Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Discussion board focusing on Great Lakes Shipping Question & Answer. From beginner to expert all posts are welcome.
BN Volunteer

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by BN Volunteer »

Guest wrote: May 10, 2023, 6:28 am
BN Volunteer wrote: May 9, 2023, 9:22 pm
Guest wrote: May 9, 2023, 5:36 pm I visit the Boatnerd site daily. I am disappointed to hear that some people feel its popularity may be waning.

That said, I would also Iike to mention that I have tried to register on this site no fewer than four times using two different email addresses and User Names. To my knowledge I have followed the registration instructions to the letter, including sending an email to the [email protected] address to assist the moderators in knowing that I am neither a spammer nor a robot. And, I have even donated $$ to the site using the "Donate" link. But, I am still only a guest.

It would seem that if the site wants to promote the hobby that it should be quite a bit easier to establish an account. Just my opinion.
Sorry to hear that you got overlooked. The php software that we use for these boards doesn't do a good job of weeding out spam, so 99% or more of account requests that are received are from spammers. That said, your e-mails should have alerted us that your request was legitimate.

I personally don't have access to the [email protected] or [email protected] e-mails. But if you remember what username you requested, please post it here, and I can probably still approve it.

And to be honest, the way these boards are currently set up, there is little advantage to actually having an account, other than you have exclusive use of a particular user name.
I have tried to register with the Username BrassTack a few times. Most recently I tried to register with the Username CabinCruiser. I would appreciate your help. Thank you in advance.
Errrr. This software is honestly very frustrating. Two days ago I could see hundreds of past registration requests (mostly spam accounts, but at least one as from you under CabinCruiser.) But apparently the system purged all those past requests in the last day or two. At least I can't currently find any way to review them.

So if you are willing, please request an account one more time. Use either BrassTack or CabinCruiser as a username, or pick another username and post it here. I'll make sure to look for it, over the next few days.

Sorry this has become such a drawn out process.

BN Volunteer moderator.
Duluth Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Duluth Guest »

This forum as well as many, many others across the web serving various subjects, have seen decreased activity due largely to Facebook and Facebook Groups. Questions that would get posted and answered here, are getting posted and answered over there instead. I actually think there are more "Boatnerds" these days but they just prefer those other social media platforms over this forum.
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

BN Volunteer wrote: May 9, 2023, 9:22 pm
Guest wrote: May 9, 2023, 5:36 pm I visit the Boatnerd site daily. I am disappointed to hear that some people feel its popularity may be waning.

That said, I would also Iike to mention that I have tried to register on this site no fewer than four times using two different email addresses and User Names. To my knowledge I have followed the registration instructions to the letter, including sending an email to the [email protected] address to assist the moderators in knowing that I am neither a spammer nor a robot. And, I have even donated $$ to the site using the "Donate" link. But, I am still only a guest.

It would seem that if the site wants to promote the hobby that it should be quite a bit easier to establish an account. Just my opinion.
Sorry to hear that you got overlooked. The php software that we use for these boards doesn't do a good job of weeding out spam, so 99% or more of account requests that are received are from spammers. That said, your e-mails should have alerted us that your request was legitimate.

I personally don't have access to the [email protected] or [email protected] e-mails. But if you remember what username you requested, please post it here, and I can probably still approve it.

And to be honest, the way these boards are currently set up, there is little advantage to actually having an account, other than you have exclusive use of a particular user name.
I have tried to register with the Username BrassTack a few times. Most recently I tried to register with the Username CabinCruiser. I would appreciate your help. Thank you in advance.
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

Jared wrote: May 10, 2023, 3:06 am
Paul A wrote: May 9, 2023, 10:14 pm Sorry to hear of the difficulties! I still check many times a day and find the posts interesting and appreciate the volunteers keeping this board going. Thank you!
Same here. Thank you mods and site supporters!
Totally agree Thanks to all the volunteers who run this site and all its users
Jared
Posts: 798
Joined: December 6, 2014, 4:51 pm

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Jared »

Paul A wrote: May 9, 2023, 10:14 pm Sorry to hear of the difficulties! I still check many times a day and find the posts interesting and appreciate the volunteers keeping this board going. Thank you!
Same here. Thank you mods and site supporters!
Paul A
Posts: 428
Joined: June 28, 2010, 12:30 pm

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Paul A »

Sorry to hear of the difficulties! I still check many times a day and find the posts interesting and appreciate the volunteers keeping this board going. Thank you!
BN Volunteer

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by BN Volunteer »

Guest wrote: May 9, 2023, 5:36 pm I visit the Boatnerd site daily. I am disappointed to hear that some people feel its popularity may be waning.

That said, I would also Iike to mention that I have tried to register on this site no fewer than four times using two different email addresses and User Names. To my knowledge I have followed the registration instructions to the letter, including sending an email to the [email protected] address to assist the moderators in knowing that I am neither a spammer nor a robot. And, I have even donated $$ to the site using the "Donate" link. But, I am still only a guest.

It would seem that if the site wants to promote the hobby that it should be quite a bit easier to establish an account. Just my opinion.
Sorry to hear that you got overlooked. The php software that we use for these boards doesn't do a good job of weeding out spam, so 99% or more of account requests that are received are from spammers. That said, your e-mails should have alerted us that your request was legitimate.

I personally don't have access to the [email protected] or [email protected] e-mails. But if you remember what username you requested, please post it here, and I can probably still approve it.

And to be honest, the way these boards are currently set up, there is little advantage to actually having an account, other than you have exclusive use of a particular user name.
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

I visit the Boatnerd site daily. I am disappointed to hear that some people feel its popularity may be waning.

That said, I would also Iike to mention that I have tried to register on this site no fewer than four times using two different email addresses and User Names. To my knowledge I have followed the registration instructions to the letter, including sending an email to the [email protected] address to assist the moderators in knowing that I am neither a spammer nor a robot. And, I have even donated $$ to the site using the "Donate" link. But, I am still only a guest.

It would seem that if the site wants to promote the hobby that it should be quite a bit easier to establish an account. Just my opinion.
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

It has been almost thirty years since I first came upon this fantastic site. As one who sailed on USSGLF Taylor, Calcite, Sloan, Clarke And Anderson then on to other fleets. Many of the ships have been scrapped and no longer sail. Perhaps that this is the case of viewership, some no longer sailing (hate to say scrapped). Like the previous post, live in the present. Enjoy what we have now and support in any way you can. We all have a fascination for these huge pieces of steel that are basically water borne dump trucks moving massive amounts of raw materials. Enjoy them while we can. Support this site as well. There is nothing else like it out there!
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

Forums in general are dying out, so it's not really the fault of this site for this decline. I don't understand or like it, but it's a widespread trend as discussion shifts to far less organized platforms like social media sites and Discord.

And like has been said, there's sadly probably a lot fewer boatnerds out there these days. There's a lot less ships these days on the Great Lakes. Ships are a lot more utilitarian and generally less interesting for many fans (which presumably also results in less people becoming attracted to learning about and following this industry). Security and liability concerns have harmed the ability for people to get up close to vessels in locks and such like was possible decades ago. And a lot of waterfront acreage has been converted into the backyards of McMansions and blocked views of ships from highways and such.

As a little kid riding in the backseat of my parent's car, traveling on Route 37 and Route 12 along the St. Lawrence Seaway in upstate New York was a big factor in turning me into a boatnerd. Today, many of those sight lines are now blocked by development and some others to neglect like a scenic viewing/rest area just north of Chippewa Bay that once offered great views of the river and of shipping traffic but is now almost completely blocked by trees since the DOT hasn't maintained the spot.
badger

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by badger »

there is a saying, live in the present not the past. but your are definetly correct boat nerd message boat was a lot snapier in the 90s. maybe its society in general. im sure no one has the answer.
Guest

Re: Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by Guest »

guest wrote: May 6, 2023, 11:13 pm is there a goo reason why this discushion boad is so slow, or dont boatnerds care? in the 90s it was so much better. mabe its time to close the new and improved boatnerd. train blogs seem to be better viewe. as it ofen says on boatner just my VIEW DO.
As someone who has visited this site since its inception back in the late 1990s, I can say that traffic on this message board has dropped significantly over the years to the point of it being almost nonexistent in comparison to the first 10-15 years of this website. I can't say if traffic to the website itself has also declined but in comparison to some of the other interests I follow (commercial aviation and military-related news), those seem to have not only remained steady over the years but have grown. I imagine a lot of traffic has shifted over to the various facebook pages and I also believe that the Great Lakes shipping hobby has seen a pretty drastic decline in the past few decades. Having belonged to many of the Great Lakes shipping interest organizations (GLMI, MHSD, GLHS, etc.) over the past 50 years I would say that the high point of many of these groups was between the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The internet, and the Boatnerd site in particular seemed to negate much of the need for the news sections in these publications with Lake Log Chips being an early victim. Having served as a board member on one marine group that is now defunct, I can say that membership declined sharply by the early 2000s as many members of the older generation began passing away. Meanwhile, younger generations have, in general, seemed less likely to join these groups and only the future knows if there will significant enough demand for the currently operating marine interest groups to remain viable. I hate to paint such a dismal picture but as the number of ships continues to decline it will become increasingly more difficult to attract new interest to this hobby. I know that some will point out the large number of followers of certain facebook groups, but how do those numbers translate into the actual number of people having enough interest to help support the hobby? I would predict that that number in very low in comparison. I will point out, however, that I too drifted away from a few of the mentioned Great Lakes shipping groups (GLMI and MHSD) during the early 2000s as the Boatnerd site covered the news-related information for which I had primarily joined those groups in order to receive their journal publications. As the news section on this page, and the website itself, changed over the past few years, I have now rejoined these groups so in that sense maybe the future is much brighter than I have predicted in this post.
guest

Boatnerd forum waining popularity

Unread post by guest »

is there a goo reason why this discushion boad is so slow, or dont boatnerds care? in the 90s it was so much better. mabe its time to close the new and improved boatnerd. train blogs seem to be better viewe. as it ofen says on boatner just my VIEW DO.
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