FOTR Forum Gets it s first 10 thousand post user!

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Who is, of course, none other then John Ashworth!

Well done John!!!!

[John Ashworth]

Thanks, Kevin, but I cheated of course - I post pictures for others (step forward, Nathan!), I post administrative stuff, official stuff, odd newsletters and other stuff which comes from other clubs, etc. A lot of my posts are on the parts of the forum which are not open to the public, particularly posts generated every time FOTR runs a train, and posts connected with administration of the forum.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

You still posted, regardless of what it was!

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Thanks John, your efforts have certainly kept these pages alive with a variety of news items.

[John Ashworth]

Thanks, Nathan. The forum started slowly five years ago, then it seemed to achieve its own momentum for two or three years with plenty of posts from a variety of members without any need for me, Steve and Kevin to boost it at all. But we've noticed a drop off in posts in the last year or so. Not sure why that is. Have we been overtaken by the "instant gratification" of Facebook? I'm not a member of Facebook so I have no idea what the attractions of it are. However I think the FOTR forum has some distinct advantages in terms of archiving and searching for material, so I hope this is only a temporary slump and that the forum will continue to prosper. We have a pretty unique collection of rare and interesting railway material, both historic and contemporary, on our forum.

Nathan, your own contributions are very welcome because it helps to keep an active conversation going, rather than someone simply posting a few pictures or a news item which members passively view. So please keep those comments coming!

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I would not worry about the activity too much. I am sure it will look up as new members get active.

The forum itself has plenty visitors and the peak for most on at one time occurred in january.

Facebook is no competition for a serious forum - it is day to social networking, with a lot of instant gratification being the key. It has its place for people who like the social networking approach and short fleeting shots of info. But unlike a forum, it lacks structure and the associated functionality the latter brings.

[terry browne]

I would not worry about the activity too much. I am sure it will look up as new members get active.

The forum itself has plenty visitors and the peak for most on at one time occurred in january.

Facebook is no competition for a serious forum - it is day to social networking, with a lot of instant gratification being the key. It has its place for people who like the social networking approach and short fleeting shots of info. But unlike a forum, it lacks structure and the associated functionality the latter brings.

What an excellent summary, Kevin, but having a Group on Facebook does allow for you to place a link to a web site - e.g. this forum. Assuming that you have not hidden it deliberately, or Facebook has not overlaid it with the current cockeyed in-house unsolicited e-mail address

[John Ashworth]

Funnily enough we've had a flurry of activity over the last few days. Steve, Kevin and Andreas all seem to be back in the saddle (or perhaps "back on the footplate" would be a more appropriate analogy?), and even Nathan posts occasionally nowadays, having solved his steam-powered internet problems. New member Terry is also active.

The more posts and posters there are, the more it generates back-and-forth conversations rather than one-off posts.

Since I know absolutely nothing about Facebook, I leave it to Steve and Gabor to deal with links to that site. We are certainly not secret - we're happy to be linked widely to other appropriate sites.

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Well done again FOTR and to the behind scenes comtrollers.