19th-Nov-23, 07:48 PM
I've probably said this before, but one of the advantages of not having a great memory is that if I have said it before, I've forgotten. 
Anyway, there are basically two extremes in the types of web content available. At one end of the scale is social media, which is known as 'ephemeral' content, it's transient, it's here today, gone tomorrow. That's fine, and there is no doubt that it's popular, as our FB group has over 8,000 members. It's easy to use, and of course it allows you to bring together all of your interests in one place, and keep in touch with people. The downside being that there are massive privacy issues, and perhaps more importantly you are creating your own little bubble, safe from conflicting thoughts or contrary opinions.
At the other end of the scale is a more traditional website, which might have more general or editorial information and content. This is known as 'evergreen' content because it could still be relevant next week, next month, or five years down the line. Reading some of the magazines in our very own Library, you'll still find things that are still relevant from the early years of the hobby. The downside to that is that it's a lot more effort to set up, it requires some skill to write and present decent stuff to keep it relevant over a longer period, and of course that all takes time and money. Plus, nowadays many traditional websites aren't much better than social media when it comes to scraping your data.
To me, a forum is a great middle ground. I think forums are still the ideal balance between those two extremes. Content can vary from evergreen to ephemeral, it's all sorted into relevant categories, and it's all searchable. Whatever we post here will be still be popping up on search engines for years to come, and that depth of knowledge is usually greater than what is generally available on social media, and better organised. Perhaps more importantly, forums create a community, which is more difficult do on facebook. One of the downsides though, is that forums can seem intimidating and offputting to new members, and we'll often see around 10 times more unidentified people viewing the forum than actual members. Lots of people are reading, not so many take the plunge and join in.
I think we are very lucky to be able to have a choice of so many different platforms to choose from, whether it's facebook, instagram or yotube, SlotRacer, SlotForum, or Slot Car Illustrated, it's all there for us, so take your pick. Most companies, organisations, and even us fuddy duddy old forums will be trying our best to serve up something for you in whatever format you prefer. So, get stuck in and enjoy your hobby, it's all good, well mostly.
Anyway, there are basically two extremes in the types of web content available. At one end of the scale is social media, which is known as 'ephemeral' content, it's transient, it's here today, gone tomorrow. That's fine, and there is no doubt that it's popular, as our FB group has over 8,000 members. It's easy to use, and of course it allows you to bring together all of your interests in one place, and keep in touch with people. The downside being that there are massive privacy issues, and perhaps more importantly you are creating your own little bubble, safe from conflicting thoughts or contrary opinions.
At the other end of the scale is a more traditional website, which might have more general or editorial information and content. This is known as 'evergreen' content because it could still be relevant next week, next month, or five years down the line. Reading some of the magazines in our very own Library, you'll still find things that are still relevant from the early years of the hobby. The downside to that is that it's a lot more effort to set up, it requires some skill to write and present decent stuff to keep it relevant over a longer period, and of course that all takes time and money. Plus, nowadays many traditional websites aren't much better than social media when it comes to scraping your data.
To me, a forum is a great middle ground. I think forums are still the ideal balance between those two extremes. Content can vary from evergreen to ephemeral, it's all sorted into relevant categories, and it's all searchable. Whatever we post here will be still be popping up on search engines for years to come, and that depth of knowledge is usually greater than what is generally available on social media, and better organised. Perhaps more importantly, forums create a community, which is more difficult do on facebook. One of the downsides though, is that forums can seem intimidating and offputting to new members, and we'll often see around 10 times more unidentified people viewing the forum than actual members. Lots of people are reading, not so many take the plunge and join in.
I think we are very lucky to be able to have a choice of so many different platforms to choose from, whether it's facebook, instagram or yotube, SlotRacer, SlotForum, or Slot Car Illustrated, it's all there for us, so take your pick. Most companies, organisations, and even us fuddy duddy old forums will be trying our best to serve up something for you in whatever format you prefer. So, get stuck in and enjoy your hobby, it's all good, well mostly.
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