Forum Activity

[don58van]

Some of the decline in new topics and new posts would be from the passing of Roy (bmcecosse). For those who don't know of him, he has thousands of posts on this site and on several others too. He also provoked many responses with his tendency to enjoy a squabble. What a character! And a knowledgeable one too. I found his contributions as entertaining as they were informative.
We are lucky to have others on this forum with great depth of knowledge and willingness to share it. Philthehill for example.
I am pleased to learn from the above that that an effort is being made to keep this forum healthy. We can all help by maximising our use of this excellent MMOC resource (and consequently reducing our reliance on FB).
Don

[Classiccars]

Simmitc all I would say is that if it were not for philthehill panky and others our car may not be on the road.The forum is a car saver as many of us are not savvy when it comes to maintenance. I have classic cars as I love them but I does not mean I am any kind of mechanic so all advice is gratefully received.

[philipkearney]

I am trying to find time to prepare an article about the Forum to go in Minor Matters and thus increase activity. It would be really helpful if everyone could send me examples of how the forum has helped them, and perhaps some links to specific articles. Meanwhile, this may be of interest:

That's a really interesting graph/info graphic Simmitc. Probably like a lot of forums, the peak was mid to late 'noughties' when FB was just starting out and it's influence a lot smaller. I suspect most forums would have similar stats.id be curious to see the 2022 figures in due course and see how they correlate with the club FB page figures. That now has nearly 7500 members in just over a year. What impact has that had on the messageboard ?

I wonder if having the forum on an 'app' and instantly accessible via mobile would help. People seem reluctant to make the effort unless it's instantly accessible via smartphone.

Maybe we just have to accept the numbers of regular users will be lower but focus on quality over quantity ?

[Mark Wilson]

I've been restoring my Traveller for 11 years, just putting the final touches to the interior. This started as an overoptimistic purchase of what was meant to be a daily runabout, based on a foolish belief that having changed a cylinder head fifty years ago I knew something about Minors

Thanks entirely to this forum this mistake became a life changer: learning welding, painting, mechanicals,.electricals and everything else has kept my ageing brain active in retirement. (I think constant wriggling underneath has been good for my body, too!)

As well as being helped many times by the real experts on here, I've tried to contribute when I feel I've some first hand experience to offer. I'll never use Facebook, sharing the view that it is a malign influence. Please keep supporting the forum, folks!

[ndevans]

If it's any consolation, it's the same with other organisations that I am a member of.
There is an active website and / or forum, well used, full of useful info.
Someone (probably well-meaning) sets up a Facebook page for it, users cluster around it like moths around a lightbulb, and half the website/ forum traffic disappears in a short space of time.
Next thing you know is you are missing out on events/info because fb gets updated & the website / forum doesn't.
Complain and you get a blank look & "It's all over Facebook....."

[rocco]

I think the activity on here has picked up a little recently which is great!

It's a pity that the community suffers because of Faecebook but I'll never use it again. If it means I have contact with a smaller, knowledgeable and friendly community on here then I have no complaints.

[MorrisJohn]

Hi Gang
I can't help but notice that there isn't too much activity on here or the other forum. Could it be that every Minor owner has completed all the work they need to do and there's nothing left to learn or share?

One of the great things about the forum is that information can be found as people have previously asked the same questions.

For example, as a winter project I’m looking at giving my 1275 Marina engined Traveller a little more “poke.” I searched old threads and found some excellent advice posted by philthehill and the late bmcecosse a few years back. Off the back of that I knew precisely which manifold, carburettor and exhaust to scour the web for - but all without having to post a question.

So it’s not necessarily true that because there’s a bit of a lull in new posts that the forums aren’t being used.

I wonder if having the forum on an 'app' and instantly accessible via mobile would help. People seem reluctant to make the effort unless it's instantly accessible via smartphone.

That’s a good idea - and get a link for downloading it put in Minor Matters and on FB.

P.S. thanks again to philthehill for sound advice.

[NETTIE]

Exactly what morris john has said the knowledge is already there if you just Google your question you can get all the information you need.
Having said that its good to talk and yes a big thank you to Phil and other legends who contribute so much .

[geoberni]

A great many of the people on the facebook group are normal people, but it does attract those that wouldn't survive within the Forum pages, for various reasons. It is a place where some (many?) expect instant gratification from their questions.
Some of them don't look up anything themselves and just ask questions on facebook because it's easier than doing any research themselves.

Take a Post put up late last night.
Someone has kindly posted that there is a Minor Van going for auction at Tewkesbury auctions on Monday, just in case anyone is interested.
One of the comments straight afterward last night is "Whereabouts in Tewkesbury?"

The time it took to write that and then sit back and wait for a response they could have just as easily typed "Tewkesbury Auctions" into a search engine and got an immediate response. Or even into facebook and got the page for the auction house.
Nobody has answered so far.
So I've just replied 'At the Auction Centre'.... I wonder what response I'll get, 'Thanks' ....or 'Where's that?'....

[myoldjalopy]

Err....where's Tewkesbury?

[philthehill]

At the juncture of the River Seven and the River Avon in Gloucestershire.

[simmitc]

At the juncture of the River Seven and the River Avon

Where do I find River Six and River Eight?

[Monty-4]

Meanwhile, this may be of interest:

*charts*

Interesting, I joined near-peak!

As the internet has centralised into a few crappy platforms like Facebook and Twitter I've come to value enthusiast forums much more. The kids are ditching Facebook now - it's the platform your nan is on, very uncool, not based, super cringe - perhaps we'll come around again!

[ndevans]

A great many of the people on the facebook group are normal people, but it does attract those that wouldn't survive within the Forum pages, for various reasons. It is a place where some (many?) expect instant gratification from their questions.
Some of them don't look up anything themselves and just ask questions on facebook because it's easier than doing any research themselves.

Take a Post put up late last night.
Someone has kindly posted that there is a Minor Van going for auction at Tewkesbury auctions on Monday, just in case anyone is interested.
One of the comments straight afterward last night is "Whereabouts in Tewkesbury?"

The time it took to write that and then sit back and wait for a response they could have just as easily typed "Tewkesbury Auctions" into a search engine and got an immediate response. Or even into facebook and got the page for the auction house.
Nobody has answered so far.
So I've just replied 'At the Auction Centre'.... I wonder what response I'll get, 'Thanks' ....or 'Where's that?'....

For me, Facebook is just a vehicle for incessant attention seekers posting cretinous rubbish just to get likes. The avalanche of trivial piffle posted makes it necessary to scroll through hundreds if not thousands of posts before I find something that I'm genuinely interested in.

And then there's the fake news, misinformation, and mindless sharing.......

[POMMReg]

T'was yours truly who responded with "whereabouts in Tewkesbury", thought it bit daft NOT saying WHERE it was being sold in the initial post....furthermore HOW would I find out, google "Morris van for auction in Tewkesbury" or "Tewkesbury morris minor van for sale".....spend the rest of my life searching?

[geoberni]

T'was yours truly who responded with "whereabouts in Tewkesbury", thought it bit daft NOT saying WHERE it was being sold in the initial post....furthermore HOW would I find out, google "Morris van for auction in Tewkesbury" or "Tewkesbury morris minor van for sale".....spend the rest of my life searching?

Well if it was you, and you're not just engaging in some forum banter (or even if you are ), I just entered 'Tewkesbury auctions' and found it at the first attempt.....15 seconds?
I get the feeling it is the major auction house in the town.

[MorrisJohn]

For me, Facebook is just a vehicle for incessant attention seekers posting cretinous rubbish just to get likes. The avalanche of trivial piffle posted makes it necessary to scroll through hundreds if not thousands of posts before I find something that I'm genuinely interested in.

And then there's the fake news, misinformation, and mindless sharing.......

Hear, hear! Quit it years ago.

[philthehill]

Whatever you do never go anywhere near the river Styx. No's 7 & 8 are not as detrimental to one's health.

[POMMReg]

T'was yours truly who responded with "whereabouts in Tewkesbury", thought it bit daft NOT saying WHERE it was being sold in the initial post....furthermore HOW would I find out, google "Morris van for auction in Tewkesbury" or "Tewkesbury morris minor van for sale".....spend the rest of my life searching?

Well if it was you, and you're not just engaging in some forum banter (or even if you are ), I just entered 'Tewkesbury auctions' and found it at the first attempt.....15 seconds?
I get the feeling it is the major auction house in the town.

Tewkesbury BCA car auctions, Northway Lane been closed for some time, didn't know of any other ones...apols, I was at 1432ft on Everest at the time, the thick gloves,lack of WiFi & frozen mobile phone hindered a google search.

[geoberni]

Tewkesbury BCA car auctions, Northway Lane been closed for some time, didn't know of any other ones...apols, I was at 1432ft on Everest at the time, the thick gloves,lack of WiFi & frozen mobile phone hindered a google search.

It's a general Auction House, seems to be 'old school' with no online bidding.
https://www.facebook.com/tewkesburyauct ... CmnyDJ7JEl