What's happened to this forum?

I used to be a more active poster on this forum nearly ten years ago then for some reason stopped posting. I returned recently as I had a couple of questions around wheels and stuff.

. My memories, and I could be wrong, was that there were far more people posting back then. That it was more politically incorrect and generally more interesting. What's happened ? Or have I got the wrong impression??
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Comments

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    there was a hoo-ha a few years ago and loads of people got banned for no real reason.

    the communters went on a PC mission and ruined morale.

    BB was set up for laughs, cake stop turned into woke meets bland.

    people started to believe marketing hype.

    thats about it tbh.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    Yes I think it's mainly just that - a lot of forums are dead or dying. I don't know about the content - I used to stick pretty much to the cycling related stuff.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    Whatsapp happened and people get memes from their nan.

    The race threads still cut the mustard though.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    edited April 2021

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

    Have you tried nextdoor? (the app)
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

    Have you tried nextdoor?
    No. It's not anonymous and just struck me as a company trying to own data.
  • The forum was "modernised" in a way that made it very user-infriendly ~2/3 years ago, many left and others posted less often when things were slightly improved, after months of some moaning about the state of the new technology.
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

    Have you tried nextdoor?
    No. It's not anonymous and just struck me as a company trying to own data.
    It operates very much like a local forum, though round here it's dominated by a lot of angry local businesses who are upset about the traffic calming measures.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

    Have you tried nextdoor?
    No. It's not anonymous and just struck me as a company trying to own data.
    It operates very much like a local forum, though round here it's dominated by a lot of angry local businesses who are upset about the traffic calming measures.
    Yes, but I mentioned the reasons it is very different to a typical forum.
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    The forum was "modernised" in a way that made it very user-infriendly ~2/3 years ago, many left and others posted less often when things were slightly improved, after months of some moaning about the state of the new technology.

    Yeah, the change was not universally loved!

    The only way i use the forum is looking at the top level page, from which I can see all threads that have been updated across all boards, i don't go searching in individual boards anymore.

    Bottom bracket and cakestop seem to be the most active areas!
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • Jezyboy
    Jezyboy Posts: 3,655
    Honestly I feel that cake stop is more balenced than, say, reddit's political areas and less nutty than either fringe of twitter.

    I do find it amusing that the resident lib dem here is seen as an utter pinko though.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024
    elbowloh said:

    The forum was "modernised" in a way that made it very user-infriendly ~2/3 years ago, many left and others posted less often when things were slightly improved, after months of some moaning about the state of the new technology.

    Yeah, the change was not universally loved!

    The only way i use the forum is looking at the top level page, from which I can see all threads that have been updated across all boards, i don't go searching in individual boards anymore.

    Bottom bracket and cakestop seem to be the most active areas!
    You can choose to follow the sub groups, so that when you look at the top level page you only see those groups. It actually works quite well which is surprising.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    It's a forum, which is quite old fashioned now. The world has moved on in the last decade, really.

    I know this is true, but it is a shame and I'm not sure I understand why. The area I used to live had a forum which worked really well. My new area doesn't and there is no possibility that one will be created as it is considered that other forms of social media have it covered, but I really don't think they do.

    Have you tried nextdoor?
    No. It's not anonymous and just struck me as a company trying to own data.
    It operates very much like a local forum, though round here it's dominated by a lot of angry local businesses who are upset about the traffic calming measures.
    Yes, but I mentioned the reasons it is very different to a typical forum.
    Sure, I think the internet world is moving on from anonymity.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    As discussed elsewhere, Cake Stop is also a bunch of mostly late to middle aged middle class blokes.

    We ain't exactly gonna be repping poggers dank memes innit

    (I've no real idea what I wrote there)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    ddraver said:

    As discussed elsewhere, Cake Stop is also a bunch of mostly late to middle aged middle class blokes.

    We ain't exactly gonna be repping poggers dank memes innit

    (I've no real idea what I wrote there)

    In fairness, most of the memes that do end up on here get no traction.
  • I joined recently mainly for bike issues , so don't really go in for the general chat, it does seem a forum with just a few members who regularly post.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,589
    I found most of the forums I joined when they were the height of social media back around the turn of the century died off when other, more modern, social media (mainly Facebook with its group pages) came along. The main thing that keeps me coming back here is that Cake Stop covers quite a lot of discussion areas although it has become bogged down in mainly political discussion over the last couple of years. I like that there are people with a wide range of knowledge on here. I also like hearing alternative views on the whole although I find the more obvious trolling and some of the more extreme views a bit much at times. It's a shame that some interesting posters ocassionally feel no-one is listening to and / or understanding the points they raise though. Also, amongst the bickering at times, people are generally happy to provide genuinely helpful advice on their area or expertise.
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    Pross said:

    I found most of the forums I joined when they were the height of social media back around the turn of the century died off when other, more modern, social media (mainly Facebook with its group pages) came along. The main thing that keeps me coming back here is that Cake Stop covers quite a lot of discussion areas although it has become bogged down in mainly political discussion over the last couple of years. I like that there are people with a wide range of knowledge on here. I also like hearing alternative views on the whole although I find the more obvious trolling and some of the more extreme views a bit much at times. It's a shame that some interesting posters ocassionally feel no-one is listening to and / or understanding the points they raise though. Also, amongst the bickering at times, people are generally happy to provide genuinely helpful advice on their area or expertise.

    I would agree with the above and like the diverse range of knowledge despite it being a self selecting group of people who have jobs that allow them to twat around on here.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    When it’s good it’s great.
    Lots of insight and great contribution without the endless bile of social media platforms.

    I am under no illusions it is a doomed format though and the departure of Trump and completion of Brexit seems to have highlighted that a tipping point is being reached. Without a topic of major interest the volume of posters to support the forum is no longer really there.

    I’ll miss it when it’s gone but I extracted myself from Twitter years ago and have no plan to go back.

    I think the lack of an app probably doesn’t help. Especially with the demographic.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    I personally treat it as a pub.

    Pop in. Chat to people you like. Finish your drink, head off.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,739
    Pross said:

    I found most of the forums I joined when they were the height of social media back around the turn of the century died off when other, more modern, social media (mainly Facebook with its group pages) came along. The main thing that keeps me coming back here is that Cake Stop covers quite a lot of discussion areas although it has become bogged down in mainly political discussion over the last couple of years. I like that there are people with a wide range of knowledge on here. I also like hearing alternative views on the whole although I find the more obvious trolling and some of the more extreme views a bit much at times. It's a shame that some interesting posters ocassionally feel no-one is listening to and / or understanding the points they raise though. Also, amongst the bickering at times, people are generally happy to provide genuinely helpful advice on their area or expertise.

    Thanks 👍
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    MattFalle said:

    I personally treat it as a pub.

    Pop in. Chat to people you like. Finish your drink, head off.

    This is what I said to the wife. It's Covid, we can't go to the pub and chat shoite, so I'm doing it here.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,739
    elbowloh said:

    MattFalle said:

    I personally treat it as a pub.

    Pop in. Chat to people you like. Finish your drink, head off.

    This is what I said to the wife. It's Covid, we can't go to the pub and chat shoite, so I'm doing it here.
    You have two kids under the age of 2. You’ll still be here when the pubs open 😂
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    seanoconn said:

    elbowloh said:

    MattFalle said:

    I personally treat it as a pub.

    Pop in. Chat to people you like. Finish your drink, head off.

    This is what I said to the wife. It's Covid, we can't go to the pub and chat shoite, so I'm doing it here.
    You have two kids under the age of 2. You’ll still be here when the pubs open 😂
    Tis true.

    the in-laws did offer to baby-sit just this morning...

    Got my brother's wedding coming up in July too.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • Onegear
    Onegear Posts: 76
    It's a good point about social media. I used to frequent two other big forums with 10k+ daily users logging on about a decade ago: Roadbikereview (when i lived on the other side of the pond), and xtratime.org (football discussions with fans all across the world). Those were great days. These days it seems like subforums are dead for months if not years. Really sad given what they used to be.

    I'd argue that perhaps middle aged folk back then have since retired, social media is more readily accessible (as mentioned), or company IT policies have gotten a lot stricter about forums access.
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    High point of forums for me was about 17 years ago on the old 606 football forums.

    It was epic.

    Used to be a proper forum, thousands of members across dozens of boards with loads of banter between boards and clubs and competitions. Posters from all over the world.

    We had regular meetups with people to go and watch matches (in the pub and at the grounds).

    Not me obviously, but there was even hookups of a sexual nature between posters that started with flirting on the boards.

    Then the beeb fecked it over, got rid of all the boards, made it dull as feck and you could only comment individual approved articles or posts.

    Some of us went away and built our own board to try and continue the fun, which morphed 3 or 4 times into new boards (like Dr Who) as the people owned the boards came and went. We paid for the hosting and web addresses ourselves. This went on for probably another 8 years?
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    A few points

    1) in general fora are less popular... they tend to be hostile places for disgruntled middle aged folks and the newer generations are not keen on online bullying, of which we do get a lot.

    2) The forum upgrade a couple of years back made is less user friendly, as said earlier

    3) A few knowledgeable individuals have left... you always have to balance the time you spend on here Vs the time spent doing something else and when you realise you could spend the same time doing something better, then you leave.

    4) On the plus side, a few obnoxious individuals have been kicked out, which has recently made the place a bit more bearable, but obviously decreased traffic further
    left the forum March 2023
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    elbowloh said:

    seanoconn said:

    elbowloh said:

    MattFalle said:

    I personally treat it as a pub.

    Pop in. Chat to people you like. Finish your drink, head off.

    This is what I said to the wife. It's Covid, we can't go to the pub and chat shoite, so I'm doing it here.
    You have two kids under the age of 2. You’ll still be here when the pubs open 😂
    Tis true.

    the in-laws did offer to baby-sit just this morning...

    Got my brother's wedding coming up in July too.
    can you talk him out of it?
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.