Where Is Everybody?

I have no idea of the expense to keep the lights on here but I owned Custom Knives and Guns the last couple of years of its existence and my hosting fees were less than $150 per month....upgrading, migration, etc., were the primary costs and don’t happen on a regular basis.

I’ve been a paying member for going on 20 years and still get yelled at ...:D
 
Ben Seward said:
Something that I would miss is how we used to be able to post a knife here for feedback and discussion and if it was available in the For Sale area we could mention that too...no pricing, just a reminder that it could be had. If makers aren't selling what's the incentive to post? Some of us have a family to support.
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any paid up knife maker who wants to use their theads here to direct potential customers to their sales threads in the exchange could use a hyperlink within the main body of the text to direct interested people there. It's more subtle than outright talking about selling their knife, and also more effective. The text in your post accompanying your photos could be like this;

"This knife was made from steel and some other stuff, let me know what you think"
 
Not everyone is so tech savvy, Lorien...or maybe it's just me
 
dude, if I can figure it out.... :)

when you post something, you'll see a menu bar above the text box that you put your pictures and text in. 7 characters in from the left you'll see a chain looking emblem. When you click on it, a box will open where you can paste the url for your sales thread. Simply go to your post in the exchange thread, copy the url and then paste that in the box. Voila!
 
I don’t post much any more because of pictures...any time I try to post pictures I’m told the file is too big...Facebook & Instagram lets me post pictures without jumping through hoops!...my level of membership will undoubtedly change in June...

Regards/bg
 
Bmgillum said:
I don’t post much any more because of pictures...any time I try to post pictures I’m told the file is too big...Facebook & Instagram lets me post pictures without jumping through hoops!...my level of membership will undoubtedly change in June...

Regards/bg
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For what its worth, I agree 100%. It is very frustrating trying to post pictures. I do as a relative newbie to collecting very much appreciate all the knowledge offered here.
It should be noted that I've never been accused of being computer literate, but sometimes here I feel especially challenged!
 
Things change. It is easier to post on ig, and I wouldn't say the bf membership fee is outrageous. A few yrs ago the conversations/arguments kept you checking back in, and if you posted a knife on here... get ready, it better be good, or you would definitely hear about it (that was a good thing). If nobody was interested, a thread would fly off the first page quickly.

Maybe the whole kumbaya thing, or a group of regulars leaving for some reason or another...the environment changed. I still check in regularly, but this page was awesome 10 yrs ago. I really think it has more to do with the participants than anything.

Tad Lynch
ABS MS
@lynch_forge ig
 
Lorien said:
there's a cop who's gotta tell the kids at school that he's gonna bust their ass if they ever catch them smoking weed, who lets them off with a stern warning when they catch those kids smoking weed.

rules exist in order to bust wankers. People who are just looking to have a good time at no one else's expense are gonna be aight
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If you only enforce the rule with "wankers" how do you decide who's a wanker? It's never black and white.

If you don't like it, change the rules. That's the founding principle of the USA. Selective enforcement is decidedly un-American & un-Canadian.
 
I have criteria
 
I think you have a point, Tad. The opinions and critiques kept you coming. STeven's critique while pointed was very helpful to me early on. If a thread gets locked when someone gets their feelings hurt it just gets dull
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
I think its unfair to solely blame knifemakers for the lack of content/posts in this forum. There may be less of them, but there are also far less collectors like me posting....

Years ago this forum was full of collectors like me discussing customs of all kinds....kinda like how "the Porch" crew discusses traditionals in their forum. In fact, collectors far outnumbered knifemakers in posts. There was always the "what's your next purchase" and "this or that" threads that were quite active. You get the picture.

I'm thinking...and this is just my perspective.. that there has been an overall decline in custom knife interests among collectors, coupled with an increased interest in production knives as production knives have gotten better and better with modern technology, and as more custom makers are pairing with production companies (e.g. Pena, Rogers).

The currently active thread "what custom is in your pocket today?" hasn't had a single post in 2 days. Years back, it would have 20-30 posts in a single day.

So less collectors are participating, as well.
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Custom knife scene has never been bigger. 10x the makers, immeasurable amount of collectors. It's just the landscape has changed. You've got knifemakers on instagram pushin 500k followers now. Could you imagine 10 years ago a knifemaker having that type of reach? totally unheard of even just a few years ago. you've got Jason Knight showing up at shows with a "Take a photo with me" booth for petes sake! you've got makers being paid to travel the country for combat abrasives, Joe rogan bringing makers on to his podcast that usually hosts people like Elon Musk! this is peak knife era right now. Just doesn't seem that way here cause BF isn't adapting or doing anything to retain members. Which sucks, as instagram while great for advertising, and short, brief, nearly useless socializing, is useless for things like these longer conversations. That's where BF thrives, but the powers that be here have made essentially every effort to discourage that very thing from occurring.
 
Aidenag said:
Just doesn't seem that way here cause BF isn't adapting or doing anything to retain members. Which sucks, as instagram while great for advertising, and short, brief, nearly useless socializing, is useless for things like these longer conversations. That's where BF thrives, but the powers that be here have made essentially every effort to discourage that very thing from occurring.
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what do you think needs to change?
 
Lorien said:
what do you think needs to change?
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Top priority would be clarity on what ya can and cannot do here as non paying member/knifemaker. Everything too vague and as mentioned earlier spark says one thing, you another.

Beyond that, anything I would suggest is pretty high level stuff. Newer forum formats, better layouts, better image hosting, non handicapped private message system for us plebs, more industry and knifemaker or knife group outreach, staff created news and events, and most importantly original content. Right now this feels like a walled garden that isn't in bloom if that makes sense. gotta tear down the walls and add some new flowers.

BF still essentially looks and functions like its 2003. Which is why the age demographic here is the same as a matlock marathon on basic cable. Check out blu-ray.com as an example of a forum that's kept up with the times, and maintains a very active userbase. Even with physical media dying a faster and faster death it does well by being engaging and making it a place you can't get what they have to offer anywhere else. All with no paid memberships, free to buy, sell or trade between members. Tons of original content, both staff and user created.

Some off top of my head specific examples of things one could do here to right the ship.

1. I would say it's safe to assume owner and mods attend knife shows right? Imagine staff creating galleries or videos of each table and the knives at it. few paragraphs written up for the show. That's a lot of clicks and engagement with forum members. Content nobody else has but BF. gets people comin, talking, etc.

2. Some sort of enticements and encouragements to get people posting WIPS and how to content like the days of old. That's still something that Facebook and instagram not good at due to their format and is a niche that should be heavily encouraged. How bf goes about that would be up to the powers that be though.

3. Find ways to get the abs, guilds, regional clubs etc involved here in some way. Lot of missed opportunities there for original content and engagement. No doubt they wouldn't mind the free PR either so its win win.

4. Have the homepage of BF not be the forum but more like blu-ray.com. imagine you fire up BF and it's a page of news, industry announcements, customs, list of shows, hammer ins, contests, etc etc. Forums still there, one click away but with a page that highlights the best and most pertinent stuff(also ads a new revenue stream with the occasional sponsored content) Think about how awesome bladeshow week in Atlanta would be with curated frontpage content churning out from both staff and user created means.

Again those just some quick thoughts while it's almost 4am and I cant sleep lol. Sorry if this is long winded, in a past life this type of thing was my job getting older news sites, retailers, orgs etc to meet modern times and demands. Cutting out what doesn't work and adding in new things that do. And from that past experience as I've made probably too tersely clear in prior comments, this place is quickly reaching a point it can't recover. It's funny actually in that what I've just said and suggested is pretty much same stuff I told netscape.com the last few years they were around when I was consulting for em. Sadly they decided keeping the course was the right plan.
 
STeven is still around. Had some life issues. I gotta wonder if the preschool positive re-enforcement atmosphere keeps guys like him away. And in the shame on selling a knife to feed your family climate, could Joe Paranee still do what he did with the hurak and tsavo runs from Lurquin? Talk about straight up selling! But it did keep things exciting and gave collectors a reason to be here! Take away the reason for top makers top post(selling) and critical discussion which is constructive and interesting and what do you have to gain by posting here? IG is an easier format and while it's not as permanent you are at least guaranteed a lot of people seeing your work if you have a good following. It is what it is. If you don't have the deep discussions then all you have in BF is a lame, inconvenient, unprofitable form of social media.
 
rhetorically speaking, I wonder how many knife makers can credit BF with helping get their careers started
 
Lorien, I would say quite a few. I certainly can. In yrs past the exposure on here was really incredible.

Tad Lynch
ABS MS
@lynch_forge ig
 
Same here. BF was a great place when I started. You could get constructive feedback from some of the top makers and collectors. I hope it can make a comeback.
 
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