What has happened to this site??

**Gordon02** · 10-19-2018, 07:45 PM

We are losing those members and "can do" generation participants. I blame it on my son's generation and the one behind him (He's 39). I sometimes ask myself if I've done a "good or great job". He was born in an air-conditioned hospital, never spent a night in a house without air-conditioning, color TV's (with remotes), Atari games, then Game Boys, by the time he was a teenager, his own cell phone, then at 16 - his own truck. He has never had to fix/repair his own motorcycle, ATV, or automobile. When he needed something, he could find it on-line and UPS would deliver in 3-4 days. If it broke, "Dad would you help me" or take it to a shop for repairs.

His and many of the generation behind him just don't have the will or knowledge to give advice. Not all, but more and more. I design and own my own Motorcycle/ATV tool manufacturing company. As the years go by, it becomes clearer that the median age of my customer base goes up. The "new riders" will lay down $600~$800 for the latest helmet, $1,000 for a new exhaust system (even if they can't ride near the capacity of the bike), yet you cannot sell them a tool kit. They don't know how to use it because they never had to learn it like we did. They'll quickly tell you how many companies they can find on-line and nearby that will come pick the bike up and take it for repairs -it's not the world I grew up in.

I've been here for 20 years also. I don't remember my first username, so I came back a few years ago with a new sign-in username.

I love this place. My questions on building my 2.0 Liter were met with nearly 100 replies. The guys have "been there, done that" and the delivered in spades. Rock and dozens of others filled my thread with great and valuable information along with other threads filled with photos and tips. This site has given me 10 times what I've put into it! Thanks to all those "Good Guys" that reside here..

Gordon

**JBS** · 10-19-2018, 08:09 PM

It's still a great site.I do miss the old guys chiming in though.

**LakeFever** · 10-19-2018, 09:00 PM

This site is awesome! Got loads of good info and tons of help when I needed it with my boat. I try and offer some tech input here and there when I have something good to offer. Lately mostly been playing around shootin breeze about this that and the other seeing as my boatn season is done for the year. Its a very interesting time to be alive, us people are learning plenty each and every day

**Greg G** · 10-19-2018, 11:26 PM

Even if some of the old guys with truckloads of knowledge have declined, I still think this site is by far the best for OB discussion. I'd also say that Facebonk is not for the folks who want a real discussion. Good for shooting the chit, but not S+F by a long shot.

**Markus** · 10-20-2018, 04:12 AM

Originally Posted by Gordon02

We are losing those members and "can do" generation participants. I blame it on my son's generation and the one behind him (He's 39). I sometimes ask myself if I've done a "good or great job". He was born in an air-conditioned hospital, never spent a night in a house without air-conditioning, color TV's (with remotes)

Alabama isn’t what it used to be, huh?

**Markus** · 10-20-2018, 04:17 AM

Originally Posted by bill mason

It has been years since I posted on this site. In the "old days" if help was requested on an engine problem a bunch of guys were kind enough to jump in and assist. Are the old timers not on here any longer or has something just changed? Been checkin in on here since 99. Still best, and only site for boating enthusiasts.

Some of them are no longer here.

Some of them just got fed up with trying to explain how to properly diagnose an engine (Step 1: is it spark or fuel? Step 2: which cylinder is affected? Step 3: does it move from one cylinder to another when you move a certain part...) to guys who just want to waste their money and time by swapping parts at random.

**Tom Foley** · 10-20-2018, 05:19 AM

I still enjoy the site very much ! Just because you don't see it here doesn't mean it doesn't exist . The Facebook pages out there have become very specific in some cases with respect to the topic of enthusiasm . I enjoy the Facebook coverage out there as well .

**Scream And Fly** · 10-20-2018, 06:45 AM

Oh no, not another one of these posts...

I only have one answer for now, and for all-time: Life changes, people change, people come and go, and life goes on. I am a member of many message forums for cars and other things, and some of them I have not posted on in a while. But that has nothing to do with anything on those sites that drove me away.

Why must it always be attributed to a failure of this site? This site is a community of people helping people - there is no one single authority that creates and distills content here. If something seems different and if members perceive that as a negative effect, then the proactive members that care enough to take active steps to help it will ultimately determine the trajectory of this site. This site belongs to all of us. It's up to all of us to maintain it. If there's an issue, please contact me and let's fix it. Many members here will attest to the fact that I will contact anybody to work out disagreements and other issues.

And then there's this:

Some of them just got fed up with trying to explain how to properly diagnose an engine (Step 1: is it spark or fuel? Step 2: which cylinder is affected? Step 3: does it move from one cylinder to another when you move a certain part...) to guys who just want to waste their money and time by swapping parts at random.

Says who? Are we all expecting a community of robots that just acts all submissively? I understand that some people can grate on others. There's no such thing as any forum or community that does not have this happening. If somebody takes time to follow other interests or has other things in life occupying their time, again, it's somehow seen as a failure on the part of S&F. I won't blindly and ignorantly say that nobody leaves the site because of a specific issue with somebody or some reason, but I also don't see the above reasoning to be a universal answer to why the average post counts of a member might be lower than usual.

There's no such thing as an online community - be it here, Facebook or wherever - where there will be no disagreements and friction between members. I believe the community of members here to be one of the most helpful and well-mannered of all online forums. Nobody is "fed up" to any serious degree, and believe me, in nearly all cases, if there's such an issue, they contact me. Most members that care enough to have invested a great deal of time here do so because of a love for boating and sharing their experiences. That love of boating and camaraderie will almost always transcend member-specific annoyances, and they'll usually care enough to contact me if there are issues concerning them.

I have absolutely no problem at all with people noting changes - that's part of the site, and I've always been guided on this site by the thoughts of all of you. But I also feel that the "what happened to the site" threads just do not contribute in any way whatsoever to helping the site. After all, this site is about its members, never about one person. How about, "let's try to do this..." or something similar if there's an area needing improvement?

Finally, just because some people are not regularly posting, that doesn't mean they're not on the site.

Greg

**Dave S** · 10-20-2018, 07:19 AM

There is nothing wrong with the site......I would miss it if it were not here....Thanks Greg.

**CircleHook** · 10-20-2018, 07:33 AM

Every morning- I pour a cup of coffee and log in to S & F - nice way to start my day!

**LakeFever** · 10-20-2018, 07:48 AM

Crowds and trends come and go. Top tech and resource info lasts forever!

**KIRCHNER** · 10-20-2018, 09:28 AM

I Think the young bunch are using SF as it is facebook. its the generation. i dont see the need to bring any personal issues or possessions. lets stick to real boating info and support. i read some stupid questions but were all not perfect. some posts dont even make sense. we were all kids once. its nice to be nice. if i have nothing good to say i dont say anything my2cts.

**KIRCHNER** · 10-20-2018, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by JBS

It's still a great site.I do miss the old guys chiming in though.

hey, im an old guy. i chime in! when i read the posts i reminds me of myself 40 years ago. my dad is long gone now but i remember his famous words, about my cars & boats, [Son, you just cant leave it alone can you... and back into the garage i went. yesterday i told my son, just leave it alone. he was messin -up his glastron decals. now hes sorry, boat looks weird now. what do i know, dont have a smart phone. lol...ART

**Captaincj** · 10-20-2018, 11:27 AM

I love this site. Not that anyone asked me.

Christopher Johnson

**JBS** · 10-20-2018, 12:29 PM

I'm an old guy too.Found the site a while back,and it rekindled the spark for speed. Back in the 80s it was Allison's,then I went fishing for years in the Paramount.
Picked up a V21 a few years back and couldn't be happier.
Got a lot of help from guys on this site over the years.So thank you! BTW---Facebook does not do it for me,just my 2 cents.