Thread Drift

[Catrin]

I don't post often, but this is the only place I do post and I do check in every day. Do you think social media is killing this type of forum? Is everyone on FB and that is why they are not posting?

Heck I have long standing friendships that are on the brink of ending because I am not on FB. Is it really that much work to email or pick up the phone anymore? Sorry, different issue I guess.

I do think this is related to social media. When I found TE in 2010 forums seemed to be more popular among most people I knew at the time. That has changed...

[shootingstar]

I post occasionally in 3 other places. 2 others are cycling oriented with 1 of them a local-city based cycling forum. But it is this forum I check most often. I actually find it easier to choose different topics to respond within 1 central interface in 1 site and see responses from regular as well as occasional visitors.

I do enough jumping around by visiting blogs.... So a forum feels more "stable", less fragmented from a reading perspective.

I don't use FB. Having a blog is good enough for me on sharing my favourite passions and photos. Thank God my closest friends are email oriented. They don't use FB nor Twitter either.

[katluvr]

I, too, check frequently but don't post much. Mostly because I don't have much to say on the few new posting/topics. I usually post on the running thread but I've been absent from there. I check out a few other blogs but they have lost my interest, too. Maybe my interests are changing or maybe it's the blogs or electronic mediums are not keeping my interest. Even FB has turned in to mostly my "friends" just "liking" other posts and not sharing something original. Just my thoughts/musings!

K

[withm]

I think people are using their phones and other devices more now and spend less time on real computers. Typing long posts on a cell phone is a little tedious so people just post short notes or "likes."

Communication is really changing and becoming a lost art.

And for the record, I typed this on my IPhone.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, somewhere in the last few days DH read me a statistic that some fairly substantial majority of FB users access it ONLY via mobile.

Every form of communication shapes the content, I think. Cripes, DH still prefers a listserv. I don't know how many of those are even active - or what the median age of participants in the three lists he participates in, might be! As I kind of do here, I wonder how many people who *didn't* get our first Internet wings on CompuServe or AOL, still prefer the threaded forum format?

[Trek420]

Yeah, somewhere in the last few days DH read me a statistic that some fairly substantial majority of FB users access it ONLY via mobile.

Every form of communication shapes the content, I think. Cripes, DH still prefers a listserv. I don't know how many of those are even active - or what the median age of participants in the three lists he participates in, might be! As I kind of do here, I wonder how many people who *didn't* get our first Internet wings on CompuServe or AOL, still prefer the threaded forum format?

That. Every form of communication, every change in technology; movable type, italicized fonts, desktop publishing shapes communication.

I think in some ways the forum format of extended detailed posts, preference for good writing and communication over quick posts and "likes" is on the way back with sites like reddit. Also they have an r/ladcyclists but it's NOTHING compared to the wit, wisdom, all round wonderful ness of TE.

So I may look at other social media but long live TE!

Posted from an iPad.

[Crankin]

I post from my I Phone if I am at work; not a big deal. It's a nice break. I am on FB a lot, but I rarely post anything. Mostly, it's about my rides.
I love the intelligent opinions of the people here. Yes, I learned a lot about cycling, but it's more than that.

[marni]

well since it has been rainig so much I have only been on my bike once in the last two weeks. My life is pretty routine and I don't post about every ride I take or workout I do but I do check the forum every day and ppost whenever I have anything that seems vaguely of interest. maybe its a trend or maybe its just a passing phase. something to ponder at 2 am .

[Lelani Carver]

I use an app called Tapatalk on iPhone and iPad, so posting isn't a problem although some options are limited.

The link to the community was missing when I visited the main site to buy some (really nice) sport bras. It was on some page tabs but not others. It may be a simple matter to fix.

[OakLeaf]

Maybe it's because I'm a fast touch typist, but trying to type on a mobile screen just drives me crazy. If it's more than a few words I usually don't even bother, it just takes too long. I'll wait 'til I get home ... or just blow it off. When I travel I carry a Bluetooth keyboard to use with the iPad, and I've even paired it to my phone at times.

[ny biker]

Maybe it's because I'm a fast touch typist, but trying to type on a mobile screen just drives me crazy. If it's more than a few words I usually don't even bother, it just takes too long. I'll wait 'til I get home ... or just blow it off. When I travel I carry a Bluetooth keyboard to use with the iPad, and I've even paired it to my phone at times.

I'm not that fast a typist but I agree, typing things on a phone is a pain so I tend to wait until I'm on a pc, and then I sometimes forget. I'm not a fan of texting for the same reason, but if I use email to send a longer message it doesn't always get read. The younger people in my family don't use email much at all.

[Crankin]

I have to look at the keys to type, but I am not so slow. Typing on the touch screen ended up been a lot easier for me than I thought it would be.
I tend to write posts right when I think of it, so hence, using the phone. I don't have a tablet, I don't see the need for it. And I do post almost every ride, since I don't post it anywhere else; occasionally I write something on FB about a ride, but my non-riding friends always ask, "Don't you ever stop?"
My sons are a little old fashioned for their age in terms of tech use. The only annoying habit they have is the older one *never* listens to phone voice mails, at least from me or other people he knows. He does call back, but sometimes I get annoyed when he asks, "What was that about?" The older is not on FB, after being a prolific early user. He thinks Twitter is stupid, but he has had a blog since college (not sure if he still does). The younger one is on FB, but never posts and also thinks Twitter is dumb. He is better about the phone stuff. They both respond to email, though, even though we text if we need to get in touch quickly. I think that the older needs to use email a lot for work, so it's a habit.

[OakLeaf]

Good luck Muirenn! Sounds exciting!

[Crankin]

Good luck, Murienn. Yeah, it's better to go the whole route, where you can get financial aid. My grad program cost just slightly less than that per class, so I feel your pain.
What do you plan to do with the degree? I have no idea what a degree in sustainability really entails.

[salsabike]

Go Muirenn!