Competing With Facebook!

[MarkFromSea]

Competing with facebook seems to be a tough challenge to this and some other fishing sites. Am I imagining it, or is there some basis?

What do we do about it?

WALakes still has the reports data base that is a huge advantage over FB....but.....FB is serving that instant or near instant gratification to questions asked and photos/reports given.

I pulled a test on just one of FBs fishing sites. I posted 4 photos with minimal info listed, "Mar 1 opening lakes" is about all I wrote. In about 30 minutes I had at least a dozen "Likes" and half a dozen comments. That gave me near instant gratification, a warm and fuzzy feeling. I just finished a couple slightly more detailed reports here, only allowed a couple photos each, they will post when they post and I'm totally fine with that.

I like this site, I like the people here. What do we do to keep it rockin with the times and strengthen the active membership?

[zen leecher]

Did the comments provide you with any information? It seems FB has info going outwards, but not backwards.

[Mike Carey]

Perception and reality...

You're spot on, fb offers instant gratification and feedback. Seeing "likes" on your post is an effective feedback mechanism. Because of fb most forums are seeing dropouts in participation. This site included. That said, our readership numbers consistently hit record highs each month. February this site had around 280,000 actual site visits. But you would never guess that from the forum activity.
We have several things coming in the next few weeks I'll share with everyone in more detail later.
on thing about fb posts, the quality of posts and interactions is pretty low. Lot's of fluff but little use full content imo.

[Weekend-warrior17]

Agree 110%

I don't know the Stat here for this site's number of active members/ guests or what ever the rest of us none paying users are classified as but I and I'm sure others have notice a pattern of what people are on this site to accomplish witch could help point the idea's for new stuff in a direction . A lot of people have used this site and taken a lot from it , let's not take away from the hard work previously put in but I agree maybe something big ( Update) would bring in more of the old time site users and plus new ( I'll be thinking on idea's). That said you can only talk about Humpies so many times before it gets a little dull. IMO Ya know? Fishing's fishing? Maybe more physical events revolving around fishing for bankies/ common angler and such maybe not. Don't know if it would be possible or may sound dumb but just off my head maybe a largish group of Wa lakes.com site river guides get togather and schedule a date where they can all get togather and volunteer a day where they go to for instance the Skookumchuck ( Large fishing area avalible) and the guides as well as Experianced site members spread out and walk around to different holes and show/ walk threw a few different presentations / get to know some of the wa lakes community. I realize that would be askin a lot of the guides but isn't anything different than a normal fishin day on the river just with more organized Wa lakes members.
That was a long grave yard shift think of something later.

[Amx]

I don't do facething or those other things.

[Toni]

Perception and reality...

You're spot on, fb offers instant gratification and feedback. Seeing "likes" on your post is an effective feedback mechanism. Because of fb most forums are seeing dropouts in participation. This site included. That said, our readership numbers consistently hit record highs each month. February this site had around 280,000 actual site visits. But you would never guess that from the forum activity.
We have several things coming in the next few weeks I'll share with everyone in more detail later.
on thing about fb posts, the quality of posts and interactions is pretty low. Lot's of fluff but little use full content imo.

Sure wanted to like that post!

[MarkFromSea]

Did the comments provide you with any information? It seems FB has info going outwards, but not backwards.

Some of the guesses at "where" I fished were correct, comments were complimentary or questions. I didn't ask any questions, I mentioned that here, from reading other posts in the FB pages. People do ask and other people do respond, some comments are very helpful, some are antagonistic, ect, at the FB pages.

[MarkFromSea]

Perception and reality...

You're spot on, fb offers instant gratification and feedback. Seeing "likes" on your post is an effective feedback mechanism. Because of fb most forums are seeing dropouts in participation. This site included. That said, our readership numbers consistently hit record highs each month. February this site had around 280,000 actual site visits. But you would never guess that from the forum activity.
We have several things coming in the next few weeks I'll share with everyone in more detail later.
on thing about fb posts, the quality of posts and interactions is pretty low. Lot's of fluff but little use full content imo.

I agree on the quality of info shared at FB, it's very bare bones and generalized, fluff. WALakes has much more detailed info available via your videos and other info sources.

Another thought was sort of a backlash or resentment of some fishers who posted reports over this last year or two. Giving up very specific locations and then others seeing crowds move in fast and furious... Similar to the "Fishing and Hunting News" syndrome of the 80s. The paper would post locations, hordes would descend on that location, I know, I was one of the hordes! LOL I traveled the state following the "Liars Gazette!" The resentment has been felt by people who would have posted a report, reducing participation.

[MarkFromSea]

Agree 110%

I don't know the Stat here for this site's number of active members/ guests or what ever the rest of us none paying users are classified as but I and I'm sure others have notice a pattern of what people are on this site to accomplish witch could help point the idea's for new stuff in a direction . A lot of people have used this site and taken a lot from it , let's not take away from the hard work previously put in but I agree maybe something big ( Update) would bring in more of the old time site users and plus new ( I'll be thinking on idea's). That said you can only talk about Humpies so many times before it gets a little dull. IMO Ya know? Fishing's fishing? Maybe more physical events revolving around fishing for bankies/ common angler and such maybe not. Don't know if it would be possible or may sound dumb but just off my head maybe a largish group of Wa lakes.com site river guides get togather and schedule a date where they can all get togather and volunteer a day where they go to for instance the Skookumchuck ( Large fishing area avalible) and the guides as well as Experianced site members spread out and walk around to different holes and show/ walk threw a few different presentations / get to know some of the wa lakes community. I realize that would be askin a lot of the guides but isn't anything different than a normal fishin day on the river just with more organized Wa lakes members.
That was a long grave yard shift think of something later.

I'm in no way putting WALakes down.... Just trying to open a discussion of how to bring it up a notch, compete successfully with other forums and FB.

Ya know, even WDFW started copying WALakes, they opened up that fishwa.gov or something, indexed the lakes and such in the state, I don't recall the year but it had to be after WALakes did it.

LOL Pinks, LOL yep, a lot of repeat hype and info sharing. I still SUCK at rivers! LOL

[MarkFromSea]

I don't do facething or those other things.

Those other things! Tweeting is something birds do! I have never used that. LOL I agree Tom.

I started using FB to stay connected with spread out family members, didn't quite work out the way I had hoped in my case. The family tie thing failed but the social media, the news and information that became available by others, some strangers, some friends for 40 years now, has been fun, aggravating, enlightening and sorrowful. Some news is flat out lies and some is dead on accurate. It's an active feed of info, similar to WALakes Forum Active Topics selection, you know, but different. ;)

[MarkFromSea]

Perception and reality...

You're spot on, fb offers instant gratification and feedback. Seeing "likes" on your post is an effective feedback mechanism. Because of fb most forums are seeing dropouts in participation. This site included. That said, our readership numbers consistently hit record highs each month. February this site had around 280,000 actual site visits. But you would never guess that from the forum activity.
We have several things coming in the next few weeks I'll share with everyone in more detail later.
on thing about fb posts, the quality of posts and interactions is pretty low. Lot's of fluff but little use full content imo.

Sure wanted to like that post!

That right there brings up a good option... tallying "likes" and collecting them, adding them up and putting them up like a medal on your title permanently is not a good thing IMO. BUT, having a non accumulative, non carry forward, keep it with the individual posts(just like FBs) sort of tally would be fun. I've read so many threads, topics, here that I like but I don't feel like actually contributing to for whatever reason, I wish there was a like button. I do like the tally showing how many people have read a topic, that we currently have.

[MarkFromSea]

Photo size restrictions, I understand the constraints, data base size = cash, but, that is something that was a PIA here when trying to post pictures. My "fix" has been to dummy down the capabilities of my phone's camera, setting the phone's settings to ultra low pixel or size... I don't really know... this resulted in ultra low quality photos wherever I post them. Makes it easier to post but the photos, mine, suck. Coloring is off, lighting is off. Other forums I'm in, some have nothing to do with fishing, have the same restrictions, some do not have restrictions, they auto reconfigure. I tried that shrink, shrink, shrink fix with paint or whatever it is, and, that process blows. LOL I don't have an answer for that, someone above my pay grade must.

[Aaron]

Photo size restrictions, I understand the constraints, data base size = cash, but, that is something that was a PIA here when trying to post pictures. My "fix" has been to dummy down the capabilities of my phone's camera, setting the phone's settings to ultra low pixel or size... I don't really know... this resulted in ultra low quality photos wherever I post them. Makes it easier to post but the photos, mine, suck. Coloring is off, lighting is off. Other forums I'm in, some have nothing to do with fishing, have the same restrictions, some do not have restrictions, they auto reconfigure. I tried that shrink, shrink, shrink fix with paint or whatever it is, and, that process blows. LOL I don't have an answer for that, someone above my pay grade must.

Our upgraded site will accept any size and we'll worry about resizing/rotating on our end. I'll work out some sort up Like/Up vote thing that doesn't infringe on Patents or TMs.

[Toni]

Perception and reality...

You're spot on, fb offers instant gratification and feedback. Seeing "likes" on your post is an effective feedback mechanism. Because of fb most forums are seeing dropouts in participation. This site included. That said, our readership numbers consistently hit record highs each month. February this site had around 280,000 actual site visits. But you would never guess that from the forum activity.
We have several things coming in the next few weeks I'll share with everyone in more detail later.
on thing about fb posts, the quality of posts and interactions is pretty low. Lot's of fluff but little use full content imo.

Sure wanted to like that post!

That right there brings up a good option... tallying "likes" and collecting them, adding them up and putting them up like a medal on your title permanently is not a good thing IMO. BUT, having a non accumulative, non carry forward, keep it with the individual posts(just like FBs) sort of tally would be fun.

Now that is a different perspective. You gave me motives I did not have.
I wanted Mike to know I saw what he said and I agreed. Since it was about FB I wrote out Like. More often than not I will not type anything if it is I just agree.
I don't look to see how many likes I get or give. I actually don't have a clue. I do it to let the person who made the post know that I saw what they said and either liked it or am sympathetic to what is going on.

Sounds to me like there is more competition going on than fishing anywhere if that is the reason someone posts something on the internet.

[Hunter757]

What is facebook.....I used to belong to another form that I followed about saltwater and now they are facebook only and well now I no longer have a clue what people are catching or doing anymore on the sound. I just don't like the idea of sharing everything I do at any given moment.

Sharing the experiance for those who care and want to take the time to read a report and share a report and learn new things about lakes or rivers and salt is the best. I like this form and hope it never goes only to facebook, I am not old by anymeans but I see what other quick here I am doing this or that get people in a ton of trouble. Sometimes the long road is the best route. Good luck with what every you do it going well so far.

[Mike Carey]

Just got off the water, here's a few more thoughts. First, I really try not to think of it as a competition. A static forum will never be able to compete with a dynamic resource like fb. Everyone has a phone, and most everyone has a fb account. So naturally people will post quick comments and pics. The instant feedback is quite powerful. That said Mark, I can look back at reports you've posted and note that they have been read by thousands of anglers and have been a source of entertainment and knowledge sharing for everyone. And a source of motivation for our readers to maybe explore new fisheries or techniques. Your reports are indexed and available for future generations of anglers thirsting for knowledge. Compare that to your fb report experiment. It will be seen, "liked", and forgotten. It will inspire a few people, but quickly replaced by the next inane post asking about regs or some other frivolous post. That's what I mean when I say fb is all fluff and very little useful information.

You've already discovered that if you post a detailed report with meaningful information you'll likely get negative comments to not "blow up the location". IMO, people that make these complaints are the same ones that visit this site looking for specific information.

What I find so amazing about our site is the willingness of anglers to share information. And that's just one reason fb will never be able to compete with a well designed fishing Web site. Our members have grown this site over the last 18 years into an incredibly deep and rich resource.

All that said, we have a couple major changes coming. First, come March 15th, our new name, Northwest Fishing Reports.com, which better reflects who and what we are. It will give anglers much better recognition of the resource. Along with the name change, all the features that are currently paid membership will be free to everyone that is registered. AAron and I decided these great extra featires should be more widely used. It's going to blow people away when they see everything Aaron has created. Then, later in the year we'll be coming out with a new site design which will focus on reports, articles, videos, maps, our newsletter - those things you can't find on fb or anywhere else.

I can't tell you how excited we are for what the future holds for our community. Rest assured, we aren't going anywhere and we aren't going to become complacent about providing our readers with the best fishing website in the Pacific Northwest.

[Gringo Pescador]

Interesting read.. Here are my $0.02.

I am a member (or whatever you call it) of a number of FB fishing websites and have been on the brink of ditching them all for awhile now and here's why.
I don't care to have the fishing post "pushed" to me. I would much rather be able to pick and choose what I want to see/read when I want to see it.
like said above the majority of the FB posts are fluff. either "where do I fish?" "Look at my fish" or whining and bitching. And the majority of replies are wasted breath.
ever tried to find a post that someone put up on FB 3 weeks ago that had info you want to use today? Damn near impossible.
There's more reasons but I am stopping here because I hate typing with my thumbs :p

[Sixgill]

Facebook could never replace the valuable information I find here. I'm excited, for eliminating photo size restrictions, or for having automatic resizing. I'll be significantly more likely to post photos here.

[MarkFromSea]

Photo size restrictions, I understand the constraints, data base size = cash, but, that is something that was a PIA here when trying to post pictures. My "fix" has been to dummy down the capabilities of my phone's camera, setting the phone's settings to ultra low pixel or size... I don't really know... this resulted in ultra low quality photos wherever I post them. Makes it easier to post but the photos, mine, suck. Coloring is off, lighting is off. Other forums I'm in, some have nothing to do with fishing, have the same restrictions, some do not have restrictions, they auto reconfigure. I tried that shrink, shrink, shrink fix with paint or whatever it is, and, that process blows. LOL I don't have an answer for that, someone above my pay grade must.

Our upgraded site will accept any size and we'll worry about resizing/rotating on our end. I'll work out some sort up Like/Up vote thing that doesn't infringe on Patents or TMs.

LOL Call it the "FISHY" button! LOL Just kidding. "Helpful" ?

[MarkFromSea]

Sure wanted to like that post![/color]

That right there brings up a good option... tallying "likes" and collecting them, adding them up and putting them up like a medal on your title permanently is not a good thing IMO. BUT, having a non accumulative, non carry forward, keep it with the individual posts(just like FBs) sort of tally would be fun.

Now that is a different perspective. You gave me motives I did not have.
I wanted Mike to know I saw what he said and I agreed. Since it was about FB I wrote out Like. More often than not I will not type anything if it is I just agree.
I don't look to see how many likes I get or give. I actually don't have a clue. I do it to let the person who made the post know that I saw what they said and either liked it or am sympathetic to what is going on.

Sounds to me like there is more competition going on than fishing anywhere if that is the reason someone posts something on the internet.

Not my intention to put words in your mouth Toni.... Purely my thought triggered by your post.... Just like FB's like, it would mean the same here or maybe "agree or helpful"... Just tossing out ideas.. Looking for positive stuff that you all might like in here.... and if it works for Mike & Aaron.