They could hit a dislike button also if they think that someone’s hard work and effort sucks!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

DaveMudgett wrote:

I realize people like different things. But I really dislike like buttons. I respectfully disagree that hittihg a like button is meaningful engagement. But beyond that, simply hitting a quote on a post one likes, then typing Like, then hitting the Submit, does exactly the same thing, and can be done in about the same, or perhaps a few seconds more, time. But perhaps in that process, one can find something meaningful to say about the topic.

I moderate over at the Steel Guitar Forum. My delving into steel guitar 20 years ago and intense engagement over there is what delayed my engagement here - I've been playing surf (and many other styles of) guitar a LOT longer than steel guitar. But what we're experiencing here is similar to what's going on with the Steel Guitar Forum. Facebook has deeply cut into most if not all forums. I guess places like the Gear Page, tdpri, and drumforum.org have stayed pretty busy, but think about how many more general gearheads, guitar players, and drummers there are than steel players or surf guitarists. I imagine that facebook has cut into their activity too, but perhaps it's just not as noticeable.

Anyway - IMO, this forum is excellent as-is. Not a lot of stupid blather, people here are serious about the subject. Surf and related instruumental guitar is a bit of a niche style - always has been and probably always will be - that's fine with me. I've always marched to my own drummer, and I think that is very true about a lot of people here. I do agree that it would be nice if there was more activity. But I think that's mostly up to us, isn't it?

When Facebook came along, one of the first things I noticed was that there were like buttons. I never particularly cared for that, because there is an implied sense of obligation, at least on the part of some people. So if someone posts something on Facebook, failing to click “Like” could be interpreted as disagreement, or disapproval. One of the more frightening aspects of human behavior, from my point of view, is the herd mentality which can rear its head on a moment’s notice. We’ve all seen things like this happen, where a news story emerges which incenses many people, but a day or two later, when the whole story emerges, we find out that things were not so simple.

As I gain experience in life, I have learned that reserving my opinions can be useful. If someone comes on Surf Guitar 101 and posts a song they recorded which I do not like, I don’t have to say anything about it, and don’t want to spoil someone else’s enjoyment, just because of my tastes. Many Social Media platforms encourage immediate response to everything, with like/dislike buttons.

I can see some uses for these buttons. For example, giving a YouTube video a like can help to promote that video. That’s useful, but hardly essential. Liking a post could be seen as a form of response, but that seems a bit less engaging than a reply. Even a “+1” can feel good to tne initial poster.

The weight of the masses can become problematic, quite easily. I truly believe that herd instincts manifest themself in online groups. For example, some years ago, at the Fender Discussion Pages, someone posted about the then new Bad Monkey overdrive pedal. Quite a few thread participants bought one for themselves and shared their positive experiences. A month or so into the life of the thread, someone posted that the Bad Monkey “sucks tone”, and suddenly there was a tsunami of negative posts. The pedal hadn’t changed, but the herd had changed direction.

Flash forward to the present, when Josh Scott of JHS Pedals did a video where he demonstrated that a Bad Monkey could duplicate the sounds of some high dollar pedals, and almost instantly, the price of a Bad Monkey roughly tripled. The herd was back in action.

Immediate communications has given rise to some unusual phenomena. Flash mobs were made possible by mobile phones, for example. Online forums speed communications among forum members, and IMHO, can trigger herd reactions. I don’t have an answer, but I do limit my online participation to a handful of forums and no major Social Media, such as Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, etc.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Brian wrote:

Sorry I didn't mean to come off abrupt. Let me expound upon my answer:

1) I'm not personally a fan of like buttons and am skeptical they increase engagement.
2) This site is running custom software written by me a long time ago and it's essentially in maintenance mode. I could code support for a like button but it's hard to muster the enthusiasm when I don't see a lot of benefit.

Sorry Dave, but I really appreciate the input and glad you are still thinking about this site and how to make it better.

Thank you Brian! We all appreciate you hosting SG101 and all the work that goes into it. I'm sure you are aware, there is nothing else on the web except SG101! If you choose to leave the thread, I don't mind. It's your call.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

DaveMudgett wrote:

... I do agree that it would be nice if there was more activity. But I think that's mostly up to us, isn't it?

Agreed. Two ways to make this site more active: get more members or be more active ourselves. We can't do much about the former, but we can the latter. Lately, I've been trying to think of topics to post about and also being more willing to voice my opinion on an existing thread.

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
Bringing instruments back to life since 2013.