Dwindling HB Discussion Participation

[dusty]

I noticed this thread while lurking .....

so now we have feedback from someone who left and came back. noticed Jonriv 'stimulating' HB. only to find it is the same discussions found on other websites who have small armies participating. what you like are stories of people.
Hmmm? so if those same topics that bring armies of people to other websites are also on heybucket how come those people aren't coming to heybucket?

Noticed there are quite a few users on heybucket
in tryouts and instructors forums I don't see hardly any of those users additionally in discussion forums. maybe that's because their post username is there team/organization or name?
any thoughts on getting those people in tryouts and instructors over to discussions forum? Maybe post a little reminder in those forums to let them know discussion forum is active?!
"like those commercial breaks we get from heybuckethelper the gluv"

It has never occurred to me to look on any website for tryouts or instruction so I would guess those that post on those forums are aware of this forum but aren't into the discussion side of it. I'm sure nobody that posts here would want to see tryout and instruction threads on this forum.

At least part of the reason more aren't coming here is that if you do a google search for softball forums a bunch of other forums including DFP and UCS come up before HB appears near the bottom of the page.

[Hinky]

not have them post tryouts and instructions in this forum. rather in heybucket have heybucket HelperPost in those forums to steer users who are already in heybucket to the discussions forum.

[jonriv]

Scary thing about hinky’s Dragging up old posts is all th HBers that no longer post

[eclipse09]

Scary thing about hinky’s Dragging up old posts is all th HBers that no longer post

Yeah time to read the classics again.....wonder if the pole bard thread will be resurrected?

To be honest I work a second job (yes thanks travel softball) with a number of twenty somethings and I don't have the as many deep conversations that I have with my peers. Hope that changes in the future.

[dusty]

Well I've got nothing. Just as well, I don't have the attention span to rack up a high post count anywhere. I'll check back but just call it smell ya later for now.

[Tyler Durden]

When HB started it grew from the Eteamz days. That place was a bit of the wild , wild, west. There was a whole group of us crazy Softball dads that posted here with rankings, stories and as you put it “jabs”.
Many of those original posters have moved on after their kids playing days ended and for whatever reason they have not been replaced. While you can choose to blame the sometimes “harsh”posting it never drove away the early posters because they started with Eteamz , which would make this site look like a Sunday school, and it was all just banter. Now some posters get all butthurt if any one looks cross eyed at them. Not saying some weren’t quick on the keyboard when a newb posted about what is the best bat for their 10u DD but that too has always been a part of the bucket. Some stayed and joined in, some left. It happens.
There were also TB coaches that told their parents to stay off the bucket. I guess they were afraid of getting bashed, as some coaches did, for their BS. I believe we lost some of the continuity of posters rotating in and out over time and the site lost momentum. Couple that with the cyclical nature of sites like these. Rising and falling participation is nothing new in Internet forums.
There is also a huge contingent of posters that do nothing but post their never ending tryouts and their $75/gm, 1:20 drop friendlies that have never participated in a single discussion. Just the way it is.
I guess if you could figure it out you would be working for Google or Failbook.

I've been remiss on logging in on HB as well. My kid made the journey and graduated, life moved on. Now I'm back coaching a HS team and trying to put together a 12u team to build my HS pipeline and to give some local kids in a tough demographic area a chance to use softball to get into college.
Uno and this site took eteamz and cleaned it up for general consumption. Eteamz then devolved into the UCS Misc Forum hehehe. People like Sam, Spazsdad, Arto, Skarp, ssarge, AlwaysImprove, JonRiv (my Ct. brother), slapperdad, MarkH, jtat32, BlindSquirrel, GIMNEPIWO, PDad, ChinMusic, and c77fastpitch(lol j/k she sux) helped make this a place you could learn and avoid reinventing the wheel or making bad choices.
Anyhoo, I think Spazsdad is right, sites like this are somewhat cyclical. I also think that it is a sign of the times when new posters, instead of enjoying the sometimes rough banter, they feel offended or attacked. Sites like this are best enjoyed with a sophisticated sense of humor and an open mind. As the proud owner of the third best avatar on the site, I'm gonna try to be here more often and to give back to the new parents some of what I got from the oldtimers.

[Hinky]

Looking back on heyB discussion
Forum pages per year=
Give or take a few on a page.

begin 2016 to apr 2018=
= 5 pages in 2.4 years

In 2015 = 3.5 pages
In 2014 = 5.5 pages

From begin 2009 til end 2013
= 81 pages in those 5 years

In 2008 = 29 pages 1st year heyB

* do not know if other heyB forums popped up over the years which may have diluted Fastpitch discussion forum to other categories.

[Tyler Durden]

Well, Hop To It then.

[stonehurler]

Seems like when Sam, Spazsdad, Skarp, Jonriv, JTAT32, Blindsquirrel GIMNEPIRO, and the rest were young this site flourished because there were no old curmudgeons to drag the site down. Instead of coming back thinking you are helping, go away and let the new take over. Im just saying cause it is too late for this site anyway

[GIMNEPIWO]

Seems like when Sam, Spazsdad, Skarp, Jonriv, JTAT32, Blindsquirrel GIMNEPIRO, and the rest were young this site flourished because there were no old curmudgeons to drag the site down. Instead of coming back thinking you are helping, go away and let the new take over. Im just saying cause it is too late for this site anyway

Did someone say DeMarini ?