Samba daily online users declining

[KTPhil]

Facebook is too untrustworthy for me. Twice they have opened/sold their user info, and only after getting busted admitted it. Closed the barn after the cows were gone. I have an account so I can see what others post, but I'll never give a scrap of info from me or about me on that site. Fool me once...

Besides, there is a far richer experience here, and it's far more than just forums, and it is far better organized.

[SamboSamba22]

FWIW.
I am 27 years old. I have been actively using Facebook since 2006. I am a member of about 12 different FB VW groups. I cannot stand the clubs on social media, it isn’t a resource. They are what social media is, a media, to reach out and promote attention to one’s own efforts and items. All I ever come across when I pan through these “forums” is nonsense, Front End Friday, Side Shot Saturday, Look At My Collection...
Okay we get it, you dig Volkswagens, so do I! Hey, we have something in common, that’s awesome. We can I come to said forum and ask a question and get a factual, clear idea or diagnosis? It’s always clowns cracking jokes.

And then theres the Samba.
The sweet oasis of air-cooled mystery and awe.
It is extremely dense in knowledge, sure folks get crabby, but hey, you’re all old! (excluding 67ctbug)
Really, I’m only kind of kidding, because I really APPRECIATE the fact the age is higher here on the forum, it gives our Samba merit, it isn’t opinionated nonsense, it’s tried and true fella who’ve turned their own wrenches, lived and learned, and most times share a story along with the information needed or sought after.

I love the Samba. It’s a large part of my life, and has taught me many things beyond VW’s. It takes more effort to type and crack up with folks here compared to FB, but I also think the reward is greater from said efforts.

And here I’ve been lacking with my own involvement the past two months...I’ve been busy with work, promise I haven’t been cheating with Facebook
Happy New Year Samba (young and old)
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[Zundfolge1432]

[vwinnovator]

[VOLKSWAGNUT]

I simply take breaks .. .. sometimes.. its good to get away from things for a while.. and.. I do have a REAL life to tend to..

I'll toss this in..to the switch to social sites for some. For most if not all social outlets.. its free, easy and anyone can start a social "group or page"... hence .. perfect for the lazy free loaders.
In addition .. the ones who start a group.. can pick and choose who are in the kool club or not..

IMO too much bad knee jerk advice on some social non forum sites.. It's a lot of "look at me".. short attention span theater.
It you want good more reliable information.. come to a forum.. lurk for a while and you will see who knows their shit quick...


.
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[Stanagon]

[theastronaut]

[wcfvw69]

I'm not a fan of the FB pages on VW's. It's breathtaking how clueless many are in those groups. I much prefer the layout and organization of a forum vs. FB as well.

I always thought winter was more active for The Samba due to the cold weather states VW owners not being able to work or drive their VW's. They hibernate inside on their computers to get their VW "fix".

I think Everett and the mods have done better with shutting down the perpetual a-holes that use to run off so many people from this site. I know some were banned. I will say that there are some especially annoying recent participants who add zero value to threads they HAVE TO POST in to ad to their post count.

Other than that, this is the go-to classic vw site for me.
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[APPLEGREENVW]

[wheel607]

[Sharp64]

[EverettB]

Thanks for the discussion on possible reasons for less users seen recently.

There has been a general decline due to people using Facebook and Facebook groups. The reasons and some feedback about that were mentioned above by several users and I agreed with everything I read.
One thing not mentioned, which really has nothing to do with this site other than it is another item that makes the Forum format superior for technical questions is:
I have noticed on Facebook several people will set up the same sort of group and often add the same people to the group or exclude people they don't like. This is annoying and often causes duplication of posts and photos.
Imagine if we had 3 different Beetle Forums and you had to post or look in all 3 to try to find something or get an answer to a question.

There are more people on the site during certain times of the year.
As someone mentioned - Often it declines in winter as people are not working on their cars and have less things to post.
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[EverettB]

[ach60]

I use Face Book at home, but never at work.
I admit I spend way too much time at home cruising FB
I never discuss work on FB.
I've see FB up on all or nearly all of my employees computer screens.
I had a young engineer request to go home, because he saw a posting for a party his relatives where having.
We were in the middle of testing so I told him hell no.
What I'm getting at is FB, Twitter etc. are social media,
What we do on TheSamba I feel has more value than that, in that it is a technical forum.
I really liked the phase "The sweet oasis of air-cooled mystery and awe."
And fully agree that TheSamba is "extremely dense in knowledge".
But from a professional standpoint TheSamba has improved my technical writing and research skills,
Which were for the most part dormant from the time I graduated college until I started posting on TheSamba.
A lot of people really don’t know how to do an effective search, or how to use search functions, and it really is too bad for them.
I’m hoping that traditional publishing, and the rules of good technical publishing do not go the way of the Dodo,
Because if you can collaborate what someone has posted on line, like bolt torques, to written documentation like the Bentley Manuals,
than you know that it’s good technical information.
Which Face Book, Twitter, and President Trump rarely provide.
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Good Luck
Al

[FullFender]

[heimlich]

When you search for technical information TheSamba is one of the top, if not the top, sites that comes up in google. You can find it all here. Folks may be on other sites but I always see them refer back to TheSamba. You may see a user count but I suspect that doesn't account for a fraction of the traffic TheSamba gets. Think about all the sites you visit without joining or logging in. This is the type of traffic I am referring to. TheSamba is a valuable source of information.
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[John Moxon]

[Bruce]

[EverettB]

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Well, it could be due to tons of reasons for usage declining.

I'm a young buck (late 20s) who's got the 'bug fever'. I quite enjoy the Samba, even if I'm not here everyday.

There are still those of us in the younger generations who have a passion for classic cars (ACVWs and otherwise).

We are here, we are ready to learn.

Please keep teaching us, we want to know whatever knowledge you have to offer.
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