Members Online Numbers Down

[swebb]

Activity on the AC forums is down significantly since the forums update. Hope the numbers increase as people get familiar with the new format. I fear for the future here. Does anyone (admins mods, etc) know if this is typical of other forums that have been updated? And do the numbers eventually rebound?

 

[mustang7757]

Its possible but I dont have any data to track that information , i do see new members asking questions as usual so there still traffic.

 

[B. Diddy]

Traffic had been decreasing over the past year or so anyway, prior to the new forum software. Hard to say why this is. I suspect it's partly due to changes in the AC blog, with many of the previous writers and editors jumping ship (it seems like Android Police is essentially Android Central from 5-6 years ago, now that they have Daniel Bader and Ara Wagoner). It might also be that Android and its main manufacturers (Samsung and Google) have matured enough that there are far fewer problems that people need to post about.

AC is still pretty much the only big forum site around apart from Reddit for general Android issues (I wouldn't categorize XDA as general), so I don't think the forums here will be going away any time soon.

 

[swebb]

I agree, though I've noticed a steady decrease for the last 3-4 years. The churn among the editorial staff and blog contributors is a big factor. The quality of the articles have gone downhill, in my opinion.

 

[mustang7757]

I agree, though I've noticed a steady decrease for the last 3-4 years. The churn among the editorial staff and blog contributors is a big factor. The quality of the articles have gone downhill, in my opinion.

Blog side was never into just the forums

 

[Laura Knotek]

I believe that is bound to happen with any product once it reaches maturity, and everyone and their mother uses that product. When Android devices (and smartphones in general) were new, more people were unfamiliar with the devices than were familiar with the devices. Therefore, not many people knew who to ask for help when it was needed. Nowadays, smartphones are commodities that most people own just like microwave ovens, TVs, computers, washers, so there are few people who need to ask for help with these devices online.

 

[trucksmoveamerica#AC]

I'm going to chime in and say I've noticed a big slow down on posts and traffic on the forum since the update. Don't know why the update would cause that. I've seen people not able to log in after update, that's 1 possibility, some just didn't come back. Hopefully it picks up again

 

[Bla1ze]

I believe that is bound to happen with any product once it reaches maturity, and everyone and their mother uses that product. When Android devices (and smartphones in general) were new, more people were unfamiliar with the devices than were familiar with the devices. Therefore, not many people knew who to ask for help when it was needed. Nowadays, smartphones are commodities that most people own just like microwave ovens, TVs, computers, washers, so there are few people who need to ask for help with these devices online.

We've also reached a point in generations where there's people who grew up without ever knowing what a "forum" was/is. All they know is Reddit, Discord, Twitter, Slack. Ask them about mIRC or BBS..