AWGB Poor Forum support

[Bill21]

This has to be one of the most poorly supported wood turning forums I’ve seen on the Internet.
Is there a reason for this I’m not aware of?

[julcle]

This is not the only one Bill21, everyone seems to be following FaceBook Groups these days (although these are considered outdated now by our younger members) Wood turning is just one of my hobbies and passtimes but the forums for my other groups have all gone the same way. I don't think it's a reflection on the hobby activity but more about how we communicate with today's technology. I belong to a few woodturning zoom groups and several YouTube Live stream groups (non woodturning) which are really interesting.  --  Julian

[burywoodturners]

Exactly, so many other forums have now closed, we must seem like dinasaurs to the young peoplenow.

[Bill21]

I’m on a couple of FaceBook woodturning groups and sadly the content is quite bad. Lots of newbies that shouldn’t, judging by the questions, be anywhere near rotating objects. And even some seemingly experienced woodturners spreading misinformation. I’ve had to block a couple of folks so far.

Still, I guess I have my answer. Thanks for that. 

Edit: I’ve just noticed on posting this that there have been 30 views of my original post. Maybe some folks are just shy?!

Edit 2: Social media is also old hat now. WhatsApp seems to be the thing … 😂

[Valkrider]

I’m on a couple of FaceBook woodturning groups and sadly the content is quite bad. Lots of newbies that shouldn’t, judging by the questions, be anywhere near rotating objects. And even some seemingly experienced woodturners spreading misinformation. I’ve had to block a couple of folks so far.

Still, I guess I have my answer. Thanks for that. 

Edit: I’ve just noticed on posting this that there have been 30 views of my original post. Maybe some folks are just shy?!

Edit 2: Social media is also old hat now. WhatsApp seems to be the thing … 😂

Bill, I agree with all that you have said. Up to 39 views now and maybe the others have nothing to contribute. Forums for my other couple of hobbies are going exactly the same way and Facebook seems to have taken over and also needs far less admin effort for the moderators.

[Bourbon25]

I'm on a welding forum and it's lively on there. It's not just restricted to welding, anything metalworking goes, even a bit of 'woodbothering'! There is also not much 'MY way or the highway' Which I admit stops me posting questions on here.
           Bill21, How are newbies suppose to learn if they don't ask the simple questions?

[Les Symonds]

This has to be one of the most poorly supported wood turning forums I’ve seen on the Internet.
Is there a reason for this I’m not aware of?

One other consideration, Bill21, is the gaining popularity of relevant tuition. This is an aspect of learning which is currently extremely popular and I know from experience tbat students attending my courses arrive with a host of questions that they want answered. It could be possible that before tuition was so freely available, those questions made it onto fora such as this, but no longer do so in any great quantity.

Les

[Twisted Trees]

Yes this form of web interaction is slowly being moved back for new forms, however any serious question that I have seen asked here has elicited an answer or several, what is often missing here and on more modern social media is the details that make the difference , those often need to be drawn out in conversation so a club night or tuition session is a far better place to seek the answer.

[Bill21]

I'm on a welding forum and it's lively on there. It's not just restricted to welding, anything metalworking goes, even a bit of 'woodbothering'! There is also not much 'MY way or the highway' Which I admit stops me posting questions on here.
           Bill21, How are newbies suppose to learn if they don't ask the simple questions?

Actually I’m on a couple of Engineering Forums and they get lots of new posts every day.

As for newbies, yes we all need to seek advice when first starting out but many seem to take up woodturning without doing any research at all before spending their money. An obvious example that comes up quite often is some buy an old lathe and then find there aren’t any chucks available to fit it. A little research beforehand would have exposed the problem. Another issue I’ve seen on Social media is that some newcomers having made a mistake still intend to go down a particular path in spite of more experienced turners trying to give them helpful advice.

[Wood spinner]

I think it's down to so many options on the web now , The choice for forums and groups is very high.

[jay]

This has to be one of the most poorly supported wood turning forums I’ve seen on the Internet.
Is there a reason for this I’m not aware of?

One other consideration, Bill21, is the gaining popularity of relevant tuition. This is an aspect of learning which is currently extremely popular and I know from experience tbat students attending my courses arrive with a host of questions that they want answered. It could be possible that before tuition was so freely available, those questions made it onto fora such as this, but no longer do so in any great quantity.

Les

   

     Its many years since I had any tuition but I found that it was far more help than any other  learning from books video etc . There is a 3 dimensional aspect and a lightness of touch  to tool control that is simple to grasp with tuition and difficult to visualize  from illustration or film 

[Bourbon25]

Actually I’m on a couple of Engineering Forums and they get lots of new posts every day.

As for newbies, yes we all need to seek advice when first starting out but many seem to take up woodturning without doing any research at all before spending their money. An obvious example that comes up quite often is some buy an old lathe and then find there aren’t any chucks available to fit it. A little research beforehand would have exposed the problem. Another issue I’ve seen on Social media is that some newcomers having made a mistake still intend to go down a particular path in spite of more experienced turners trying to give them helpful advice.

So posting on a forum and asking questions isn't research then? News to me.
Another  one of my many hobbies is Medieval re-enactment. I demonstrate pewter casting. I sometimes get the same, sometimes very simple, question asked 4-5 times an hour. Yes I have heard the question before, BUT, and this is the important bit, it is the FIRST time the person has asked that question. I don't belittle them, I listen carefully to them, and then answer them politely and without judgement. Do we require our audience to 'do their research' before the come to an event? of course we don't. That's exactly the same with any newbie in any situation.

[Bill21]

So posting on a forum and asking questions isn't research then? News to me.

You’re being deliberately argumentative. But no, asking advice on a forum instead of seeking accurate manufacturers data for example is not proper research.  Especially compared to much of the dubious advice I’ve seen expressed on places like FB.

[Les Symonds]

So posting on a forum and asking questions isn't research then? News to me.

You’re being deliberately argumentative. But no, asking advice on a forum instead of seeking accurate manufacturers data for example is not proper research.  Especially compared to much of the dubious advice I’ve seen expressed on places like FB.

I think that this highlights exactly why so many new turners seek their advice from professionals during training days. You only have to look at the level of disagreement in a thread such as this to understand why novice turners can sometimes become confused by the variation in responses.

[Bill21]

It’s even worse on social media. Some of the comments are hilariously inaccurate to say the least.