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The Brickset Forum : A discussion. What would make you engage more?
BooTheMightyHamster
Member Posts: 1,560
in Brickset.com
You'll probably be aware that the future of the Brickset Forum is being discussed at present. It is becoming economically unviable for Huw to keep it running, in part due to the relatively low numbers of people using it. Options being considered are:
- It remains as it is if Huw can negotiate a sufficiently large reduction in running costs from his host.
- The forum closes and we, as a community, relocate elsewhere. To this end, there has been a group formed to look at alternatives - other forums, Discord, Facebook etc
It strikes me that the root cause is a lack of engagement. As I write this, there are three registered users (including me), plus 12 guests looking at the forum. Back when I joined Brickset about 12 years ago, it was a thriving community with many users talking about a variety of subjects at all times of the day and all times of the week.
So in order for it to be sensible for either of the above options to be pursued, there has to be an engaged audience. There's not much point in a group of us setting up a new community elsewhere if only five people are going to use it, and similarly, I can sympathise with Huw deciding to pull the plug here - why keep it going if there's no demand?
So to get to the root of the problem, what would make you use - and value - the forum more? I appreciate that I'm only going to get answers from people who are already here, whereas the most useful responses would be from those that were active members, but have drifted away. So to that end, I'm willing to take wild speculation as to why people might have left.
One thing that stands out for me is the proliferation of automatically generated threads that come from the main site articles - they fill up the forum and hardly ever get any responses, as anybody wanting to comment on the topic will do so on the main site. I'd like to see these removed, and retain the forum for 'user generated content' only.
Thoughts?
- It remains as it is if Huw can negotiate a sufficiently large reduction in running costs from his host.
- The forum closes and we, as a community, relocate elsewhere. To this end, there has been a group formed to look at alternatives - other forums, Discord, Facebook etc
It strikes me that the root cause is a lack of engagement. As I write this, there are three registered users (including me), plus 12 guests looking at the forum. Back when I joined Brickset about 12 years ago, it was a thriving community with many users talking about a variety of subjects at all times of the day and all times of the week.
So in order for it to be sensible for either of the above options to be pursued, there has to be an engaged audience. There's not much point in a group of us setting up a new community elsewhere if only five people are going to use it, and similarly, I can sympathise with Huw deciding to pull the plug here - why keep it going if there's no demand?
So to get to the root of the problem, what would make you use - and value - the forum more? I appreciate that I'm only going to get answers from people who are already here, whereas the most useful responses would be from those that were active members, but have drifted away. So to that end, I'm willing to take wild speculation as to why people might have left.
One thing that stands out for me is the proliferation of automatically generated threads that come from the main site articles - they fill up the forum and hardly ever get any responses, as anybody wanting to comment on the topic will do so on the main site. I'd like to see these removed, and retain the forum for 'user generated content' only.
Thoughts?
11
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Comments
Personally I've always preferred the forum style sites as opposed to all social media platforms. I don't like having to access multiple different platforms in search of news, info & discussion and I hate the whole social media influencer system or whatever you want to call it. I find it frustrating trying to keep up. I don’t understand how reddit works. I joined discord because that is the main way my LUG communicates but I'm still not used to how it operates. The other LUG uses another platform that I'm told is something you need to constantly be on because there doesn’t seem to be any way to access old posts/messages. I was sent a link but haven't tried It because that would be yet another place I'd constantly need to be checking.
I refuse to be glued to my phone so I find the reliance on various different apps for info to be a huge time suck.
I don't know what the answer is but if/when this forum goes away I will miss a lot of the people I've engaged with here. I do still check in here several times a day most days.
The thing I've found with many forums I've been on over the past 20+ years is as technology changes either the creator or owner of a forum loses interest in the subject so it dies slow death or they are unable to adapt to changes/upgrades that the service providers generate over time. But there are a few that are still going strong.
I do have to say that I'd never heard of Vanilla Forums as a provider until I joined this forum and it seems to be a bit clunkier platform than others I've been on.
However that hardly happenes nowadays so I have removed the link and they won't be posted any more.
"Discord" just doesn't sound like a friendly, welcoming, or fun place. I have no experience with it, but the very name is off-putting to me.
I don't mind when a discussion goes off-topic, if it's still about Lego- or people's other hobbies. I could do without political arguments, but those are pretty rare here.
I'm not on any social media, aside from an occasional comment to a YouTube video.
I know I've stopped commenting on stuff too.
I think that it's a broader problem though, I've stopped engaging - I think it's because I'm quite tired of the internet in general - but that's a bigger topic.
I still like it here and think it's worth trying to save.
So, I agree, what I think is needed is sharing, care, effort etc. - like any relationship it needs a little nurturing to grow.
We probably need more points to engage us all though.
Some thoughts:
- could there be a prompt on the front page or a call out article indicating some of the problems the forum is facing - it is news!
- support from LEGO for us - don't know how practical that is to manage or if a portion of the main site's support could be given over to the forum?
- revive activities like bonusball, random part identification or parts in all colours
- revive monthly challenges or have more reasons to share MOCs - frontpage moc of the month?
- something collaborative - which needs thought and/or suggestions
- round robins - I can put together a UK one, can anyone do a EU or USA? Mostly because international postage costs are absurd.
- I don't know how to increase activity in the marketplace without more activity overall but the chance of doing a deal was often a good reason to keep checking the forum. Deal sharing would be nice too, but I agree there aren't the same deals out there - LEGO is worth more than Gold apparently!
- PAB pick-up buddies? Going to a LEGO shop? Maybe offer to pick up PAB and/or polybags? no sets, have a limit of two cups, three/four polybags or £25? needs more thought/rules.
I've noted a drop in my sets expenditure - in short, too many huge sets and a tightening of finances. I've never really been able to afford this hobby anyway, but it's got significantly worse in recent years.
I think I'd like to see a general expectation that if brickset members give sellers help by access to their knowledge, that those sellers offer a discount to brickset members in their bricklink/brickowl or ebay store... certainly if they're not participating in the rest of the forum!
Obviously there's no way to police the difference between a genuine need for help from a cheeky chancer on a handful of posts... but I'd argue that it becomes pretty obvious fairly quickly.
I'd almost forgotten that we used to have monthly challenges. My MOCing ability is awful, but I guess trying new things is how you learn. To that end, I'm going to resurrect the monthly building challenge - I've got a few polys and whatnot that I can offer as prizes to get the ball rolling - and the emphasis will be on taking part, no matter what your level of skill, rather than "Produce something astounding."
Good shout from a number of people on the whole "Post pictures of your MOCs-in-progress." I can't think of a better use for a LEGO forum than to see what people are building. I love seeing the epic builds of giant layouts or huge buildings, but I'm equally fascinated by micro-builds, dioramas and clever use of parts that mean someone can build something recognisable out of just a handful of parts.
Talking of micro builds, I came across an article by the TwinLUG group, a LUG based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, where they laid down some standards for what they call MIcropolis.
As someone who simply doesn't have the space to create a Jang-style LEGO city in their basement (mostly because I don't have a basement), I've been toying with trying a micro scale city. If anyone cares to join me and show off their attempts at a 32x32 city block, I'd love to see them.
Also, @Mr_Cross had some great suggestions, particularly bringing back the Bonusball draw and whether we could come up with a collaborative, as opposed to a competitive, activity (plenty of room for both).
So in summary:
1. I'll restart the Monthly build challenge this week.
2. Posts about your MOC-in-progress are encouraged, whatever their level of complexity.
3. Anyone who wants to join me in some Micro City building and post pictures of their efforts will be most welcome.
4. Suggestions for collaborative activities that we could undertake?
Cheers!
- There used to be meet ups for local people, raffles for good causes, The Bonus Ball etc. These have disappeared from the group and it is a shame.
- Way too many threads. I am glad Huw has stopped the auto posting from the main site. It was useful when there was a lot less Lego news and reviews but now it swamps the forum. There seems to be far less active merging of threads or keeping things on track. Some threads have just descended into sniping or were always going to cause issues when created. The Mods were good at being light touch but keeping an eye on stuff as well. I think maybe that is because Huw and Rex have to split their time between here and the main site.
- A lot of the threads I am drawn to are the MOC page, What are you buying, building, status, leaks as these are posted to regularly and people seem engaged and excited for. They feel much busier and far more positive than a number of other threads. Which seem to be dead or as said above just sniping.
Boo is fine!
In the early days, there was far fewer places to get news, reviews, etc. Brickset was one of the first and always the best along with this forum. Many other "sites" have gained great popularity and following which is fine. Social media blew up along with the hobby and the number of people in it. So now there are so many Social Media places/sites to get info. How the heck can anyone keep up with it all? Answer: you can't. You have to pick and choose where you spend your time just as you pick and choose where you spend you Lego money or on which sets (maybe you could buy them all before but you can't now with so many more produced).
Some people love Social Media, some don't. Some like them both. Is what is is. Social Media is still a maturing platform as a whole though. Apps are coming and going (Myspace, Threads anyone?) and will continue, but companies are trying to be the one and get eyeball and ultimately their dollars. It'll probably filter out a bit and stabilize more at some point. Just not sure when and who will be the ultimate longer term players.
I think a key is focus/purpose/specializing or whatever you want to call it. This forum cannot and really shouldn't be everything for everyone. It simply can't be. Really true for Brickset proper too. So yeah I agree, too many categories here. I'm glad Huw removed the front page stuff. I think if this forum kept a good focus, it would draw people and be engaging. I can come, spend my limited time reading and engaging, and move on to the next thing vying for my time in life. I think we can tell by the threads that do get traffic and as well as the comments mentioning things that went away but people want, what might work long run here. I think there are things provided here that aren't elsewhere or at least not done well. If the focus is kept fairly narrow and "bloat" is avoided, I think people will see the value here and want to come here to engage in the stuff that is here. Some people may not find any of it engaging and not come, but that's ok. Again no one can please everyone all of the time.
I was aware of Vanilla forums as I have been around for the rise of the Internet and spent time early on learning these "new" technologies. I'm a tech junkie at heart. I have a love / hate relationship with Vanilla or least this form setup. In general I love it - it's simplicity and general ease of use. A couple things I despise though is the inability to edit (and maybe delete?) posts as well as the horrible search capabilities.
Yes, figure out how to engage people is at the core, but I think figuring out what this forum's core focus is and setting up and keeping it in that vain are the key to get and keep people engaged. I'm constantly looking at all the various places to read and learn about Lego. I tend to spend the most time in places that are focused, do what they do, and do it well.
And yes, I do like the community feel here and yes, the vitriol is so much less here than on most social media platforms. Hopefully no matter which direction this forum goes, that remains similar to today as so few places have that.
Or leeks.
these days and prefer real world events and discussions instead ( although I also hope the forum does survive long term as I really prefer it to social media)
I admit my engagement has probably waned due to my not adding to my collection as much any more. I used to be a ravenous consumer and contributor of the Deals threads. It's nice to see the number of deals going up again as clearance sales get more common, like before Covid.
I agree that more building posts, whether sets or MOCs would get me to hang out longer. No-one should feel their efforts will not be appreciated just because some people post amazing MOCs. I would be interested in more MODs; maybe because that's the kind of thing I have done more of myself.
Would it be possible to bulk-delete the auto-generated posts that have zero replies? Seems like that would reduce a lot of clutter, and bring stuff that's buried 6 or more pages deep back up to the top.
(Sorry, I mistakenly said I use the recent discussions view above. I don't typically use it, but the default view still puts recent discussions at the top of their section.)
BUT.. And there's a big But, my Lego novelty interest hs dropped. There are too few themes I follow with interest as opposed to 3-4 years ago. Too many D2C, too many way too big sets, too many releases of the same thing (I can't even remember how many hulk busters we had in the past 3 years) that nothing seems special anymore. So I just stopped giving a damn about them. I generally buy the classic re-releases, a battle pack here and there, maybe a city set for some animal piece, and that summarizes most of what I buy as new sets from TLG. They eff-ed up IMHO.
I feel like many more previous enthusiasts are in the same boat. For example The predictions about EOL sets thread hasn't been touched in quite a while.
So my lego hobby is being reduced to just Moc-ing a tank here and there, maybe a small diorama. Maybe buying a bulk lot and sorting it throughout the year.
So yeah... The enthusiasm level is not what it used to be, but that is all TLG's fault, not Brickset. On the contrary, brickset is pulling me a bit back to what it used to be (with WV, or modular prediction threads).