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  1. #16
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by The Bulldogs Bite View Post
    Interesting that the number of posts are down so much.

    Have we not had an influx of new members in recent years? Wonder if it's something we could pose to the club, almost as their 'official' fan forum to try and generate new contributors.

    I know that personally my contributions have dropped significantly over this time and it's predominately due to time - though I still check the site daily.

    That's been the problem, plenty of people have joined in the last 3 years but less than 12 of them post regularly. I try and contact all the new members and some are very blunt that they have only joined to read what others are saying and are very unlikely to contribute to discussions. We've picked up some good contributors but we are losing vastly more than are joining and participating each year

    It's will be interesting to see if the numbers improve once the footy returns but for the site to going to be into the 2021 season we would need a decent bounce to happen this year.
    There are some other options I can look at as well but participation is everything to a site like this
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

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  3. #17
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    There’s fickle fans on all club websites
    Then there’s Facebook after a win or loss
    Takes it to a whole new level of fickleness

  4. #18
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by Remi Moses View Post
    There’s fickle fans on all club websites
    Then there’s Facebook after a win or loss
    Takes it to a whole new level of fickleness
    I don't for one minute believe WOOF members are fickle at all but the numbers are factual in terms of participation
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  5. #19
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    That's been the problem, plenty of people have joined in the last 3 years but less than 12 of them post regularly. I try and contact all the new members and some are very blunt that they have only joined to read what others are saying and are very unlikely to contribute to discussions. We've picked up some good contributors but we are losing vastly more than are joining and participating each year

    It's will be interesting to see if the numbers improve once the footy returns but for the site to going to be into the 2021 season we would need a decent bounce to happen this year.
    There are some other options I can look at as well but participation is everything to a site like this
    In regards to losing posters G. I have been here for over 10 years and have seen a lot of "regular" posters leave in that time. Any thought to reaching out to these G or is it finito!

  6. #20
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bulldog4life View Post
    In regards to losing posters G. I have been here for over 10 years and have seen a lot of "regular" posters leave in that time. Any thought to reaching out to these G or is it finito!
    I've done that as well. I contacted 25 posters earlier in the year with more than 500 posts on the forum since they joined who had stopped contributing and got 3 responses all pretty much to the negative in terms of coming back in any meaningful way

    One of the challenges for discussion forums like this is when it started 80% of members had their own desktop PC and the other 20% posted when they could from their work PC with proper keyboards for typing and a lot of members put in a lot of effort.
    Years later society, and therefore many of our members, moved to tablet style PC's and ditched the desktops. Terrific convenience but harder to type more detailed responses and more aimed at reading and viewing than contributing so while the numbers of members dropped slightly actual contributions took a bigger hit
    Contributing to Facebook and Twitter was vastly easier because the members there expect short and brief messages. A click onto a like or dislike button or a brief response here or there isn't like having to detail why a player should be promoted or dropped and providing some reasons for that thought on a discussion forum. That is their market and they're very successful at attracting members and it's most of all bloody easy to read and you don't have to put a lot of effort into any contribution

    By the time iphones and android phones became the more convenient option but significantly harder to type detailed messages then discussion forums like this turned into more or less newsboards where people prefer to log in and read the thoughts of others rather than. For many it's a question of why should I contribute to a discussion forum when I can send 100 text messages a day to an audience they control.

    We still have a lot of dedicated members but the numbers of contributions to discussions are down

    But for many it's clearly a time issue

    So there you have some of the reasons why it's such a challenge now. I'm also more than open for anyone to contact me if they think we could be doing something else and I can confirm my inbox isn't anywhere near full.
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

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  8. #21
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    I've done that as well. I contacted 25 posters earlier in the year with more than 500 posts on the forum since they joined who had stopped contributing and got 3 responses all pretty much to the negative in terms of coming back in any meaningful way

    One of the challenges for discussion forums like this is when it started 80% of members had their own desktop PC and the other 20% posted when they could from their work PC with proper keyboards for typing and a lot of members put in a lot of effort.
    Years later society, and therefore many of our members, moved to tablet style PC's and ditched the desktops. Terrific convenience but harder to type more detailed responses and more aimed at reading and viewing than contributing so while the numbers of members dropped slightly actual contributions took a bigger hit
    Contributing to Facebook and Twitter was vastly easier because the members there expect short and brief messages. A click onto a like or dislike button or a brief response here or there isn't like having to detail why a player should be promoted or dropped and providing some reasons for that thought on a discussion forum. That is their market and they're very successful at attracting members and it's most of all bloody easy to read and you don't have to put a lot of effort into any contribution

    By the time iphones and android phones became the more convenient option but significantly harder to type detailed messages then discussion forums like this turned into more or less newsboards where people prefer to log in and read the thoughts of others rather than. For many it's a question of why should I contribute to a discussion forum when I can send 100 text messages a day to an audience they control.

    We still have a lot of dedicated members but the numbers of contributions to discussions are down

    But for many it's clearly a time issue

    So there you have some of the reasons why it's such a challenge now. I'm also more than open for anyone to contact me if they think we could be doing something else and I can confirm my inbox isn't anywhere near full.
    I am using my phone at the moment and yes it is so much harder than a pc...for me anyway. Looking forward to using the pc again soon.

  9. #22
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    It’s crazy to think that when WOOF started, FB was only in its infancy, smart phones were barely a thing and the iPad didn’t even exist.

    The 2010s should be known as the decade of distraction.
    Our 1954 premiership players are our heroes, and it has to be said that Charlie was their hero.

  10. #23
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    I've done that as well. I contacted 25 posters earlier in the year with more than 500 posts on the forum since they joined who had stopped contributing and got 3 responses all pretty much to the negative in terms of coming back in any meaningful way

    One of the challenges for discussion forums like this is when it started 80% of members had their own desktop PC and the other 20% posted when they could from their work PC with proper keyboards for typing and a lot of members put in a lot of effort.
    Years later society, and therefore many of our members, moved to tablet style PC's and ditched the desktops. Terrific convenience but harder to type more detailed responses and more aimed at reading and viewing than contributing so while the numbers of members dropped slightly actual contributions took a bigger hit
    Contributing to Facebook and Twitter was vastly easier because the members there expect short and brief messages. A click onto a like or dislike button or a brief response here or there isn't like having to detail why a player should be promoted or dropped and providing some reasons for that thought on a discussion forum. That is their market and they're very successful at attracting members and it's most of all bloody easy to read and you don't have to put a lot of effort into any contribution

    By the time iphones and android phones became the more convenient option but significantly harder to type detailed messages then discussion forums like this turned into more or less newsboards where people prefer to log in and read the thoughts of others rather than. For many it's a question of why should I contribute to a discussion forum when I can send 100 text messages a day to an audience they control.

    We still have a lot of dedicated members but the numbers of contributions to discussions are down

    But for many it's clearly a time issue

    So there you have some of the reasons why it's such a challenge now. I'm also more than open for anyone to contact me if they think we could be doing something else and I can confirm my inbox isn't anywhere near full.
    Time and circumstance are issues for me. However I check in at least 5 times a day. If something notable occurs, I'm confident that I'll both find it here, and obtain a decent evaluation of it.
    By comparison, I check Bigfooty only during the trade period.
    Short answer. If I MUST know something I check here. I'd be disappointed if this site were to disappear.

  11. #24
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    They will have to take my Ben Hudson appreciation society scarf out of my cold dead hands.....

    In all seriousness, if there was a way to modernise the forums to be an app on mobile devices it would help increase the accessibility by a mile, making it easier for "younglings" to contribute.

  12. #25
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by ReLoad View Post
    They will have to take my Ben Hudson appreciation society scarf out of my cold dead hands.....

    In all seriousness, if there was a way to modernise the forums to be an app on mobile devices it would help increase the accessibility by a mile, making it easier for "younglings" to contribute.
    It's not a bad idea.

    Do you have a newsletter that I could subscribe to?
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

  13. #26
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by ReLoad View Post
    They will have to take my Ben Hudson appreciation society scarf out of my cold dead hands.....

    In all seriousness, if there was a way to modernise the forums to be an app on mobile devices it would help increase the accessibility by a mile, making it easier for "younglings" to contribute.
    Appreciate the feedback. We were working towards a vastly improved app for mobile phones but not many had the patience for it as when we trailed it there were some bugs and we had a few too many against changing the forum from it's current look. I've put it aside for the time being but might have another talk to our tech guy
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  14. #27
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Interesting reflections.

    WOOF remains my main source of footy discussion and where I round out what I suspect the temperature of the fan base might be. On any given issue! No surprise to me that BMAC disaster was a day for huge traffic, everyone was trying to make sense of it. No opposition fans here helps in those moments.

    I didn't always like posting here, preferring BF (Bans have soured me on BF) & a long defunct one I helped out with. Initially I found this site to be a bit humourless & perhaps "cliquey." My perception has changed a lot. WOOF is gold. FB groups are awful. Twitter is solid, but you need to go shopping. WOOF a nice, even keel.

    Just realised I've been posting on Bulldog forums for 20 years. Most of the other forums I was active on as a teenager, games and comics, have all gone by the wayside. Social media, and now reddit have killed them off.I might just be getting older, but I like this format more, still.

  15. #28
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    May 26, 2020

    65
    To be fair, I usually try to post a bit (and still have been) but there hasn't really been much for me to say.

    I could complain ad infinitum about the AFL, WAFC and my suspicions about whether anyone actually WANTS to have a season or rather think that even though there is ZERO community infection in the entire state they would rather just keep everyone on JobKeeper and reload (reload without any innovation mind you) for 2021 but, seriously, that is going to be a bit boring for everyone and wont exactly generate much comment!
    What should I tell her? She's going to ask.

  16. #29
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    Quote Originally Posted by mjp View Post
    To be fair, I usually try to post a bit (and still have been) but there hasn't really been much for me to say.

    I could complain ad infinitum about the AFL, WAFC and my suspicions about whether anyone actually WANTS to have a season or rather think that even though there is ZERO community infection in the entire state they would rather just keep everyone on JobKeeper and reload (reload without any innovation mind you) for 2021 but, seriously, that is going to be a bit boring for everyone and wont exactly generate much comment!
    Of course there has been a significant effect to the site from the Pandemic and I guess there are number of people that aren't as interested in this season as they would otherwise be. That explains why we are quieter at the moment but the tren has been heading south each year for a while
    We have some terrific members and obviously we would like to the site to be vibrant going forward. Getting there is the challenge
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  17. #30
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    Re: What happened on 12 February 2020?

    It's hard to draw a rock solid conclusion based on this year's figures as there hasn't been any footy to discuss. But I accept what you say about numbers trending down.

    That's a really interesting point about PC vs tablet/phone use. I tend to log in on my laptop while I'm "working" so that hadn't occurred to me. I guess that's the law of unintended consequences. It would be such a shame to lose WOOF, I don't feel I have much to contribute to most of the discussions but I always turn here for the latest (and most accurate) debate.

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