Forums

[pxpaulx]

Originally Posted by bilzmale

I have recently cut ties with two 4/3 forums that I've been with for a good few years. Also DPR (not hard). I still visit the first forum I joined in 2003 and this one. They are my favourites and have the 'family' feel I think you refer to Bill. I visit a minimum of once a day - usually more often.

Have signed up over at Serious Compacts but will give 'mirrorless' a miss.

Heh, yeah dpr is first and foremost there for amusement purposes! There are occasionally sound discussions worth entering, but simply too many trolls to make most posting worth your while.

[Streetshooter]

What makes any forum a success? What makes an enjoyable experience?
It's not the forum style, not the mods. It's the members. The info they post, the positive attitude they bring with them. These are the things a forum builds upon.
We are lucky to have the membership we have. It is the positive energy that attracts us here each day and drives away the negative energy.
There are many interesting places to visit but only a few to call home. This place is home for many of us, myself included.
Thanks to the entire membership for making it home.

[photoSmart42]

Forums, like cameras, are simply tools of our craft IMO. We visit forums because they serve a purpose, and different forums serve different purposes. I normally visit about 4-5 different photo-related forums throughout the day. They each have their own distinct 'feel' and culture about them, and they're all valuable in their own way to help all of us advance our craft. I may come to this forum to help others, I go to another forum to ask for help, I go to yet another forum to ask for feedback on my photos, etc. I haven't found one where I can do everything I need to do in one place to my satisfaction yet.

[Brian Mosley]

I see a clear distinction between a forum framework - which as you say Dragos we use as a tool... and how we use that tool.

It's relatively easy to put together an empty forum framework (as the founder of the OPSG, I often get invites to come and see young / empty forum frameworks as they are created... mu-43.com was an opportunity I took to work with Amin, to build something special here)

In this case we're interested in using the tool (very well managed by Amin, in consultation with the team behind the scenes here) to bring folks together with common interests to form a community.

Other forum operators/leaders have other motivations, interests and experience... it comes through in how the leading members behave towards others - easy to see actually.

Thankfully, we have some fantastic leading members here (not just the team we have working at the Administrator/moderator level - I'm talking about our regular members...) which makes up the whole.

I can appreciate Bill's concern, perhaps seeing how special this place is becoming over time... but rest assured, we will continue to grow stronger. Nice people attract nice people .

We all have a strong sense of curiosity... so new frameworks will always be fun to check out over time, but home is where your friends are - and thanks to Bill for sticking a flag in the ground here!

Cheers

Brian

[photoSmart42]

Originally Posted by Brian Mosley

I see a clear distinction between a forum framework - which as you say Dragos we use as a tool... and how we use that tool.

True, but I'm also talking about the personality of the various forums, and that goes beyond the framework used and beyond the forum leadership to the actual forum users who give it that personality. I guess I should have said that I frequent multiple forums because I interact differently with the members of those other forums, and that's a direct correlation to the forum population and character as a whole. To me it's like having a group of friends for going to the movies, a different group of friends for going on international vacations, and a third group of friends for hanging out and talking about politics or something. There is no single group of friends I have who satisfy all of my interests and curiosity, and it's the same with forum populations.

[photo owl]

Originally Posted by Bill Gordon

Why, oh why, is there any need for more forums.

looking at that one specific question - I have to point out that this was once a 'more forum'.......

as to why people go and look at other forums, I tend to move on when there are more threads such as this than informative ones (don't get me wrong the odd thread on any topic is healthy!)

whilst I am 'new' on here I know many of the individuals personally, as real people, as well as many online acquaintances. this forum is just part of a wider community as far as I am concerned.

[Brian Mosley]

Ah, that makes more sense Dragos - we all have different circles of friends... and if we're considering multiple forums with well established communities (making up the character) then it's less of a 'tool we're using to solve a specific problem', more of 'which party shall I drop in on' - I thought Bill was talking about the new forums springing up around the mirrorless format... many having m4/3rds sub-groups.

I would think this forum represents a well established party, with one of (if not) the most rounded coverage of the m4/3rds system on-line... specialising on the m4/3rds system allows us that character.

Cheers

Brian

[Brian Mosley]

Originally Posted by photo owl

as to why people go and look at other forums, I tend to move on when there are more threads such as this than informative ones (don't get me wrong the odd thread on any topic is healthy!)

So true, I can only stand so much navel gazing

Cheers Duncan

Brian