Cameron, I'm pleased the print magazine readership is increasing, and any discussion about forums, blogs etc has to be made with that fact in mind. For starters I hope the website usage is increasing in line with the increase in magazine readership.

Personally I think that as consumers we might be a little complacent about forums, blogs etc. I think we are extremely lucky to live in an age where such technology is available, but also extremely lucky to live in a society which allows such open communication. For that reason I'm quite happy to voice an opinion, however unpopular it might be, because again and again I've come away from forum discussions having learned something very useful. The open frankness of the forum just doesn't seem possible in "real life" - perhaps our behaviour is to conditioned in "real life".

I say "forum" and not "blog" or "Facebook" because the forum is quite a level playing field. You and I have had the odd forum disagreement over the years, and for my part I find such disagreements very constructive - I either have to adopt your viewpoint or think very hard about my own viewpoint if I want to keep it. There's no way we'd have such disagreements in "real life", or if we did our reactions would be defensive, and not constructive.

The same is true of a blog. One doesn't get the same level of constructive discussion on a blog. For starters the comments are usually laid out in a different format to the original blog post - the fact that they look different - usually less prominent - gives them a different value. But in any case, the person making a comment has the feeling that he/she is in somebody else's space.

Not only does the forum's democracy appeal to me more than the one-sidedness of the blog (and presumably Facebook and Twitter), but I think that such polarisation is dangerous. For instance, there's a strong argument that Robert Peston's blog brought about the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley, despite the bank being solvent.

The other advantage of forums is that they're largely consumer generated, whereas blogs put more demand on you three - unless you just recycle stories that have been in the magazine, which isn't of much interest to those of us who have already read the magazine.

John

Mark: it's good to hear someone else reflect the way I feel sometimes. From time to time I get very active on the Forum, and I do wonder if I'm scaring folks off. At times it's felt like I've dominated it too much. I put it down to my own insecurities most of the time, but I find I do reduce my contributions because of it at times (this is the bit where JH tells me to live dangerously again :) . I do find that there is great quality in the forum though, and I learn a lot from it, so I like to keep it topped up, so unless you all collectivel tell me to get lost I guess I'll be sticking around. Hope fully you will too.

I have to say I prefer the Forum for the reasons explained so well by JH. I've no idea how the editorial staff manage all the other activities. I look at the blogs occasionally, but with limited time I find I get more out of the forum, so that's where I go first. Occasionally if time permits I'll go and visit a blog or two. Facebook doesn't interest me - nor twitter for that matter, but if these open the door to others I guess it's a good thing.

To be honest I am not a fan of twatter or loose facebook but back in October when the forum here was going pearshaped I joined another walking forum. The other has many more active members on a day to day basis and I have felt like I am part of there "family". I would say I used to feel like that here but that has gone.

One suggestion that would possibly increase the forum use would be to advertise the forum like you used to advertise in the mag. Forum meets organised get togethers also help people bond and build a group of like minded friends that they have actually spent time with. If you get a group of say five people to meet up and they report back to the forum on there experience the next time you have a meet more will join and it grows from there.

On the other forum I use the forum meets range from 5 to 6 members to upwards of thirty meeting in Wales, Lakes, Peaks and Dales even the occasional trip to Scotland. Forum members used to meet at the Outdoors show, the TGO Challenge or even backpackers club meets but there is no mention of the outdoor show this year. May is nearly apon us and the threads about the TGO Challenge are scarce if not non existant. backpackers club meets I am not too sure when they are but I know Cameron would be able to tell you.

Lets try and colectivly make this a better forum by trying to post more and certainly in my part trying to be more positive about the future of this place

"(this is the bit where JH tells me to live dangerously again :) " .... Ian

Yes, I will say that Ian :-)

Joking aside, you might say something which might scare a few people off (but I can't remember anything you've said that would upset anybody), but the same controversial thing would attract many more (in my experience). What kills a forum is everybody saying "me too", "me too", "me too", followed by everybody saying nothing.


"I joined another walking forum. The other has many more active members on a day to day basis and I have felt like I am part of there "family"." .... AC

The dynamics of a forum are interesting, and a matter of personal taste. For my part I'd say that if twenty or so of us were to post regularly on here that would suit me fine. If there are to few people there aren't enough differing viewpoints to keep topics alive ("me too", "me too" etc), but if there are to many people the "noise" level becomes so high that meaningful conversations get swamped.

The printed magazine surely gives us lots of topics to discuss?

JOhn

John, I use Facebook and Twitter to post links to anything I find interesting on the web (including TGO news and new issues) plus new posts on my blog. I can also see links from other people and click on these if they are interesting. I rarely post any new material on Facebook/Twitter. I also use Twitter as a news digest - the Guardian posts links to all its stories, which, again, I can follow up if necessary. Since I started linking my blog to Facebook and Twitter the number of hits has risen.

Chris, on another thread Ian is voicing concerns that young people are spending to much time on Facebook etc. Would you share those concerns?

I'd be interested to know if the number of reader comments per story has gone up as well as the number of hits.

John

John, I have no idea how much time young people spend on Facebook etc! Some probably do spend too much time - as they do watching TV, playing computer games or whatever. As a teenager I was accused of spending too much time listening to pop music.

The reader comments have gone up a little but that seems to depend on the topic. A post on global warming in December had 61 comments - vastly more than usual. Gear posts - which are rare - bring in more comments too. Trip reports and posts on what's in the new TGO bring in less comments.

Chris, why I asked was that whilst it's no surprise that the number of hits have risen if you've linked to a very popular website (search engines will be finding your blog via Facebook, and many of the new hits might be search engines), how much does this equate to an increase in readership? I guess you will get some new readers directly from Facebook, and over time from the search engines.

John, looking at the stats it doesn't seem as though many hits come from search engines. I've only had a Facebook link on my site for a few weeks. It will be interesting to see whether that makes any difference to numbers.

Even my partner, who likes a walk but would never buy or read a walking mag, knows who you are. I think the ever increasing number of hits is because you're a household name.