With all the fantastic modern forms of digital socialization and the explicit gravitation to these forms over more traditional forms, say things like Internet forums such as this one. And having kids of my own that epitomize this notion a bit too well, I really have to wonder if newer younger reefers have any interest in forums as a means of resource for pertinent information. And by that I mean answers to questions they may have directly related to the hobby. The kinds of questions people may ask on a public forum and get direct, debatably, wisdom and experience based answers to. Or at least enough info to sift and sort through to make their own decisions on what to really take in and by contrast choose to ignore.
Or, do they really rely more on, forgive me “influencers” to kind of spoon feed them every thing they think they need to know?
As I sit here I can't help but think about all the potential customers I may have never know existed, or better yet definitely haven’t yet and may never hear of me because of the channels through with they get their information. Now, am I pigeonholed a little in the all to comfy world of forums, that I’ve really seemed to thrive in then last decade? I'd say yes. But more importantly, are forums a fleeting resource? I honestly don’t know. But I do believe that as of today this forum in particular is still going strong and growing in users and members. At least for now.
My real question, is how many of these new members are young, say 16-22, and how does that compare to the growing number hobbyists that rely entirely on social media for there information and wouldn’t be caught dead lurking among the dinosaurs that rule our "bygone" internet forums?
And that begs the question, what kind of information is being shared and passed around by some these essential newbies themselves, as they learn and post what they learn, literally as they learn it? And, where are these influencers getting their information from? Couldn't be forums could it? If not, what it the quality of the information being passed around out there, versus what can be found in a forum like this?
Truth is, no matter how I word this it will make me sound like a relic, but these are just some of the questions I am pondering. They may be the rambling of aging miser, but what I do know for sure, is that the younger hobbyists spend way more time on social media than forums to seek the answers to the questions they are looking for. And the truth is, the miser in me doesn't really know quite what to think of that. And, how this may change the landscape of the information that gets passed around in the future. If one day forums actually go away for good.
Again, I don't know the answers to these questions. But I really am curious about whether younger reefers look to forums as a viable resource for information anymore. We may never know, because frankly, I'm speaking to a demographic that won't be chiming in here, because they'll never see this...
Or, do they really rely more on, forgive me “influencers” to kind of spoon feed them every thing they think they need to know?
As I sit here I can't help but think about all the potential customers I may have never know existed, or better yet definitely haven’t yet and may never hear of me because of the channels through with they get their information. Now, am I pigeonholed a little in the all to comfy world of forums, that I’ve really seemed to thrive in then last decade? I'd say yes. But more importantly, are forums a fleeting resource? I honestly don’t know. But I do believe that as of today this forum in particular is still going strong and growing in users and members. At least for now.
My real question, is how many of these new members are young, say 16-22, and how does that compare to the growing number hobbyists that rely entirely on social media for there information and wouldn’t be caught dead lurking among the dinosaurs that rule our "bygone" internet forums?
And that begs the question, what kind of information is being shared and passed around by some these essential newbies themselves, as they learn and post what they learn, literally as they learn it? And, where are these influencers getting their information from? Couldn't be forums could it? If not, what it the quality of the information being passed around out there, versus what can be found in a forum like this?
Truth is, no matter how I word this it will make me sound like a relic, but these are just some of the questions I am pondering. They may be the rambling of aging miser, but what I do know for sure, is that the younger hobbyists spend way more time on social media than forums to seek the answers to the questions they are looking for. And the truth is, the miser in me doesn't really know quite what to think of that. And, how this may change the landscape of the information that gets passed around in the future. If one day forums actually go away for good.
Again, I don't know the answers to these questions. But I really am curious about whether younger reefers look to forums as a viable resource for information anymore. We may never know, because frankly, I'm speaking to a demographic that won't be chiming in here, because they'll never see this...
