Any other garage/punk/R'n'R forums out there?

[The Branded]

Anybody know of any other good forums out there for garage/rock'n'roll/punk/surf etc, this one is a little quiet, maybe there's some other forums worth checking out?
lemme know cheers!

[kopper]

Wipeout! said:

One last thought on this issue:

Does it bother anyone else that there are thousands registered on the Hideout, but only a handful of forum posters?

I wish there was less importance given to the profiles and more to participation, be it in the forums or our growing collection of music, videos & blogs...I mean, is it still that cool to just go hog-wild signing up fer social networks then never actually "socializing" at the site??!!??

Unfortunately I think I already know the answer to this...

Of the 2,300+ members here, 637 have used the forum. I think that's pretty good. Not as good as I'd like, true (it'd be nicer if it was around half and half), but I'd say it's more than a handful.

[SarahJayne]

What kills most social networking sites after a while are the fuckin' spammers! And I'm not just talking about 'free naked pics of Beyonce' spam, but self centered assholes who have to post the same ad for their Ebay auctions, bands show, radio shows, etc. etc. over and over and over again : (. Come on now, thats just RUDE.

Once all the message boards and personal comments pages becoming dumping grounds for such impersonal ads, the convo pretty much dies. This has happened to a LOT of sites I've joined over the years : (.

So with that said, I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet, and that there's a special promo section which deters ads from popping up everywhere else.

I really like this site and hope it'll continue to grow : ).

[Wipeout!]

kopper said:

Of the 2,300+ members here, 637 have used the forum. I think that's pretty good. Not as good as I'd like, true (it'd be nicer if it was around half and half), but I'd say it's more than a handful.

By "handful" I meant regular posters...but yeah I guess ~25% participation is still decent...any way to set it up so that people who never post after a predetermined time have their profile closed/locked? That might work to "force" things a bit, lol.

[Wipeout!]

SarahJayne said:

What kills most social networking sites after a while are the fuckin' spammers! And I'm not just talking about 'free naked pics of Beyonce' spam, but self centered assholes who have to post the same ad for their Ebay auctions, bands show, radio shows, etc. etc. over and over and over again : (. Come on now, thats just RUDE.

Once all the message boards and personal comments pages becoming dumping grounds for such impersonal ads, the convo pretty much dies. This has happened to a LOT of sites I've joined over the years : (.

So with that said, I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet, and that there's a special promo section which deters ads from popping up everywhere else.

I really like this site and hope it'll continue to grow : ).

If I'm not mistaken, spammin' or constant-anti-spam-vigilance was a major factor in shuttin' down the original GaragePunk forum... *knocks on wood that don't happen here*

[kopper]

Michael Kaiser and I have been a lot more diligent in keeping unwanted people out of this network. The way we look at it, this is our own private club, basically because it was set up for fans of the site/podcast or whatever. You don't HAVE to have a "favorite GaragePunk Podcast" to be accepted in, but there has to be something about your profile responses on your membership application that gives us a clue that you HAVE a clue about this kind of music. Otherwise, there are plenty of other networks out there you can join to find friends or promote your alt-rock band. And I've been managing websites long enough to be able to spot a spammer or con artist from a mile away, so as long as we keep the membership area locked down, there won't be any spam problems here. And if anyone ever notices anything suspicious going on (like a phishing scheme or spammy comments), don't hesitate to let one of us know.

And no, I wouldn't want to force anyone to do anything if they join. That would have a really negative impact, I'm afraid, and would probably backfire. Think about it. No one wants to be told what to do. And I wouldn't want someone telling me, "Hey, you need to start participating in the forum or your membership privileges will be revoked." I don't mind people joining and not posting in the forum, but then again I try to encourage everyone that joins the Hideout to at least post some music, or videos, join and participate in some groups, use their blogs or do SOMETHING. There are quite a few profiles, though, where the person hasn't done ANYTHING since signing on, which really makes me wonder why they joined in the first place. And as the network owner/admin, the only option I have to get rid of unwanted people is to BAN them from the network. You can't just delete or remove them. You BAN them. That seems awfully harsh, and is something I've complained to Ning about before. I should be able to just delete deadbeats off the member list without issuing them an outright BANNING. Know what I mean?

[The Branded]

WOW that seemed to rattle a few cages. Something actually worth reading on the forum ;-) But hey Kopper dont get me wrong I'm not bitchin about the Hideout, I think its a great idea, all I was wondering was where did everybody go from the old GP forum, but you have answered my question. And yes come to think of it, it did get pretty quiet in the last year. I only really use the forum here and ocassionlly the podcast, so it does seem a bit slow when the same posts have been up for days without any response, guess we shall see, hopefully it will pick up........

[Vagabonds]

It would be interesting to have a general section here that wasn't exactly all to do with music or the scene.

Just like a little area to post some funny threads or something like that would get people talking more

[Wipeout!]

Vagabonds said:

It would be interesting to have a general section here that wasn't exactly all to do with music or the scene.

Just like a little area to post some funny threads or something like that would get people talking more

I really dig this idea ....the "Talkin' Trash" group does cover much of this ground already, but I wish it was on the "main" forum page with the General and Self-promotion sections as to get more o' the kids usin' it

[Sumiji]

Hey Kopper,
You know I would love to see more discussion on this network just because I hate searchin through the webfor countless hours looking for garage shit. I believe I recall a while ago someone mentioned about doing record reviews for GP. I think that a would be great for non stop discussion. Will that ever happen?

[Michael Kaiser]

Yeah, Branded folk, when you really think about it this is THEE place to be if you want to congregate with like-minded folk. By no means am I saying that you shouldn't go and check out other forums; I occasionally look at 'em to see what interesting things folks may be saying. Most have a handful of members that suffer from a lower participation rate than was cited about The Hideout, and harbor a great deal of animosity toward one individual regarding the perceived demise of the beloved old forum. Of course we all know that the old forum was actually supercharged into the real community that we find ourselves in at this very moment! Old style forums don't work anymore. Oh, I know there are a handful of folk reading this that will say "forums were good enough for my dad, and they're good enough for me!" But, they aren't; especially if you have administered a self-hosted forum. SPAM up the arse!! Spambots from countries you've never heard of bombarding your forum everyday... even if you have it set to "must be approved by administrator", they still sign-up, and you have to delete them. But, I digress.

The Internet model is now Social Networks like this; and they are where it's at! Just ask Facebook - the largest growing internet site in the world; over 150 Million users. Why do Social Networks work? Not only can I come to The Hideout and see practically everything I need: discussions, videos, new music, show dates (well... don't need those; I'm a curmudgeon), release dates, podcasts, etc., but I don't even have to come here to get it; it comes to me by way of RSS Feeds!! I see every general forum topic and blog post right from the comfort of my Google Reader. It comes to me to read at my leisure, just as the podcasts that I subscribe to come to me only to be consumed when I want to! BRILLIANT!!

Anyway, I've gone too long. I hate to type; thus my lack in participation. I'll finish without completing my thought. Maybe that'll give me something else to post about. So I'll finish with a suggestion:

Go to all the forums you can find and tell them to get hip and go to where the real action is...

The Hideout, baby!

[SarahJayne]

The Branded said:

WOW that seemed to rattle a few cages.

Hahahaha, yeah! If you wanna get the ball rolling. PICK A FIGHT.

YOU'RE ALL POOPOO HEADS. Discuss!

[kopper]

Sumiji said:

Hey Kopper,
You know I would love to see more discussion on this network just because I hate searchin through the webfor countless hours looking for garage shit. I believe I recall a while ago someone mentioned about doing record reviews for GP. I think that a would be great for non stop discussion. Will that ever happen?

Well, there are a couple of ways we can do this, Sumiji. We can set up a separate group for record reviews, then there'd be one place to go to read what people are saying about any particular release (and anyone could review anything they wanted). OR people can just post the reviews in the blog section of their pages... there are a lot of "review blogs" on the Web, why not have some here on the Hideout?