Sometimes I Think Pipe Smoking is dying...

[9mmpuffer]

I will come to these forums and it seems there is barely anyone here.

Then... SP releases 2000 pounds of a new "limited batch" tobacco and it's gone in minutes

I guess the forum activity is not representative of the current interest in pipe smoking.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I will come to these forums and it seems there is barely anyone here.

Then... SP releases 2000 pounds of a new "limited batch" tobacco and it's gone in minutes

I guess the forum activity is not representative of the current interest in pipe smoking.

Many buy multiple pounds. At 5 pounds each, that would only be 400 smokers. I can count on one hand how many other pipe smokers I've personally seen in my lifetime.

 

[fireground_piper]

barely anyone here? What time do you look at the forum? It always seems pretty active.

 

[Mr. Stubb]

There are numerous places online to discuss pipe smoking apart from this one, and of course internet message boards are a dinosaur medium. Most people interact on reddit or social media today, the golden age of the Internet forum was probably 2000-2010. Many are gone now due to lack of traffic.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Sometimes it is slow, sometimes it is booming on here. Unfortunately, it booms when someone posts something stupid or controversial that brings out the shark feeding frenzy. When people just want to get real help, or rationally discuss a blend, it gets very slow.
The irony is that when someone posts something stupid that makes the water churn, the very people who wait for these moments will complain that "people shouldn't post things like that."

We have always been like the top 1-2% of pipesmokers on here. Most pipesmokers just come home, pack their favorite apple cinnamon bon bon tobaccos and smoke in the privacy of their homes without participating in any forums or anything else pipe related.

But, Alabama seems to be keeping pipes alive. I see pipesmokers everywhere around here. But, by being one with always a pipe in chock while out and about, I tend to draw the pipesmokers to me.

 

[9mmpuffer]

There are numerous places online to discuss pipe smoking apart from this one, and of course internet message boards are a dinosaur medium. Most people interact on reddit or social media today, the golden age of the Internet forum was probably 2000-2010. Many are gone now due to lack of traffic.

Fair point about reddit and social

 

[BayouGhost]

It is not dying. It is just becoming more niche like the film camera, unpowered tools with wood handles, flintlock rifles, record players, bamboo fly rods....the list goes on. There will always be a small group of weirdos that prefers experience over convenience. I know a guy who cuts his grass with a scythe because it relaxes him and gives him exercise.

 

[Auxsender]

…small group of weirdos

Nailed it

 

[popeofpiping]

I tend to feel the same way about the forum, but after thinking about it-my lack of engagement is more of having nothing to contribute to the on going conversations than a lack of conversations happening. Get out to a pipe show, they’re more packed than ever before.

 

[dd57chevy]

I will come to these forums and it seems there is barely anyone here.

Then... SP releases 2000 pounds of a new "limited batch" tobacco and it's gone in minutes

I guess the forum activity is not representative of the current interest in pipe smoking.

I just checked the "members online" window on the home page . A paltry 41 members signed on .......but nearly 900 "guests" !

I guess many people aren't joiners , but it would seem there is quite a bit of interest .

 

[daveinlax]

I just checked the "members online" window on the home page . A paltry 41 members signed on .......but nearly 900 "guests" !

I guess many people aren't joiners , but it would seem there is quite a bit of interest .

The “Guests” are bots gathering data.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I just checked the "members online" window on the home page . A paltry 41 members signed on .......but nearly 900 "guests" !

We used to call them "lurkers," till that word became a membership designation.
But, we've always had more people that haven't joined watching and reading the forums than members participating. This is why it irks me when people post that "such and such is back in stock at so and so" because this is also giving a heads up to the 900-2000 people watching the forum than it does just the members here. So, these folks are not doing their friends here any favors with those sorts of posts.

 

[wyfbane]

barely anyone here? What time do you look at the forum? It always seems pretty active.

In a worldwide forum, this is an infinitesimal number of people, even with thousands of members.

The “Guests” are bots gathering data.

As something of a Luddite, I must ask, how true is this?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

but nearly 900 "guests" !

Also, as a side note, it means that folks that participate on here are sort of famous outside of here also. When I went to the New Orleans Pipe show, I was walking with my wife around the Quarter and I'd run into these guys who would ask me, "Are you Cosmic?" Of course I was all flattered and signing autographs and shit, but when I would ask them what their handle was on the forum, 90% of the time they responded that they weren't members, but just watched the forums. So be weary that posting and contributing here is seen far and wide outside of just the normal peanut gallery of members here.

 

[ziv]

We used to call them "lurkers," till that word became a membership designation.
But, we've always had more people that haven't joined watching and reading the forums than members participating. This is why it irks me when people post that "such and such is back in stock at so and so" because this is also giving a heads up to the 900-2000 people watching the forum than it does just the members here. So, these folks are not doing their friends here any favors with those sorts of posts.

Can't a member-only (i.e. restricted) forum area be created?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Can't a member-only (i.e. restricted) forum area be created?

That question is out of my pay grade.
But, you also have the ability to send out a PM to as many members here that you want to. For example, if some rare bird blend came out, and I knew of about six other members that would enjoy it, I would just PM those guys, and maybe a few others that I thought "might" like it.

 

[popeofpiping]

Can't a member-only (i.e. restricted) forum area be created?

I kinda like this idea.

 

[fireground_piper]

In a worldwide forum, this is an infinitesimal number of people, even with thousands of members.


As something of a Luddite, I must ask, how true is this?

But forums themselves are an old form of communication. So a forum focused on a niche (pipe tobacco) that's only going to be used by a niche group of that niche (pipe smokers or collectors who want to gather and discuss this interest) is pretty dang small. So from that perspective, this forum seems busy to me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

As something of a Luddite, I must ask, how true is this?

Bots don't watch, they are just instantaneous little bits of programming with a mission. It's not like a cartoon with a robot setting in front of a screen watching, deciding, and responding. Kevin has filters to keep those out as best as he can.

 

[Brad H]

this forum is a fine group of people, talking about pipes with another fine group of people. Also think of the wealth of knowledge from previous forums being read.

Also, as a side note, it means that folks that participate on here are sort of famous outside of here also. When I went to the New Orleans Pipe show, I was walking with my wife around the Quarter and I'd run into these guys who would ask me, "Are you Cosmic?" Of course I was all flattered and signing autographs and shit, but when I would ask them what their handle was on the forum, 90% of the time they responded that they weren't members, but just watched the forums. So be weary that posting and contributing here is seen far and wide outside of just the normal peanut gallery of members here.

you live in LA? from NO?
(can I get an autographed tin of McClelland from you??)