Look after this forum

I'll start to post around now till end of March. I doubt I've even watched more than 4 horse races since April this year. I know the flat fans find this hard to believe but a good number of people on this forum have zero interest watching skinny horses running round a sand pit at wolverhampton. Forums have jumped the shark though, and i'll be surprised if TH and others are still running in a few years.
 
dvds2000 said:
Personally I don't get Twitter, and I use Facebook but not for stuff like this.
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Same here, and when they talk about hashtag stuff I'm totally lost.

(No, I'm not asking anyone to explain :))

Then again, 25 years ago I probably didn't understand .com stuff.
 
Grasshopper said:
Seconded.

I've said it before, but if the forum isn't being run as a commercial venture (and I don't believe it is), then there is no harm in being relatively small in numbers. You can follow the conversations more easily, more voices can be heard, and you can get to know the character of the individual contributors - as far as you can over the ether, anyway). There is something to be said for that degree of intimacy.
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If it was being run as a commercial venture it would have been bankrupt years ago :D

I think you can tell which sites are commercial in their nature, I don't have skimlinks installed, if you are logged in then you hardly see any adverts, and people who donated a few years ago shouldn't see any at all at the top of the page (and even if you do there will only be one or two), I don't have any anti ad blocker mods installed and I don't email everyone every week or two urging them to sign up to xx bookmakers like a couple of forums I was a member of used to do.

Forums always drop in the summer, and I know on here its worse due to not as many being into flat racing, but holidays, nice weather etc all have an effect on people using the forum. Saturdays are the same. Considering its usually the day of the week with the biggest races, there is hardly anyone online. People going racing or going shopping have a lot to do with that.
 
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Twitter has its uses..but regarding horse racing analysis/ race discussions..its not engaging imo...i read stuff on there and when i look to see if anyone has replied to whatever is talked about there is bugger all response or one or two short replies...bores the arse off me personally. Yes its good to get up to date tweets etc..but this game is about more than that. I read some folk say..oh i don't bother with forums now coz i post on twitter..like you can't do both and that its like some status upgrade..oh i'm a twitter user now...a step up from old fashioned forums.

I'll put it in reverse..lets say twitter came first before forums..how many people when they saw what a forum was like...would stick with twitter?..i think the newness factor and the advantages of the "new" racing forums would have folk coming to forums in droves. Forums would look friendlier and have that commuity thing that a local pub has in comparison.
 
EC1 said:
Twitter has its uses..but regarding horse racing analysis/ race discussions..its not engaging imo...i read stuff on there and when i look to see if anyone has replied to whatever is talked about there is bugger all response or one or two short replies...bores the arse off me personally. Yes its good to get up to date tweets etc..but this game is about more than that. I read some folk say..oh i don't bother with forums now coz i post on twitter..like you can't do both and that its like some status upgrade..oh i'm a twitter user now...a step up from old fashioned forums.

I'll put it in reverse..lets say twitter came first before forums..how many people when they saw what a forum was like...would stick with twitter?..i think the newness factor and the advantages of the "new" racing forums would have folk coming to forums in droves. Forums would look friendlier and have that commuity thing that a local pub has in comparison.
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Forums are old fashioned EC1...thats why they are dying. Twitter is quick, and you can reach millions in seconds. Its about consumption of data. You can simply consume much more data on Twitter than you can on a forum. ps Im not saying that the data on twitter isn't **** but it wins by miles due to its reach. Its the reason they are a billion pound company and TH survives on donations and minor ads.
 
granger said:
I think you could say the same for something like twitter which is also declining = https://hbr.org/2016/02/the-reason-twitters-losing-active-users

Social media has a place but it cannot come near replicating some of the quality discussion we have on threads on here
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Twitter wont go - it will evolve. Information is easier and easier to get. Even logging on to a PC to get it is becoming a chore for many. Voice controlled information gathering via TV and other devices gets better. Wearable tech continues to evolve. The days of anoraks eating wotsits holding a stop watch are numbered. ;-)
 
Others say it much more eloquently, but I’m in largely in agreement. Twitter is great for instant news, results etc. but the forums strength is in the threads that go on for months which Twitter cannot do. I’d be very surprised if we’re not here in 2 years and hopefully still in 10…
 
We have had existential crises here before and soldiered on through. When I joined in (Channel 4 days) I thought the world had upended with the connectivity immediacy and have a loyalty to the place and have met and shared many great experiences with lots of the members. I even got related by marriage to one of them which is a coincidence of major proportions. Anyway - 5 suggestions to liven the place up a bit more:

1. Ardross
2. Slim Chance
3. Krizon
4. Steve Miller
5. Brian H

if anybody can influence their return the should.
 
to give an idea of what I touched on earlier


104 online


21 members
28 spiders
55 guests/unregistered/not logged in
 
an capall said:
We have had existential crises here before and soldiered on through. When I joined in (Channel 4 days) I thought the world had upended with the connectivity immediacy and have a loyalty to the place and have met and shared many great experiences with lots of the members. I even got related by marriage to one of them which is a coincidence of major proportions. Anyway - 5 suggestions to liven the place up a bit more:

1. Ardross
2. Slim Chance
3. Krizon
4. Steve Miller
5. Brian H

if anybody can influence their return the should.
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I have remained Facebook friends with Ardross,BrianH and Krizon, I'll tap them up, mind you Krizon is now romantically involved.
 
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an capall said:
We have had existential crises here before and soldiered on through. When I joined in (Channel 4 days) I thought the world had upended with the connectivity immediacy and have a loyalty to the place and have met and shared many great experiences with lots of the members. I even got related by marriage to one of them which is a coincidence of major proportions. Anyway - 5 suggestions to liven the place up a bit more:

1. Ardross
2. Slim Chance
3. Krizon
4. Steve Miller
5. Brian H

if anybody can influence their return the should.
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Dangerous to make a list as will forget someone but if any of the below are looking in, it would be great to hear from you again

Melendez
Cantoris
Pricewise
Hamm
Sheikh
Double Handful
Bar The Bull
 
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Digger said:
I'll start to post around now till end of March. I doubt I've even watched more than 4 horse races since April this year. I know the flat fans find this hard to believe but a good number of people on this forum have zero interest watching skinny horses running round a sand pit at wolverhampton. Forums have jumped the shark though, and i'll be surprised if TH and others are still running in a few years.
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Oh, I don't think anyone finds it "hard to believe," given the regularity with which it's stated.

But as a misrepresentation of Flat racing, that's pretty good.
 
I prefer jumps racing too, but I'd like to think those that do comment during the summer are valued by the forum as well, because they keep it ticking along and keep a percentage of people reading in time for the winter. Lets not start this 'jumps is better than flat' crap again, because even if it is, the forum needs people contributing all year round. I've enjoyed seeing the return of experienced posters like Gus, but I think naming names of past posters and asking why they don't post anymore is totally dwelling in the past.
 
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Totally agree that Twitter and Facebook are now full of narcissistic and delusional people. I seek refuge in forums like this one where you can get some great banter and also some great info. Horse racing is very much a minority sport in comparison with other major sports hence the reason it gets mucked about by the TV companies. It's great to be able to talk to others with a love for the sport and who are knowledgeable about it. None of my friends or associates have the first clue about horse racing but gamble as if they know everything. I try to steer the gamblers( I don't bet myself) but those that know better usually lose. World would be a much poorer place without forums like this. And so easy to access as well.
 
I do still come on here but life is very different for me to when I was scrapping with dear old Alan Morgan in the early 2000s - parenthood, a very different and difficult legal world, the fact that Flat racing has gone to hell in a handcart with far too much of it and much of it very very boring etc .

Lord H, Steve M and Krizon and indeed Songsheet are all around on Facebook but as Col said lives change .
 
lives do change..mine changed big time this year..i didn't want to get out of bed some days..never mind post on a forum...life fooks things up doesn't it sometimes?..or just makes your priorities different
 
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EC1 said:
are you a Hibs fan Grass?
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Member Digger is a proper Hibee; tooled-up as he is with a season-ticket, and eternal, unremitting hope. I am merely affiliated, having grown-up within Par-5 distance of Easter Road (my old school used to look directly into the offices and dressing-rooms, much to the delight of some of the straps in my Art class).

Everyone who is a poet and an artisan, has a little bit of Hibs in them. If you like to drink from puddles, I'm reliably informed this means you are probably a Jambo i.e. a peasant from the West side of Edinburgh.
 
Ardross said:
I do still come on here but life is very different for me to when I was scrapping with dear old Alan Morgan in the early 2000s - parenthood, a very different and difficult legal world, the fact that Flat racing has gone to hell in a handcart with far too much of it and much of it very very boring etc .

Lord H, Steve M and Krizon and indeed Songsheet are all around on Facebook but as Col said lives change .
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Miller never recovered from The Fly's first Champion Hurdle. EC1 is made of sterner stuff. :)
 
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Grass - when i were a young un my Dad took me to Edinburgh for a short break...and we went to Easter Road for a mid week match..this would be about 1970...there was a player then who had been a stalwart for them.,,had played loads through the previous years..i just cannot remember his name now

its the only scottish ground i have been to..who would that player have been would you or Digger know?

.i am currently reading all the Rebus books..about half way through...all based in Edinburgh of course..really love them
 
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just to add..when i was a kid we stayed at Kyle of Localsh for a week..and another time stayed at Inverness..i've never visited Scotland as an adult..but those holidays left a big mark on me..particularly isle of skye..nowhere like it i have seen..if you like ultimate peace and beautiful surroundings..unbeatable.
 
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