This website is getting old

[chknfngrs]

ive been on here for over 10 years, but have no idea when it started. whats the born-on date and who started this thing?

I also mean to reference the content, while still moderately educational, is growing old too. am I alone in that?

[floid]

ive been on here for over 10 years, but have no idea when it started. whats the born-on date and who started this thing?

I also mean to reference the content, while still moderately educational, is growing old too. am I alone in that?

it's a good reference site. But I agree, the topics all seem to repeats.

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[hikernutcasey]

Can we show some appreciation please? For goodness sakes, of course things are going to get rehashed over and over again, it's an internet message board for crying out loud. What do you expect?

I for one am thankful for a site that is completely dedicated to the hobby I love and much props to those who built it and continue to maintain it. I have learned so much from reading this site and just yesterday asked another member a logistical question through private message and received some great information that will help me plan an upcoming section hike that otherwise I would have never been able to find myself.

Also, even if you feel the content is stale and you know all things backpacking and Appalachian Trail, you can still give back to the newbies who are just getting started and have questions of their own. Try giving something back, you might actually enjoy it.

[FossilFool]

Topics like 'what's the best stove' do keep coming up, but technology changes and these threads need to be updated constantly. I can see, however, that to a veteran that it could lose it's charm a bit. This site is a treasure trove of knowledge for us newbs. I've never done a section hike over multiple days, but planning one soon. This is the best place I've found to prepare for the trip.

[yaduck9]

it's a good reference site. But I agree, the topics all seem to repeats.

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Is that the fault of the web site or the folks who post?

Does the tail wag the dog?

[illabelle]

Can we show some appreciation please? For goodness sakes, of course things are going to get rehashed over and over again, it's an internet message board for crying out loud. What do you expect?

I for one am thankful for a site that is completely dedicated to the hobby I love and much props to those who built it and continue to maintain it. I have learned so much from reading this site and just yesterday asked another member a logistical question through private message and received some great information that will help me plan an upcoming section hike that otherwise I would have never been able to find myself.

Also, even if you feel the content is stale and you know all things backpacking and Appalachian Trail, you can still give back to the newbies who are just getting started and have questions of their own. Try giving something back, you might actually enjoy it.

Thumbs up!

[Tuckahoe]

For those that want to b$tch and moan about the repetitiveness of questions and topics, keep in mind that while you may have become a hiking and backpacking expert, for the majority of folks the subjects are new and it's the first time they've asked the question.

If it's old for you just pass the topic on by, or better yet start your own thread that meets your standard.

[nsherry61]

. . . start your own thread that meets your standard.

I think that is the crux of the matter. If you want the site to stay fresh, keep it fresh with fresh threads of interest.

[Traillium]

This site has been the most helpful online source for me as a newbie to backpacking, let alone long-distance hiking.
I think I'm savvy enough after half a year to sort wheat from chaff, scurrilous from serious, informed opinion from blather …
While I try to be careful in my queries and responses, I also feel that I can contribute somewhat as well — and that's rewarding and encouraging.
It's the first hiking stuff I browse every morning, and the last before I turn in at night.


Bruce Traillium

[nsherry61]

. . . It's the first hiking stuff I browse every morning, and the last before I turn in at night.

Yeah, well I sleep with it all night on my cell phone.

[Traillium]

Yeah, well I sleep with it all night on my cell phone.

Ok, truth be told …

[shakey_snake]

When I was a freshman in college, I thought that college was just the greatest thing. When I was a sophomore I thought freshman were just the silliest things. When I was an upperclassman, I decided that both freshman me and sophmore me were both right and that helping freshman integrate into the college experience was probably among the best things I could do.

The same content get repeated every spring when the new blood comes looking for help.

That's simply how this forum works and our focus should be on being helpful and courteous to try and retain some of these new folks so that it doesn't become REALLY stale.

The AT changes new people's lives every year, we should really learn to take joy in that fact.

[Rain Man]

ive been on here for over 10 years, but have no idea when it started. whats the born-on date and who started this thing?

Here's the link to WB's own history page.

I joined in '03 (after you did, chknfngrs) and it had already been around a year. I think it was started by "The Administrator" or some such ID, but when he fell by the wayside, Rick "ATTroll" picked up the ball and ran with it (with help, of course). But ATTroll is the prime mover & reason WB exists and hasn't sunk into the mire of many discussion web sites. That takes a lot of work.

Kudos to ATTroll, in other words!

[chknfngrs]

Right. Who started this site and are they still involved?

[Uncle Joe]

Topics will repeat. It's not trivial to search and find a given topic because there's a lot to sort through. And things change, gear changes. It doesn't bother me for people to ask similar or even the same question.

[chknfngrs]

Posted the same time rain man

[chknfngrs]

Also to reiterate this is still a useful resource. Always will be as long as it's up. Just not what it was. If it's me or if it's you? Dunno.

[nsherry61]

I actually get quite annoyed at the "What is the best" questions. It's like, grow the ****** up and ask a real question please!

So, I just ignore those threads until a see them hanging around for a while with people more patient than I helping focus the question to something meaningful. Then, often the tread eventually becomes interesting because of the focus other participants have helped provide and I might even jump in if I have anything to say.

As for the OP, what is something you would like to see discussed on this site that would make it fresher?

[chknfngrs]

Dunno! Great question- maybe less gear talk and more trip reports; but maybe that's my problem- should read more TrailJournals. Just wondering anymore, why do I keep coming back? Will ponder. It's all relative...

[Odd Man Out]

If the same questions keep coming up, then the problem is not the site getting old. The problem is we are getting old.

But is that a problem? I'm sure if I looked at my posts from early on I would see that I was the one who asked the dumb questions and there was a previous generation of Veterans who helped me along. In my day job I'm an educator so maybe I am used to it. I never teach the same class twice. The material is the same, but the students are different. "What's the best ......" is not a dumb question. It's just that the student is not going to learn what he/she expected. There are no dumb question, unless maybe they are about cheese or vibrators.