This place has changed

[mdubya]

What's wrong with Fenders? If it were not for Leo, you'd only have jazzbox Gibsons.

He was using his sense of humor.

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Most of the old timers are gone. Very different than when I first started hanging around.

One reason why "This place has changed" and "most of the old timers are gone" is because of the way the majority of people now access the Internet. In 2022, there was an article-length post at a motorcycle forum that went into detail about what happened. You'll have to translate the references from bikes to guitars, but I think you'll get the gist of what has changed: Why are online motorcycle forums drying up and dying?

Through about 2010 or so, using a motorcycle-specific forum went like this: You'd join, introduce yourself, often in a "New Members" area, and you were off to the races, asking questions, sharing advice and opinions and talking about the forum's subject matter. Some forums were about a specific model, like 600rr.net. Others focused on a brand, like Triumphrat.net. Some, like bayarearidersforum.com (affectionately known as BARF) were regional, and some of those transcended their local beginnings and had people posting from around the world.

In most cases, it was likely to be a community of warm and welcoming people who had gathered. There were as many people asking questions as giving answers and it was awesome. Trolls were few, moderation by volunteers was adequate, and most people genuinely wanted to help. Often, you could find deep and detailed writeups and how-tos from people creating genuinely wonderful user-generated content because A) they really loved posting helpful stuff and B) it was before most people were aware that all commercial enterprises on the internet are using you and your content for their own profit.

Since there was a specific forum for just about every popular model of motorcycle, if you were doing a job at home for the first time, instead of reading a generic article about how to do the work you could read a description from another person who did the job on the exact same bike. And if you got stuck, you could get online and ask for help. It was great.

So why did the party stop? I think there are a few answers.

The internet stopped being accessed by desktop

In January 2014, desktop internet use was overtaken by mobile internet use in America. This means screens got smaller, layouts moved primarily from horizontal to vertical, and physical keyboards were largely unavailable.

This means writing a longer post was more difficult. Formatting it to appear nicely with photos in line with the text became more difficult. Reading a post that was text-heavy became more onerous. As people drifted away from their desktop computers, they began to drift away from forums.

It's well worth reading the whole thing. Because of work and recording music into a DAW, I still spend a lot of time sitting in front of a desktop computer with a pair of big monitors and a full-sized QWERTY keyboard. But I certainly understand that in 2025, with the majority of people now accessing the Internet via their smartphones, social media where only a few keystrokes are necessary to interact with others becomes second nature, making "old-fashioned" style forums like this one sadly seem increasingly anathema.

 

[RhinestoneStrat]

I use my smartphone most of the time now for Internet access and forums compared to 10 or 15 years ago. I actually have a foldable Bluetooth keyboard that I use with my phone for easier typing. It works great and makes my phone feel like a miniature computer. Most forums are mobile friendly making it easier for new members to join that I find.

 

[fretwire]

...It is funny, Facebook was one of those social media places boomers seemed to be so against at one point in time.

Now it is the place of boomers.

Not this boomer, I don't like having a social footprint (guess that means I'm old and a curmudgeon ) I do have an account though, so I can snoop around Market Place.

As for changing, I had an engineer tell me early in my career, "If you never make changes how can you expect things to get better."

 

[jb_abides]

 

[mikeslub]

Im sure it is more active & this move to Face book is a game changer for the LPF - really moronic post on FB . Once again thank you Mike for you committed time & resources - I really like the people on the LPF yes Im here several times a day I really give thanks the FB gang is staying of this Forum !

Charlie Daughtry really gets the kudos for our Facebook and Instagram pages - he manages those well. I'm just focused on the "legacy" app here - Les Paul Forum on the XenForo platform.

 

[mikeslub]

I'd rather be forced to play a Fender than have a Facebook account.

I love Gibbys, but variety is the spice of life. Here are my axes for tonight's band rehearsal: 1963 Gibson ES-335 TDC, 1957 Les Paul Standard Goldtop, 1961 Fender Jazzmaster, 2012 Fano Alt de Facto SP-6. All are fun to play.

 

[Billy Porter]

Nice book collection as well as guitars Mr Slub

I've been here a long long time and don't get involved/post as much as I used to but browse every day.
This is the only forum that I now follow

A lot of the big hitters have left here due to various 'reasons' but overall a lot of good people and informative chat.