Thread: Has anyone else noticed this?

I would like to add a couple thoughts as a new member. I stumbled on to this site a few weeks ago, when I renewed an long but dormant interest in straight razor shaving. I don't know what the old site was like, but the wealth of information here has been fantastic for me. But even more important has been the welcome and the help I've gotten from you guys. I don't spend too much time on that many forums, but I do use a few for some of my areas of interest. While the ones I use are helpful in their own ways, the level of personal attention I've seen here is miles above the rest. This is true not just for the few threads I've started, but really almost any of the threads I've browsed.

So, whatever stuff you want to improve, consider this a big vote of gratitude for what you have now!

This happens to be the only shaving forum I am on, because as has been pointed out, it was and still is the place for the honest, well intentioned information about shaving. I joined other shaving forums, but this one is the one with which I've stayed "attached". That was so because it had a welcoming, friendly feel even though I knew almost nothing, and at SRP there were lots of helpful people in spite of my SR ignorance.

I also have another hobby/pastime (firearms) on which I belong to several "brand" oriented forums, some general technique/training forums and many auction/shopping sites. Interestingly, I've noticed the ones where I revisit the most often have the same feeling of support and encouragement that this forum has. BY contrast, several of them have been bought (or taken over) by a company that runs forums as at least part of their business and they all: look and feel the same, run lots of targeted ads (no pun intended) unless you pay a membership fee AND have led to members fleeing to begin over again in their original, pure information exchange mode with a new name.

I've said before that the people who provide the information are what is important to me here. I like (and participate in) some of the "chatter", and to me that's part of the personality of SRP. Could the technical aspects be better? I'm sure they could, given the half-life of technology now. Would it hurt the personality of the forum? No. Is it easy? No. Is it cheap? No.

So, until there's an implementable solution presented by someone instead of a description of what "could be better" or "used to be better", I'm going to spend my time looking at new posts, especially by new members, and try to encourage them to stick with the hobby, ask the right questions, listen to the right people, and try to grow the SRP base back via that route.

Sorry for the rant.