Pistonheads decline
Discussion
I’ve been on PH since about 2008 when i owned a host of TVRs in their day, went to tunnel runs, did build threads etc etc..
I used to come onto pistonheads religiously through various stages of my life and it seemed to develop with me as my life did, it developed a very broad spectrum of interests which you see today in the topics index.
But it changed, became more mumsnet, whingey, more angry people, moderators with screws loose etc
I have rarely come on here for probably a couple of years now, come in once in a while just to see how its going but sadly the usual repetitive tripe / arguments, so out of curiosity ran a chat analysis on the place which suggest its in decline and has been for quite a while and its hay day was circa 2010-215, this is how it evaluated its findings rather than what it thought:
i use ai quite a lot now, i find its interaction on cars quite interesting as it goes, i’m guessing in not too much time you’ll be able to have your own room with different bots chatting away about cars without hostility etc
Apart from fb groups etc (which seem to be the areas people from old forums are transcending to) i’m wandering how long it’ll be before ai infiltrates one of the main human interactions for communication these days and replaces groups like PH?
I know people still chat in the real world, as I/we do but communication is far more difficult in real life for the younger demographic than it ever used to be, us olds that’ll talk to anyone find it very interesting talking to younger people and using our skills to open them up but they dont have the skills naturally, you have to talk to them in almost a different language and certainly cant be too invasive or questioning, theyre fine with generic ‘how do you find life’ questions, ‘where do you see your future’ etc
Anyway, just a rare PH muse from me, found it interesting and had no idea PH was in decline, maybe its not? how do you see it?
I used to come onto pistonheads religiously through various stages of my life and it seemed to develop with me as my life did, it developed a very broad spectrum of interests which you see today in the topics index.
But it changed, became more mumsnet, whingey, more angry people, moderators with screws loose etc
I have rarely come on here for probably a couple of years now, come in once in a while just to see how its going but sadly the usual repetitive tripe / arguments, so out of curiosity ran a chat analysis on the place which suggest its in decline and has been for quite a while and its hay day was circa 2010-215, this is how it evaluated its findings rather than what it thought:
i use ai quite a lot now, i find its interaction on cars quite interesting as it goes, i’m guessing in not too much time you’ll be able to have your own room with different bots chatting away about cars without hostility etc
Apart from fb groups etc (which seem to be the areas people from old forums are transcending to) i’m wandering how long it’ll be before ai infiltrates one of the main human interactions for communication these days and replaces groups like PH?
I know people still chat in the real world, as I/we do but communication is far more difficult in real life for the younger demographic than it ever used to be, us olds that’ll talk to anyone find it very interesting talking to younger people and using our skills to open them up but they dont have the skills naturally, you have to talk to them in almost a different language and certainly cant be too invasive or questioning, theyre fine with generic ‘how do you find life’ questions, ‘where do you see your future’ etc
Anyway, just a rare PH muse from me, found it interesting and had no idea PH was in decline, maybe its not? how do you see it?
Certainly do and thats a great first response if you think about it.. sort of proves some of my point
we keep moving forward as there s no standing still! The nothing will get you
(i cant even remember the old symbols for emojis on here 
)
Just interested how others see it, maybe there s not many people left here from years ago (is there a shrug emoji)
we keep moving forward as there s no standing still! The nothing will get you
(i cant even remember the old symbols for emojis on here )Just interested how others see it, maybe there s not many people left here from years ago (is there a shrug emoji
)Edited by Kerniki on Sunday 5th July 06:32
Seems busy enough here to me.
I do lament the death of old-style forums and the migration to Facebook groups, but that's where the discussion is now so you really haven't a choice!
Tell you what though, I'd rather spend hours trawling through Google search results for ancient forum posts from a real life person with first-hand experience, than ask a gormless AI bot the same question, which will trawl through the same results, misinterpret them and then decide to tell you fabricated lies about the problem you've got.
Another thing that boils my piss is making a Facebook post about an issue with my car and having some
post that they've asked the same question to an AI bot and post a screenshot of the summary. I'm not really one to be an old man shouting at clouds, but for fk's sake, use your critical thinking skills before they wither away completely.
I do lament the death of old-style forums and the migration to Facebook groups, but that's where the discussion is now so you really haven't a choice!
Tell you what though, I'd rather spend hours trawling through Google search results for ancient forum posts from a real life person with first-hand experience, than ask a gormless AI bot the same question, which will trawl through the same results, misinterpret them and then decide to tell you fabricated lies about the problem you've got.
Another thing that boils my piss is making a Facebook post about an issue with my car and having some
post that they've asked the same question to an AI bot and post a screenshot of the summary. I'm not really one to be an old man shouting at clouds, but for fk's sake, use your critical thinking skills before they wither away completely.It used to be the case that if you'd done something that upset the mods you'd get your say and there was a reasonable discussion to be had. Then it was an email detailing what you'd done or said and the punishment. Now you don't find out what the infringement was, just an email informing you of a punishment.
That and the obvious reduction in active PHers are the biggest signs of decline.
If you're on here in the early hours (GMT) it's quite obvious you might be the only active poster, and almost certainly in single figures. You can refresh the "What's New" tab and there might be nothing for half an hour or more.
That and the obvious reduction in active PHers are the biggest signs of decline.
If you're on here in the early hours (GMT) it's quite obvious you might be the only active poster, and almost certainly in single figures. You can refresh the "What's New" tab and there might be nothing for half an hour or more.
It's evolved definitely since the early days. Some of the N&P threads are "entertaining" to say the least, but car forums generally are dying a death with FB and insta etc etc
Passionford, Scoobynet, MLR and the GTR forum were all once heavily trafficked and lively (not to same extent as PH but very busy).
As they say, it is what it is.
Passionford, Scoobynet, MLR and the GTR forum were all once heavily trafficked and lively (not to same extent as PH but very busy).
As they say, it is what it is.
I guess it's morphed more into DadsNet but that isn't a bad thing.
There's car discussion and lots of other stuff. Totally up to you where you want to go.
If I have a problem with a car I own, here is the first place I look, or if I just want to read about motoring generally.
This place is also the first place I go to for other situations like finance, housing, DIY, gardening or health.
For me, PH helped me through some very dark times thanks to a lot of the very kind members on here.
It's also caused me to spend far too much money on cars and various tech
There's car discussion and lots of other stuff. Totally up to you where you want to go.
If I have a problem with a car I own, here is the first place I look, or if I just want to read about motoring generally.
This place is also the first place I go to for other situations like finance, housing, DIY, gardening or health.
For me, PH helped me through some very dark times thanks to a lot of the very kind members on here.
It's also caused me to spend far too much money on cars and various tech
croyde said:
I guess it's morphed more into DadsNet but that isn't a bad thing.
There's car discussion and lots of other stuff. Totally up to you where you want to go.
If I have a problem with a car I own, here is the first place I look, or if I just want to read about motoring generally.
This place is also the first place I go to for other situations like finance, housing, DIY, gardening or health.
For me, PH helped me through some very dark times thanks to a lot of the very kind members on here.
It's also caused me to spend far too much money on cars and various tech
That's a good post. PH can very very helpful and supportive with many factors in life.There's car discussion and lots of other stuff. Totally up to you where you want to go.
If I have a problem with a car I own, here is the first place I look, or if I just want to read about motoring generally.
This place is also the first place I go to for other situations like finance, housing, DIY, gardening or health.
For me, PH helped me through some very dark times thanks to a lot of the very kind members on here.
It's also caused me to spend far too much money on cars and various tech
Its just accepting that people will make negative or inflammatory comments and try to ignore them.
Admittedly I've been one of those people on here a few times - and upon looking back it's usually a reflection of my state of mind at the time. I suffer with anxiety and OCD - it affects my sleep and can often feel on edge....blurting out frustration on the net is a reflection of that angst.
I think overall PH might have changed dramatically from the early days but overall there's a lot of great input from many good folk.
Id say also, there seems to be many who get 'offended' for the slightest reason and kick up a s
t storm and ruin threads.Edited by Dog Biscuit on Sunday 5th July 07:38
This ^^
I get people think of it predominantly as a car forum because of its origins but it's one of the few places that I know of that can be called on for help and advice on just about any subject imaginable.
If people think it's turning into some form of Mumsnet presumably just stick to the car sub-forums and ignore the stuff you aren't interested in.
I get people think of it predominantly as a car forum because of its origins but it's one of the few places that I know of that can be called on for help and advice on just about any subject imaginable.
If people think it's turning into some form of Mumsnet presumably just stick to the car sub-forums and ignore the stuff you aren't interested in.
In the past I used to use various standalone car forums for discussion, however Facebook seems to have hoovered most of them up, Pistonheads must be one of the last ones remaining? I can't stand FB with the dumbed-down one sentence replies from users, multiple splinter groups for the same car, and the incessant push-advertising, so I rarely post anything there these days either. Pistonheads has many sub-forums and is still a good place to go if you want a decent answer to a question. However, to maintain your sanity, don't go anywhere the nest of vipers that is NP&E. It's full of the same old regulars that are there 24 by 7 by 365 stirring up trouble and ready to respond at a minutes notice, it can't be a healthy way to live. Maybe they are being paid by the Russians ....
I think we've lived through the 'golden age' of driving/motoring for enthusiasts, which is gradually and regrettably coming to an end.
The advent of cars the average Joe can't service/repair themselves, increased fuel prices, speed cameras - particularly average speed checks, lunatics who drive whilst under the influence of drugs or drink, increasingly uninsured drivers, high insurance costs, more and more cars on the road driven by simpletons, the advent of driverless cars on the horizon, electric cars that whine rather than the satisfying rumble of a V8, potholes everywhere, ridiculous maintenance charges by main dealers, increased use of computers to control everything inside the car matched by the unintelligible diagnostics spewed out by OBD2, unmanned roadworks, bland automotive designs from China.... all these things have eroded the simple joy of motoring, arguably reflected by the decline in the volume and amusement of the posts on PH.
But I still come on here every day because there are usually at least a couple of gems posted which make my days more enjoyable
The advent of cars the average Joe can't service/repair themselves, increased fuel prices, speed cameras - particularly average speed checks, lunatics who drive whilst under the influence of drugs or drink, increasingly uninsured drivers, high insurance costs, more and more cars on the road driven by simpletons, the advent of driverless cars on the horizon, electric cars that whine rather than the satisfying rumble of a V8, potholes everywhere, ridiculous maintenance charges by main dealers, increased use of computers to control everything inside the car matched by the unintelligible diagnostics spewed out by OBD2, unmanned roadworks, bland automotive designs from China.... all these things have eroded the simple joy of motoring, arguably reflected by the decline in the volume and amusement of the posts on PH.
But I still come on here every day because there are usually at least a couple of gems posted which make my days more enjoyable
LuckyThirteen said:
The glory days were back when the internet was more 'wild west' than 'day care'.
There were threads 2004-2012 that would have me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.
What kind of things were you guys saying back then, that you're not allowed to now? There were threads 2004-2012 that would have me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.
Can you give some examples of the sort of things you'd like to say but wouldn't feel able now?
I suppose if it aint broke dont fix it, however the forum has not changed for years and is now well behind the times.
They could make 2 changes that would improve things.
1)They could add a simple like button for posts.
2) They could add the most recent photos uploaded to any posts to the landing page - as clickable links in real time (as they are posted) instead of having large areas of empty white screen. The line of photos would scroll in real time as they are added.
The contents page has way too many sections. This creates dead areas (hardly visited). Interesting things are ignored.
If visitors could see something interesting on the landing page they can click on, they might visit it and therefore contribute.
They could make 2 changes that would improve things.
1)They could add a simple like button for posts.
2) They could add the most recent photos uploaded to any posts to the landing page - as clickable links in real time (as they are posted) instead of having large areas of empty white screen. The line of photos would scroll in real time as they are added.
The contents page has way too many sections. This creates dead areas (hardly visited). Interesting things are ignored.
If visitors could see something interesting on the landing page they can click on, they might visit it and therefore contribute.
Let's be honest. It changed when the site went commercial. Sad side effect of a site being a business is that it needs customers, that means more people and the demographic changed.
People are also lazier. There's been a couple of attempts to rekindle the old site and it's gone nowhere, I've tried to organise runs and most recently start a small meet and the apathy means it just fizzles out.
I still want it to be the old days where we're all fairly similar and have nice cars. But sadly those days are over. We either make the best of this or you wander off as so many of the originals have in to the wilderness.
People are also lazier. There's been a couple of attempts to rekindle the old site and it's gone nowhere, I've tried to organise runs and most recently start a small meet and the apathy means it just fizzles out.
I still want it to be the old days where we're all fairly similar and have nice cars. But sadly those days are over. We either make the best of this or you wander off as so many of the originals have in to the wilderness.
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