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I see a marked decrease in usage of the forum, whether here or on AACA. What’s going on? I realize that question is a tough one.
We were fairly active on the forum, a good back and forth. Why is it now it’s days between posts. I’m asking only because it’s great to connect with you guys and gals, and I feel that seems to be disappearing.
Honestly David, I can think of several reasons:
1: Change of venue: Most people don’t like change, they would rather stick with what they know, although they would constantly complain about it, they would still use it.
2: Not enough members on computers: I would guess that over half of our membership do not spend much time on a computer to begin with, they simply don’t want to bother with it.
3: Now that we have a new, inspiring website, most members do not want to bother to get acquainted with it. They do not want to take the time to see what this new website has to offer, so they just stay away from it.
4: Old habits die hard: I figure most of the membership here were so used to the old website that this new one does not appeal to them, therefore they do not wish to post on it.
Am I getting warm yet?…
We have two sites now on Facebook dealing with Pierce-Arrow’s and their history, and to try to get members in the Pierce-Arrow Society to join Facebook alone is a chore, much less that asking them to adapt to a new website like this. I don’t have any answers to as to how we can encourage more people to use this site, maybe we can throw in a toaster oven for new members posting on this site?…just a thought…
I would add another 2 cents worth to the thread. While I think that Curtis is right on the money with most of his observations, I would add that the cancellation of so many events, from the annual PAS show to local shopping center get-together afternoons due to this pandemic has taken our attention away from the old cars and onto other near-term concerns. Given that many of us are in that target demographic of “older people”, it certainly makes sense to protect ourselves and our friends by not gathering together. Unfortunately, it also takes our attention away from working on our cars when the day-to-day priorities are so much more difficult than they used to be.
The camaraderie and face-to-face conversations are a key part of the antique car hobby. For many years, I have heard that it is the people involved that make these cars fun and not obsolete old vehicles themselves, which I have certainly found to be true. Being relatively new to PAS, I have certainly seen and enjoyed the fellowship and friendships at the show in Indiana and the 2020 annual meeting in Williamsburg.
Yes, the new forum had some problems with losing data, which may have scared some people away, but the forum seems to be working much better now. My hope is that as this pandemic finally gets under control, our members will gravitate back to the forum for contact and technical support.
Stay safe, Herb
I am unclear about what the status of this forum is vis a vis the AACA forum. In places the names of the posters are not included, I assume these had some involvement on the AACA sight?
After the glitch was diagnosed and apparently fixed, was it decided to wait a bit to make sure it was fixed before deciding whether to go with it or stay independent?
Personally Covid has allowed more time to concentrate on restoration, and I am quite unsociable anyway. But I imagine those with driveable cars who are more involved with shows and tours just aren’t too engaged at the moment.
My posts are primarily involved in restoration, and I have the perception that only a small portion of members are actually involved in hands-on restoration anymore.
You would think with this Carona mess, and the lock downs that have followed, it would have brought a lot of people to the forum here, if for nothing else, to just find out what is going on in the Society, and a chance to catch up on the latest activities. It would seem it has had the opposite effect. I have noticed on the Pierce-Arrow Museum Facebook page a significant drop off in the numbers of member participation since this whole Corona hysteria has happened. I try to keep it going with posts everyday, but it will not sustain itself on it’s own without member participation and input.
Forums, like the one here, cannot sustain themselves without active member participation. It would seem more and more people are drifting away from forums like this (and Facebook) I try to check this site every day, if not every other day, just to see if any thing new has come up.
There seem to be a lot of reasons why people are staying away from these forums, maybe they just find that, with all the extra time on their hands, these forums are the last thing on their minds right now….who knows?…
I do check the forum almost daily. I had cut back from posting, because right after we got the new website forum, one of my posts disappeared. I had thought I had inadvertently offended someone and my post was deleted by a moderator. Now I find out it was a glitsch in the system and am back posting away. I just recently posted some pics of the new correct taillight on my car. I just got a call from Steve at CPS telling me that except for the lock cam he was waiting for, the car is pretty much done and invited me to come out for a test drive. It looks like I’ll have the car home for the holidays!
I am an admirer of Pierce Arrow motor cars who has come face to face with only two examples over the years. I don’t begin to have knowledge or experience to share with other members, and so I content myself with “listening” in on the conversations among those who know and live with these automobiles. (My experience has been with those notorious competitor products from a certain division of GM.) But it does seem to me that the shutdowns and other disruptions this year have made people less apt to reach out to others (strangers or friends), even electronically. I sense that the different automotive discussion forums I access have been affected in this way to one extent or another. That’s a pity, since we all need some time away from current-event stress. Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Hi Folks of Pierce Arrow———-In my case at 81 yo—–becoming acquainted with a new website after some years of the old one where we had worked up a jiving repartee with other folks I find taking the effort to instantly “insult” friends harder. The new one is a beaut website————BUT for this old guy there is too many choices to follow along. I guess I will get with it before Corona gets me!! All websites are becoming more & more sophisticated as the tech possibilities are accessed. Remember when Google did NOT have 2000 pages of ads before you got to the answer to your query??
Here in The Land of OZ ( Virtually the same land area as the Continental USA—But only 30 million population) we are up in arms when around only 10 or 15 cases per MONTH of the dreaded plague happen & so are back to normal touring. Had a beaut time driving the 1929 Club Brougham with Boss & Dog for a couple of hundred miles with NO restrictions. BUT the fuel bill!!! $1.20 US per litre. Around US$4.80 per Gallon. Still cheaper than whisky.
Stay happy ————–Jak.