Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

[Ron Schmit]

Is it just me, or has activity in the forum really dropped off?

Where is everyone?

Did you head out to Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Instagram? Vine? YouTube? Tumblr? Blogger? Drupal? ExpressionEngine? LiveJournal? Open Diary? TypePad? Vox? WordPress? Xanga? Blog.com? Dailybooth? MyLife? Foursquare? Google Buzz? Identi? Jaiku? Nasza-Klasa? Plurk? My2i? Posterous? Qaiku? SocialVibe? Geoloqi? Google Latitude? Gowalla? Hotlist? Yelp? Eventful? Meetup.com? Upcoming? Netvibes? Twine? Causes? Jumo? Kickstarter? IndieGoGo? ASmallWorld? Digg? Bebo? Chatter? Reddit? Cyworld? Diaspora? Google+? Hi5? Hyves? IRC? LinkedIn? Mixi? MySpace? Netlog? Ning? Orkut? Plaxo? Tagged? Tuenti? XING? WhoSay?

Oh, or Yammer?

Hmm...

[Dick Jacobson]

CloudyNights for me. I agree, it's too bad there is so little activity in the MAS forum. If winter ever ends, maybe there will be more...

[Dave Venne]

Impatiently waiting for the end of winter. Trying to be optimistic by planning for the summer.

Not really using any other outlets; when one is doing nothing, one has nothing to say.

Maybe I'll go out and shovel off my observing pad. Could post before and after pictures of that to illustrate the fierce amount of nothing that I'm doing.

[wkocken]

Impressive list, Ron. I see you have MySpace in there twice. Are you still following your favorite Boy Bands or something? I never heard of most of them. but was surprised to see Google + so far down in the list.

I check in on the MAS forums and Cloudy Nights once every few days. When I'm not doing any observing or ATMing or planning my next star party trip, I don't follow either of them very closely.

[Ron Schmit]

HA! Noted, and corrected. Thanks! The list is by no means comprehensive. I make no claim to using any of them.

Not that there's a lot going on, it's just that there are SO many alternatives now I'm wondering if the discussions are taking place elsewhere. Not sure I'm a big fan of that dilution... Maybe kids these days need the variety. Maybe they are happy with being the only 7 people on Jaiku...

I would think that you would want to join a dense population of like-minded individuals so that there is more opportunity and a richer experience. Maybe that's what they call being "old school."

Whateves...

[wkocken]

There is an MAS Facebook page. Most of the activity there is oriented towards the general public with announcements about upcoming events and some general astronomy stuff. I always like this forum as a place for more membership oriented discussion and wanted/for sale ads. Like you, not seeing much of either these days.

[Deane Clark]

Is it just me, or has activity in the forum really dropped off?

Where is everyone?

Did you head out to Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Instagram? Vine? YouTube? Tumblr? Blogger? Drupal? ExpressionEngine? LiveJournal? Open Diary? TypePad? Vox? WordPress? Xanga? Blog.com? Dailybooth? MyLife? Foursquare? Google Buzz? Identi? Jaiku? Nasza-Klasa? Plurk? My2i? Posterous? Qaiku? SocialVibe? Geoloqi? Google Latitude? Gowalla? Hotlist? Yelp? Eventful? Meetup.com? Upcoming? Netvibes? Twine? Causes? Jumo? Kickstarter? IndieGoGo? ASmallWorld? Digg? Bebo? Chatter? Reddit? Cyworld? Diaspora? Google+? Hi5? Hyves? IRC? LinkedIn? Mixi? MySpace? Netlog? Ning? Orkut? Plaxo? Tagged? Tuenti? XING? WhoSay?

Oh, or Yammer?

Hmm...

Oh, I thought you meant this forum specifically. No one ever answered my post from last august.

[Ron Schmit]

Deane:

I'm not following you. What post?

I just don't see a lot of activity on the MAS discussion forum and I'm wondering if people are using a different platform.

Ron

[Ricola]

For me personally, I've only recently emerged from my ice cave.

[SEmert]

I think that may be sort of a universal thing. The cold this winter caused many of us to revert temporarily to just be armchair astronomers, and aside from commenting on Curiosity news and other news, and commenting on the new Cosmos series, there is not much to generate a lot of activity on the forums right now.
But, with the wonderful warm weather of the last day or two, that should change!

[Ron Schmit]

Yeah, about that...

I would have expected activity to actually INCREASE as we retreat to our caves. What are you going to do inside? Log into the forum and discuss the benefits of Ritchey-Chretien over Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, or start a lively debate on Anthropogenic Global Warming (Sorry... Too soon?)

I'm just seeing a bit of a shift in our online activity, and wondering if we're missing the digital boat on this one.

Opinions welcome.

[wkocken]

I think the trend has been declining use of the forums for a long time.
Last year, most of the discussions were about astrophotography or construction projects. There seems to be very little discussion about equipment, or ATMing or general astronomy.
I don't do the former, so I will comment once in a while and sadly my involvement in the construction was limited.

There is an MAS Facebook page, but I don't participate there, either.

I don't really have any answers,

Bill

[Astrolaman]

I can't speak for others, but I have been suffering from a bad case of AVAD (arctic vortex affective disorder), a form of SAD associated with northern locales. The only cure is abundant clear, moonless skies under conditions where snow shoes are not necessary. Talking about astronomy on forums only lengthens the time before observing conditions improve. I learned that last year.

[johnkra]

Too bad amateur radio astro is such a fruitless endeavor. It could sure provide winter observing opportunities without the suffering.

But there is always arXiv.org for ponderment.

M73/kj0p

[Deane Clark]

Deane:
I'm not following you. What post?
Ron

That thread just below this one about missing signatures.

[Ron Schmit]

Oh, now I get it. Thanks.

Nope. I meant the whole Forum.

[rodo12]

Indeed.....very quiet. I keep hoping to see some activity in the telescope making forum as well. Guess I should go over there and make another post to see if it jogs anything loose.

BTW......you won't find me on any of those lists you posted......one of my life goals is to be the last human on the planet without a cellphone. :-0

Bob L.

[Ron Schmit]

No apologies, Bob!

While these are part of the force that now connects us instantly worldwide, I find my son's generation stymied by all the choices.

My dad's generation didn't have calculators, and they put men on the moon.

My son's generation has 40 different methods of instant communication, yet they can't articulate a complete thought in under a half hour.

Typical txt:

"Wanna hang out?"
(2 mins)
"Can't"
(2 mins)
"Sup?"
(2 mins)
"Work"
(2 mins)
"Where?"
(2 mins)
"Matts"
(2 mins)
"When?"
(2 mins)
"4"
(2 mins)
"Hang out after?"
(2 mins)
"Sure"
(2 mins)
"How late you work?"
(2 mins)
"Close"
(2 mins)
"What time is that?"
(2 mins)
"10"
(2 mins)
"Pick you up at 10?"
(2 mins)
"10:30"
(2 mins)
"Thought it was 10?"
(2 mins)
"Gotta clean up."
(2 mins)
"Oh,OK. 10:30"
(2 mins)
"make it 1045"
(2 mins)
"OK"
(2 mins)
"See ya"
(2 mins)
"K'Bye"


<Please forgive the rant... I'm practicing to be a retiree.>

[Dick Jacobson]

BTW......you won't find me on any of those lists you posted......one of my life goals is to be the last human on the planet without a cellphone. :-0

Bob L.

Darn, you beat me, I caved in a few months ago and bought a Windows Phone.