Just wondering if admin has thought about opening a closed facebook group? Personally i find myself using this page less just because i use facebook more, there is already a subaru impreza owners club on there and you get some right numptys asking some stupid questions. It could get Lads a lot more members! Just a thought.
We already have a facebook page Adrian, it's a closed group and open to LADS full members only. The reason for this is because we don't want to destroy this forum and what LADs is all about, Facebook is a great thing, but so are forums.
Being an old git I prefer to use the bbs. Yes I have Facebook but find this easier than fiddling with my phone and iPad. Please keep the bbs running, just needs a freshen up. I don't want to have to claim for age discrimination against old farts. Thank you. :wink:
I prefer Face Book simply because your posts don't get binned and not even a personal message to say why :shock:
No offence but nothing gets posted on either really. The forum is a shadow of its former self. It's pretty ghost town like most of the time
This was always going to be the case Jake, we've been talking about this between friends for years, the Subaru marque isn't what it used to be, it's not just our forum, it's many others to. I could mention quite a few I take a look at by name but I won't, I go on them, sometimes a few months have passed and only a few posts have been written, even Scoobynet isn't what it used to be
I'd say scoobynet is one of the bigger ones, but yes the likes of type r owners, 22b etc see very little action too, I think you find it with most specialist marques, The Vw forums I go on are quite busy as is the seat one, but it's a general forum so covers every model of which there are ten or more, with the subaru s really it's only impreza or fozzys.
Car forums across the board have been depleted and replaced by facebook groups. Seems to be the way forward unfortunately.
Dont get me wrong, but have you ever been to http://www.uklegacy.com ? I think its down to users, especially impreza owners, who quite often do not realise there are other subaru models out there.... :roll:
No I haven't as I've never owned nor had interest in them. I wasn't just stating that Subaru did two models btw more that other manufactures make more so a vw forum will get more traffic than a Subaru or single model orientated forum. That was all.
Yes Tom, you got there first :lol: ... I was going to post that uklegacy is surprisingly active :mrgreen:
Not wanting to get dragged in to any particular forum or club debate, I respectfully suggest we step back and would offer a wider view here. The early forums were indeed mainly centred around the Impreza model, particulary bolstered by it's heady rallying days. During and since that time there has been an explosion of Impreza focused club's, Forum's, companies etc targetting regional as well as national members. Indeed, that is exactly how LADS came to be, even though we welcome and continue to draw support from owners of all Subaru marques. However, in the last few years this has been reversed. The dwindling of high profile success in rallying, the unfortunate attempts by Subaru to remodel the marque for a wider range of customers and the painting of any Impreza owner with the boy racer brush, has served only to dramatically dilute what core enthusiasts there are among the remaining clubs and forums. This is not quite so with some of the other models. These have maintained their support through this period, indeed I would suggest they have grown. Legacy, Outback and Forrester sales are strong with good marketing support from Subaru. Having a fewer number of clubs/forums enables membership figures to maintain stable growth and thereby activity. Even the Tribeca has it's own Club and Forum and continues to be developed, sadly it will never make it in the UK unless the diesel hybrid gets here. Having said all that no Club can sit back and wait for new members to knock on the door with their fee in hand. We must ALL continue to develop with the market and provide the environment, knowledge and support that is expected of such clubs. This includes having close connections with the manufacturer, their distribution network and the dealers, as well as the aftermarket equipment suppliers and specialist tuning and performance businesses. So finally, lets hope that the emergence of the new WRX/Impreza and good marketing brings with it a new era of positivity, good sales and an ownership base that bolsters support for the best of the Subaru clubs, of which LADS will be at the forefront.. of course! Just my humble 2p... :lol:
It's a general decline all over the uk The only busy ones are Scoobynet ,although mostly non subaru chat now Nesf in the north east is very busy with lots of members ,they got 60 cars at the NBO Scottish Subaru as it covers all of Scotland TTS and cumbrian scoobs ( who I'm no longer associated with ) I was one of the founder member of both clubs and watch them grow massive for 7/8 years untill 3/4 years ago then they have declined to 2/3 posts per week No new members in significant numbers coming on board now and only the die hard members left who are running out if things to talk about ( like been married 10years + ) Facebook is the future to keep forums fresh as its instant news and easy to snap a photo and load it into FB We have TI face it Subaru will never be big again in the uk ( look at the numbers at this years NBO ) half turned up this year since my retirement from the post ( and dissaocation with CS ) with all clubs down I predict next year 50/70 cars The future is diversification Take http://www.B-SPOC.co.uk which has been going for just over 2 years for example we have massive attendance at every one of the 6 shows we attended this year and 22 at cumbrian classic at Penrith this coming Sunday compared to 3/4 from CS which has been going for 13 years It's simple get a bunch of car owners who like Performace cars together at the moment we have 40 % Subaru and the rest is a great mixture of Nissan ,Honda,seat,ford RS and ST ,Renault ,VW ,Audi,EVO ,and a couple more makes Most are ex Subaru owners and we didn't want them to be cast out onto the wilderness when they left subarus but rather embrace them into the club and all petrol heads together for some great banter about cars and every other matter we talk about That's the future of car clubs and I take a different car to every meeting with out feeling like a odd one out
It's worth considering that forums are helpful for a number of reasons but in the context of a local owners club are one piece of the pie albeit a large piece. The life blood of any club are it's members & how those members respond to the club is vital to the general upkeep & health of it. This is the math in my book: Contributing members = A healthy & vibrant club Non-contributing members = A club in decline From my short experience as a member of LADS there are quite a variety of events to suit all tastes, for example you will rarely catch me camping but I will try to support other events when possible considering other commitments like, work patterns/hours, family ties/events, holidays etc. If members are prepared to show support, get involved, go along to events, make new friends among other things then people may be more inclined to post on the forum. This in turn means it gets busier as more people contribute toward it. A forum is good but you can't beat supporting events & getting to know other members in some way shape or form. Hope this encourages people & maybe to give some thought how all of us can increase our contribution by a few degrees, we may be surprised how much of a change it could make :lol: :lol: :lol:
Good words Tony. Remember, Camping = time to fit a few easy mods too :? :lol: You started on that list yet :?:
Not been as active as I have been in the past few years on the forum although I'm still Fettling with imprezas (on number 5 now, and 11 years on since buying a 1 yr old one) so hope I have some voice in this thread. Sadly in my opinion the marque has suffered a decline in popularity over the last few years, I expect down to the lack of new Subaru's being UK registered due to high emission gradings compounded with the credit crunch and less borrowing availability. In my opinion the American marketed EJ 2.5L engine never did subaru any favours in the UK, leaving only a minority of purists and enthusiasts amongst us rather then a market for the masses. This will obviously have an effect on forum traffic, membership numbers, and the whole point of a forum which should base it's ideals on a network of shared advice and communication for like minded or potential local members. Where we go from here is a tricky one, merging with another forum with greater traffic in my opinion has the following Pro's & Cons. Pro's benefiting from greater sponsorship and national opportunities and advice, Cons detracting from localised club enthusiasts to potentially a national interest. Look what happened to the local Fast Ford "XR" "RS" clubs, which the majority now appear to be nationalised! Unless the Marque produces more UK units the forums can only follow a similar trend which we as a club should either react or detract.
