What killed the forum? How can it be revived?

[orangefinger]

to start out with and be clear although people compete and have so called " sponsors " , its stays an expensive hobby limited to the few that can afford it
and furthermore live close enough to a suitable waterway.....

Cost a fuel, cost of parts, cost of skis, cost of travel and lodging for events, sponsors that actually dont pay money but want you to advertise for their products
...which doesn't make any sense at all , we are just suckers paying for a product and then deliver free advertising for it , lack of price money , lack of recognition in sport , injuries , COVID , overall cost of living, changed political opinions and hardened front lines, loss of friendships , and changing age in sport , your own age ....and so much more ...

I rather be here than on Facebook , any day any time....

I think it will come back somehow in some way, limited but fun , once everything settles back in , if it ever will

 

[mthomps]

those guys spend a lot of money then they are gone, us guys with stock skis or skis with minor mods are the ones that stay in the sport long term

Yeah. It might be because they figure out they cant just ride around the lake like a stock ski or every 7th backlip attempt costs 500 dollars, the majority of the big spenders end up disappearing.

Mean while you can literally go apepoop crazy on a superjet, make friends with a boat, give them a sub as a grand finally and watch them lose their sh*t cause you went underwater. worst case scenario you gotta do the "sunk my ski again" routine at the ramp. Ski won't sink to the bottom cause its stock with footholds i regret putting in. Worst case I blow the engine. But cause the parts are affordable I have an entire back up driveline on the bench waiting.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Yep when you have to bring a drum of race gas every where you go, change spark plugs every time you ride and rebuild your top end twice a year and complete engine every other year it kinda takes the fun out of it, at least it would for me

Now if you have money and just love to work on stuff a big bore stroker is a good way to burn a lot of money and go really fast, but I used to ask these guys are you having that much more fun than I am because everytime I call or come by you are working on your ski, I am riding mine.

Here is another hint a lot of the guys I rode with had backfilp and barrel roll capable skis, all the goodies and parts were there to mak it happen , but they weren't doing backflips and barrel rolls so why did they need all of that equipment ?

 

[mthomps]

Here is another hint a lot of the guys I rode with had backfilp and barrel roll capable skis, all the goodies and parts were there to mak it happen , but they weren't doing backflips and barrel rolls so why did they need all of that equipment ?

I call it the fine line. Just past it is when you get equipment you cant afford to lose.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Yep a few crossed that line and found out it wasn't substainable, they no longer have skis

 

[red_ak_ranger]

Random comment but "Imotormike", a texas rider, when he rides on the lake he streams tik tok and is pulling in 2000 viewers at the same time. Does back flips and such.
Social media has changed so much. A lot of the late 2022 comments are about how Facebook sucks. Most people bailed on fbook 5+ years ago. It didn't recently suck - it's been that way for SO long.
I do not have the answer on how to fix, but society has somewhat transitioned from forums to social media. Especially short form media comprised of clips that you can endlessly watch new ones.
Early 2000s when you started a new hobby or toy and you wanted to learn more, your ONLY way to learn more was through friends or forums.

 

[Jcary85]

might be a good idea to start an X-h2o Facebook group and try to compete with the crap ones that exist today. You’ve already got a huge user base here that would join and a couple shares by well known people In the jet ski world would make it take off very quickly. You could then push people here at appropriate times. For example, you offer informal quick advice on FB then direct someone here for a more in-depth tutorial on how to rebuild an engine.

Facebook groups are pretty helpful for other hobbies I have. The main problem is the content is not organized or categorized in any way which is where the forum shines.

 

[bird]

Only people left on Facebook are addicts who can't leave and boomers following click bait.

 

[Mike W]

There is just no civility when people comment on Faciestbook. Too many keyboard cowboys that don’t know the consequences for being a smart a$$. Jcary85 may be onto something but the admins here might see some downsides that I’m not thinking of.

 

[MADMAT]

Someday FB will go the way of myspace. The X will never ever go away!

I don't mess with any FB stand up pages. Heck even our own local FB page is dead.

 

[Midlake Crisis]

FB is good for staying in touch with family and people you know personally but not for interacting with strangers because of the lack of moderation.

Good moderation, the focus on standups, overall membership focus actually on skis and not egos or drama, and participation of some really knowledgeable people is what made the X great.

Advances in aftermarket skis and motors have also created a bigger gap in the conversation between rec riders and the more advanced.

 

[Quinc]

Only people left on Facebook are addicts who can't leave and boomers following click bait.

And FB marketplace.

 

[Sparkplug]

Im still waiting to meet Jarret Steinmetz who.told me he's going to punch me in the face on Facebook the first time hw sees me

 

[DylanS]

Im still waiting to meet Jarret Steinmetz who.told me he's going to punch me in the face on Facebook the first time hw sees me

Well come on tell us what you did!!! Lol

 

[Jarrett1999]

Im still waiting to meet Jarret Steinmetz who.told me he's going to punch me in the face on Facebook the first time hw sees

Can you refresh my memory on why i was gonna do that? Lol glad to know you’re still thinkin bout me
But How have we not met yet? When was the last time you rode. Ive been riding surf up and down the west coast for 7 years… never seen you once.

Hear me out on this theory, people get so much dopamine released when they talk bout jet skiing or anything on internet, from people liking and responding.
Theres a lot more ways to like a post on Facebook, a lot more ways to trigger the brain to release dopamine… FB was designed to get us addicted…

 

[Sparkplug]

Can you refresh my memory on why i was gonna do that? Lol glad to know you’re still thinkin bout me
But How have we not met yet? When was the last time you rode. Ive been riding surf up and down the west coast for 7 years… never seen you once.

Hear me out on this theory, people get so much dopamine released when they talk bout jet skiing or anything on internet, from people liking and responding.
Theres a lot more ways to like a post on Facebook, a lot more ways to trigger the brain to release dopamine… FB was designed to get us addicted…

This dude

 

[DylanS]

I think another reason the forum seems dead is because you have about 10% of the actual user base interacting with each other and the other 90% lurking until someone mentions their name and they come back from the dead

 

[Mike W]

FB is good for staying in touch with family and people you know personally but not for interacting with strangers because of the lack of moderation.

Keeping in touch with family and old Army buddies and marketplace is the only thing that keeps me on that site ran by a bunch of marxist commies. It’s a cesspool with all the censorship and misinformation. Can’t believe anything you read on that site.

 

[OCD Solutions]

How many times can you have the exact same conversation?
Sure, you did a search and your symptoms are"different" than all the other's mentioned but it's really not.

Honestly, if people remember there's a tech section and spent some time reading, everything has been answered and there's only so many times you can type up the same response to the same question. Now, that means there may not be as much conversation as before but I bet there's still a ton of traffic that flows through for the information amassed over the years.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

How many times can you have the exact same conversation?
Sure, you did a search and your symptoms are"different" than all the other's mentioned but it's really not.

Honestly, if people remember there's a tech section and spent some time reading, everything has been answered and there's only so many times you can type up the same response to the same question. Now, that means there may not be as much conversation as before but I bet there's still a ton of traffic that flows through for the information amassed over the years.

Wait, you can read about stuff ?