What is going on

[Skip J.]

So, yes, we've seen fewer people participating on WoodNet of late.  It seems that a lot of people have left the forum.

But you know what?  People are always leaving forums.  People get on, they post a lot, then they taper off--either because their interests change or because they've gotten the info they needed.  (I know I don't post as much as I used to.  I'm still doing a lot of woodworking, but I know how to do what I want to do, and I'm more interested in working wood than in posting about it.) Some people do get offended by other members, and others get annoyed at the software, but I think those are in the minority.  Membership on WoodNet has always been fluid. That's the nature of forums.

The problem is that fewer and fewer people are joining the forum to replace those who leave.  Many of the people who would have replaced them are getting their hand tool information elsewhere. 

What does that mean for WoodNet?  I don't know.  I certainly value this community, though it's gone through a lot of changes over the years.  I intend to keep looking in and posting occasionally. 

I hope you folks do the same.

I came onboard about the same time Steve did, and in fact when he lived here, we met thru our interaction here, along with several other local guys... 

It seems this new smartphone addiction isolates those few of us that don't "smartphone" over social media.... For some reason I can't think of, there seems to be no need to meet with our peers and just yak a bit anymore. 

In our case, we all made a trip and met up at the local sawmill and made a split-buy at sawmill prices.  We sat outside under the trees and ate the lunch we brought with us before we loaded up and drove home.  It was by far my best woodworking experience.... now I just sit around and check in here occasionally.... and that's about it.

[hbmcc]

In an opulent society it's hunger for the new, to follow the mass rush to new. And, be different, but only if your comrades are too. It's what the sirens, the marketers, tell us to do. When is the last time a vehicle ad pushed, confirmed, utility. It's all experience. Style and fashion recycle with a spin that excludes or changes the original, so we aren't just relics. In my time it was magazines, radio, tv, school themes, domestic revolution, then the explosion of computer and bbs. It continues with no real innovation, just the same packaged in a different color with more insidious intrusion. 

We pay the gold diggers and don't even see them, know them.

[Strokes77]

This comes up every summer.  in every forum or hobby group that I read about.
No need to panic.
In the Spring, Fall, Winter, planes and other hand tools sell out in under 24 hours in the trade and swap... during the summer, they don't sell until several "price reductions"...

I don't think it has to do with magazines, or politics, or youtube, or facebook, or Tarrifs.. It's just how it is.

[Cian]

This comes up every summer.  in every forum or hobby group that I read about...

I don't think it has to do with magazines, or politics, or youtube, or facebook, or Tarrifs.. It's just how it is.

Nodding to this.  For me in particular, I post more when I'm actively in the hobby and that is periodic depending on if I'm actively working on a project, when it seems Woodnet is a pleasant conversation among friends in the room next door just beyond my woodshop and I chime in when I overhear something of interest.  I do remember being wholly immersed in this place (borderline addictive) while building my own shop and discovering new and wonderful tools along the way - even opting to be a Moderator for a handful of years.  Those were fun days, but our passions change or may grow and compete against family time, careers, or other hobbies for the limited free time we each may have.  It's always nice coming back here and seeing some of the old screen names though, but admittedly, I jump into the basement more regularly than these other floors.  I know for some down there, Woodnet has legitimately become is its own social network, wherein woodworking is but an afterthought.  IMO, that's ultimately what's so cool about this place.