Community Goal?

[Accutronitis]

I know ignorance and stupidity happen out in the real world but I really don't see that happening here at all IMHO......

 

[Accutronitis]

I keep thinking this or some of this at least should be in the Veterans section behind closed doors amongst people with over 1000 posts, 1 year membership, and positive reputation and/or in Help, Suggestions, & Administrative Announcements.

Oh thanks, I guess that leaves me out....... LOL I think you should try a include some "New Guy" perspective if you are looking to get lurkers to join a post ?

You want people like me to join and learn about lasers and how to handle them responsibly because that's what makes a hobby grow and at the same time help reduce negative press !

After just a short time here you will NEVER see me in the news ! But if I hadn't joined who knows ?

 

[ElectricPlasma]

Nice writeup Razako :beer: Though some rebuttals came to mind:

Prices have also gotten much better compared to the early days of the laser hobby. DPSS prices have fallen by >75% in some cases. Prices on ebay are stunningly cheap now. You can get a true burning 450nm laser for only $50-$70. You can get a relatively decent 532nm (303/301lasers) for $7-8 shipped. 3 packs of overspec 405/532/650 for $7 etc. Never before have lasers been so readily available and affordable.

Actually, these low cost lasers are exactly what got me in here. I basically bought all the cheap ebay laser crap I could find, and then when I had everything, I craved more and came here. I think this is actually a good thing as it's so easy to just throw 7$ at a laser advertisement, even if you don't get what you pay for, you're only out 7 bucks. The risk to reward ratio is really attractive here.

-As Alaskan suggested, the novelty factor has somewhat worn off. Having a quality burning laser in the early years used to get you some real bragging rights (A burning 532nm capable of lighting matches would cost you a few hundred dollars), and now you can get burning 532nm's for like $20 from Sanwu. With the cheap prices and ready availability of lasers these days the 'exclusivity' of the hobby has somewhat worn off. Nobody gets all that exited anymore by a youtube vid showing a green laser popping balloons, lighting matches or burning through a newspaper. It's like what would happen in the auto world if everybody could get a high end sports car for <$20,000. Suddenly the special factor would decline by quite a lot.

Are you saying that overall value has decreased? Like I said, the cheaper the better, it opens a bigger window to people who are willing to check things out. If it weren't for those crap lasers on eBay there's no way I would've downed 250$ for a quality laser without having any idea what I'm getting into. Though that's just me

Even if it is a lot less of a "novelty," take CPF for an example. That's even less novelty, dealing with flashlights, and flashlights can't be more expensive than lasers. Actually if I were to guess I'd say the cost is probably right around the same. So why are they doing so good and have a lot of popularity compared to LPF? Unless I can persuaded otherwise, that can't be it.

-Lurkers: It seems like this forum has a massive amount of lurkers sometimes. I'll see like 1500+ people browsing the general section alone, and none of them post anything. Somehow we need to encourage people to actually get involved and post stuff.
-As another guy suggested, the forum name could use a little rework perhaps. It's just not 'exciting sounding' to people who come across it.

Funny that this was brought up, when I was doing research on these pointers I actually completely avoided LPF. Not only did I think it was a dead website because of the massive advertisements at the top but the dark theme just didn't welcome me. I finally gave in when I was looking for something and it looked like LPF was the only site that had the info I needed, and in a desperate attempt I learned how to get around. (I haven't used any forums before LPF) Now I'll do anything to keep the dark theme because it's grown on me.

I don't have a problem with the name in fact I think it doesn't have anything to do with anything. Why the hell is walmart called walmart, and who gives a damn? Won't stop me from going there.

-Maybe add in a political and current events forum? People love posting in those.

This is actually something I've really gone against when browsing the forums. Sure the odd "other" thread here in there is fine, but when I see members only posting in the other section, it leads me to believe why they're on a laser forum at all when they're only contributing to threads that have no relation to what the forum is about. Maybe this doesn't happen quite too often at all but it's a bad habit to introduce IMO. But... beggars can't be choosers?

Edit: LOL was I the only one who saw that? "LaserHub?" Sounds great! :crackup:

 

[Cel]

The forum is very calm lately, not much happens, I rarely see new builds or reviews.

I think social media sucked most people in. Most of them are unaware about what happens outside that realm.

Well, high-power lasers aren't that rare nowadays, therefore they aren't as special as they used to be. And not much can be gained by upping the power, regarding visibility or burning.
I hope for cheaper diodes, better beam performance, more wavelengths.

A few years ago there was a boom, especially when those awesome 9mm diodes appeared (first blue than green). And from time to time new diodes (or WLs) popped up.
Now it's just stagnation.

 

[H2Oxide]

I was serious about the name, "laser pointer forum" ? Are you kidding me ??? This place is so much more that that someone pointing at a white board with a laser !

I was reading about a member here building a green laser that took up a entire table and he was shooting for a output of over 20 watts and I didn't understand one word they were talking about BUT it was fascinating, All of it !!!

Many member including myself have built or are building high power handheld laser that could never be used to point at anything other that stars in the night sky or risk setting the house on fire !!!

All that and much more is going on at the "laser POINTER forum" ? Really ? 5mW pointing lasers are about the last thing this place is about !

But I'm just thinking out loud and I'm new here sooo........ :gh:

Just one more thing, See those two very cool lasers in my sig below ? Those would have never been possible without this place and the member here and I thank all the members who help me make that happen (and I hold you all responsible for the damage to the furnishings in my build room ! JK lol). I have both of them sitting right next to me as I'm typing this, Really !

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for any kind of name change, financial investment (aside from individual), or other changes to the forum. While I think that these things should be discussed, right now all I'm advocating for is a community goal. That will be more than enough work on its own. Let's take this one step at a time.

I thought that was evident by my name "suggestion" which is a play on a popular... er... adult website name. I guess this forum is too pure for that kind of thing though. :crackup:

 

[Encap]

You're right Encap. We have no right to agree on anything without Coldshadow. Although any ideas have always been welcome, maybe we should move this to the vet section. There is no harm in coming up with ideas. But personally I think everything is ok how it is. The more attention we get, the more negativity that comes our way as well. Our hobby is already in danger due to ignorance and stupidity.

Initial ideas on how to improve the forum or draw in more quality new members are good ideas--no harm in discussing it.
I think how things are is OK also and making LPF better is a worthwhile "community goal" also.

You are right in your last sentence--double edged sword as most things can be.

Oh thanks, I guess that leaves me out....... LOL I think you should try a include some "New Guy" perspective if you are looking to get lurkers to join a post ?

You want people like me to join and learn about lasers and how to handle them responsibly because that's what makes a hobby grow and at the same time help reduce negative press !

After just a short time here you will NEVER see me in the news ! But if I hadn't joined who knows ?

Was not the point.
Reality outside of the very small world box of "me, myself, and I" has to enter into any plan to improve the LPF web site/forum for everyone in general at some point, was the point..

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for any kind of name change, financial investment (aside from individual), or other changes to the forum. While I think that these things should be discussed, right now all I'm advocating for is a community goal. That will be more than enough work on its own. Let's take this one step at a time.

I thought that was evident by my name "suggestion" which is a play on a popular... er... adult website name. I guess this forum is too pure for that kind of thing though. :crackup:

My comment was just meant to be a reality check before the discussion got so far out in left field that it is just just streaming daydreams within daydreams and to point out that Coldshadow should be in the loop.

A community goal of making LPF a better and more popular place is a good idea/concept for discussion as a first step.

 

[CynicalBrad]

Anyone care to plot that Google graph against things like the release of the artic and blue diodes etc? If not, I may spend the time later to do so. I bet there is a trend in there somewhere we are just missing. I bet all the media negative attention is contributing as well. That and all our known trolls both that sock like crazy or just stick around and provoke. All this negativity certainly doesn't help. That and we are becoming an "I want it with no effort" society in which less people care to build stuff or know how it works.

 

[Accutronitis]

Was not the point.
Reality outside of the very small world box of "me, myself, and I has to enter into any plan to improve the LPF web site/forum for everyone in general at some point, was the point..

I was only providing the prospective from one angle (a new member) which is part of the point ? But thanks for just dismissing my prospective as being all about myself which it was not.....

 

[H2Oxide]

My comment was just meant to be a reality check before the discussion got so far out in left field as to be meaningless daydreams about daydreams and to point out that Coldshadow should be in the loop.

A community goal of making LPF a better and more popular place is a good idea/concept for discussion as a first step.

Yeah, things blew way off topic really fast, so thanks or that.

Making LPF a better place is the end goal of this project though. I figured that the best way to do it would be to improve community cohesion and cooperation first. I came to the conclusion that establishing a common technological interest and goal would be the most effective way to go about it.

Anyone care to plot that Google graph against things like the release of the artic and blue diodes etc? If not, I may spend the time later to do so. I bet there is a trend in there somewhere we are just missing. I bet all the media negative attention is contributing as well. That and all our known trolls both that sock like crazy or just stick around and provoke. All this negativity certainly doesn't help. That and we are becoming an "I want it with no effort" society in which less people care to build stuff or know how it works.

Red is WL, blue is LPF. These are adjusted though. On the actual 1:1 plot LPF is practically a flat line at the bottom of the graph compared to WL.

Blue is "blue laser diode" and red is "Arctic laser". 1:1.

 

[Accutronitis]

appeal, you say?

OH GOD I just got that name ! I withdraw my vote ! lol

 

[NightExplorer96]

I like this forum. I do agree that it does that some time to get over the first jumps when one gets started but once you become used to how the forums runs it's a nice place to be!

-Alex

 

[Rivem]

This is a complicated issue, but it's definitely been apparent in just the one year I've been a member in the forum. I think there might be a bit too many factors in the issue for a clear solution though. I agree with Razako's reasoning.

I think the major issue is that the laser hobby is probably a bit farther in a niche than most hobbies. Back when the forum first started, the only way to easily and affordably attain a high power laser was with tinkering, and web resources were very valuable to this. Now, prices are lower, lasers are easier to obtain, and people are no longer forced into that option. Clearly, not everybody on the forum is a laser builder/experimenter, but they're the group that'd get the most value from the community. Lasers were also a lot more novel at the time.

Social media is also a huge issue. A lot of forums have seen a fairly steady decline as social media takes up more time online. Social groups within larger social platforms are typically doing much better with engagement than standalone forums or email groups.

We also need to look at a lot of the feeding sources for interest in LPF. I'd say YouTube and related forums are probably the biggest. You can probably see the same sort of decline for laser interest on YouTube, and it's definitely there for CPF and Photon Lexicon.



As far as my personal opinion goes, I'm not sure there's too much we could do to directly improve the situation, but the forum isn't dead yet. I think all we can ask is that experienced members try to post more laser-related stuff to drum up interest. I'm not really sure how many active vets there are since I don't see that part of the forum (yet).

All that said, I think the forum's laser topic could easily fall under a broader electronics enthusiast forum or a social media group in the worst-case scenario.

 

[H2Oxide]

PS Just PM coldshadow and ask him to give you access to the Veterans subforum---you meet the qualifications
Under the Veterans title in the subforum list it says: "For forum veterans with over 1000 posts, 1 year membership, and positive reputation. Private message c0ldshadow to be added to the whitelist of users allowed to access the Laser Pointer Forums vets section"

What? He doesn't have 1000 posts...

 

[Encap]

What? He doesn't have 1000 posts...

Oops--your right---moving too fast--caught the rep number instead of the post number.

Deleted the post

 

[Rivem]

Oops--your right---moving too fast--caught the rep number instead of the post number.

Deleted the post

Haha. Yeah. Still got a bit to go. Probably not going to happen until I finish this semester.

 

[Razako]

Yeah, things blew way off topic really fast, so thanks or that.

Making LPF a better place is the end goal of this project though. I figured that the best way to do it would be to improve community cohesion and cooperation first. I came to the conclusion that establishing a common technological interest and goal would be the most effective way to go about it.

Red is WL, blue is LPF. These are adjusted though. On the actual 1:1 plot LPF is practically a flat line at the bottom of the graph compared to WL.

Blue is "blue laser diode" and red is "Arctic laser". 1:1.

Interesting. Both appear to really get going in 2007, peak between 2009 and 2012, and then fall off sharply.