Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
I admit, I haven't been around SCS much for sometime. I've been busy. It sure got quiet. Did I miss something? Or is most everyone else been busy too? Do you think this is a sign of the stamping times? I've notice that all the SU! demos in my area aren't keeping clients, and most of the crafters I know just aren't making/finding the time for crafting.
__________________ *Alice* All science is either physics or stamp collecting. -Lord Kelvin
First, it's the end of the school year and summer. This is a super busy time for me and my family. When it's nice outside, I like to be in the pool or gardening or at our beach. I spend a lot more time stamping and crafting when it's too cold and dreary to go outside.
Second, I've decided to use more of what I have instead of buying all the latest and greatest. It's much easier for me to do that when I don't know what I'm missing, lol. So staying off SCS helps me to focus on using instead of buying.
I don't think it's a sign of the decline of stamps so much as a busy time of year combined with a bad economy making discretionary spending less.
I have to agree with Deb. I too, have noticed that the site isn't as busy as it used to be. I used to see the threads so busy, I couldn't keep up with them, and had to search for one I was interested in. Now, they sit, and have only a few people comment on them. yes, I do think the site has declined in users.
I think forums in general are sliding downhill. I read other forums on different topics, and all of their traffic is down significantly. With the "newer" ways to communicate (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter), forums are becoming old-school to many. :-(
I just recently found SCS and think it's such a great resource, I'd hate to see it go the way of the dinosaurs.
Having said that, you say you use Pinterest and Facebook in place of this. Is there a group/page on FB that you use a lot? And what do you search for on Pinterest? I use both sites and don't find either of them anywhere near as useful as SCS for papercrafting. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong!
I think forums in general are sliding downhill. I read other forums on different topics, and all of their traffic is down significantly. With the "newer" ways to communicate (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter), forums are becoming old-school to many. :-(
Well, I guess I am old school since I have zero interest in Facebook or twitter or pinterest. I know I am in the minority of not considering Facebook necessary. If I want to know what's going on with friends or family I actually pick up a phone and call or set time to meet and visit. Rather old school but I have enough things I spend time doing and don't need anything else. As to things being quiet I have noticed it as well. But then again I haven't been on here alot lately either. Between end of school and getting ready for my stamp camp this weekend it has been crazy. Hopefully things will calm down a bit in the next couple of weeks!
I am in agreement with several of you. SCS is were I connected with other stampers. Most of my friends want to be crafty, but just aren't into it enough to really make it a hobby. So, I don't really have FB friends that are crafting. I have not joined pintrest. I am sure it is nice, but to me, it's just one more place to spend time. I guess maybe I should check it out and get with the times.
__________________ *Alice* All science is either physics or stamp collecting. -Lord Kelvin
I spend hours and hours on SCS!! I also don't have Facebook or Pinterest. I used to be on Facebook but went ahead and deleted my account. I always felt like I had to censor myself there, because all my family and friends have completely opposite political, religious, and social views from me. Only one of them is a card-maker, and she is on here (SCS). I DID connect with cousins with whom I had lost touch, BUT after a while, it became clear that they were still strangers...I didn't know any of the people they knew, and wasn't really interested in their daily lives... After a while, I had nothing to do on Facebook. It was like that with MySpace too. I got on there, and then fizzled out. So I spend most of my online time here on SCS and uh, on Hulu.com. And Youtube. Okay, Youtube really is another great resource for crafting. Soooo many videos showing me how to do soooooooo many wonderful things!!
Perhaps it would help if some of the threads that have been listed for a long time and have hundreds/thousands of responses would be put out to pasture. Maybe that would encourage people to start new ones.
I love scs. I just am unusually busy with work right now, so I don't have a lot of free time. I don't have any crafty friends, so I rely on scs for crafty support and inspiration. I have a blog and a Pinterest account so I do spend some time there too, but nothing takes the place of SCS.
Since finding SCS I don't usually go anywhere else...I have pinterest but well I prefer to come here. I haven't always hit the forums until more recently. You girls are wonderful - quick to respond to questions, suggestions, encouragement, the list is endless. SCS is great.
Well, I guess I am old school since I have zero interest in Facebook or twitter or pinterest. I know I am in the minority of not considering Facebook necessary. If I want to know what's going on with friends or family I actually pick up a phone and call or set time to meet and visit. Rather old school but I have enough things I spend time doing and don't need anything else. As to things being quiet I have noticed it as well. But then again I haven't been on here alot lately either. Between end of school and getting ready for my stamp camp this weekend it has been crazy. Hopefully things will calm down a bit in the next couple of weeks!
Your not old school. I recently read that teenagers are not using Facebook either. It's actually becoming a "Mom" thing. Teenagers prefer Tumblr & Twitter because they can be more creative and have some privacy. I wish I could find that article again. It was so interesting. I read it about a week ago.
I don't consider myself old school at all. I like modern things. I don't do Facebook or Twitter. I do love Tumblr & Flickr. I like to Pinterest. I love my blogs. Message Boards, for me, well always be a source of info and answers to questions you can't get on the other social media sites.
I think it's quiet during the Summer. All my boards tend to be quiet during the Summer. Winter it always seems to pick up.
ditto another dinosaur (and newbie) here too. I don't facebook, tweet or even text. I thoroughly enjoy this forum and the gallery. I hope folks keep supporting this site.
During summer time it gets quite on SCS due to kids out of school. Been that way as long as I can remember. it picks up in fall.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
ditto another dinosaur (and newbie) here too. I don't facebook, tweet or even text. I thoroughly enjoy this forum and the gallery. I hope folks keep supporting this site.
Add me to the dinosaur list, too. I know as far as texting goes, I so don't want anything to do with it. I get enough of how the teenagers today don't have any speaking social skills because they don't TALK to each other, they just text. Even the adults are doing that anymore - what ever happened to real communicating?!
This is still the first site I come to when I'm looking for anything stamping related, but I don't come as often as I used to - just not enough time. My kids have too much stuff going on that requires my driving them here and there, so I'm away from the computer a lot except for early in the day when I'm checking emails, etc. Even summers are full of specialty camps, lessons that go year-round, etc. I don't get the chance to create anything myself much at all, but I still try to come here to keep up on what's new, what's going on. I've seen a decline here as well as with trendy blogs I try to follow. Not a lot seems to be going on out there. If there is, I think it's just now spread over so many more different companies and websites and forms of communication that it looks like it's considerably less than in the past. I'm one of the few of my circle of friends who still stamps at all. Most have sold or given away their supplies and either don't craft anymore or have moved onto other hobbies. I'm one of the few who still has a huge amount of crafting supplies at all.
That's the way of things - hobbies fade in and out of popularity. You guys can't quit on me know - I'm just getting started!
I'm not quiting anytime soon!! I just finished decluttering, unmounting all my (previously) wood-mounted stamps, and re-organizing my area so that ALL my card-making stuff is within arm's length. I love making cards even MORE now!!
I think it's always slower this time of year. I'm usually one of the readers and not frequent posters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormlady66
Perhaps it would help if some of the threads that have been listed for a long time and have hundreds/thousands of responses would be put out to pasture. Maybe that would encourage people to start new ones.
I do agree with this. Seems like there's the same stickies at the top of some of the forums and the same threads at the top that you have to really go dig to find something new to read.
Like over in Techniques, there's a thread always toward the top with Craft Sale Best Sellers? Let's Make a Listing. The thread has over 5,000 relpies and starts in the year 2004- Those things that sold well way back are not today's best sellers and you have to go to the end and start backwards to see the current things. With things like that maybe start a thread for the current year or something instead of lumping all that stuff together and let the old posts go die somewhere.
Personally I think too many things get moved under a particular thread because there's already a topic started and I can see the reasoning in that but I hate reading through hundreds of replies to find where I left off so I get frustrated and hop over to Pinterest or something. Maybe I just don't have a long attention span or something:p I do enjoy looking through the Gallery here when I have time though and spend more time looking there instead of the forums themselves.
I, too, have noticed that traffic here has slowed down. I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't really use Facebook. I have an account (only because there were contests where you had to do something on FB....BWAHHAHAHAHA). I love connecting with people who have similar interests as me. I like that there is a certain amount of privacy here (login required) whereas on FB, everyone you allow to view your page knows your business....I know I have a list of certain people who I don't want to know all my biz (like my boss!! LOL).
Having said that, I don't spend AS much time as I used to on here, especially lately because of work and studying. I used to spend hours going through the gallery alone. I love to "Pin", mostly because I don't have time to spend on crafting right now, but don't want to lose/forget some of the ideas and products out there. So, I use Pinterest as a "bookmark" for things I want to do, get, etc later.
I hope things pick up and that forums like this DON'T go to the wayside. I love the relationships I have made with people on this forum and appreciate all of the inspiration I have received from other SCSers.
I do wish they would add more Member Companies (or I wish companies would join Member Companies....not sure how that all works). While I love the companies that are members already, there are so many wonderful companies out there and I have subscribed to several blogs. Would love to have them centralized in one place.
A lot of Product companies have their own forums now too. TBH I can understand how that works if you only use their product, but I prefer to mix and match too much. The only product company I belong to is GinaK.
However, I like SCS because it invites everyone to join regardless of company.
I belong to a set of Disney boards too, and they're fading out. Even the cruise specific threads that used to roar through a dozen pages in a day now have to share the traffic with a facebook group. I'm not fond of facebook - and rarely go there. . . but then - I'm a dinosaur
I'm not going to admit to being a dinosaur... but I probably saw one in my day I do text though, mostly my kids and a couple close friends.
You are so right about it being quieter around here.
I still come here everyday, SCS is my only board and being a cardmaker, serves me perfectly well. I'm not on facebook, or any of the other social media sites popular right now. This is really the only social place I come. That being said, I sure don't post as often as I used to. I don't know why; I still come to peruse the thread titles and see if anything catches my eye. The new SU catalogue one has been interesting, and busy. I do miss the faster traffic of the past. If nothing much has been posted in the time i was away, I lose interest and that's that for the night.
I think the comments about the increase in blogs is a good point. There didn't used to be the amount of really great quality blogs when I first found SCS that there is now. I certainly don't have one, but I follow some now and again. And Facebook has taken over a lot of areas of overlap in that there are groups of groups... not just your own friends. You can follow so many things. I don't have the time!
I agree with the reasons given. Summer has usually been less traffic on here. Plus the increase of blogs, YouTube tutorials, and use of Pinterest. When I first found SCS, I mostly went through the Gallery and checked out the newest postings there or hit the gallery for a stamp set I had just bought. That led me to blogs that people posted link to "for detailed directions". Then moved to using "search" for threads to find answers to questions.
Last couple months I checked out Pinterest and went straight for the crafting and paper crafts. When I found something I liked, I clicked on the item pictured and it usually took me to the blog of the card creator. Sometimes they listed link to their own Pinterest account so I would click that and click to follow their card boards. Then would get back to the tab where the card was I had first clicked on -- would click the name of the person that pinned it and look at their boards...if liked what I saw, I would click to follow their card or paper craft board. That led me to look in the column of who THEY followed and clicked to see if I wanted to follow some too. The more card boards I followed, the less the Pinterest page was showing me fashion and recipes etc and I was seeing more card suggestions!!
SCS is still my Sunday afternoon appointment to check out the Clean and Simple
Favorites of the week. And once a week, like now, I check out the list of threads in the forum.
Love having so much to choose from for inspiration!
Another one who thinks it always gets quieter in the summer as people spend more time outdoors.
Maybe it's different over there, but here I think blogs starting impacting forums several years back but now it's all about Facebook and people post far less to their blogs (and while I consider myself fairly techie, Facebook and Twitter aren't for me). I only have a finite amount of time I can spend online so I find it easier to limit myself pretty much to here and a few blogs.
It's so hard to muster excitement for new products when sooo much of this industry involves a trend that gets repeated ad nauseum. One company makes something with hexagons, and then the next month, twelve companies have hexagons. One company creates something in a chevron pattern, and then the next week you see enough chevron to last a lifetime!
I think we, as customers and SCS posters, need to do a better job sharing the things we love and the things we'd love to see. A lot of us will do this on our blogs, but we forget to do it here.
It seems that a lot of excitement builds around the time CHA has their conventions. In January, we're excited about new product lines, and in July, we're all waiting to see what will be the big thing in holiday crafting. Things may be a little slow here, but it will pick up by the end of the summer in anticipation of the fall and holiday projects.
I'm with NYstamper. I have a facebook page but can barely do anything on it. My daughter set it up for me. No twitter or Pinterest. When I want to connect for lively talk, hints, and help w/ stamping this is where I come. You can see by my number of posts I do alot of evesdropping(HA). I really enjoy reading what my like minded fellow stampers have to say as I don't have anyone else that does this around me.
This site isn't going anywhere anytime soon!! There are so many people who use it. Summer has a lot of people outside more which is a good thing. Come fall things will pick up. I have met so many great people on this site. I could care less about any other site really. I get my card making fix here! I hate FB. Don't twitter. I do text but not a lot. If I want to have a conversation I pick up the phone. For me texting is ok for something short and to the point. I do Pinterest a little and Youtube but none can hold a candle to SC in mho.
It's so hard to muster excitement for new products when sooo much of this industry involves a trend that gets repeated ad nauseum. One company makes something with hexagons, and then the next month, twelve companies have hexagons. One company creates something in a chevron pattern, and then the next week you see enough chevron to last a lifetime!
I was thinking about this thread earlier. The ad nauseum popped in my head too why the stamping world is more quiet. I think a lot of stampers and scrapbookers might have product burnout and tired of seeing the "new" thing reinvented every single week by a new company. I hope that didn't sound grumpy. Long tiring day, lol.
I have seen a lot of stampers want to go back to basics. I know I love my toys but I love basic the most.
I was thinking about this thread earlier. The ad nauseum popped in my head too why the stamping world is more quiet. I think a lot of stampers and scrapbookers might have product burnout and tired of seeing the "new" thing reinvented every single week by a new company. I hope that didn't sound grumpy. Long tiring day, lol.
I have seen a lot of stampers want to go back to basics. I know I love my toys but I love basic the most.
Yeah, I think it is very evident that we are going through a levelling off. I think people that did it because it was the fad are moving on and those that do it out of love are still around but probably have more product than they will ever use!
Have to laugh about all the Hexagons at the moment... I have a stamp set that hasn't seen ink that has hexagons in it. I have had that set at least a year!
I can't be bothered with Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, Twitter, etc. I only have so much time in my day and I have to pick the things that are important to me. This is the only stamping site I read. I don't post often though, although I have learned so much from this site. It remains my main source of inspiration and information.
I hope the card making craft isn't in decline but I will say that I don't see advertisements for scrapbooking retreats and other get togethers like crops like I used to. This make me sad. Even the store I used to shop for punches, papers, and other goodies closed down earlier this year. Maybe it's just because our economy is still in shambles?
So Quiet
