The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

[Eric Tipton]

An announcement from Bob Szabo at the Civil War Reenactors Forums:

http://www.cwreenactors.com/forum/showthread.php?32186-Please-READ-THIS-about-the-future-of-this-forum!&p=231818#post231818

What do you think about the future of internet forums as it relates to the Civil War? Has social media permanently affected the forum as a platform for discussions?

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

[/COLOR][/U]What do you think about the future of internet forums as it relates to the Civil War? Has social media permanently affected the forum as a platform for discussions?

I've said it before and I'll say it again:
I H-A-T-E trying to have a discussion on the book of faces. They are stream of consciousness rambles and there is no accountability for the advice given. Once a good discussion is had, the advice is buried beneath a sea of subsequent posts, virtually impossible to find again.

Event organization: I can never tell what I need to know...
1) When is it?
2) Who's leading the thing?
3) What are the regs?
4) How do I get registered?

What can you do "over there" better than here?
1) post pics - its easy and FAST!
2) post via mobile device
... We need a friggin' AC App, I guess?

[Jeremy Bevard]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I agree with John including the part on a AC app. There is still a place for forums. The issue I don't think is the traffic but the cost. The connection with social media like Eric has done here helps. Provides awareness and to drive traffic to see the bigger discussions. At least that is my hope! An app that makes it easier and faster to make and read posts could help. I hope it keeps going but not sure who will step up to pay $90 a month and need to find a way to recover that cost.

Guess I will click that post to Facebook box while we are talking about it :)

[Coatsy]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I agree with John W. and Jeremy. The forums are a solid place to visit for information that doesn't get pushed down and down and down with new posts.

Traffic may be light, but I still check both the AC and CWR.

[Cotton Trash]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

Three Cheers for John, Jeremy and Herb !!! I'm constantly told by a few of my pards " If you were on Facebook, you would know what everybody is talking about and planning" call me old fashioned or outta the loop but I like taking a look at the forum and reading or discussing an issue related to the ACW, It's great to be able to locate an old discussion that I have forgotten and I can read it again.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

Heck, Chad, I'll give you "old fashioned"…
I remember before the campaigner movement, you'd go to a meeting, vote on events for the coming year, set the schedule, and the information would go out in your unit newsletter. You might get other info throughout the year, but you had a schedule with all the info you needed, stuck on your fridge door with a magnet. So simple.

Today, I'm shoveling through a pile of FB posts looking for driving directions, or authenticity regs, or trying to figure out if there is a US AND a CS effort and/or who's leading which. I hate it.

[MarkTK36thIL]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

FB is nice because you can reach a ton of people quickly, and alert them at a moments notice. But it's garbage to debate things or maintain any sort of documentation that you might want to retrieve later on. When I find deals for unit members for gear, I alert them via FB. But when event guidelines are posted, or people want to sort through a debated topic, forums are much better (and SEARCHABLE).

Not to mention, credibility and source material is needed to post on boards like the AC. We've all had debates with trolls or the uneducated who thought that their view growing up and watching Disneyish type of CW movies was accurate. I argued with a guy who believed that his CS grandfather would've used a shoelace before he'd ever wear a US belt (even turned upside down). I then proceeded to do a quick Google posting of three CS soldiers who did it, and even a couple US guys who had done it as well.

On the other hand, if the old 1999-2002 AC was back with fighting and name-calling it might get more views!..

[Elliott'sSprout]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I would totally be on board for an AC app. In an age like today where smartphones are common place and we are needing to bring more young people into the hobby I think the world of smartphones is an untapped opportunity. Also I think making the forum more mobile friendly would be a great innovation as well.

[Strawfoot]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I joined Facebook to hook up with old girlfriends. It's fine for convenience while trying to get out updates and stuff, but forums are much more concentrated and valuable. The fact they are moderated really makes the difference.

[Bill]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I'm another Facebook hater, but the facts speak for themselves. Traffic is down on all the CW forums. Perhaps when people get tired of trying to find information on Facebook, the forums and event web sites will stage a come-back. At least, I sure hope so!

[4vaadjutant]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

The old-fashioned method mentioned by John Wickett can still be effective for getting good quality information out about events and regulations. Many people prefer it over the contemporary popular means of communicating that kind of nuts and bolts information. I find the AC forums to be fun and a source of some good information on specific subjects such as creating an individual portrayal, and I have enjoyed participaing in several. But I do not believe it is as well suited for information needed to prepare for events. A series of orders and regulations by event organizers is much more convenient for participants and others who might be interested in a program or event.

Your ob't servant,
Tom Williams
4th Virginia Infantry
Indianapolis

[Mississippian]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

Facebook is pretty much an online version of an event parking lot so I don't see it going away anytime soon.

I always thought the AC could use a reenacting news/gossip column.

Will MacDonald

[lukegilly13]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

I've been hesitant to post this but here's a couple of ideas.

1. What if there were a couple of events per year.... Nothing fancy, but a chance for folks to practice an impression, get some drill work, camp/fellowship, etc? Maybe start late on Friday and leave early Sunday so that folks could miss minimal work. $35 registration and part of it goes to support the forum. Have one in the Eastern Theater and one in the Western Theater. Minimal extra planning...maybe combine it with some of the larger organizations' drill or living histories that are already planned or maybe one of the max effort events that we are already planning on doing. Do a different impression each year and encourage Approved Vendors to get on board with bully buys and drum up business for them while we're at it. Folks might have to be willing to accept that it might not be the greatest event of all time but the intent is to raise money for our forum and get to know each other and network to help with attendance at other events. I don't know, just an idea.

2. I'd like to see a positive gear review page on the forum. I know one of our rules is to not post "who makes the best" threads. However, it would be nice to see reviews from educated folks who actually own a piece of gear. Often times you can contact a vendor and they can explain the orginal they copied but it helps to hear from someone who has nothing gain from the purchase. Maybe assign a criteria that has to be met in order to leave a review to prevent "bashing" items. I think Approved Vendors would welcome positive feedback and the advertisement of how well their product represents the particular original. It's true, a picture's worth a 1000 words...but sometimes having an experienced colleague who has the actual reproduction in hand can be useful too. Maybe create a template that the post must by. If you buy something junky...don't post it in that folder. It's not a place to bash junky gear. It's a place to reference the highlights and best parts of reproductions that you have bought from particular vendors. We do this anyway! I've read several threads giving Kudos to vendors. I just don't think they are collected in one spot.

Anyway, for what it's worth...just trying to think of ways to make the forum more appealing than facebook and still able to operate financially.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

Oddly, The Watchdog Quarterly quit publishing as a magazine in 2007 because the internet forums were by then in full vigor and print media was (and still is) mired in a long decline. Then Social Media becomes popular and results in the drying up of participation on the internet forums...something Darwinian in all of this.

Another broader factor which coincides with this shift is the gradual decline of participation in the mainstream hobby which Szabo serves. Guys are selling their gear on Szabo's and there aren't many buyers. Citations? Let me paraphrase the book "Forrest Gump" by Winston Groome. "It depends on whether you get your information from reading Stars & Stripes or by just looking around to see what the hell is going on." I'm not much of a Facebook guy, myself. Too mundane, trivial and ephemeral. The ranger at the STRI battlefield park likes to use Social Media to update us on historic weapons event schedules, etc. That's about it for Facebook and me.

Fortunately, at the opposite end of the ephemerality scale Civil War books are still selling, if not in the numbers they used to at least well enough to warrant putting them out. At least publishers think so.

[Spinster]

Re: The Future of "Civil War Reenactors" Forum

The Next Media seems to come on us pretty fast, doesn't it Craig? Still, I'm not storing Real Books I Want to Keep on my Kindle. ;)

There are days that I long for a mimeo sheet and a stamp. I even dig in those binders on occasion for real research notes. Bob Szabo's has run for nearly two decades out of the pockets of a few modest men, and that time is drawing to a close. No free ride lasts forever----and it never was really free, just a few folks paid the tab for many folks entering the hobby

Here's the problem I don't know how to solve with Facebook (and the reason I'm still playing Whack a Mole with spammers in Oz until the point comes when we turn out the lights) .

When we talk to folks on Facebook, we are talking to our 'friends'. We can talk to them all we want, but its not really getting the word out to people we are not connected to. Case in point--a gal turned up in my email two weeks ago. She'd moved south three years ago. And could not find anyone of her same mindset to reenact with. She'd had a group where she was, but they weren't connected with anyone else. All she was seeing in her area was Scarletts. She's full of skills--and just could not find the right folks. An active forum tends to solve that. Facebook does not.

And, the other day, somebody added me to a Facebook Group for a really nice little event right at the end of the 150ths. The application to be there or be square was due in about 24 hours. That group had been running a couple of months, but it was not an open group, and I'd heard nothing prior of the event to even be asking questions. So, I saw the application appear on my phone screen at nearly midnight, when I had no access to a BigBoy computer, and had a full schedule the next day that included a couple of thousand school children, a museum reception, and field of luminaries at a monument. Application was Not Happening. I wonder who all else missed the boat because they didn't know it was tied up at that dock.....

I don't know about the soldiers, but civilians are increasingly using "Secret" Facebook groups to organize with, so we don't have to deal with spammers or other foolishness. That too has its drawbacks, as we are leaving folks out that may need to be included.

New tools call for new methods and new ways of thinking.