Is it me?

[Derek Gibson]

As the title suggests, is it me or is the site losing its impetus.

Yes I know there has been a lot of infighting in recent months, resulting in banns being imposed and some members have decided not to contribute. But hells bells, despite the weather, my impression is, the site is losing its vitality.

What do the rest of you think?

 

[thecrow]

As with most forums I have belonged to this one is cyclical and has lows and highs, I don't think that things like facebook have affected this one as much as others have suffered from it.

Its a fact that contentious threads attract a lot of posts from members and also a lot of visits from members just following the thread, a recent thread that is a good example is the recent thread "if I had a hammer" by Maverick, I like these type of threads and believe that forums need them, the only time that they become a problem is when (I have in the past fallen into this trap) things get personal.

 

[terry m]

I tend to agree with Crow, many sites are indeed cyclical, and if at the lower end of a cycle then it is not a cause for panic.

When all said and done it is an internet forum about fishing. Not sure what the general expectation is regarding vitality levels, but as long as I continue to drop in and have a rummage around when it suits me then I am good with that.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I think it is more like a number of different things that affect the site:

1. We have been through a difficult period with some very contentious threads and posts

2. We have sadly had to ban a few people who seem to prefer to play the man rather than the ball . . . . .

3. Typically we see a reduction in July/August due to school and family holiday periods

4. The weather is (usually) pretty reasonable so many more are out actually fishing rather than spending their time in here.

The site usually survives these odd periods, or at least it has done so in my 14 or so years of association . . . . . . .

 

[john step]

I hope its just cyclical. I think Chriss touched on this recently when he cited people who join, appear once and then disappear after milking the information.
There have been one or two others who seem appear everyday asking this and that for a few weeks and then also disappear.
Perhaps some people who can't settle on a sport/hobby/pastime/ flit between things.

I havn't seen Lord Paul or MickB plus others lately. I hope they are still well and out there fishing.

Of course fishing forums may suffer in the end like the weekly comics do looking for something original....Its already been said.

Perhaps after the recent spats, folk don't want to stick their heads over the parapet. I think its good that the moderators jump on it quickly.

 

[Keith M]

As the title suggests, is it me or is the site losing its impetus.

Yes I know there has been a lot of infighting in recent months, resulting in banns being imposed and some members have decided not to contribute. But hells bells, despite the weather, my impression is, the site is losing its vitality.

What do the rest of you think?

I don't think that the recent infighting has done the forum any favours at all.

I love Barbel fishing but I certainly don't want to have to read about all the politics and infighting that has been going on in the BS lately. If I wanted to read this I would look on the BS web page not on a site like Fishing Magic.

There has also been a lot more squabbling between other anglers on here too, it seems that whenever a good thread appears on here it eventually reverts to someone having a slanging match which is very off putting.

Whatever happened to the old Fishing Magic where you could have healthy debates and read good fishing reports and ask for or give friendly advice and read all types of good articles about our sport etc. etc.?

And as for slanging off the new editor, Cliff is fairly new to the job so give him a chance. If he makes the odd decision that you don't like then give him a break, none of us are always perfect and surely you can give constructive criticism without trying to assassinate him surely?

If you love the sport as much as I do then you want a friendly positive forum, not a squabbling excuse for a forum that it seems to be turning into.

We have some great anglers on here who make some great contributions but this number seems to be slowly dwindling through all this infighting I fear.

Perhaps we should have a new section where anglers with a gripe or anglers who want to moan amongst themselves could squabble to their hearts content and leave the fishing to the people who prefer to talk about fishing LOL.

Keith

 

[theartist]

We have some great anglers on here who make some great contributions but this number seems to be slowly dwindling through all this infighting I fear.

Keith

Good points Keith and from the heart too

Think it's worth pointing out though that you don't need to be a great angler to make a great contribution. I manage to combine neither of these

There's a thread in the newbie section where a guy is taking his boy fishing for the first time - now that's what it's all about