The Slow Demise of the Sailing Forum

[Sailor Sailor]

As some of you might know, there is a Sailing and Cruising page on Facebook, with 172,466 members now.

Human beings are visual creatures and like to see images and photos. We also are curious or noisy, and want to know about other peoples’ lives, to see what they like/love or do. We prefer to interact with real people who also share part of themselves, beyond a single common interest.

The remarkable rise of Facebook as a social media platform satisfies these interests. The spirit of Facebook is show and tell, real people or their personas, showing their spouses or significant others, their children, their activities and interests, and their progression through life. The same is true of LinkedIn as far as careers are concerned, to a degree.

Most of us celebrate our friends’ events and accomplishments: births, birthdays, graduations, marriages, anniversaries, vacations, reunions, careers, etc. We are genuinely happy for people we like.

In contrast to the spirit of Facebook of disclosure and celebration, most sailing forums allow anonymity, unsubstantiated claims and opinions, undisclosed commercial interests promoting something for financial gain, and fake personas – some of the most prolific posters refuse to give their names or even show a photo of their boat, claiming they require some kind of privacy.

It is funny to see and read of some sailors on the Facebook Sailing and Cruising page who behave as if they are on a sailing forum, concealing their identity as anonymous or trying to promote something for financial gain. They just don’t get it and they are clearly out of place. Fortunately, Facebook has a laugh button.

While forums like this will probably never disappear completely, as there will always be some who refuse to open up, I suspect these forums will die a slow death as image-based social media takes over.

[rslifkin]

Personally, I find both have their place. Facebook groups work well for seeing what other people are doing, sharing pictures of travels, etc. But technical discussion is better suited to forums, as it's easier to look back at past discussions for information rather than struggling to find things and just asking a question that's been asked many times (and may have at one point received a very good and detailed answer).

[Cheechako]

I like Facebook for some things. I've contacted friends I haven't seen for 30 years sometimes. But it's not the same as forums specifically aimed at things like sailboat cruising, guitars etc. I spend some time on FB, but a lot of time on more directed forums.

The problem with FB is you can leave for one minute and maybe never find the post you were previously viewing when you return. Even FB groups I'm a member of are very difficult to find an older post.

[HeinSdL]

Well I'm not on Facebook and I find I learn a lot on this forum from a select number of experienced individuals. Here the opportunity is presented to learn in a (and I hate this expression) 'safe' environment. Safe in the true sense of safe: nuggets of info picked up from behind the pc as opposed to same info picked up doing it for real, the hard way... Hopefully I also contribute from time to time.

So I am OK with the concept of this forum. Kind of boring info sharing without also having to look at what someone had for dinner today.

[gonesail]

i have a love hate relationship with FB. mostly hate. too much moderation and too many people addicted to being nice. but some groups are pretty good. i recently joined the westerbeke group which i rather enjoy. with forums it sometimes becomes difficult because one size does not fit all.

[BlueH2Obound]

Personally, I think you are over stating the usefulness of facebook for a sailing forum. For help on boat issues, and such, these forums are excellent. If you want to get in other peoples lives, and armchair cruise, facebook is probably better for you!

[CrispyCringle]

I dont think FB can come close to providing a useful source of information, as well as being a historical record of important discussions and problems. I use the FB Starlink on Boats discussion group regularly. If a question is posted and you dont get an answer fairly quickly, its lost in the FB abyss. Not nearly as handy as the thread structure of a "Old School" forum. The vast majority of the time, I really dont care to delve into the day to day selfies of people I dont know. So I dont really have a lot of use for FB for contacts outside of real friends.

As others have said, FB has its place. But long live the forum.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Sailor Sailor

..
While forums like this will probably never disappear completely, as there will always be some who refuse to open up, I suspect these forums will die a slow death as image-based social media takes over.

Well, the CF is coming up on it's 21St birthday, and isn't showing any sign, I can see, of it's imminent death (slow or otherwise). I've enjoyed being aboard, for every one of those years.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Sailor Sailor

In contrast to the spirit of Facebook of disclosure and celebration, most sailing forums allow anonymity, unsubstantiated claims and opinions, undisclosed commercial interests promoting something for financial gain, and fake personas – some of the most prolific posters refuse to give their names or even show a photo of their boat, claiming they require some kind of privacy.

I agree with some of your criticism, but surely the irony of your anonymity critique can't be lost on you -- "Sailor Sailor"?!? You seem pretty anonymous to me.

Facebook is the creepiest platform out there. It's completely invasive with regard to personal privacy, and it's dangerous in the way its algorithms work to siloize and radicalize people.

I have a lot of problems with CF, and do find I spend less time here because of some of the negatives. But facebook is magnitudes worse than anything here.

[dcondit]

I remember rec.sailing over 30 years ago when the internet was just getting started. I think there were about 100 participants when I joined. My kids (both adults now) never use Facebook anymore, so I suspect that will fade also.

[mvweebles]

CF is a relatively cranky lot. Plenty of curmudgeons. More or less aging out compared to Facebook.

[CaptTom]

I think there is some erosion of the popularity of forums. For one thing, it seems to be an age thing. At some point the most avid forum users will have aged out and the FB and SnapChat crowd seems to have little interest.

That said, for me they serve very different purposes. The purpose of a forum is to share relevant information about a common topic. The primarily-text format suits me well. I never made the "pivot to video" the rest of the world seems to have made. Let me read the parts I want, at my own pace. I don't need to wade through all your introductions and useless background just to find the one point of interest to me. I can read a lot faster than most of them talk.

The purpose of FB is specifically to drive engagement. Did anyone else notice they removed the option to sort posts chronologically? They don't want you doing that. They want to be able to feed you what their algorithm thinks will be most "engaging" to the average user.

They're probably right. That drivel they try to shove down our throats probably is what the "average" person wants to see. It sure is a sad reflection on the average intelligence of our species.

[Ryban]

Both have there place. I like the sense of community here, the depth of knowledge, and the searchable history. Just about every question has been asked at some point.

However, in defense of Facebook, there are communities there dedicated to a single boat type or builder, or engine model/manufacturer. These groups have been far more useful for me when trying to get help on an issue specific to my boat or engine. Also hugely valuable are the Facebook groups devoted to a given cruising ground. Joining these when you arrive on a new island or in a new Country makes things a lot easier, and acts a digital cruisers net.

Just yesterday I had a question about a bolt on my mast, posted it to the Westsail FB group, and got multiple good answers within minutes.

I think people bashing on Facebook as a useful resource for the community probably have a very narrow scope of it, or haven't yet benefited from those Facebook communities.

[Miyalk]

Facebook is no substitute for forums like this. I long ago deleted FB from my devices due to privacy issues and the manipulation of content.

They serve two quite different purposes and audiences. Narrow focus forums like this have an incredible wealth of specialised, easily searchable info on them that no social media platform can compete with.

Interestingly most of my son's cohort (early 20's) have never used FB, I suspect its going to die out with the boomers.

[FlyingScot]

Funny that you mention it, as for a few years now I have felt FB is taking over everything. But over the last few months I feel that WhatsApp groups are growing like crazy. Now I know FB owns WA, but progress stands still for no one.