Forum (in)activity

[Pa Snip]

I'm about to don my tin hat and await the wrath of my fellow contributors.

Why ???


Because I believe the forums should only be available to those who have taken out subscriptions to the magazine.
For a start that might reduce the number of those attempting to post adverts or other dodgy content that Peter has to deal with.

The question that raises though is how many of the current forum contributors subscribe and how many buy on an 'ad hoc' basis
So I have set up a poll here :-

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13630&p=133845#p133845

[FredFromOssett]

...I'm not a user of social media myself but it seems to me this is the way the world is going and it's a great shame not to capitalise on it and encourage both new and regular magazine readers to engage more proactively to share their own views and experiences.

Is that an idea Primrose?
Is it possible that something about the forum could be put on (such as) Facebook? Although that is not a medium I use myself, I don't doubt that there are potential 'recruits' out there who do. From what I see of of Mrs Fred's Facebook,there always seem to be things appearing there that seem more advertisement than posting.

..Perhaps the magazine editors could publicise a topic of the month section in the magazine to encourage new, or even regular readers to come aboard onto the forum and debate it there further.

This seems a good idea too. A regular article on 'Topics from the Forum', to include, at the end, something along the lines of 'Join the forum and have your say or ask your questions, no matter how silly these may seem; after all we all started with no knowledge once upon a time'.

[FredFromOssett]

The question that raises though is how many of the current forum contributors subscribe and how many buy on an 'ad hoc' basis

I have to hold my hand up and admit to being an 'ad hoc' purchaser only. If that now qualifies (or dooms) me to be evicted from this forum, then so be it.

[Pa Snip]

Cant see anyone being evicted Fred, even if such a proposal did come into effect. Would be little point in getting rid of those who helped build the ship in the first place.

The poll is just to give an idea as to how many would or wouldn't subscribe. In truth I suspect there are a lot of 'ad hocs'

[Tony Hague]

I think this is about par for internet fora in general. I've pondered this issue and tried a number of things - I am caretaker for Homemade Life forum

The max users figure is probably an attack of some sort. The many users that sign up and post nothing are quite possibly spambots, though a minority are foreign language speakers who aren't confident to post, and many users are mostly "read only".

Many fora are offshoots of books, magazines or TV programmes (mine originated as a splinter group from the forum of the TV show It's not easy being green), and so start out with a rush of enthusiasm and with promotion outside the forum, which gradually dissipates.

The enthusiasm for fora in general seems to be in decline, media like Twitter, FB etc which require less effort to create original content have taken over. I have tried making a Facebook page as a pointer to my forum, and it has had little impact. People like the page, but don't venture beyond FB to visit the forum itself.

The enthusiasm for both green living and kitchen gardening also seem to be declining. A decade ago there was a huge waiting list for allotments near me - not now. And the recession seemed to turn a lot of people's thoughts away from eco living.

I am am member of, or visit as a guest occasionally, a number of fora including this one, Homemade Life, Downsizer, Self Sufficientish, River Cottage, ... All are much quieter than they once were.

If anyone can think of a solution, please tell us all !

[Diane]

Gosh, I feel a bit guilty now about not posting more - but it's usually because I'm actually outside digging and generally mucking about in the dirt - and then I'm too knackered when I come in to sit down at the computer.

I do look in every day and I love this forum. Will try to participate more when I've scraped the mud and chicken poo off myself.

One other thing - does anyone know where I can get Amelanchier seeds - in particular the pink flowered one (think it's called Ballerina)? I've been trying for the last hour or so trawling through various sites - can get the actual plants but I don't want those. I want the satisfaction of growing an actual tree from seeds. I already have quite a few seedlings coming through of Persian Silk Tree and wanted to have a bash at another tree. I'll probably be dead by the time they're tree size - but I shall not be thwarted. My monkey puzzle tree seeds that I planted about 4 years ago are now a mighty 6" high - so I'm not going to see them with any monkeys up them either. But someone will. Sometime.

[alan refail]

The forum is still more use than the Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/KitchenGardenMag/?fref=nf

[Geoff]

Diane : I'd usually suggest Chilterns for things like this but they only list white http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/search?q=Amelanchier
The RHS says Ballerina is also white https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=117
Actually I can't find a pink one.

[Diane]

Thank you Geoff. Yes, Chilterns searched for me to try to find a pink flowered form but no luck yet.

Ballerina - yes, got the name wrong. I think I'm looking for Robin Hill.

[Monika]

Pa Snip, we have discussed the question of subscription before on this forum, but some of us (including me) prefer to buy the magazine at our local village shop in order to keep them going, so we would be punished although we buy the magazine every month and have done so for many years.

[Pa Snip]

Pa Snip, we have discussed the question of subscription before on this forum, but some of us (including me) prefer to buy the magazine at our local village shop in order to keep them going, so we would be punished although we buy the magazine every month and have done so for many years.

And since last discussed new people have joined the forum.
I did not raise the subject of inactivity but did base the poll thread upon it purely to get a viewpoint.
There is no reason to suppose that existing members would still not be able to use the forum. However it could be invoked upon new people joining after a certain date.

What is already noticeable is that it is a simple little poll asking, out of interest, very basic, non intrusive questions ....................

No, bugger it, I've sat here, like others including you, trying to liven up the forums and now writing this and frankly why am I wasting my time, I've got better things to do with what is left of my life

[Westi]

Pa???

It's about letting people have an opinion! It's general chat. Post what you like! The rest of your life may need some of these people, to continue to encourage you to make your plot ready for Poddington Pea? You've got an audience - so many responses & I can see some folk responding that have been inactive - well done!

You get a few stars for that for a start, but question is why not the new folk? Not answered to date I note? Why don;t new folk post? Some readers, not posters - give us some feedback!

Westi

[Stephen]

I'm sorry I don't post more. My principle social media outlet is the Lous Seven Club forums and I am a member of the Club's management team, so naturally that is more central to my life. I also feel comparatively inexperienced, with little insight as to why some of my efforts succeed and others do not.
I also tweet, mostly about Somerset County Cricket Club because my heart is still in Taunton, despite not living there since 1978.
The Seven Club forums are far more argumentative and diverse in topics than here, where everyone is just terribly nice and well meaning. Over there the are 30 page threads on Trump and more, over several threads on Brexit. No one is rude but people defend and advocate their opinions robustly.
That said our own revamp lead to a noticable loss of contributions, which upsets me. Sadly I don't know how to drag people back from Faceache which appears to be where most of them go. We have survived several threats in terms of splinter groups (once when we went members only; we have 2,600 members) and at the point of revamp (which took a long time to get sorted out technically).
Oh, I should add that we did a survey and readers outnumbered regular posters by over 2:1.
I hope this helps or provides some insight. It is worth remembering that the publishers DO care about the forum, otherwise they would not have paid for the site revamp and will be at least as disappointed as anyone if activity has decreased.

[Westi]

Hi Stephen!

Agree the revamp set everything back a fair bit. Agree other forums are more robust & tolerant. We're assured that the forum is more lively than the FB page, but even that sounds wrong - I post a kitten pic and get 5,000 likes, even my prize winning efforts got 80 odd likes on my own feed on there.

It's a puzzle isn't it? Is 'kitchen garden' as a title too British??

Westi

[KGAdmin]

Good afternoon everyone!
Thanks for this thread - an interesting read.
I am bringing this up internally and we are going to bash some ideas around.
It would be useful if you could state below anything you think would help, such as:

-More interaction with editorial staff on here
-Exclusive forum offers
-More forum promotion in the magazine
-More promotion on the website/facebook etc

We may set up a survey soon to get more ideas.

I don't think we would like to block non-subscribers as we are competing against Facebook and we would really like as many active users as possible.

Thanks again - I'll keep you posted!