Site Content

[wylye]

Is it my imagination or is this site dying on its feet? There is little new content of any significance just the same old stuff week after week. Is it time we moved on?

 

[Will Hewland]

I get a similar feeling. Maybe we have just said it all!

Or; I really think Facebook has been taken on massively by many shooters and lots of the usual discussion is on there now. Perhaps because it's so easy to use. The new software update of this site has not helped (although I understand why Matt did it and once again acknowledge that SC is a great free product). 

 

[Salopian]

I think that the real issue is that many people who have frequented this site feel that most everything has been said and discussed , they now have the fear of being flamed if they put their head above the parapet.

What ever happened to free speech?

This site now appears to be a site where you can peddle your products and services free of charge, providing you are in the 'click'.

This of course is not actually true , it is just peoples (members?) perception, promoted by people who were 'newbies ' a few months ago, but now are 'experts' in every chosen subject.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

This site still is what it has been for some time - a fine first resource.  Personally I am not in love with facebook tho there are many that seem to be.  The web equivalent of citizens band radio tho that has now mostly died thanks to the web.

I like this place and most of the people that I've met here.  Maybe it's because I'm old hahaha

 

[Jan Powell]

Social media is the way forward I'm afraid, and I too am not necessarily a fan. 

At many competitions, grounds and shooters are sharing information almost in real time. Facebook has the flexibility to share photographs and videos with the click of a button and almost everyone uses it.

Add to that a feeling that website discussion tends to degenerate to the most banal of topics, many of which have been done to death over the years it's easy to see why folks lose interest. 

 

[Nimbusgb]

Social media is the way forward I'm afraid, and I too am not necessarily a fan. 

At many competitions, grounds and shooters are sharing information almost in real time. Facebook has the flexibility to share photographs and videos with the click of a button and almost everyone uses it.

Add to that a feeling that website discussion tends to degenerate to the most banal of topics, many of which have been done to death over the years. It's easy to see why folks lose interest. 

I suggested real time scoring and automagic sharing of scores here when I first got involved at the beginning of last year. Let's just say that the idea was greeted with general disdain. Nice to see that someone else is seeing the trend, it's inevitable regardless of the dinosaurs willingness to participate.

 

[Hamster]

I too think the new layout and software didn't help. There will never be a time when everything has been said, new comers will make sure of that and besides who can resist a cartridge speed thread.

 

[schmokinn]

i do have to say that when i first joined the general air of my word is god from some was somewhat offputting,but i generally have the skin of a rhino i am still coming here.

i have noticed over the last few months that the amount of new threads has been quite limited but was putting it down to everybody being to busy shooting through the summer and was hoping there would be a resurgence come the crap weather.

would this be the right time for a question on chokes? :angel:

p.s i still cannot edit my profile!!

 

[Jan Powell]

I too think the new layout and software didn't help. There will never be a time when everything has been said, new comers will make sure of that and besides who can resist a cartridge speed thread.

Part of the problem is that there's little new discussion. Newcomers ask newcomers questions and, for the more experienced site users, it's boring. That's no criticism of the newcomers, I asked the same questions when I got into the sport. The problem is there's not a lot else being posted.

Going back to the Facebook issue, i'm just back from a big event at the weekend. Clay Shooting TV provided regular Facebook updates and video footage within moments of the shooter stepping off the line, all added to by a lively online chat between the participants. The problem with websites like this is that they're always behind the game. By the time it appears here the desire for discussion has waned. 

 

[Salopian]

" The problem with websites like this is that they're always behind the game. By the time it appears here the desire for discussion has waned. "

Yes I agree, especially when the readers have the attention span of a Goldfish.

Clayshooting TV and other Social Media 'adventures' have cost a lot of people a lot of money. Shootclay has never cost me one penny .

The real trouble is that Shootclay has moved away from the Shootclay Cup theme , which was a very social occasion where like minded people met and enjoyed each others company.

 

[Doctor Lecter]

yes we have just about covered all in shooting ,  so our topics are limited , social media at shoots ?   I go shooting  to shoot not to become a reporter ,    I still think this is a great site with valuable content .   use it or lose it    as they say !      facebook   oh look what I had for breakfast     nah  keep it . 

 

[ExSCA]

Good thread - it's ironic that traffic to ShootClay has never been higher, in August the site broke through 500k page views in month for the first time, and I had to upgrade the hosting I pay for - so, whilst thread count has been lower - more people are viewing. 

Facebook has indeed been embraced by the shooting community - which is great, it's free, largely unmoderated and is much more technologically advanced than ShootClay Forum can ever hope to be.  I'm very happy for that, and maybe if the 'dinosaurs' had been using FB when I started shooting, I wouldn't have started a community site.  The fact that Facebook is accessible on the phone,  allows pictures to go up in an instant and is global, makes it much more suited to community type behaviour. 

Salopian - your posts here are confusing - I'd like to hear more of this 'perception' that there is a 'click' (clique?) who can peddle services for free.   If there is, can you let me know - I'd like to earn my retirement fund from them.  At the moment, I barely cover my costs. 

The ShootClay Cup concept has been explained, this year the calendar was full of great competitions and our tiny industry (with its delusions of grandeur) ran out of sponsors willing to spend their marketing budget on a sport which doesn't know how to act professionally. 

If I sound bitter, I'm not - I'm unhappy that the site cannot be everything I dreamed it would be - but, it's been much more than I expected it to be, so I'll keep it alive until you all tell me not to. 

Love you all,

Matt

PS - whats also ironic, is that the voices that asked me to remove members, finally got their wish (without my actually removing people) - and went quiet at the same time. 

 

[wylye]

Maybe you should invite her back.

 

[Darkside]

The damage was done when she was here, her being back would be like a reintroduction of small pox!!!

 

[Sian]

Well I like the forum Matt and thank you for it.  I am not a great contributor simply because I do not have technical knowledge and understanding of the various guns and fiddly bits - I do like to throw a thread off course now and again though.  I also like the non-gun bits like Finner's weekly quiz, Ips' pictures of his dog, the odd naughty joke - you all know who you are!!  I know some of our more knowledgeable and charismatic characters are not here anymore and that's sad.  

Please don't liken Nic to smallpox - she is a very opinionated person but that in itself is no bad thing and you cannot question her knowledge.  I like Nic very much but I did not always agree with her and that's life we do not always agree.  Darkside are you James I cannot remember since names changed - if you are we have met and you are a very likeable person with a good sense of humour but you know you sometimes share a little of Nic's strong character yourself when answering some threads.

I shall continue to visit daily.  As for Shootclay Cup - I imagine trying to pull something like that off is a tremendous amount of hard work.  I am quite game if we were to have a social somewhere on middle ground at some point in the future - seems a good idea for someone like Steve Lovett to set a course on one of his grounds maybe and we could all contribute a little something to some food and make an occasion of it - perhaps in the better weather so that my friend Will Hewland doesn't have to suffer rain or wind, snow or hail.

 

[wylye]

What? Like bring sandwiches you mean?

 

[Sian]

What? Like bring sandwiches you mean?

Can do - I make lovely sandwiches.  If we were a little organised we could bring something each or someone who was willing could undertake to do it but probably fairer if we allotted tasks.  Or if you want we can just bring our own and have a picnic area.  If at a shooting ground with catering we could all put a bit in to have them do it just a buffet of sorts.

 

[Doctor Lecter]

yes I miss her   I like her attitude ,  didn't  always agree  and that's fine and healthy ,  but she did bring an enormous  amount of shooting  experience  to the forum .

 

[Darkside]

Hi Sian, yes I'm James...added a   to the crack about Nicola...take you point.