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The Corroboree
Matt1208

Is this site dying out ?

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Not sure where exactly to put this but this section of the forum seems like the right place.

 

ive been a member here for going on about 2 years now, when I first come on here I had a bit of trouble but I still managed to meet a lot of good people and get a lot of plants I've always desired, i stopped visiting this site for a few months and recently come back here but it seems like not half as many people are active here anymore, some sections of the forum go days, weeks without a single post, whereas before I struggled to keep up with the amount of posts.

 

another thing is the online shop for the nursery, it seems as though most of the cacti are always out of stock, or am I just not checking often enough ? 

 

i thought I'd also say I'm planning on having an auction on here to donate to this forums costs, I have a few cuttings already and more to take, a few plants to be identified and things to put in place, if anyone has anything they'd like to add please leave a comment or message me, since my reputation here may be in doubt I'm happy for a more trusted member to hold the auction and I'll send them the cuttings/seeds/plants I have 

 

 

 

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Hey Matt, nope the site is not dying. :) The Facebook or Whats-app groups are taking away some of the traffic that usually went to forums, but forums like SAB will always be a thing. There also is a SAB Facebook group where there are many postings a day, which gets a fair amount of visitors and I think that this somehow counts als SAB visitors too. The past months were busy for many members including me, but SAB will not go anywhere. Facebook can kill their group feature at any day and that´s why the number of posts will rise again. On SAB, there´s always a place to go back to and Torsten will make sure that SAB will remain a great place to chill out. There will be a whole lot of updates on the site in the future and I am sure that SAB will be around for a very long time. Like I said, the times are changing and people are confronted with insane amounts of content through big sites/networks like Facebook, but that is not going to stay like this and just because there are less posts right now, it doesn´t have to mean that the site doesn´t have a great userbase that will stick around. 

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Facebook is linked to my real identity and I don't particularly want people deciding I'm a "druggie".

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36 minutes ago, Slocombe said:

Facebook is linked to my real identity and I don't particularly want people deciding I'm a "druggie".

 

If you are not clearing your cookies, history and flash objects (LSO's) before every facebook visit then you can rest assured someone has already made that presumptuous connection. 

 

Whether anyone gives a fuck is debatable. Most of those hidden details are for marketing purposes (that's how facebook makes it money). Your concern about the overt facebook profile does warrant some concern though if you are looking for employment etc. 

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i don't do FB but i've been wondering the same thing tbh..  these days i usually only check in here every couple of months or so cause it's a decade long habit & perhaps a bit of nostalgia..  hoping it's just a short term lull & things will get interesting again..

 

 


 

Edited by paradox
reconsidered post
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I did a search for SAB in facebook and didn't find the group.  What's the name to search?

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I check every other day.  but this year i have gone weeks without checking in after previously being a daily visitor.

 

i remember with Australian Ethnobotany, the frustration of how facebook essentially killed it off, and suspect it wasnt the only site that was killed off by social media.

 

it seems SAB is far too good a resource, and too strong a community for it to die off in the same way.  activity seems to happen in waves, as groups of new people come and go.

 

 

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I think maybe the quick and easy access of a Facebook group is drawing them in, I know it can be quiet a lengthy process becoming a member on here

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I was just reading through some of the threads above and noticed Paradox's reconsidered post.

In some ways that's indicative of the slowdown we're seeing. I often write out long answers to posts on the editor and then when it comes time to actually posting them I think
do I really want that out there
and then just close the thread without posting it.

I normally only post after a skinfull of piss and I've put my foot in my mouth more than most, so I self censor in an effort to avoid that "what did I say last night" effect and the associated guilt when I wake up the next day.

Plus the world has changed, free speech died long ago for most people. Anything you write on the internet can be used against you, so some people abstain from posting for that reason alone.

It's a shame, this place has always been a bastion of free speech, it's a sad reflection on society when people aren't willing to put themselves out there like we did in the past.




Edited by Sallubrious
to make the grammar more better ;)
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well said sally.  thats a good point & pretty much exactly how that post/edit went down.  i'm sorry to say i took the uncontroversial path of opting out of possibly opening a can of worms.  i feel i should care & i do but at this point it seems forced 

 

it's good to be optimistic about things that have been important to you which is why i still half heartedly peruse here once every not very often.

 

whatever the real-time form the forums may take, they're a treasure of information & will always be valuable. hats off to torsten & crew for sailing a steady ship.

 

i'm just thinking..  is there a bot that could write topical books using the forum database?  or other means to efficiently compile relevant information into coherent topical articles? 

would be interesting if the content could be put to use & developed upon in ways other than the good ol forum structure.

 

 

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I have no idea who runs the Facebook group but I personally think this site should be advertised and plastered all over it, maybe encourage more members there to join this site

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We all go through ups and downs and I guess participation in the site reflects this. As  ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ says there are plenty of other distractions at the moment but "dying out" sounds far too pessimistic.  Plus, it's spring, so i'm trying to spend more time outside in my garden rather than in front of a computer.
 

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Facebook is good for a quick fix of cacti pr0n, it's so easy to get a constant feed of cool cactus pics. I think most of the groundbreaking work on ethnobotany has probably already been done, maybe that's a cause for the slowdown?

But SAB is a special place. I'll be here until hillbilly bans me!

Trades and good information is what makes the forum so great. Let's trade up a storm.

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sab is a cool place and it's not dying, slowing down for sure but it'll never die

 

even if all that remains just me talking to myself it'll never die

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besides, what other site on the internet contains the worlds greatest repository of cactus porn?

 

sab is truly a gift to humanity

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the site is slow, that's for sure, can I suggest removing the "like" function, aside from it being all too reminiscent of FB it allows people to contribute without really contributing. without a "like" option people may be more inclined to post a comment.

 

the pure information base is what keeps me coming back, all readily accessible via search. that's the difference between here and FB, 15 years of posts and info, from memory FB was tedious to try and go back through and find what you were looking for.

 

I too am guilty of writing up posts and then when it comes time to post im like na, fuk it. delete. mainly cause im not up for debates, I just like to say my piece and that's it.

 

 

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I reckon this forum is slow, but only when you compare it to others of a different subject matter I guess. I'm thinking IT/computer-based forums, where the people who contribute a lot are always online anyway.

 

Hopefully it has slowed down because it is Spring in Oz, and gardeners are gunna garden. :lol:

 

Either way it makes little difference to me, in that I will keep on spamming my way to ban town regardless of how much, or little, my fellow SAB ers chuck in.

 

Down for the knowledge and the staunch crew; quality not quantity. :wink:

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Yeah, I dont see many topics that inspire me to respond, or have been hashed over before, but that is only the surface of the forum.

All the marvelous trades are still thriving, and meetings, socializing and networking certainly keeps me busy.

And yes, Mr Responsible , there are some fucking special gardens out there that are keeping the staunch well occupied.

Im seeing the amount of cactus in the world grow exponentially annually, with these efforts.

 

The forum ebbs and flows, and whilst the surface may seem still, a strong current flows underneath.

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Staunch gardening, or in my case, a staunch end to the uni year, can keep people from posting. That, and our demographic has changed a bit - none of us are getting any younger, and life, family, career, etc can be distracting.

 

Expectations are different too. When this form started, it was almost the only game in town. Now people can stick to their facebook/twitter/reddit echo chambers and avoid any divergent opinions - something you can't do here. 

 

The arc of discovery has changed. We've utilised the work of previous ethnobotanists and chemists to such an extent that the easy discoveries have all been made. And where once we would shout our new teks, or obscure article finds, from the rooftop, now we carefully guard our knowledge, lest we bring the wrath of conservatism down on us. 

 

Still, we carry on, and I think there is a bright future for this place - even if it seems a bit tough at the moment. 

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As people who like plants and gardens , it makes sense that the site will slow down at times..... isn't this normal for awesome things

- you cannot ride waves all day, day in.. day out......or can you?

hehe.

You work, then garden or garden is your work:wacko::wink:....it's actually a very busy time to the untrained eyeball.

This trend is nothing to worry about as new roots grow beneath the soil and is sometimes not so obvious until you see the new growth on the stems.

Leaves pop out, branches elongate, pups start pupping, flowers unfurl to blow your mind over a cup of cammo, mouths get gibbering and thoughts meander as time off approaches and the silly season begins.

Tis actually really nice to see new people posting and embracing the ethos of this beautiful joint.

Sick cnuts are gunna be sick around this time of year aye........more power to ya's.

happy gardening everybody :)

 

 

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Facebook obviously has taken a LOT of traffic from forums. But as much as I like FB for socialising it is also very impermanent. It is difficult to find anything in groups and there is no search function for your own or other people's timelines. When i post on FB I don't expect it to be useful for more than a few days or maybe weeks. These forums however already represent a huge amount of knowledge and experience. Even if no one contributed to them ever again they would still be an awesome resource for decades to come. So with that in mind I am not too fussed about how busy this place is. I can see from the traffic statistics and links just how much the existing content is valued. Obviously I would like that to continue, but I am not hung up about it.

My own health problems and personal situation have kept me away from here a lot over the last couple of years too, but hopefully that will improve. I still post here all the things I want to make sure to have linkable into the future. Every time I want to share something on facebook but then can't remember where I posted it I remember why places like this need to survive. And they will.


As for the like button, to be honest, I'd rather have a lower daily post volume than lots of one word comments. We've always put emphasis on quality rather than quantity.

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