are bowling forums dead?

[xrayjay]

I've been a member here since the later part of 2003 or early 2004 under a different handle. the first 10 yrs or so, this place and other forums were very active. But, in the last decade the activity seems to die down, much more the last 5 yrs. But bowling, leagues (growing) and open play, seems to be picking up in my area. Then again, I just returned to leagues part time this season after 5 or 6 years away.

This post will probably reach 5 replies by the end of this week, if that.
 

[avabob]

I have been around about the same amount of time.   use to post a review on every new ball I bought.  I haven't posted on a ball for over a year.  Lots of reasons including me not being very competitive anymore
 

[MJS73]

For me, the biggest reason is that forums like this are nothing more than a place where staffers can fulfill their social media obligations without actually doing anything but copying and pasting manufacturer sales literature. The vast majority of the so-called “reviews” here are regurgitations of sales literature. If you interested enough in bowling to come to a site like this then you’ve already looked at the ball manufacturer’s sites and you’ve already read what’s been posted. Gone are the days when guys like Mike Magolan would actually make videos and compare other balls in the same position. Today’s reviews are all “get this ball today!”.

[avabob]

Agree

[DrBob806]

I come in here often, rarely post though. I'm pretty sure I've been a member here since 2001.  I think Facebook, maybe Tik Tok is where many go for bowling chat. Bowling FB pages are normally pretty good, but like you guys said, the staffers can get annoying.

[Pinbuster]

Dead maybe an overstatement but definitely the volume of post have dwindled.

I never participated much in the reviews but was active in the miscellaneous forums.

I believe some trolls took their toll but as stated over venues with video seem to have take away the thunder of forum posts.

[TWOHAND834]

Youtube has become the place to go over the past few years.  When you have Brad and Kyle, Belmo, Darren Tang, Luke Rosdahl, Brunsnick, and others all having their own YT channels for posting reviews and "vlogs"; it has been more entertaining than coming on here and having the Juan Fonseca's of the world come on here and litter the "review" section with copy and paste of the literature as MJS mentioned.  On top of that; years of people coming on here and being argumentative for the sake of trying to make people feel stupid has pushed away many of the regulars that used to come on here.  Charlest was a big contributor and always enjoyed reading what he had to say and he has all but disappeared.  Now you have this guy that posts new topics to where the wording makes you wonder if you can take the guy seriously.  One topic is "What can I do to build strength to throw 16 pounds" and the next one is "Saw some 12 pounders in eBay I am considering" .  Then when you call him out on it, he reports you and has your post deleted.  I wasnt even nasty about it.  I just questioned him and he reported me.  I have been on here since the early 2000s myself and still come on here first thing every morning just to see if there is anything serious worth commenting on.  This topic alone shows "read 1088 times"; yet only 6 responses.  Kind of tells you everything you need to know about the state of this site.  But I am about to turn 52 and yet still come on here simply because I am a bowling nerd and just always curious to what I am going to see when I log in.

[Strider]

I think bowling forums starting going down hill when equipment became such a priority. Now instead of tweaking the surface or trying a different layout (although I think modern design/engineering has made this less important - far fewer "duds" or balls that a decent amount of people don't match up with), hand releases or figuring out a better way to play the lanes it's all about grabbing a different ball. Big tournaments or longer formats will always need more ball choices to match up better, but ever since people started bringing 4-6 strike balls to the Ray Charles house shot leagues, that's pretty much all the talk. I'm lucky enough to have a sport shot league year round; if I had nothing but house shots to bowl on, I'm not sure if I'd still be bowling.

Maybe it's just time, people drifting away, or finding other interests, but this forum in particular used to have a pretty large core of regulars that pushed conversation. I'm just as guilty. I'm very much still a competitive bowler, but my audio hobby has taken up a lot of my time on line. I've learned a ton by reading posts from super knowledgeable people. I still check in here often, but it feels there's far less of an opportunity to learn near as much.

[milorafferty]

Does anyone want to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) for a grippy glove? 

[Spider Ball Bowler]

This place is pretty quiet these days. I come on once in a while to see if there are any hot topics, or people buying/selling and nope, pretty much nothing. I've been around for a while, but also only bowl once a week now and carry 1 ball and a plastic ball.

[themagician]

Just sliding in to make sure it's well over 5 replies, but yeah, the migration to reddit, Facebook, and just modern social media platforms have essentially obsoleted forums. It's sad, I spent so much time here, and on bowling chat net when I was younger and coming up in bowling. These days I read through once in a random while but that's about it and occasionally post.

Even YouTube content is odd, the big creators hit the algorithms and drive big content, but everything else just slides under the radar.

[Jesse James]

Yeah, they kind of are. Gone are the days when we'd be on here, well into the night talking about all types of stuff, including politics. I really miss quite a few people who I got a lot of my knowledge from, like Nicanor, Scolai, Steven, Aloarjr810, Nodsleinad, Charlest, T-God, Lucky Lefty and Ragnar.

We used to even get occasional newbies on here who were ladies who'd bowled on the PWBA tour. It was great to hear their insights on equipment and bowling certain patterns.

But I really miss the bowling characters who used to post in here. Ragnar, Phillip Marlowe, Saw Bones, Thong Princess and Nicanor. They were not just bowlers, they posted stuff in a way that totally wrapped their individual personalities in with how they enjoyed the sport and how they played the game. It always made me want to rush back to the computer to see what new topic of the day was being talked about.

I kind of lost my fire about the sport when that idiot Chad Murphy decided to do away with balance holes. I'd spent countless hours studying how to use them optimally. I'd paid for and taken at least two different classes taught by Mo Pinel about layouts and balance hole theory. I had an arsenal of balls for tournaments; one for house shots and one for sport shots. And all that time and money went "poof" when one idiot who doesn't even bowl decided they were no good for the game.

I agree though that FB and youtube have taken the place of forums. Folks don't like to read anymore much less type a whole lot. LOL. SMH

[ignitebowling]

Not to mention more people on social media sites vs here. I believe this had a facebook page but it hasnt had activity since 2011.