Where has everyone gone?

[csn]

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I agree with many who have posted. We're now known as Performance Marketers and the industry is rapidly changing to a more corporate environment from what it used to be.

As for the forum itself, I find that the noise drowns out the decent posts. There's far too much in the way of multiple (mainly pointless) merchant promotions and those cross-promotion-of-news-articles posts. These drown out anything of relevance in my RSS feed.

Personally, I think the forum lost its way when it started expanding into other areas. Perhaps there should have been a4u news to go with a4u forum, rather than integrating the two.

I'd second Jason's point that it's easier to use social media, and posting on a forum is also time-consuming, which could be better spent writing an article or blog post to keep driving forward.

The industry seems to have become a lot more cut-throat recently and for serious affiliate marketers looking after the pennies, all time costs. It's down to how it's spent as to how well each marketer performs. For me, I've become a forum lurker and seldom post any more due to time constraints.

[ChrisJohnson]

Hi All.

Have been reading this thread over the last few days - I agree it's a shame that people are apprehensive about sharing their thoughts on here as much as they used to, and yes social media has inevitably played a part. However with the amount of people lurking in the background and checking out posts every day there's obviously still a need to discuss aspects of affiliate marketing on a day to day.

I've taken your feedback re: the posting of news articles - i've removed this from the lounge so it won't be posted here. We'll also do a vetting of promotional posts to ensure they are in the promotions section of the forum and not elsewhere and will update the new posts button.

Where the login issues are (still) arising - we've had about 5 different developers since we've switched the site and all have struggled to find a solution to the login problem - I've sat through hours of tech meetings trying to understand why it's happening, it works for some and not others. This has been put at the top of our tech guy's list to try and source a solution - however as this is such a webmaster related forum - if anyone can put me in contact with a vBulletin genius I will be happy to speak with them to get this sorted!

[Cdr268]

However with the amount of people lurking in the background and checking out posts every day there's obviously still a need to discuss aspects of affiliate marketing on a day to day.

Surely it can't be that difficult to offer some of the "lurkers" an incentive to post? Perhaps access to useful info once they've reach 50 posts of something like that?

I remember a few months ago, it was the other way round... People were complaining about spammers flooding the forum. Now no one floods it....

[KimCullum]

I think the idea was to get some e-commerce/marketing type content within the site that isn't just forum posts - maybe to build some authority in that area - something like Search Engine Land?

Cool, that makes sense.

[ChrisJohnson]

Surely it can't be that difficult to offer some of the "lurkers" an incentive to post? Perhaps access to useful info once they've reach 50 posts of something like that?

I remember a few months ago, it was the other way round... People were complaining about spammers flooding the forum. Now no one floods it....

That could be a good idea. I'd like to sort out the login issue first and foremost as this can ensure people can post when they want!

[ChrisJohnson]

Cool, that makes sense.

Perhaps i'll just choose a few of our articles and post them within here if you'd still like to see some of this on the forum?

[boxfish]

I don't think Sainburys is being plugged enough



This is what I am greeted with when I've eventually managed to log in and click new posts. It makes you wonder whether it's worth the effort.

[ChrisJohnson]

I don't think Sainburys is being plugged enough

This is what I am greeted with when I've eventually managed to log in and click new posts. It makes you wonder whether it's worth the effort.

Thanks for letting me know - I'll get this sorted.

[KimCullum]

Perhaps i'll just choose a few of our articles and post them within here if you'd still like to see some of this on the forum?

Hi Chris, I don't actually mind them being posted on the forum (i know perhaps someone else responded and felt differently), I just don't understand why people can't post replies to the article when they are put on the forum. Not many comments are left over on the news pages, but perhaps you may get more response if the block to replies on the forum thread was lifted? This may also help stimulate more conversation as topical articals would naturally keep a better placement on the thread listings. Whereas in the news section, you wouldn't know which articles had proved topical / sparked debate and response unless you thought to click back through the history and looked for how many comments had been left. It's only a thought. :-)

[ChrisJohnson]

Hi Chris, I don't actually mind them being posted on the forum (i know perhaps someone else responded and felt differently), I just don't understand why people can't post replies to the article when they are put on the forum. Not many comments are left over on the news pages, but perhaps you may get more response if the block to replies on the forum thread was lifted? This may also help stimulate more conversation as topical articals would naturally keep a better placement on the thread listings. Whereas in the news section, you wouldn't know which articles had proved topical / sparked debate and response unless you thought to click back through the history and looked for how many comments had been left. It's only a thought. :-)

Thanks Kim. The ones I post from the news section going forward will be open to posting so this should change that

[giveasyouget]

On the articles if they continue to just be links from the forum rather than the full article it would be very helpful if there was at least a snippet to tell what the article was about

Personally I tend to check in here when I'm between tasks and procrastinating rather than working, so it probably a good thing there isn't too much good content! That being said I don't think sharing /should/ be too much of an issue, there are plenty of other forums where people either talk in general rather specific terms or swap ideas and inspiration around the broader topic of building websites. For example Acorn domains has a certain amount of this even though people are in competition there. I do agree the forums are way too fragmented - I only ever really check the lounge and travel forums, and I'm sure all the seo / web design / php / tech help etc could easily be consolidated.

I use other sources for discussing seo etc but generally with americans; I think aside from rants about trends in AM the primary appeal of a place like A4u's forums is the social side - other people who are sat working at home in the UK and have had enough of link building etc for the day and need to kick back. In many ways this is why it being nothing but rants is more an annoyance than something helfpul - I'd rather people were telling jokes and being friendly than blowing off steam.

[allthediscounts]

How ironic. I've been a member for over a year and this is the first time I've seen many of the members contributing to this post.

[Dazza30]

I didn't for one minute think this thread would stir up such a interesting and wide ranging debate. From what I can gather people are still using the forum but have no incentive to enage with each other because it has failed to move with the times and address its users concerns.

With regards to moving away from AM I'm in the process of inproving and increasing my income streams. I've discovered I love blogging and although Product comparison is still my bread and butter I hope to incorporate it (ALthough at a much reduced level) and see where it takes me.

[Mogga]

Mogga, I had a rant about this just this week and has been fixed in my case. See how you go on from now on.

I read that today. And then logged in so I will see how it goes.

[Iskander]

I was never a hugely frequent visitor to this forum. Back in the mid-2000s when forums were at their roaring height of success I spent the vast majority of my forum time on WebmasterWorld... and when I wasn't there, I occasionally dropped in to AssociatePrograms Forum.

I don't think I really discovered a4u until 2005... by which time I'd already been involved in AM for 6 years and was starting to go to work in (what we now term) Performance Publishing pretty seriously.

I agree with those who say that in the subsequent 7 years (2005-2012), both blogs & social media have disrupted the powerful position previously held by the handful of forums which held sway in the mid-2000s... but probably to everyone's detriment... in the fragmented landscape we have today there is no Discussion HQ... and that's a fairly key requirement for a communicative grass-roots community to strengthen its intra-group connections. Consequently the grass-roots community that we had hasn't entirely atomised but it has dispersed somewhat.

Most disappointingly (I speak from personal perspective) we've largely lost the contingent of that grass-root community who were working on the Network / Agency side. Many of their successors are loyal (one assumes) to the companies they respectively work for... but they are noticeably not loyal to the industry over and above their company. They appear to operate (I'm happy to be shown counter-examples) as if they have no long term perspective on where the industry is going and how they might contribute and shape its progress.

(That said, there are, as ever, several sterling exceptions, who are a massive credit to the agencies and networks they work for, but regrettably they are not the majority)

So... while a lot of people say "the industry has matured"... I'd counter that.

I'd say if anything our industry has reverted, become more infantile.

Hero states:

Moreover, the vast majority of newcomers in the industry are employees - it's a 9-5 for them, they are good at what they do but they don't necessarily live & breathe for their job. They post about their promotions/news, monitor for problems, but to contribute yourself, that's a whole different mindset.

And that's precisely the problem. We now have a lot of 9-5 staffers who are underpaid, under-utilised and expected by their line-managers to perform like moronic, spamming monkeys. (At least that's the impression I get from the unbearable & ridiculous volume of email that I get sent by the networks).

That doesn't look to me like an industry "maturing" - it looks like a dreadful waste of talent, intellect and potential for innovation, initiative and enterprise.