I am beginning to find this troubling

[superheavyfunk]

Over time I am becoming both more at ease and more efficient in navigating the new TalkBass, but as part of that process I am noticing patterns that have me worried: (1) I am seeing a lot fewer new threads in "Basses" on both the BG and DB sides (the BG side barely records enough new threads in a day to get onto a second page); it seems like we have all but achieved stasis. (2) a lot of the more active threads like Gretsch Owners Club, Acoustic Bass Fetish Club, and Exquisite/Glarry/Burning Fire Club, appear to have gone dormant, with little or no activity for days. (3) a lot of our more frequent posters seem to have vanished or gone dark, and a lot of the newer posts are from names I do not recognize. I'm happy to see the "new" people, but I miss the veterans.

Open for comment.

No offense meant but I feel like this is super melodramatic. The updates been live for a matter of days… not even weeks at this point but this post makes it sound like 6 months have past and both the quality and quantity of the content is falling off a cliff. I mean, “approaching stasis” seems a bit over the top, doesn’t it?

 

[pcake]

Over time I am becoming both more at ease and more efficient in navigating the new TalkBass, but as part of that process I am noticing patterns that have me worried: (1) I am seeing a lot fewer new threads in "Basses" on both the BG and DB sides (the BG side barely records enough new threads in a day to get onto a second page); it seems like we have all but achieved stasis. (2) a lot of the more active threads like Gretsch Owners Club, Acoustic Bass Fetish Club, and Exquisite/Glarry/Burning Fire Club, appear to have gone dormant, with little or no activity for days. (3) a lot of our more frequent posters seem to have vanished or gone dark, and a lot of the newer posts are from names I do not recognize. I'm happy to see the "new" people, but I miss the veterans.

Open for comment.

this new version of the site is more work to use, and honestly after working 60 to 70 hours a week, i don't really want to spend time finding things that used to be easy to find or working to figure out a forum - not even TB. it makes sense to me that less people would post since i'm posting less and spending less time here.

i don't mind change, but i also don't believe in change just for change's sake, something i see too much of in the course of my work. something has to work better - improved organization, lower cost for the site owner or something that makes for a better user experience.

 

[Drop1]

Traffic definitely feels like less.

For me, even with dark mode, I find it harder to scan threads on my phone. I wanted to go back to previous threads and just couldn't find them.

I really like the old forums visuals. Maybe a little dated, but clean, easy to read and navigate and ir wasn't hard on the eyes. This new version is brutal if you dont use dark mode. Straight up blinding to me.

I dont know if it's a temporary thing or not, but the whole forums interest and even attitude seems to have changed quite a bit.

I think that's kinda interesting. Some people seem calmer. Less, aggressive. Like, they don't quite feel at home yet. I'd love to know the psychology behind this phenomenon. I've experienced it on other forums as well over the yesrs after big visual changes.

 

[MattZilla]

Can you point out a a few bot-generated threads?

Abortion pills clinic? Are the bots good or was the Forum Base/Skeleton salesman really good at telling Paul & Co that the security built in is way better than it was? I know sales & psychology among a number of other things, but am very ignorant to most things IT-related beyond common usage of common user interfaces, so I have to trust that everything all together is still less of a headache for Paul & the mods than the last forum base/skeleton.

 

[Alkali Ike]

That really sucks.

 

[pepj]

I dont bother much with notifications..i just go through each forum and look at the titles.
If i want to drop in, then fine.

But yep, there is only so many time's you want to rehash everything. I post something but not interested in the back and forth if someone counters..
Thats probably cut down my post rate as well.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Can't speak to any 'vibe' change, as I'm a relative noob, (15mths or so) compared to others.
I feel I have a good handle on the reboot. Achievements thing is lame and annoying like mosquitoes. I think I managed to turn those off though.
I think the pre-reboot platform was a bit more user friendly, At least for how I use the site.

 

[mikeGJ]

I've adapted and can find all "my stuff" but I'm finding myself less interested and engaged.

Others here have mentioned a perceived a generally lower level of posts, so others may be responding in the same way. Some of the more interesting posters may have disengaged.

 

[TomB]

One big change to the New Post volume is the lack of new or bumped For Sale items. This was a huge part of it before, sometimes almost half the posts. As a seller, this is a big downgrade, as sales exposure is now limited to those motivated enough to browse the classifieds.

 

[Bassdirty]

I saw a thread earlier where someone complained about not having enough pronouns. Not kidding. Saw one where one user saw a full paged ad about being gay. Saw one where a mod said they can't control what ads show up. Pretty sad for a bass related site.

I've been getting ads for Tires, because I have been google searching tires for my jeep lately. Most of these ads are based on what "big corp" thinks you want, based on your searches. What is annoying AF, is that these ads are GIGANTIC, so people walking by my office can at least see ..tires. (My office work does NOT involve tires.)

As far as those ads you mention "one user" saw, well.. again, I see ads for tires mostly.



T$

 

[Bassdirty]

View attachment 6980623


Abortion pills clinic? Are the bots good or was the Forum Base/Skeleton salesman really good at telling Paul & Co that the security built in is way better than it was? I know sales & psychology among a number of other things, but am very ignorant to most things IT-related beyond common usage of common user interfaces, so I have to trust that everything all together is still less of a headache for Paul & the mods than the last forum base/skeleton.

I was gonna guess the one about a "Fretless Journey"...




T$

 

[WG Plum]

I saw a thread earlier where someone complained about not having enough pronouns. Not kidding. Saw one where one user saw a full paged ad about being gay. Saw one where a mod said they can't control what ads show up. Pretty sad for a bass related site.

Ads are generated based on browsing history, so far as I know. They have nothing to do with TB. So.... If folks are concerned about the ads they're seeing, they should check what they're looking at/searching for.

And maybe clear their history/cache.

 

[WG Plum]

After an initial period of adjustment, I'm no longer having any difficulties with the new site. I can find what I'm looking for and while some things require two clicks now instead of one, that's the very definition of a first world problem and absolutely not something to get bent about.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I imagine a lot of old time users have left since the so called update. I'm still here, but it is nowhere close to how it was before. It is not the fun and informative place it was.

 

[Not_Shane]

I imagine a lot of old time users have left since the so called update. I'm still here, but it is nowhere close to how it was before. It is not the fun and informative place it was.

its literally the same website with the same content, i reeally dont see the problem.
A few days of fiddling around and I can find everything and anything I did previously, sometimes easier and faster with the new interface.
new interface and some new buttons? sure. Stuff slightly moved around? yeah.
You learned how to navigate and love the website when you first found it, but this update is...just too much to handle?

 

[KohanMike]

I'm having no trouble at all with the new site. I get notices for threads to which I reply, able to navigate as usual, visit as much as I ever did. Being a Gold member, I get no ads and feel very gratified that I'm supporting the forum.

 

[JRA]

i've posted less: but i haven't been on the computer quite as much this past week = coincidental.

in fewer threads: my 'TB habits' have been challenged --- spending some time trying to create some new ones. big whup!

still getting the hang of things: big whup!

 

[Thumpin6string]

its literally the same website with the same content, i reeally dont see the problem.
A few days of fiddling around and I can find everything and anything I did previously, sometimes easier and faster with the new interface.
new interface and some new buttons? sure. Stuff slightly moved around? yeah.
You learned how to navigate and love the website when you first found it, but this update is...just too much to handle?

Hardly. It looks more form like, it is a pain in the azz to find or get to certain things and they managed to lose some of my classified ad content. They also changed the different forums and pages as well as eliminating signatures from classified ads. Also getting a bit tired of the "reacted" thing. The old like, quoted and replied was much better IMHO.

 

[Not_Shane]

Hardly. It looks more form like, it is a pain in the azz to find or get to certain things and they managed to lose some of my classified ad content. They also changed the different forums and pages as well as eliminating signatures from classified ads. Also getting a bit tired of the "reacted" thing. The old like, quoted and replied was much better IMHO.

So, your main complaints are:
1. the transition was messy, and some posts were lost/deleted - understandably frustrating, but really is this a big deal after a full system update? it happened once and probably will never happen again.
2. its harder to navigate according to you. - Well according to me as well as others is very much the same if not easier and more intuitive to 2024 advancements. I have never been able to surf so many different topics and see so many posts as I am now. The old TB you had to go to each section, pick what forum or thread, and wade through the mud to see whats new and whats hot. Now, im shown hot, trending, new threads and posts and CAN STILL wade through the muck like before. Way more options now and way more visibility on the whole site. so who's right here? Also, this fits in nicely to my statement in my original post you ignored: "When you first found talkbass you learned to use it without a complaint, but now that its changed its impossible to learn again?" I'd argue it's not harder to navigate, its DIFFERENT, so learn just like you did the first time you came here and in 1 day you'll forget what you complained about.
3. they changed the name of reactions? really? this is a big problem that's causing you to not like the site as much? it used to be all different things, now its REACTED with LIKED COMMENT. so, they again simplified and streamlined.
Like I said in the beginning, it's the same site with the same content, you just don't want to learn or try!

 

[Hiroko]

My engagement had been waning for various reasons anyway, but the new software didn’t or doesn’t remember my password and I had been too lazy to fix it on my limited downtime.
I’ve also seen more and more threads that seem like AI / bots and I refuse to engage them. It’s to the point where I can’t even give the benefit of the doubt if there is any question, I’d rather ignore a real newbie than waste my life wising up someone’s bot for them like I’m probably doing right now.

I do kinda miss feeling like I was missing out on something if I didn’t log in a few times a day. My productivity hasn’t improved, unfortunately.

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