Where'd They All Go?

Hi all,

It's been a looooong while since I was out on Dropzone. I originally was posting in the 2001 to 2007 time frame. Back then it seemed like you couldn't keep a post from falling out of view unless you fed it with a comment everyday (if not more frequent...). That was really true of "General Skydiving Discussions", but it applied to several other sub-forums also.

So my question is what happened to everyone? It really seems to have slowed down here. Has skydivers flocked to a different site or some other social media construct? Has skydiving become less popular? Is the slowdown on Dropzone due to COVID19 and simply less jumping is occurring with subsequently less to talk about it? Maybe we've finally reached knowledge Nervana and there really is nothing else to share?! Nah, that's not true, skydivers like to at least brag and tell stories if nothing else.

So what's going on? I'm thinking of returning to skydiving after about a decade hiatus and want to know where's everyone gone? Hello anyone? <echo> <echo>....

1 minute ago, landmissle said:

So what's going on? I'm thinking of returning to skydiving after about a decade hiatus and want to know where's everyone gone? Hello anyone? <echo> <echo>....

 

Cell phones and social media. This format works best when you are in front of a desktop. That is not how most people operate these days. It is just not the same as you have noticed.

2 hours ago, landmissle said:

Hi all,

It's been a looooong while since I was out on Dropzone. I originally was posting in the 2001 to 2007 time frame. Back then it seemed like you couldn't keep a post from falling out of view unless you fed it with a comment everyday (if not more frequent...). That was really true of "General Skydiving Discussions", but it applied to several other sub-forums also.

So my question is what happened to everyone? It really seems to have slowed down here. Has skydivers flocked to a different site or some other social media construct? Has skydiving become less popular? Is the slowdown on Dropzone due to COVID19 and simply less jumping is occurring with subsequently less to talk about it? Maybe we've finally reached knowledge Nervana and there really is nothing else to share?! Nah, that's not true, skydivers like to at least brag and tell stories if nothing else.

So what's going on? I'm thinking of returning to skydiving after about a decade hiatus and want to know where's everyone gone? Hello anyone? <echo> <echo>....

 

 

Dunno but the new generation probably identifies more with Reddit. I've just come back after a 16 year hiatus (20 if you don't count the years I only did about 2 skydives a year in amongst my BASE jumping) so you're not alone :)

8 hours ago, base615 said:

Dunno but the new generation probably identifies more with Reddit. I've just come back after a 16 year hiatus (20 if you don't count the years I only did about 2 skydives a year in amongst my BASE jumping) so you're not alone :)

i wish it were reddit.  it's facebook. 

5 minutes ago, sfzombie13 said:

i wish it were reddit.  it's facebook. 

I see. I’ve not found those groups.

23 minutes ago, base615 said:

I’ve not found those groups

If you look at the bottom of the page here - you'll find links to FB, Twitter & Instagram.

1 hour ago, base615 said:

I see. I’ve not found those groups.

it seems every dz has a facebook group, and another for experienced skydivers.  there are a lot of them for buying and selling gear.  it sucks balls because facebook is evil.

Yeah, not a big fan of Facebook; mostly because of all the privacy (lack of..) issues. Still, checked out Dropzone on Facebook and even there the frequency of post is much reduced from this forum's pace in its' heyday. I agree with you Wendy, that there is not a categorization of post nn Facebook and it's just a stream where things very quickly get lost.

Man, I'm bummed. There is was so much good information posted here and it was reasonably easy to find and access. Also, if you spent any time here, you got a sense of a real community.

I guess the good thing, is the information contained here isn't going away and is, for now, probably relevant. Unfortunately, without timely updates, it will go stale eventually.

Hey all, thanks for the input and should I return to skydiving (maybe after the COVID dies down), I'll try to post here more frequently.

Maybe forums are due for a comeback. It's such a great format.

i think a lot of people are getting their sky fix from local FB groups. Both my local dzs have fb fun jumper groups that create a low level of constant traffic. The groups are have become necessary / best way to share DZ news / events, and then also have become a microcosm of DZ.com, with incident discussion, gear discussion, misc bonfire shit, and even some politics. 

Ok, I'll say it.

The forum migration to the new format did not help.

On 2/17/2021 at 11:58 AM, sfzombie13 said:

i wish it were reddit.  it's facebook. 

Yeah... I gave up on /r/skydiving because it was kind of a trash fire, but I stayed on Reddit in general. I closed my Facebook account completely years ago.

Facebook really did kill forums (in general), but I think it did not replace them with anything as good.

They probably went to a site that doesn't randomly become unavailable for up to 24 hours at a time. If I was an advertiser here I would complain.

On 2/22/2021 at 11:43 PM, oldwomanc6 said:

Ok, I'll say it.

The forum migration to the new format did not help.

Also important IMO is that many of the topical forums look like fossils from the past, no longer being actively curated. Just look at the "Pinned" threads in almost all of them. This place just screams "no one here but us rats".

For example, in the Canopy forum, one of the pinned threads is the 2014(!) Canopy Pilot event list. I mean, someone new browsing that forum would instantly conclude it was a dead forum, abandoned by anyone serious.

2 hours ago, Divalent said:

Also important IMO is that many of the topical forums look like fossils from the past, no longer being actively curated. Just look at the "Pinned" threads in almost all of them. This place just screams "no one here but us rats".

For example, in the Canopy forum, one of the pinned threads is the 2014(!) Canopy Pilot event list. I mean, someone new browsing that forum would instantly conclude it was a dead forum, abandoned by anyone serious.

That's just another result of not many people being here. It looks like a dead, abandoned forum because it is.

On 2/25/2021 at 11:42 AM, nwt said:

That's just another result of not many people being here. It looks like a dead, abandoned forum because it is.

Well, I think there is a bit of "chicken or egg" here: a dead looking forum doesn't encourage users, and no users reinforces the image that the forum is dead.

There actually is some activity in the canopy forum, but you don't see it immediately as the ancient top pinned posts are cluttering up the initial view.

17 hours ago, Divalent said:

Well, I think there is a bit of "chicken or egg" here: a dead looking forum doesn't encourage users, and no users reinforces the image that the forum is dead.

There actually is some activity in the canopy forum, but you don't see it immediately as the ancient top pinned posts are cluttering up the initial view.

I think a membership campaign would be a good idea. I would want to fix the technical glitches first though--it can't be going offline on a daily basis.

I predict that COVID 19 will be the excuse that many POPS use to quit jumping. They may have been hanging-on for a few extra years, despite a nagging knee problem, etc.

Kind of like the hijackings of 2001 caused the collapse of an over-speed economy, a bloated airline industry, etc.

Mind you, I feel sorry for my friends who work for Air Canada who are currently on furlow. No-one deserves to be unemployed because of things beyond their control.

Ya it is kinda disapointing to see this forum so in-active. I'm a new member as of just a few months ago so a lot of the searching of old threads I read on here are old as hell, and links and photos are burned....  sucks.

Other hobbies im into have real active forums, so skydiving is just prob not that popular of a sport compared to other things.   Forums are way better for sharing info than facebook.

One think that isn't helping this forum is the censorship. Posts shouldn't be deleted in my opinion.   And ya why does the forum go down for hours or a full day or so at a time?   Bad management.... 

Regardless. Still like it here. 

14 hours ago, outdoort said:

Ya it is kinda disapointing to see this forum so in-active. I'm a new member as of just a few months ago so a lot of the searching of old threads I read on here are old as hell, and links and photos are burned....  sucks.

Other hobbies im into have real active forums, so skydiving is just prob not that popular of a sport compared to other things.   Forums are way better for sharing info than facebook.

 

One think that isn't helping this forum is the censorship. Posts shouldn't be deleted in my opinion.   And ya why does the forum go down for hours or a full day or so at a time?   Bad management.... 

 

Regardless. Still like it here. 

I think the Administrator is probably burned out on the project, which is something I can certainly relate to. I've sent him a DM offering help.