Never thought it could be bot activity,but it is an interesting concept for sure!
Yeah, this forum has a unique phenomenon where a few folks will post a build, not engage with anyone who replies and is never seen again or might return in a few years.
I find it odd; why join a forum where the membership often have a back and forth discussion, but never enter into discussions with the community?
Yes that is quite strange
A rather annoying habit by those who partake in that sort of posting. Its good manners of the original poster to at least acknoweldge those who take the time and effort to provide any sort of comment of feedback on a post.
Must of been a year or so ago I dropped out. Walked into my work space and just couldn’t continue. Hit a wall,burnout,whatever. Had nothing to do with views or comments or life getting in the way. Having restarted and getting back in the swing of things I thought I’d add my two cents.
I think all the opinions expressed in these response have some validity to them,and I recognize myself in some of the characterizations. I am more of a viewer and I view basically what I am interested in. There are only so many P-51’S, Tigers,and Enterprises that can capture ones interest. I’ll leave a comment on what catches my eye,but to be honest, I’ve never seen a bad build posted on this site. Having done this for a few years now I still am inadaquately experienced to add any real substantive contribution to help improve ones build.
On the contrary,I rely on the responses given to certain topics relatable to me by my betters to over come obstacles or problems that arise,gather new resources or learn information pertaining to my interests.I don’t " follow " anyone in particular but there are certain members here that I rely on for their perspective and knowledge,some for their humor and some because of their work. I post what I build and start another one, if it gets a comment I’ll always acknowledge the poster for taking the time and answer any questions I can,if it gets a view, I hope you liked it.
I guess not many people in this day and age are into building bridges anymore.
I’ll get my hat & coat…
Yes!not much call for it nowadays.
Not much call for them these days, but they are badly needed more than ever.
Build your bridges Eugene. If you get enjoyment from them, that is all that matters. Others will follow, in time.
I wasn’t denigrating bridges or any other objects built in this fashion. I personally feel that scratch builders deserve their own magazine and forums. It’s an art form well above my abilities.
Not a dig on you Templar. I was just commenting on the current zeitgeist.
No worries.
Yes it is fun to take a bunch of craft popsicle sticks and make a bridge out of them!
Made another bridge too,! 
Big sucker!
Bill
Yes and I had to raise it (red area)to clear some of my tall rolling stock.
This is EXACTLY why this forum is slowly fading away. People look but they don’t interact. The whole point of a forum is interaction, and looking and moving on is NOT interacting. Even a simple emoji or one work comment can make someones day. I quit posting here for this exact reason, there is little to no feedback and that is contrary to what forums are all about. If the FSM staff can’t be active, even a litte in their own forum, it is doomed to fail. This mindset will kill this forum just like it has killed many others. The forums where members like and comment and let the thread creater know that they have stopped by keeps those places active and popular. “Silent appreciator” doesn’t cut it in forums. You can to that on Pintrest. [2cnts]
Excellent points,we’ll said [dto:]
I dunno about that Kendra. I’m a site owner on a growing and so far a successful scale modeling forum elsewhere and I’ve always been of the mentality that when looking at or responding to any given members build/ WIP or whatever it is in scale modeling that we respond as if that person were right in front of us. I highly doubt we would simply look at a fellow modelers build in the real world and either simply walk away or say “Nice” and then walk away. It takes more than that to keep people interested and motivated to do better in this great hobby of ours and honestly, we are better than to let that happen.
If you could’ve seen this place 10 years ago I think you’d have a different stance on things because they were anything but silent back then. FSM was screaming with encouraging and supportive activity. True, there was some drama from time to time but I made many friends in my time here and had a BLAST. I truly miss those days and that saddens me because things don’t have to be the way they are here now and I want to say the following with the highest respect to the FSM staff. You guys are sitting on a gold mine with this forum in having a magazine to back it. The forum and the magazine would BOTH benefit from and be a compliment to one another and wherever they are now on the success meter…it would only get better. The staff on any site has to be involved to establish an interest from the top down or great sites like FSM has been will simply become transient lodging for members. It happened where I am now 4 years ago with the core staff just abandoning the site. No staff presence…and the members find somewhere else to go or become closet builders. It’s like a plant, we’ve got to put the work in or the plant will die.
A good example of staff being involved is Tim Kidwell and Aaron Skinner came up with an FSM WWI Group Build in FSM’s heyday here on the forum around 8-10 years ago and it was a HUGE success. Why? Because the staff was involved. The FSM forum has got alot of potential but it’s only going to get to its fullest when some sort of staff gets either appointed or the existing ones participate consistently. As a forum site owner I have the responsibility to the members to provide them not only with a great place to gather together and have fun in this hobby but to keep scale modeling alive as well as to promote it for the next generation.
I do hope you take this in the helpful way that it’s meant Kendra. This forum can be one of the heavy hitters in scale modeling online communities just like it used to be not so long ago.
Joe
This site is a key ingredient to a better magazine subscription following. Let this wither and die and the magazine will follow. In today’s market the online activity WILL lead to more subs at the magazine because members will be happy, active and want more. The opposite is just as true. Put a priority into this forum and the activity and subs will follow.
Just my two cents. Joe, Brandon, Tojo, I agree with you. It’s on all of us to participate if we are to maintain a vibrant community. And Joe, what you wrote is excellent.