Hello all. I got to thinking tonight about the message boards and such, and just thought I'd put this up and hopefully generate some discussion.
Its been apparent to me for a couple of seasons now that the message board as social media is becoming irrelevant. Chatter is way down and no one seems to be posting much anymore.
A brief (and personal) history lesson. The Shadow Report was born, on a whim, about 6 years ago. I've always been a race fan...everyone here knows that, but up until that time I was just another face in the crowd. I didn't actually know any of the drivers, or staff...or anyone really. Just went to the races, enjoyed, and went home.
Then one night I discovered this board and liked the idea, and the next week I decided to play reporter and took a notebook with me. Enjoying the discussions that came about from the report I wrote, I continued with it the next week, then for a season, and had some fun with it.
Then during the off season I was contacted by management and basically given the offer of a couple small perks if I continued my reporting, which I was happy to do. They liked me because, above all, I was a fair and reasonable voice in a medium not really known for fairness toward the establishment. And even though I was helping them out a bit, it was understood that I had some leeway...there was no company line I had to toe, other than to continue being fair and reasonable.
So I basically became Delaware's chief message board guy, and internet hack. Was still doing the report and getting a little bit of celebrity in the pit area, which was nice. Remember at the time that there wasn't much going on as far as the races being reported...I was the only one doing it, and there was a lot of appreciation by drivers that now actually had something to show people where they got mentioned. The Shadow Report was filling a niche/void and it seems I found a place in the Delaware racing community.
Fast forward a couple of years. Everyones on Facebook now, message board chatter is dying, except for the bitchers and complainers. We tried to stimulate things a bit with the Pick-3 game and a couple of other gambits that worked for a little while then died off.
Then last year I put up a few more Shadow Reports in the early part of the season, all to very little or no comment at all. Considering that the whole idea of the Report in the first place was to foster discussion, it seems to have failed, on this medium anyway. (then I had to go in for my surgery in July and it pretty much kiboshed the rest of the season for me....but that's a whole other story.)
So what I want to put out to all of you is this: I'm not looking for kudos or kind words. The simple fact of the matter is that message boards have sort of been supplanted by Facebook, Twitter and such. People only have so much time to spend in front of a computer and engaging in forum discussion seems to have dropped off the map. (unless, it seems, someone wants to complain about something)
It is just the way of things, and I say that without any bitterness and only a little remorse.
What I am trying to figure out, is to find a "better" way to be involved in the internet community, and still stay an independent fan. (I've no desire to actually work as a track employee.)
The days of me scribbling furiously in my notebook while the races are going on, then coming home and writing and formatting until 4 in the morning...well its almost pointless. Track PR does a great job reporting. Way better than they ever have, and often the story and full results are up here on this message board before I even get home to my computer. (I used to race home in hopes that mine'd be up before theirs...and it often was.) That niche that the Shadow Report used to fill is gone, and I simply don't want to keep doing it as a lone voice quacking in the void.
These days I still carry my notebook, and I'm still involved. I write for the souvenir program, I try to make interesting tweets from the track...I'm not hurting for involvement. But I keep thinking there's something more helpful that I can be using the internet to do.
But I'm running out of ideas.
Anyone out there?
Message Forums were around way before Social Networks or the internet. I have been running Message Systems for over 25 Yearsnow and they always seem to survive.
Message Forums were on BBSes and the internet killed BBSes but Message Forums just went from the BBS on to the internet and had a much bigger audience. Then Social Media came along and people seem to think that this killed the Message Forums Well guess again this just enhanced them. How is this as we can get a bigger audience as we can feed out forum messages to Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other Social Media outlets.
One thing eople seem to forget a message forum has a lot of features Social Media doesn't. Try typing a press release in the update status. It's a pain in the butt and it looks bad. Following comments on facebook gives me a headache.
The reason I started CRO (Formerly Know as CASCAROnline) was I saw a bad message system that sort of looked how facebook does and it was hard to follow topics and replies so I created the site and upgrade to better message systems over the years.
So many updates on facebook that it's hard to find something you viewed a day or two ago on a message forum you just go to the category and it's there or you do a search.
a lot of people are sick of social networks no one seems to care about the users. It seems every week I see user complaining about facebook changed another setting and they don't like it.
yes there is more people on social media but is that a good thing? I could careless if Joe Smoe eat at Joes off Highway 10 but I get these on my facebook wall. You get a lot of Garbage on Social Media. If I didn't run CRO I wouldn't be on Twitter, Facebook or any other social networks just don't see why it's needed. If I want to tell my friends something I call them, Text them or BBM them. I don't put it out there for the whole world to see and once it's on the net it stays there.
Don't get me wrong people some people enjoy posting everything they do on these networks not sure why and who am I to say don't do it but remember that this can hurt you when looking for a job, as yes employers are now checking on facebook before they hire and some are asking for your facebook page on the interview. Never heard of an employer as for your CRO username on a job interview.
Sorry for going on and on Shadow but you get what I'm saying forums will be around after you and I are gone.
I now own my shop, so if the boss asks to see my FBook profile... I won't be embarassed when the wife shakes her head at my random drunken posts/pics.
Anyway, forums are generally good rant spots, and are positive and negative in any field. As for Sharing Delly/racing spots, I can agree I dropped the ball on that as well. I'm sure most of us have. But comparing the two is useless IMO, and should work together. Unsure if it is possible for CRO to have a LIKE/SHARE on Facebook for topics here.... Is that possible? Would certainly up your traffic, and honestly I have no idea IF it's even possible. Two cents of ramblings, enjoy.
you can share the topics on your facebook and twitter accounts as likes really are not what gets the word around.
just click the blue F or t at the top of the topic when in the message they are small icons. I bet a lot of people on here never even noticed them. I use them all the time to post to groups releated to the messages on here.
Thanks
No message boards aren't dead. They're great for niche hobbies and interests and helps create a community where there may not be one. I'm a member of several myself, and lots of them are flourishing.
However, the fact remains that people aren't posting here much anymore. Half of the posts are just the same press releases that everyone else gets. Even long time stalwarts are just sticking with FB. I don't know what it is about the message board dynamic that doesn't work for the Delaware racing community anymore, and I'm running out of ideas.
All I can say is that the track itself, through their website and on FB, has matured and gotten most excellent at getting the results, stories, and press releases in. True story: I kinda wimped out last Friday in the cold and ended up sitting up in the media/announce tower to watch the last feature. When it was over, I was engaged in a casual conversation with John and he and a staff member were getting the press releases ready, and they were submitted before the mics even got put away. The race results came to my cell while I was still standing there jawing with them. That's pretty awesome. Things have changed so much.
That wasn't always the case. This used to be the place to come if you wanted to know (or speculate on) what's going on. Not so much now. Lots of what we used to do here has become redundant.
I'm just looking for ideas on how to not be redundant.