Post, views and replies

[Broad Bill]

Don't know if this has been discussed before and I hope this post is OK in this forum. Was looking at posts the other day and surprised at the difference between views and replies.

Just the first page on the salt water forum had 30 posts, 26 by sponsors, 18,126 views and only 7 replies of which 1 was none fishing related and 1 was a second post or reply from the original poster so for over 18,000 views there were only 5 replies, all on one thread.

The fresh water forum has a similar trend, but almost every post made on that forum has replies and some kind of exchange.

Is that the trend in social media these days? Doesn't seem very social!
Curious why there's a difference as well between the two forums.

I also saw some posts have no replies but 5 stars, didn't know that was possible and wanted to understand the star process more and curious how it works. I thought only people who replied to a post could rate the post.

Maybe this is a sign of the times, maybe a sign of the timing of the season we're at but there's a lot of people fishing and just curious why there's so many view and so few replies. I always thought the benefits of social media and fishing sites was to promote discussion and the exchange of information. Maybe times have change and I haven't

[Duffman]

IMO, the forum has gone from 95% member posts/questions, 5% sponsor posts/reports to 95% sponsor posts/reports and 5 % member posts/questions.

Members tend to comment/reply on other members posts. When the sponsors post a report every single day how many times can you reply to that?

Not saying it’s good or bad, just an observation. I get it, the sponsors pay the bills.

Haven’t seen personal reports from guys here for years who used to post all the time.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I think part of the reason you see the difference is because the salt water board has many more sponsors posting reports and people mostly use and frequent that board to see the reports and don't comment on them.

In contrast we don't have any sponsors on the fresh water side it's mostly a tight knit group of individuals that for the most part are all friends.

I have noticed the trends too... We have the same amount of traffic we used to which means there are a lot of people who visit the site but don't post, they are looking for information.

I think most people get social on social media sites and since the advent of social media groups came about, you can get fishing specific information in those groups rather than having to sort through your general feeds to get them. Years ago that was not case and if you wanted fishing specific info we were the only game in town.

I think the other thing is people's general behavior... Most go to social sites when they are in the social mood but if they are looking for information they come to our site to get that and are not looking for social interaction. They get their fill of that on social sites like Facebook.

I'd be curious on others thoughts here as well.

As far as star ratings, you don't have to reply to a post to rate it you only need to be logged in.

[Duffman]

This post moved to non fishing and will get buried behind the NHL thread…..good luck on any more responses

[Broad Bill]

Duffman that was exactly my thoughts when it was moved. I know it's not a fishing report but very few other than sponsors post reports anymore. I was hoping to help Mr. Zagorski and I agree moving it to the non fishing section will most likely not get the attention or responses I was hoping for to regain the member interaction which appears to have been lost from years past. Maybe it's the way things are these days, but would be helpful at least in my opinion, to get member feedback.

The wind farm thread wasn't a fishing report and that solicited 150 odd replies and remained in the fishing section as have many other non fishing report posts.

Doesn't matter to me, Mr. Zagorski makes the rules. Was just trying to understand and help the site be more informative and interactive. Seems like the world has transitioned to unsocial social media

[dales529]

I will respond as I have never learned to keep my mouth shut LOL.
I think the "old" members ( non sponsor) stopped posting due the general nature of social media key board analysists where someone would post a "catch" or a simple opinion and get blasted.
What would follow was:
NOT MY Questions or posts below just memory of old member posts responses from the keyboard gang.

- Regulations suck and none of our fishing groups are doing anything even though I don't attend meetings or get involved. We don't have a lobby although we did. ( Not Anymore). I ran MANY fundraising fishing trips to help recreational fishing and got blasted as well.
Catch post responses and these are just a few:
- Is it really 27" long
- You are holding the fish wrong.
- is it really your limit or a boat limit?
- What does ORL mean?
- Why didn't you release it?
- Striped Bass are in decline and anyone fishing for them suck if you keep 1 per regulations.
- All the boats are killing everything and the same thread would complain about boat traffic putting the fish down and killing the bite.
- Negative sponsor posts.

ETC ETC I just believe many old members got tired of answering BS and stopped posting.

Duff: Always laughed when you would post " wait for it"! and then it would come. Said many times rec fishermen are our own worst enemy.

Bill: As always kudos for bringing up solid subjects for intelligent discussion. Even when we don't agree which is rare. Only a few want to or are able to join in.

Gerry (Mr Zagorski) still runs one of the best fishing sites on the east coast and will always be a great resource which I am happy he lets me in his circle.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

Duffman that was exactly my thoughts when it was moved. I know it's not a fishing report but very few other than sponsors post reports anymore. I was hoping to help Mr. Zagorski and I agree moving it to the non fishing section will most likely not get the attention or responses I was hoping for to regain the member interaction which appears to have been lost from years past. Maybe it's the way things are these days, but would be helpful at least in my opinion, to get member feedback.

The wind farm thread wasn't a fishing report and that solicited 150 odd replies and remained in the fishing section as have many other non fishing report posts.

Doesn't matter to me, Mr. Zagorski makes the rules. Was just trying to understand and help the site be more informative and interactive. Seems like the world has transitioned to unsocial social media

Mr Zagorski reporting here... A few things to notice and why it was moved. 1) Back when we had the whales post practically no one was fishing so why not allow it to be where it was.
2) While the whale post was not about fishing, it was an important post for everyone in the fishing community to follow and to be informed and let their opinions be known. This was not about our board but a much larger and broader issue.
3) Notice I just didn't move the post so no one could find it. Instead I left the title on the SW board and redirected it to non fishing so if people on here want to discuss they can still find the post.
4) I'd love to see more people posting and responding to posts and would like opinions on why they think it does not happen as frequently as it used to but when the fishing season is here the main SW board is not the place for it.

The great and powerful OZ has spoken

[Broad Bill]

https://youtu.be/YWyCCJ6B2WE

Social media has been around for some time. I remember not long ago when there was pretty significant interaction and great information shared on this site, the only reason I asked the question is I don't see that any longer and I always thought that was the secret sauce if you will of NJF.

I appreciate everyone's responses, especially the Great Oz's, opinions are important and eventually lead to the truth. People by nature want to talk and share their experiences, for some reason it just seems like that has disappeared from the site. Didn't mean any disrespect and certainly wasn't trying to stir the pot, I just thought it would be an interesting topic of discussion to see if there's an undertone happening that is maybe not obvious on the surface. There have been a lot of great contributors and posters on this site who no longer post and I was wondering why.

I'm not saying this opinion is right or wrong but it's my opinion. I've always put more credibility in member posts as it relates to fishing than I do in sponsor posts because sponsor posts obviously have a built-in conflict of interest. I'm not saying sponsors lie, but they're not here to post negative reports when they're spending money to market their business. It's just an inherent conflict of interest and if I were a party boat or for hire operator or owner and market my business here, I'd have a inherent interest in putting a positive spin on any post I made. It's simply human nature. I guess all I'm saying is I miss the days when members were more active posting and replying to posts as opposed to just viewing others posts and was curious if there was a reason that's happened.

The Tin Man has spoken

[Duffman]

Great discussion IMO.

“ I'd love to see more people posting and responding to posts and would like opinions on why they think it does not happen as frequently as it used to but when the fishing season is here the main SW board is not the place for it”

Personally stopped posting reports cuz I think I sound like a broken record that no one wants to hear

Once the boat is in for the season, I’m out 2-3 sometimes 4 times a week. How many 17” fluke pics can ya post before ya get sick of it?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

https://youtu.be/YWyCCJ6B2WE

Social media has been around for some time. I remember not long ago when there was pretty significant interaction and great information shared on this site, the only reason I asked the question is I don't see that any longer and I always thought that was the secret sauce if you will of NJF.

I appreciate everyone's responses, especially the Great Oz's, opinions are important and eventually lead to the truth. People by nature want to talk and share their experiences, for some reason it just seems like that has disappeared from the site. Didn't mean any disrespect and certainly wasn't trying to stir the pot, I just thought it would be an interesting topic of discussion to see if there's an undertone happening that is maybe not obvious on the surface. There have been a lot of great contributors and posters on this site who no longer post and I was wondering why.

I'm not saying this opinion is right or wrong but it's my opinion. I've always put more credibility in member posts as it relates to fishing than I do in sponsor posts because sponsor posts obviously have a built-in conflict of interest. I'm not saying sponsors lie, but they're not here to post negative reports when they're spending money to market their business. It's just an inherent conflict of interest and if I were a party boat or for hire operator or owner and market my business here, I'd have a inherent interest in putting a positive spin on any post I made. It's simply human nature. I guess all I'm saying is I miss the days when members were more active posting and replying to posts as opposed to just viewing others posts and was curious if there was a reason that's happened.

The Tin Man has spoken

It sure is an interesting topic and I'd like to get some insight on it as well. I know many of us made a ton of new friends here and we do have a great group people. I also think people are more respectful than on social sites which causes less drama... The downside to that is some people thrive on drama and are drawn to it like moths to a flame. While it's great for site hits, I think it distracts from the quality of the community and I think in the long run, quality is better than quantity.