Future of non-cycling discussion on Bike Hub

[Stretch]

Pretty much this.

 

This is how I see it. It is not personal or a dig, but just piecing together what I can see and what I have read.

 

If you look at the off topic traffic, it is the same 30 to 40 users.

 

Considering the site attracts thousands of users daily, it is a really small percentage taking up a large amount of man hours and focus.

 

Pair that with the fact that a lot of these users are expats means they aren't really adding to the economy that bikehub creates. So while adding 'traffic', they aren't going to buy a bike from an SA distributer, so the ads/traffic conundrum is largely moot. (I say largely as it is not entirely, before 3 people say 'I am local!).

 

It comes down to the 80/20 scenario, which businesses, especially growing and evolving businesses, have to look at constantly.

 

A bunch of guys being white middle/upper class judge and jury taking up a load of man power, time and effort on non related topics seems like the first thing that needs evaluating.

 

For us it is a place we waste our time on frivolous discussions, arguments and one upmanship, but ultimately it is a business.

 

Be honest, how many of you actually click on the adverts and buy stuff, use the payment portal, pay to have your ads 'boosted' etc to generate income? (Don't answer, just think about it openly).

 

Anyway, a fair amount of the off topic threads and the petition to bring back comments are quite often just cyber bullying to be honest. I am not absolved of this, but it is often just petty and wrong.

 

Flay me all you like, but I think that the bikehub bosses know where they want to go, have the right 'numbers' to make educated decisions and know that it will disappoint some users. It is not often that change doesn't negatively affect some percentage of those involved, especially when you are looking at numbers in their thousands.

 

I'm sorry if my post offends anyone, it is just my observations, being part of the 'chatterers' I throw myself in with my generalizations.

What percentage of those expat users have little yellow boxes around their profile?

 

Ironically my bikehub browsing patterns have been the same pre migration and post migration. I've always been an offtopic dweller.

 

Honestly...I think it's pretty much self moderated pretty well. One or two slip in but on the whole it's 95% amicable chatter.

 

I think this whole thing is blown WAY out of proportion

[Shebeen]

I think these lists also exclude the off-topic section.

 

Running is under riding - multisport.

i see that now, running is part of multisport!

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/forums

 

off topic has four subsections:

 - chit chat

 - computers and tech

 - other sports

 - current affairs

[Bonus]

Pair that with the fact that a lot of these users are expats means they aren't really adding to the economy that bikehub creates. So while adding 'traffic', they aren't going to buy a bike from an SA distributer, so the ads/traffic conundrum is largely moot. (I say largely as it is not entirely, before 3 people say 'I am local!).

 

 

 

Just want to point out that the a lot of the adverts I see on BikeHub are International or in Spanish. So while they are not adding to the SA economy directly, they should be adding to BikeHubs income because I make a point of clicking on them when I can.

 

I can well imagine that moderating any web forum can be time consuming and if you are ending up spending an undue amount of time moderating OT subjects or discussions you are bound to ask yourself "what it all for". In the end perhaps the maths will speak for itself.

[RABUBI]

I wonder "BigH" would say about this thread?

 

Those were the days

[mecheng89]

...do i sense a bikehub competitor

existed for years. It's called slowtwitch. 

[Blokman]

I will only post in the cycling threads if it is something that I have some knowledge of . Mostly routes or rides.

But that doesn't mean I'm not scanning pages for info . I have read threads about MTB's , eg.Titan vs Silverback etc in detail. I visit the classifieds daily. I followed the Munga thread daily.

 

But where I post mostly is in the non cycling threads. 

I hear Bachman Turner Overdrive when climbing a hill. Don't take away these topics please.

 

Thinking back a few years I do think that some amount of moderation is needed. 

Also , the bickering on the Trump and Covid threads have made people leave. I haven't seen the doctor that likes coffee around for a while. 

He and others had valuable input on injuries and other related issues. 

 

My 2 cents.

 

[Jewbacca]

Just want to point out that the a lot of the adverts I see on BikeHub are International or in Spanish. So while they are not adding to the SA economy directly, they should be adding to BikeHubs income because I make a point of clicking on them when I can.

 

I can well imagine that moderating any web forum can be time consuming and if you are ending up spending an undue amount of time moderating OT subjects or discussions you are bound to ask yourself "what it all for". In the end perhaps the maths will speak for itself.

I also think we must remember that bikehub is trying step away from relying on Ad revenue.

 

It has created the secure payment portal, the ad push and there are considerably more value added pay services on the way.

 

Like I said, it isn't personal, I see myself as one of the people I am talking about too, although not an expat. I Don't contribute much to their revenue stream.

 

I'm hoping that I sell my bikes through the secure payment portal so that I can. 

 

I think the sentiment is emotional and not practical.

 

Anyway, I think that the bikehub bosses have their ways and means and the decision to cut off a limb isn't an easy one. With 3 full time Devs monitoring the traffic and the back office I would suggest it is an educated decision.

[SwissVan]

I wonder "BigH" would say about this thread?

 

Those were the days

 

Without doubt he would agree with the Admin

[SwissVan]

What about this thread in the Chit Chat (OFF TOPICS) forum

 

8 MILLION and sumpthing views

Mass hysteria if this one was lost

 

EDIT: Statistics.... how does this one not feature, so what if its been going since 2011

 

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/102931-i-have-an-idea-for-a-new-thread/?p=1395647

Edited December 8, 2020 by SwissVan

[Skylark]

I just worked it out, well played Matt!

BikehubPlus = Access to the Off-Topic section

This is going to radically increase revenue from you bunch of bloody leeches!!

Edited December 8, 2020 by Skylark

[Stretch]

I also think we must remember that bikehub is trying step away from relying on Ad revenue.

 

It has created the secure payment portal, the ad push and there are considerably more value added pay services on the way.

 

Like I said, it isn't personal, I see myself as one of the people I am talking about too, although not an expat. I Don't contribute much to their revenue stream.

 

I'm hoping that I sell my bikes through the secure payment portal so that I can.

 

I think the sentiment is emotional and not practical.

 

Anyway, I think that the bikehub bosses have their ways and means and the decision to cut off a limb isn't an easy one. With 3 full time Devs monitoring the traffic and the back office I would suggest it is an educated decision.

I agree. The focus is on growing the classifieds. It has been for the last while... But to have a strong classifieds you need an active vibrant community. Over the years this had become that due to the contribution of the forum.... Cutting that off at the knees would be..... I'll reserve judgement

[JJDT]

I have been a member on many forums and quite a few years back my main interests was cars especially that I'm an Opel fan. The Opel owners club forum went through many platforms but eventually died because of non interest and people leaving, despite best efforts from the new site owners to keep it alive. There was also the CAR Magazine forum...and the same reason as stated here the forum was evntaully canned. A few guys started their own forum during that time and eventually all members of the old CAR forum joined the new forum and old one just died...the newly created CAR forum still exist today. There are still today heated debates GTi vs ... and also there are the non motoring section where about anything is discussed. There were also some heated debates and sometimes the moderators stepped in just to calm everything.

I was cycling before I joined "The Hub SA" and I stumbled on the forum as I was searching for info. During this time my interest in cars slowly died as I moved on and found a new interest cycling when I went through the topics. I mainly read topics that I find interesting and mostly they are in Chit Chat or the members views on news etc. Only when I want something I scan the classifieds or if I do have something to sell.

For me I have learnt to move on from negativity...also had some not so lekker replies IMO from something I posted that I felt that had nothing to do with the topic at hand but simply just ignored the comment and moved on.

If the non cycling related topics will be canned then for me the bikehub will be a place just like the car forums that I occasionally visit.

[IceCreamMan]

At the end of the day he who pays the bills gets to decide. 

 

Whatever they decide, goes. 

 

Then the ball is in our court. While the forum is "free" (unless a plus member) it is not gratis and their is a cost to all who frequent it. Be it time or adverts etc. Nothing is truly free. Once you weigh up the odds of your time vs benefits you decide which forums you frequent. Seen forums blossom, seen some die. Cycling is a huge sport, Hub is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. 

 

Good luck to the owners. whichever you decide. 

[DieselnDust]

The thing is, I’m getting the feeling things are getting way to commercialized around here.

 

 

an inevitable consequence of growth. Considering the history of Bikehub springing from a cycling club chat group its not necessarily a bad thing. The world has become too PC. Brands don't want to e associated with anything that could be seen as controversial so for a media platform to survive it needs to play ball with the people who ultimately pay the bills

[Andrew Steer]

Off topic may only be 2% of the traffic, but for me it's probably 90% of the magic...

I also wouldn't read too much into this crazy year - people are on edge like never before and in some cases have a bit too much time on their hands. The Orange Man and Covid are also probably as divisive a set of topics as religion at the moment - so rightly chop them if required - but to sacrifice the many good spaces on here at the same time I believe would be foolish...

I also wouldn't be surprised at all, if in the long term the loss of passion/personal interest from a sterile environment trickled down to affect the forum as a whole too - anybody can build a website, it's the users/community that make it an appealing home for us all to spend our precious spare time, buying and selling our goods, and pulling in many others to do the same...

You've done an incredible job Matt, building this up, getting the balance right... there is a reason we all come here for sure, so on that note - if it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it 

[Patchelicious]

Off topic may only be 2% of the traffic, but for me it's probably 90% of the magic...

 

I also wouldn't read too much into this crazy year - people are on edge like never before and in some cases have a bit too much time on their hands. The Orange Man and Covid are also probably as divisive a set of topics as religion at the moment - so rightly chop them if required - but to sacrifice the many good spaces on here at the same time I believe would be foolish...

 

I also wouldn't be surprised at all, if in the long term the loss of passion/personal interest from a sterile environment trickled down to affect the forum as a whole too - anybody can build a website, it's the users/community that make it an appealing home for us all to spend our precious spare time, buying and selling our goods, and pulling in many others to do the same...

 

You've done an incredible job Matt, building this up, getting the balance right... there is a reason we all come here for sure, so on that note - if it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it 

 

Now that LDs have lifted and the Trump has been voted out, both the COVID 2.0 and Trumpf 2.0 threads have simmered down nicely.