Does nobody really use DVXuser anymore?

[paulears]

I much prefer forums - especially when the new topic pops up that relates to things that 20 years ago were new products, and the info is still there - including many of the original creators. Facebook groups which I do use I often fall out with people when they post rubbish, or worse, wrong info that they have been told, taught or gleaned badly from other dodgy sources.

I'm deeply suspicious of advice from sources that just seem 'wrong'. An ID photo of a person in their 20's giving advice on equipment I could never have made a sound business decision to buy, being common. When I see this kind of advice handed out as fact, I'm now a grumpy old man and hate the idea that newcomers get told so much total rubbish on FB and similar. Here, it's always more measured and precise. Video wise, the same old chestnuts pop up. Some young keen guy had been offered a Blackmagic Ursa Broadcast - not the G2, the original. He wanted to make music videos, in theatres. He had access to his dad's old B4 lenses from his broadcast days. As expected, he got the usual don't waste your money, they're dreadful in low light like you have on stage, and those old SD lenses are rubbish. I sighed and looked at the 3 sitting in my studio waiting for me to put them away from the theatre show we live streamed the night before. I popped up and told the young guy that if he was shooting in a proper theatre with real stage lighting, the camera would be really good - I pointed out the evil rate they use storage, but told him that those old B4 lenses would almost certainly do the job, certainly in HD. The advice giver immediately turned. Surely I know this, or that. I put up a still and a link and make your own mind up? We get that far less on here.

What does happen is that clearly people join, probably via Google, to solve a problem, not join a community - so they post, get the answer and bugger off. They don't stay to help others. I guess this is how it now is.

 

[Paul F]

What does happen is that clearly people join, probably via Google, to solve a problem, not join a community - so they post, get the answer and bugger off. They don't stay to help others. I guess this is how it now is.

That is an interesting take on the situation. Not bad. Another aspect I perceive is the opposite of what you said about people posting bad information; people afraid to say anything at all. There is a filmmaker's Discord server here in the San Francisco Bay Area that was started up not long ago. Piles of people have joined with new people joining everyday. But few are willing to participate. When someone asks a question, it's the same 10 people or so that are willing to comment. For example, an actor posted a clip of his self-taped performance of a scene. He wanted to know if it was good enough for a reel. He did a really good job setting up the shot, lighting, background setting and performance. Only I and one other person gave him notes and complementary feedback. We're both primarily production sound guys in the local short film scene. Not one of the 60 directors or 100 fellow actors said anything. I even made a comment to that effect, trying to prompt people to respond. No one responded. It's all very strange to me.

 

[Bassman2003]

Is it me or is discussion no longer a 'thing'. With most apps like Facebook, the serial stream of posts makes discussion on any particular topic difficult. It's a few responses to a question and onto the next thing. Even Discord channels, which do have a way to have separate topics, no one seems to carry on a discussion. Someone asks a question, two people respond and that's the end of it.

Forums are the only format that are organized in a way that discussions can go on at length and being able to call back a thread days, months, or years later.

I don't think it is you, it is just the world we live in. Feeling old now but it just seems like nobody gives a **** about discussing very much anymore. Too busy, limited expertise or just not interested. It has been my experience that we all learn a lot more when we discuss things in a forum type environment. But those same ten people get tired of being the only folks 'towing the line' so to speak. So I continue to lament the slow death of knowledge & wisdom...

I am in an online homebrew group that used to be based around a forum. During the pandemic the leader decided to move to discord and we have seen the participation decline ever since. Discord can be instant and engaging at times but mainly it is too frenetic to follow for meaningful information to be exchanged. The discourse has been whittled down to short answers because some other topic always pops up in the string etc... Kind of sad but if people really cared about it, we would go back to the forum. It is just the modern reality.

 

[Paul F]

This is how the young people spend time with each other. It's a different world. They were waiting outside a restaurant for Sunday breakfast. I saw the same thing with a young couple having breakfast. They sat in silence, each looking at their phones. The Movie Wall-E may be more accurate than I anticipated.