Fishing Forums V Magazines ?

[matt fraser]

Ausfishers,

I read a lot of fishing magazines - usually get two to four a month, but in the last two or three years I definitely spend more hours on fishing forums than reading magazines.

I also believe I learn more on the fishing forums than from the mags, as most magazine articles tent to gloss over the facts, make it all sound great, get you enthusiastic about a particular style of fishing, but then doesn't give you quite enough pieces of the puzzle for you to put it all together.

Although the quality of writing and photographs on forums aren't on par with magazines, there is so much more info available through these forums, so in my opinion, many reports and posts are priceless, yet the posters are giving it away for free.

I've personally learnt heaps here on impoundment barra, Threadies, sand crabbing, whiting and snapper in the bay, fibreglass boat rebuilding, and I really enjoy reading an alloy boat build, and the waffling from Charleville and other contributors.

Unfortunately we see great posters come and go, for various reasons.

Benefits of forums - they are current! the reports are mostly unsolicited! they are interactive! you can generally get replys to questions quickly, although not all information can be taken as gospel.

Down the track, Its going to be interesting to see how Ausfish and other forums evolve.

Will they eventually attract more advertising dollars than the mags?

Will they start charging for the time you spend on them?

Will they ever pay posters for their contributions based on hits etc?

Would this see an increase in the quality of the reports and discussions?

What do you reckon?

Matt

[NAGG]

Iteresting times Matt .... and I couldn't agree more.
there is another side to it as well - social networking! ..... and that is something that you cant get through a magazine.
The web sites will evolve .... i have no doubt about that and like you said , they will be driven by advertising dollars. No doubt this will lead to manufacturers & distributors asking their sponsored anglers to get on line and start spruiking their products Mind you - if it did go that way as a sponsored angler .... you would be put under a microscope and become a target. Have you ever noticed that you see very few (if any) of the high profile anglers and writers participate in net forums - they all have something to protect.
In lots of ways ..... maybe not having professional writers / anglers on line is a good thing - It keeps it real
Plenty is learnt on forums like this and a lot of information is available ....... or you can ask

Chris

[bennykenny]

i personally wouldnt have a problem with them charging people who just read the posts but it would be a little unfair if they were to charge everyone a flat fee, considering that a forum like ausfish is based soley on contributions from its members, but if you started paying people for posts i think you would end up with alot of crap somewhat like the magazines are like now. i think it would be very hard to start charging people, because there is so many places you can go for free, if they started to charge i think they would lose alot of their members.

[nigelr]

Having access to the Ausfish communal knowledge gratis is fantastic.
Reflects the fact that people willingly give their opinions and advice.......and in doing so make this the best site of its' kind in Aus IMHO.
Mags are fun, but some of the reports on here are just as good if not better, and all of them are of some interest or another.
Long may it continue!

[Mike Delisser]

A good thread Matt.
I cann't see why a very popular fishing forum couldn't derive a % of income from advertising but it would have issues, like if fishing product X poured a lot of $ into advertising on the forum and some of regular posters started to slag off X because it was crap. If the "Mods" regularly looked after their advertisers the forum would lose credibility fast. And as you said Matt, one of the things you like most (and me too) is getting an honest opinion from some on the forum. It would be a delicate tightrope to walk for the forum owner.
Cheers

[004dam]

ill keep it mega short, i like fishing forums over mags because the fishing is everyday mr fisher catching a feed or for fun. They have a wealth of knowledge that they are willing to spill and real experience with brands and products not bias ones!

[murf]

I like freedom of speech and this site already controls that in a lot of ways like XXXXXXXX is a great spot to get fishing tackle and XXXXXXX is a great charter operator and XXXXXXXX is good at fixing boats and don't go to him because (get on the bus )

so if any more controls come in they can tell you anything for you to believe

cheers Murf

[PinHead]

I believe that a lot of people buy mags and never get on a forum..other use forums and never buy mags and a lot do both.
I think the status quo will remain and there is room for all types of media on this and many other forms of recreational activities.

[Mike Delisser]

It's also worth remembering that there is no shortage of posters on every forum who do all their fishing from the computer in their home or office.

[murf]

It's also worth remembering that there is no shortage of posters on every forum who do all their fishing from the computer in their home or office.

haha the way this rain is going and the flood waters have risen that much I can fish out of my office window atm

and with mags, which I have not purchased in 10 years since I went on a pension and can not justify the cost as well as forums, you have to look closely at the pictures and read between the lines, there are so many hints that are put out there by the people (thanks guys ) that write articles and post pics, its a matter of research so you can spend less time on the water looking and more time catching (ok that is for me) so many people that post on here put in countless hours and lots of $$$ and are still willing to share with us everyday fisher folk for nothing but to help others

thanks to all that willingly pass on info through experience so we can all share

cheers Murf

[tunaticer]

I do not buy mags and only flick through them at the Dr's clinic whilst waiting. Mags do not have good information as a rule, they have products to sell and the guys writing the columns these days are sponsored by X or Y or both. As a youngster i was addicted to mags, pouring all over the articles of where to fish for what and how etc.....been to lots of those places and fished for all of those fish and lived a lot of experiences and came to the conclusion that the mags are 90% hype and about 30% credible and full of brand this or that. Don't piss in my pocket....cold hard facts.

Forums are a better source of real info from real ppl without as much bullshit.
I do get annoyed reading peoples advertorial reports piled with wank factor this reel that rod this line crap which amounts to a hell of a lot of moneys as a boast....i hit the back button immediately i start to read that crap. Don't piss in my pocket and expect me to read the crap.

I like to read ppls honest opinions oin every product but dont be bragging this or that just honest opinions.

I wonder if any forum can survive charging ppl like mags charge when there will always be the free sites close by........TalkCity tried that and died very soon after TalkCity was massive beyond most ppl's imagination with 200-300 ppl talking live in the sports-fishing and sports-hunting chatrooms 24/7 died in 3 weeks once they started charging access fees.

[TREVELLY]

I subscribe to two monthly QLD fishing news type mags (enjoy reading them on the train) and they are okay but can only say what you should expect to get during the month ahead where here is it current and very useful - I share reports too. Maybe an apple ipad will see them become less important in time.

I have subscribed to boating magazines and did buy a boat contary to mags plainly biased views and will not bother to renew subscriptions to these boating mags. I did find them useful for some fit-out items currently on the market.

This is a good forum that will attract all sorts of people.

The fee is small for the useful info from it.

[matt fraser]

Iteresting times Matt .... and I couldn't agree more.
there is another side to it as well - social networking! ..... and that is something that you cant get through a magazine.
The web sites will evolve .... i have no doubt about that and like you said , they will be driven by advertising dollars. No doubt this will lead to manufacturers & distributors asking their sponsored anglers to get on line and start spruiking their products Mind you - if it did go that way as a sponsored angler .... you would be put under a microscope and become a target. Have you ever noticed that you see very few (if any) of the high profile anglers and writers participate in net forums - they all have something to protect.
In lots of ways ..... maybe not having professional writers / anglers on line is a good thing - It keeps it real
Plenty is learnt on forums like this and a lot of information is available ....... or you can ask

Chris

These sites are definitely evolving into very strong fishing media outlets, and I believe fishing magazines are suffering. As are mainstream newspapers as the internet continues to grow.

You bring out some great points Chris, and i agree with them all.

Very few full time writers contribute to the forums, but I'm sure a lot of them spend many hours reading them. These forums are great levellers, where egos don't last long.

cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

i personally wouldnt have a problem with them charging people who just read the posts but it would be a little unfair if they were to charge everyone a flat fee, considering that a forum like ausfish is based soley on contributions from its members, but if you started paying people for posts i think you would end up with alot of crap somewhat like the magazines are like now. i think it would be very hard to start charging people, because there is so many places you can go for free, if they started to charge i think they would lose alot of their members.

BK, I'm thinking the other way that contributors should be paid, or have a credit system, pay x amount for 100 credits, one credit an hour of usage/browsing. Users can rack up credits based on their contributions, and the value of their contributions based on the thanks they get.

Forums need to be a sharing thing, if you just want to lurk, you pay for it, if you want to participate or share in a positive way, you should be rewarded.

Just an idea,

Matt

[sarg]

I buy a mag if there is something eye catching on the cover ie an article on Jack fishing Otherwise i normally check in with the forums every now and again.

I wouldnt pay to use a forum, but there a re few ways to get the extra coin that most are happy with and see the value in.

One forum i am on is a sponsored forum so they expect value for there money so only they are to be spruked ie. if this site was sponsored by Tackle world and BCF they are the only ones who are allowed to be spoken about in regards to buying product. I could jump on and say that allround angler had the best deals going on shimano reels but those sort of posts are deleted. There is no limit to how many companies can be sponsors. They usually give members a really good deal too.

Another forum has site sponsors and they are not so strict (unless the post/poster is comercial) they just encourage shopping with the site sponsors and as above they usually give the members pretty good deals anyhow.

A couple of other forums ask for donations and have a button somewhere on the home page so you can jump on and make a paypal/bank transfer deposit. Most people have no problem with this and willingly contribute to a forum that helps them. Some offer subscriber only sections like private chat rooms and forum sections.