ST's Future Discussion

[John Farley]

Seeing the site go down for several days made me realize that one day it could just vanish entirely. Tens of thousands of posts spanning a decade of storm chasing would be gone forever. At a minimum, the forum should be archived. It should go on though, even if it's in a limited capacity, just as the WX-Chase mailing list carries on today.

DO NOT shut down Storm Track. One very important reason is in Skip's comment above. Here is another: It is nice to have a place to go to JUST discuss weather, without all the other side junk there is on FB - and a place where you know your posts will be seen by anyone interested in the thread, not whoever FB's latest algorithm decides to let see them. I do agree that an FB page linking to Stormtrack would be good, but I think its main purpose should be to direct people to this forum by letting people know of new, interesting material here. It should exist in addition to, not instead of, the current Storm Track forum. I also think it would it be to bring back the old "thanks" function or something similar to "like" on FB, and perhaps change ST in other ways that make it work more like FB. But I still find good chasing and weather-related material here that I can't find on FB, and it is absolutely critical to preserve the wonderful archive of material that exists here on ST.

 

[John Farley]

My experiences with Facebook have echoed what Clarence shared. Everything is contained inside little high-schoolish cliques and fiefdoms, not unlike a bunch of mini-CFDGs. If you're not in those 'in' crowds, you're an outsider and just plain out of luck. That is what makes a place like ST so valuable. No wonder so many new chasers hit the ground running not under the wings of experienced chasers, but with a 'team' and their own Fan page. Where else can they go? I'm also admittedly a little sour on how every aspect of the universe is assimilating into the Facebook empire.

I deleted my personal FB account and no longer even want to have any presence there. I have a friend-less private account that I use to manage client FB pages as well as my own chase page, but that's it.

I'd also point out that making ST a viable place is going to be a give-and-take. Those of us who benefited from it for so long (as I did) did so on the backs of people that took the time to contribute. It's now our turn. Ultimately, a critical pillar in whether ST survives or not depends on the willingness of the more advanced chasers to maintain a presence here, even if the 'mutual benefit balance' isn't always in our favor.

I think Dan hit it on the head here, especially about Facebook. It is a lot of little groups, but there is really no place on Facebook where you can reach and hear from chasers across the board like you at least used to be able to do on Storm Track. That is a major reason I do not want to see Storm Track disappear, although I do agree some things need to be done (like starting a FB page to direct more traffic to the forum) to revitalize it. A question to people with more technical knowledge than I have - is there a way that could be set up to automatically redirect Facebook posts from Storm Track members to Storm Track. (and then perhaps have the mods redirect such posts to an appropriate thread, while deleting non weather-related posts?)

 

[John Farley]

FWIW, I DID notice that ST was down for a couple days but just figured it was some technical issue. By the time I got around to thinking about posting on FB about it, it was back up again. I don't know that I would make too much of the fact that you did not see posts on FB about ST being down, especially given the highly-fragmented nature of FB.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

It is a lot of little groups, but there is really no place on Facebook where you can reach and hear from chasers across the board like you at least used to be able to do on Storm Track.

No it's not, one group I'm a member of on Facebook has over 50,000 members and it is very active while StormTrack currently has 5,261 members and at best you're lucky to see 5 threads posted in a day. A Facebook group can be as big as you want it to be, or as small as you want it to be. I'm not saying that Facebook should be the main site or only source of StormTrack, but StormTrack should definitely embrace it. The potential of what can be done by linking Facebook and StormTrack is endless. I would never want to see the main site replaced, but fact is right now this site is on life support and is heading towards becoming a thing of the past which would be a sad thing to see.

The other thing I would like to see happen, and I think it would help to bring in more people, is to take StormTrack back to what it was when it replaced the print version of StormTrack. Instead of the main page just showing a preview of popular threads, have weather related stories, have commentaries and other feature articles. Let members contribute to that by letting those who want to write articles about topics related to weather and storm chasing. There is a whole lot that can be done. The forum shouldn't be the only thing this site has to offer. There is so much potential for this site that could take it off life support, but in order for that to happen it would require either Tim become more involved with the site, or hand the site off to someone who has the time and can make it happen. The fact is, you can't be a webmaster of a site, throw up a forum and then only pop in a few times a year and expect it to do well, it takes a lot of work and sometimes even takes a team of people. Maybe Tim should consider having a team of webmasters with different roles of what they do with the site instead of trying to do it all himself.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

When you boil it down, I think the demise of Stormtrack can partially be blamed on chasers themselves. There's a lot of different egos that can't be bothered to post in the same thread as other chasers. This in turn made everyone flock to Facebook and create groups of other chasers that they can choose to communicate with. It's sad because you wouldn't think storm chasing would have so much bad blood with others, but it does.

Anyway Skip and I chatted last night in the chatroom (that no one knows is still active) about a few ideas to fuse this forum and Facebook. We'll be discussing it some more tonight. So anyone interested in keeping this place alive or have some ideas of your own, please join us. It sounds like we have some time to change things and revamp the forum to keep up in with modern times. It is the off season so now is the best time to get things turned around.

 

[Mark Blue]

I think Dan hit it on the head here, especially about Facebook. It is a lot of little groups, but there is really no place on Facebook where you can reach and hear from chasers across the board like you at least used to be able to do on Storm Track. That is a major reason I do not want to see Storm Track disappear, although I do agree some things need to be done (like starting a FB page to direct more traffic to the forum) to revitalize it. A question to people with more technical knowledge than I have - is there a way that could be set up to automatically redirect Facebook posts from Storm Track members to Storm Track. (and then perhaps have the mods redirect such posts to an appropriate thread, while deleting non weather-related posts?)

Hey John, I think post #8 from Skip addresses your question as to how the process would work as he currently envisions it. It sounds like it would be mostly manual in the beginning, but with the use of links and hashtags it would serve to drive traffic back and forth between the two. I do believe at some point the idea would be to move entirely over to FB once the kinks have been worked out. Hopefully this helps.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

It sounds like we have some time to change things and revamp the forum to keep up in with modern times.

Not just the forum, I think a revamp of the site as a whole would do some good. The forum shouldn't be the main feature of the site, as I said in my previous post it should go back to what StormTrack was when it replaced the magazine.

 

[Mark Blue]

The other thing I would like to see happen, and I think it would help to bring in more people, is to take StormTrack back to what it was when it replaced the print version of StormTrack. Instead of the main page just showing a preview of popular threads, have weather related stories, have commentaries and other feature articles. Let members contribute to that by letting those who want to write articles about topics related to weather and storm chasing. There is a whole lot that can be done. The forum shouldn't be the only thing this site has to offer. There is so much potential for this site that could take it off life support, but in order for that to happen it would require either Tim become more involved with the site, or hand the site off to someone who has the time and can make it happen. The fact is, you can't be a webmaster of a site, throw up a forum and then only pop in a few times a year and expect it to do well, it takes a lot of work and sometimes even takes a team of people. Maybe Tim should consider having a team of webmasters with different roles of what they do with the site instead of trying to do it all himself.

I'd like to see the Equipment sub forum expanded to include reviews of chase related hardware and software. Lord knows chasing involves a lot of different gadgets and software, so it would make sense to me to allow anyone with decent writing skills and the technical know-how to write reviews following some sort of standard methodology we could create. Another thought I've had is bringing in a subset of the data that used to be available on GRLevelXStuff.com. That would significantly improve the content of the Equipment sub forum to a point where users would have to pay a nominal fee on an annual basis to gain access. I really like what you said in the last couple of sentences above Joey. It really is time for a change from the top down. It certainly wouldn't hurt to shake up the current admin team either IMO. Consistent and timely participation is and has been dismal for the last couple of years, but everyone who comes here regularly already knows that.

Edit: I just read a post from Jeff Lake that his former webhost wiped his GRLXStuff data and all of his backups. There goes that idea in a flash.

 

[Scott Taylor]

A lot of good points made throughout the thread... I'd definitely hate to see this place go away as well, and as a former contributor, I'm certainly willing to chip in again. I actually noticed the other day when the 'database error' prevented access to the site, and just now remembered today to check back in. Then I came in today and saw Tim's notice and this thread...

FWIW though, gauging the likelihood of site survival from participation in this thread may not be the best measuring stick. I mean, it is November after all... not a lot of activity of any sort going on lately, as we all prepare for the winter season. I'm sure a few snow/ice chasers will fire some posts up soon though... then, before you know it, Christmas will have come and gone, and then we're all thinking about spring and chasing again. Activity will without a doubt spike again in a few months. Despite the continuing trends over recent years, I don't think it's time to throw the towel in just yet. just my measly .02 worth though...

 

[John Farley]

Hey John, I think post #8 from Skip addresses your question as to how the process would work as he currently envisions it. It sounds like it would be mostly manual in the beginning, but with the use of links and hashtags it would serve to drive traffic back and forth between the two. I do believe at some point the idea would be to move entirely over to FB once the kinks have been worked out. Hopefully this helps.

I would NOT like to see it move entirely to Facebook. The archives here are highly valuable, even if people aren't going through them all the time, and once they are lost, they are lost. I'm not opposed to a Facebook group, but I think we need to keep the ST site going as well. Toward that end, I have now also made a contribution.

 

[John Farley]

No it's not, one group I'm a member of on Facebook has over 50,000 members and it is very active while StormTrack currently has 5,261 members and at best you're lucky to see 5 threads posted in a day. A Facebook group can be as big as you want it to be, or as small as you want it to be. I'm not saying that Facebook should be the main site or only source of StormTrack, but StormTrack should definitely embrace it. The potential of what can be done by linking Facebook and StormTrack is endless.

Joey, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about a bunch of little groups. I was talking about the way Facebook functions now with regard to storm chasing - it is very atomized, with each chaser having his or her page (plus a few team pages), with who can see what entirely dependent on who knows/friends who, as well as Facebook's funky algorithms for who gets to see what out of things their friends post. I was not talking about how Facebook COULD work with regards to chasing. I am fine with the idea of a Storm Track Facebook group and if you looked at all my posts, you'll see I like the idea of more linkage between Facebook and Storm Track. Just not the idea of Storm Track going away.

 

[Jeremy Perez]

A thought I've had—more of a tactical consideration—has to do with interaction in the Target Area. Current guidelines make it necessary for first-person reports to be kept separate (in the REPORTS thread) from any discussion (in a MISC thread).

When the site was more active, this helped keep things clean. At the current level of activity, it seems like the cure is worse than the original problem. It appears to discourage interaction about events—especially small ones. There's not even a 'Like' option to throw some easy feedback at individuals who have posted useful/interesting content. Although it shouldn't be a huge effort to create a new MISC thread to drop in some comments, it just seems like there is a natural resistance to that. At least I've noticed myself that if I wanted to comment on an interesting feature someone captured in an image, I weighed whether it was worth adding a MISC thread detached from the original report...and always seem to opt against it (probably more an indictment of my forum habits than anything else :/ ). So for those smaller events, you might just have a single report and almost zero likelihood of even basic discussion. Makes the big empty room seem even emptier.

Perhaps this guidance could be eased while the forum is running so light, where commentary related to the event—even though not first-person—could be allowed in the report thread.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

To me, even if one or more of these ideas could work, there remains one gigantic underlying problem...and it looks like this...

The owner of this forum posted a message on the front page outlining the dire straits it has found itself in.
The owner of this forum asked for donations to keep the site running.
A thread has been started by members of this forum to discuss the future of this site and possible solutions.
The owner of this forum has not posted in this thread, and has not been heard from since.

I wouldn't donate a penny to this site unless someone showed me that it would actually be used for something worthwhile, either revamping the site or archiving it.
And without the presence of the owner of this forum to directly address those issues, I find myself saying thanks but no thanks.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Skip is going to try and get ownership of the site. I think that's step 1 in the right direction.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

The owner of this forum has not posted in this thread, and has not been heard from since.

I wouldn't donate a penny to this site unless someone showed me that it would actually be used for something worthwhile, either revamping the site or archiving it.
And without the presence of the owner of this forum to directly address those issues, I find myself saying thanks but no thanks.

I'm sort of in the same boat, but it wouldn't stop me from donating though. If Tim is asking for donations to keep the site running, I'm not going to question his intentions. But yes, it goes back to what I think all of us agree on is that it would be nice to have more participation from Tim instead of him coming on here, asking for donations and then goes back into hiding again never to be heard from again. I think a lot of good ideas are being discussed here, and it's a shame that Tim probably doesn't even know that this thread exists.