Question Why are ALL the Poultry forums peetering out?

[Ontario Chick]

I think I have joined my first poultry forum about 10 or 12 years ago.
When it became obvious that the whole "chicken thing" needed more research before next "Freys" catalogue arrived, I turned to Dr Google, to see what was out there.
There seemed to be a very enthusiastic on-line community in US and not much happening in Canada then, until "Poultry Swap" arrived.
The membership there, reached 2 000 in a very short time and continued to rise after that.
Now I see all the Forums, and I visit 2 in Canada, and 3 in US occasionally and it's hard to miss, that the activity is declining in leaps and bounds.
Any take on this?

[Kbr42]

I'll bet Facebook has taken over from these types of forums. Lots of chicken related information on DrGoogle as well. And these forums you need to participate in. Get involve . Just my take on it.

[LongCrow]

I think Facebook really interferes with the forums. Especially when looking for eggs or breeders. I am not on Facebook but am noticing more and more breeders only post on there so at times I'm tempted to join but it is definitely not really my thing.

I think that will grow old quickly too as there is much less control on offending comments etc.

[TomK]

It's a very good question...i don't like the format of a lot of the american forums although there are lots of worthwhile threads on many...I just don't join..I am on facebook and read a couple of the Ontario based poultry pages but rarely if ever comment...it doesn't take long for the trolls to emerge...here on this site there are no trolls and the comments are always supportive and helpful but given the number of people registered, only a very small core actually post on any kind of regular basis...I always thought that we thereby project an image of a very tight clique where others are reluctant to chime in readily... I hope i am wrong but that's my take...and then of course there is always the thought that how much is there to actually say that's new about chickens?...lol...I am always learning as I haven't been in the game all that long but it must get tedious for long timers....

[KimChick]

Yes, there are quite a few on Facebook. Some are Ontario based and some are Canadian.
These are the ones I belong to:
Eastern Ontario Poultry Buy Sell Trade - with Kevin Seward and Josh Haisma
Poultry Gone Wild Ottawa Valley Buy/Sell/Trade
Canadian Heritage and Purebred Poultry Breeders Search and Sales
CMC Poultry and Hatching Egg Auction in Canada
Lombardy Poultry Buy Sell Trade Day 2019 - with Kevin Seward and Josh Haisma

I joined those for information on breeds, etc.
None of those groups compares to the information and support that I have gotten from PTO.

I don't belong to any American groups either, but I'll search for information on any site and take what I want from them.
That's why I was so glad that I found PTO; we are basically in the same climate zone - the Great White North.

[poultry_admin]

@Ontario Chick : A self amplifying effect: little happens, no one comes by and posts, fewer come by, ...

Sorry this post got too long.

Some people don't post because they don't like to speak up in front of others.
Another factor is convenience. People go to facebook a lot every day anyways, so why click on another bookmark or link especially if it's not linked on the facebook site?

I can add the following analytics result to this conversation. It shows the users at the bottom that return every day, every 14 days and every 28 days since the beginning of PTO.

There are two humps every year (May and October).
Both have to do with the poultry events (looking when a show/sale is near me, or what people bring), and seasonal effects (pests, disease, breeding advice, ..). People come here more often because they want to read information and/or get the answer to a problem they might also have.

Most of the 85 people are speaking up about every day.
The big question to me is: how do we get more of the 352 to speak up? They come by frequently, we have their ear, but how can we get participation? That will automatically increase the ~600 and ~1200 numbers, too. Things happen and more people come by more often. People also post more links to other sites, and that helps getting more people here.
There are two approaches to growing:
1) changing the ratio. In our case the ratio of 4. 85 daily visitors times 4 = ~350. Reducing this ratio (getting more of the 350 involved) makes this a more interesting forum and more people stop by.
2) changing the top number. i.e. increasing the 1200. One of every 16 we get to stop by every month will participate. So increasing this number will have more people participate.

Maybe I can suggest a few ideas and get feedback to see what people see what is worth trying?
- I could limit the number of visible forums to newbies (and guests?) to maybe a hand full. More experienced posters would then get to see more topics. This would make it easier to navigate . I am aware of the drawbacks and have not done it yet, because of them.
- we can then also create a "beginners" section where there are no stupid questions!
- Maybe I should change the second line in the banner from "join the conversation" to "friendliest forum without trolls" or do you have a better idea? I think that is the most significant difference of us to "them". "We encourage positive!" like our own "chicken math support group".
- I have donations sitting there waiting to be used. Should we advertise to increase the 1200 number?
- by current design standards this forum style is too busy, cluttered, and difficult to read. I have not given you the chance to choose, but maybe I should? Maybe I need to update to a more "facebook" look and feel?
- how do we get more informational content, while keeping it simple to read/find?

What ideas do you have? No worries about suggesting anything that you can't implement. There are at least 85 of us here that might know how.... And (if done right), some ideas will contradict each other as well. That is OK!

[KimChick]

I think Facebook really interferes with the forums. Especially when looking for eggs or breeders. I am not on Facebook but am noticing more and more breeders only post on there so at times I'm tempted to join but it is definitely not really my thing.

I think that will grow old quickly too as there is much less control on offending comments etc.

The moderators on the Facebook groups that I'm with seem to be very good. The first post is always about reading the rules, and something like "if you find that your post has disappeared, read the rules". Plus, they have had to get tough with some people and really lay out the consequences of inappropriate posting.
I think there is also a Facebook group on Buyers and Sellers and posting good recommendations for each.

[LongCrow]

Just a thought.
Maybe the forum needs to be more mobile friendly. I never access it that way but I think more and more people only use mobile access.

I am one of those that checks it daily but only comments if I think I have something to add to the thread. Not just water cooler talk. Although some of that is needed or everything can grind to a halt and leave the impression that the forum is inactive.

[Happy]

For me the Facebook thing isn't the "trolls" or offensive posts. I don't really see or notice those so they're either not there or I scoll on past them. It's the fact that there's too many know it all's without any way to qualify the info. Everybody's got an opinion and often only the ones not really experienced are the ones with the voice.
What I do like about fb is pictures. Most people post a picture along with their post either for info or simply for attention to their post. Although I enjoy the info I read on PTO I am a visual person and I'd love to see more pics on here. I often stop myself from posting pics (believe it or not lol) because I feel like I'm one of the few that does post them and it feels like I'm being a "look at me" type.
So why are more pics not posted? #1-its a bit of a pain posting pics on the forum as compared to fb. Especially if posting multiple pics. #2-the most active users on the forum may not be the type to snap a lot of pics #3-im just a weirdo and the only on who likes shiny objects

[TomK]

Happy ..I loved that comment...but really, I dont post many pics mainly because i suck at it and these damn birds won't sit still long enough to take a good pic...and they seem to have a built in genetic thing to turn just enough so i get a butt pic just as the shutter clicks...I am aiming at putting in a couple of entries if we run the online contest again this season so I am practicing...