I’ve been noticing a drop in topics and responses on a lot of MA forums. Anybody else seeing the same thing?
social networking sites are killing forums in general.
forums are starting to become dinosaurs.
there was an attempt at making them more like social networking sites, but more smilies and a more robust pm system doesn’t usually amount to much more than accessories you use once and dump. lol
if you had a sort of kungfu facebook…which you have with facebook when you create a kungfu group…lol.
anyway, it will be interesting to see which way it evolves.
Yes. I was even mulling over the idea to start a “This Forum is on the Brink of Death” thread here. Who would have thought that the main forum would be the new ORA forum from years ago.
Next thing you know we’ll have a battle thread and Sevenstar will come lumbering out of the shadows.
Seriously it’s almost to the point that we should invite back Ralek, Rolls, Sui, Ego Extrodinaire, Blooming Lotus, Mega Foot, and Diamond Talons just to keep it interesting.
I was talking to another instructor a little while ago, and one of the things we talked about is how some people have learned to go right up to the line without breaking terms of service, and manage to completely destroy any meaningful conversation and undermine people with insinuation and put downs without crossing the line into threats and slander. For example, for a couple of years it’s been very difficult to have a serious conversation about Choy Li Fut on the southern forum because of a certain person.
This then discourages people from sharing anything worthwhile, which causes conversation to dry up.
Also, this forum has strayed from it’s original purpose. It’s no longer the place to discuss Kung Fu, it’s largely OT and populated by several people who are quite anti Kung Fu. Without a clear purpose, any service is going to experience problems.
I also chat on a guitar forum where poor behaviour isn’t tolerated, people share similar goals and people treat each other like adults, and it’s a thriving forum with a real sense of community.
There are many reasons to ponder.
David mentioned one.
Another is that less and less people “suffer fools lightly” and as such, many people in La-La land get a rude awakening when they spew stuff that is, well, BS.
Most leave and don’t come back or find a fantasy land they can call home.
Other just don’t post very much.
Every forum has a core of members that probably make a good 70% of all posts, if one goes…its quite noticable.
Topics all tend to be “beaten to death” after awhile and there is only so much MA discussion one can have.
Another issue is one of “substance”.
A horrid fact of forums is that Mr.Buttwipe’s view is just as “valid” ( it isn’t) as Mr.Masters view.
No matter how many times someone rips out a white sheet of paper and calls it white, there is always someone to call it black and another fool to agree.
Frustration is probably a factor in many people leaving forums.
Northern Praying Mantis
The last post was on November 27th!
due to work and family;
I drop my posting in several forums.
But still I read several English and Chinese forums regularly.
personally;
I think the you tube phenomena since 2006 took the center stage.
People may search many and many video infos.
But overall, this forum and empty flower forum are still actively read by many.
or at least I and many of my friends are still hanging around a lot.
–
:D;)
[QUOTE=brothernumber9;900037]
Seriously it’s almost to the point that we should invite back Ralek, Rolls, Sui, Ego Extrodinaire, Blooming Lotus, Mega Foot, and Diamond Talons just to keep it interesting.[/QUOTE]
Noooooooooo!!!
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;900040]
No matter how many times someone rips out a white sheet of paper and calls it white, there is always someone to call it black and another fool to agree.
Frustration is probably a factor in many people leaving forums.[/QUOTE]
I know, eh.
We are STILL having eye-poke vs submission wrestling debates!
STILL!
I mean… dude!
:rolleyes:
The web is constantly evolving. This forum is constantly growing.
Our forum here is still traffic-worthy, so we’ll keep it running. While the amount of new posts isn’t quite what it was, it’s become a search-able web archive. There are more lurkers. You’ve got to factor in the lurkers. Most members don’t realize that what they post stays up for as long as we keep it up. And those old threads get picked up by the search engines.
Here’s an example: I posted about next week’s NGC Shaolin documentary, and it currently pops to the top of a Google search. Through that, we were contacted by an NGC publicity rep and, as a favor, I posted the press release. So here, the forum served as a good place to disseminate information.
Here’s another: When noted author Joe Hyams passed away, we had a thread going to honor him. I was contacted by his widow, who thanked us for it. We’ll run her letter in our next issue. Here, the forum helped with the grieving process, and I couldn’t be more pleased by that.
The only thing that limits the forum really, is all of you - all the members. What you contribute is what makes this forum interesting. Over the years, we’ve built a tremendous backlog of information. Sure, a lot of it is noise, but such is the web. If you know how to do web research, there are a lot of good leads here, and they continue to grow. I find it still very relevant, and for obvious reasons, endeavour to keep it so.
Greetings,
I have also noticed the decline. I think Gene touched on it when he wrote that the guys that post here can’t “get any”, so to speak. So it would follow that once they “get some,” they are gone.
mickey
[QUOTE=GeneChing;900065]Our forum here is still traffic-worthy, so we’ll keep it running. While the amount of new posts isn’t quite what it was, it’s become a search-able web archive. There are more lurkers. You’ve got to factor in the lurkers. Most members don’t realize that what they post stays up for as long as we keep it up. And those old threads get picked up by the search engines.
Here’s an example: I posted about next week’s NGC Shaolin documentary, and it currently pops to the top of a Google search. Through that, we were contacted by an NGC publicity rep and, as a favor, I posted the press release. So here, the forum served as a good place to disseminate information.
Here’s another: When noted author Joe Hyams passed away, we had a thread going to honor him. I was contacted by his widow, who thanked us for it. We’ll run her letter in our next issue. Here, the forum helped with the grieving process, and I couldn’t be more pleased by that.
The only thing that limits the forum really, is all of you - all the members. What you contribute is what makes this forum interesting. Over the years, we’ve built a tremendous backlog of information. Sure, a lot of it is noise, but such is the web. If you know how to do web research, there are a lot of good leads here, and they continue to grow. I find it still very relevant, and for obvious reasons, endeavour to keep it so.[/QUOTE]
And for that, Sir, we salute you !!
my one complaint, and this is really the only one I have, is that as mentioned, there are a few people on here that don’t like TCMA, feel it’s a waste of time, and yet they waste theirs and ours by constantly posting here. If they don’t like CMA, then they should simply take their business elsewhere. There are plenty of sights devoted to MMA, BJJ, whatever,. Some are former TCMA students, others don’t even seem to have had any experience, beyond perhaps a few lessons, and then they push their agenda. Why these people stay here and try to “enlighten” us, and why they are tolerated is beyond me.
Some of the people who may be associated with that camp are, in fact, CMA-first and remain so.
They just are proponents of cross-training, pressure training and modernization within CMA.
Modernization does not mean abandoning CMA in favor of MT, BJJ or any other TLA but it does mean taking a long, hard, look at certain aspects common in CMA pedagogy which may be counter-productive to the stated goals of the art.
The idea that a bare-hand martial art is “too deadly for the ring, too deadly to pressure test” is one of these things.
Even weapon combat can be pressure tested by an innovative enough fighter! Right now the dialogue between reformer CMAists and traditionalist CMAists is one of the more interesting ones online even if it is contentious.
The presence of “all CMA is fatally flawed” nay-sayers can basically just be ignored in favor of that dialogue.
Part of it is the fact that there are certain sub groups populated by extremely immature individuals (especially here), who feel the need to lynch anyone they don’t agree with, for no real foreseeable reason. It makes for a hostile enviroment, and it makes contributers not want too bother posting and joining in the conversations.
I enjoy the trolls
I don’t think this forum should be restrictive, obviously. I like the trolls and their anti-CMA rants. It’s just a forum. Frankly, the real enemy of CMA is when it goes unchallenged. In fencing, we have what we call “Salle Fencers” - those are people who are good in their salle d’armes (fencing guan, if you will) but can’t fence successfully outside of it. They aren’t exposed to outside competitors. Same goes with the forum here. It’s all about exposure.
mickey, I don’t remember saying that our forum members can’t get any, which is not to say I never said it. For the record, I’ll say all many of our members probably get are pics from sanjuro_ronin, and for that, sir, we salute sanjuro_ronin.
[QUOTE=GeneChing;900091]I don’t think this forum should be restrictive, obviously. I like the trolls and their anti-CMA rants. It’s just a forum. Frankly, the real enemy of CMA is when it goes unchallenged. In fencing, we have what we call “Salle Fencers” - those are people who are good in their salle d’armes (fencing guan, if you will) but can’t fence successfully outside of it. They aren’t exposed to outside competitors. Same goes with the forum here. It’s all about exposure.
mickey, I don’t remember saying that our forum members can’t get any, which is not to say I never said it. For the record, I’ll say all many of our members probably get are pics from sanjuro_ronin, and for that, sir, we salute sanjuro_ronin.
:D[/QUOTE]
- Bows*
One does what one can.
I like the trolls and the blowhards as well.
It gives me a chance to vent and release when I go off on them.
They’re my mental rage-porn so to speak.
Better here than in my own house or to real flesh and blood people. lol
Only a few of you actually represent real people in my mind, the rest are archetypes I form in my own mind and attack or side with at a whim.
Like anyone else I guess. 
Most forums do tend to go through cycles of activity, too.
In any case, this place is still significantly more active than most other forums I’ve been seeing lately, so things can’t be too bad.
This is very true. When I grump about kungfumagazine being dead I’m often told how lucky I am to have a forum with more than 1 new message posted per day!
IMO CMA haters are a good thing. To a degree anyway.
A lot of times things that these people say can put certain aspects of ones training in a specific light. A light that can force one to scrutinize further what they are experiencing, comparitively to what others are doing, to decide if what they are doing is in fact helping them towards their goals.
there is, of course, an extent to what can be tolerated. That is the point where I read and just dont respond to drivel I feel is a waste of time responding too.
Its refreshing to have people coming in from all angles and giving their input.
I mean this is martial arts, defending ourselves and what we do is our business. Its all part of the training. Mental as well as physical.
Debating is a good thing.
Some people just go beyond actual debating sometimes and get childish. I just laugh when that happens, why let the internet and its evil cronies actually effect you.