that I'm not really being that helpful with this, I realise that just going "dont think so lol" doesn't really help move things forward much.