State of the Strut - 2014 Edition
RAJ
tenacious local 7,779 Posts
Fun fact: This site will be 15 in October.
I'm curious about your thoughts about the site as a whole. I'm thinking of making this place just a message board , an archive, and a space for the SS 100 list. Gone will be the ability to add new mixes (which are just people's mix/sound clouds anyway)....
Do people check this place for mixes any more? How about the Classifieds? The city guide is a dud. Most of the site has 2012 everywhere.
Elaborate.
I'm curious about your thoughts about the site as a whole. I'm thinking of making this place just a message board , an archive, and a space for the SS 100 list. Gone will be the ability to add new mixes (which are just people's mix/sound clouds anyway)....
Do people check this place for mixes any more? How about the Classifieds? The city guide is a dud. Most of the site has 2012 everywhere.
Elaborate.
Comments
I also definitely check the Classifieds, but like above, that section is 98% auction links. Maybe a forum for set sales strictly?
two cents Canadian which is like $40 USD
ha.
ha.
soundcloud is blocked at my work - the SS mix section is not...
City Guide
Reviews
Blog/Features
Shop
Keep everything else.
Put some fresh tees in the shop.
Is mixhosting a big expense? Soundcloud links are fine with me. I love the mixes.
Congrats on the 15!!
i still glance at the board most days, altho its usually quick
rarely do i see things in the classifieds that are fun, exciting or well priced
i actually tried to look in the city guide the other day (going to the bay and LA tomorrow!!) but for some reason it was loading far too slow so i figured it was down (might by my connection)
what happened to the old "ish"es ? those were usually great. anyone remember joemojo's color coordinated one?
i still glance at the board most days, altho its usually quick
rarely do i see things in the classifieds that are fun, exciting or well priced
i actually tried to look in the city guide the other day (going to the bay and LA tomorrow!!) but for some reason it was loading far too slow so i figured it was down (might by my connection)
what happened to the old "ish"es ? those were usually great. anyone remember joemojo's color coordinated one?
I've looked at the city guides a few times although some of it is outdated and I tried to edit Amsterdam earlier in the year and couldn't manage so maybe it's already frozen in time..
I was reading the reviews just last week, also I often search soul strut with the title of an album I've been reading about and get lead there. It's a pretty cool resource for newer members.
Classifieds aren't much good to me being in England. I look every now and then and don't see much wants or trades activity going down.
Anyway, this is the only way I've known soulstrut. Wish I'd been here in the glory days but I still check it all the time and prefer it to the other forums.
Love the mixes. Hope you're going to keep them!
I still love Soul Strut and I visited the site daily. Typically, I partake of the 'Strut Central' forum. Also, I check out (and contribute to) the mixes on the regular, as well as looking at the 'Announcements' for potential events in the Tri-State. Occasionally, I have gone to the City Guide when I'm on the road looking for record stores (upon not receiving responses for shout outs here from local 'Strutters). So, in all, I'd say that Soul Strut is pretty much a part of my every day routine. Viva la Soul Strut!!! FYI, the missus and I are in the process of setting up another NJ/NY/PA Soul Strut Spin Party for Saturday, April 26th. I hope you and Mrs. Raj check us out again
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
For the mix section, it depends. I get mix cloud updates on my Facebook page from fellow record collectors, soul strut members & DJ's all of the time. I've never used the city guide & the review section is still helpful at times for me.
topics can be started there and be replied to in the same way. classifieds would hit a bigger audience as well.
city guide is done since there are mobile apps and sites for that.
mixes are cool, but also post them on social networks and soundcloud.
obviously things would link back to the site, but forums are really dead in 2014.
NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I like the forum format, and it works way better than any facebook group for something like this. If the strut migrated to facebook, you would lose the ability to search and/or revive old threads, for example. Plus you'd be on facebook, meaning the group would either have to be private or there would have to be a mod constantly fending off spam bots peddling deals on shoes and sunglasses.
Facebook = the Walmart of the Internet. Seriously, fuck that place.
Trim the fat. Fuck it. The traffic is too low to justify keeping the peripheral shit around.
I can get music and City shopping hints elsewhere, but I cant get the banter of the Forum anywhere else.
Dont vote for it and not supply/sustain/contribute to it.
I will never touch a Facebook.
I loved all the music i got from the record day thread last month. Even the things that didn't resonate with me were fun to listen through. Whenever Frank or Rock share their finds, it adds value to my life. Makes me think that, in addition to mixes, we should be sharing more audio of rare records. I know: the game is to be sold... but record nerds are so strong in the irrational coveting of the vinyls, that there will always be a market for a great reissue. (And freebies can garner broader interest than mere word of mouth etc etc etc). There used to be Real Headz thread, but it was a bit marginalizing to have that out of the way. Is there any danger in becoming a place to share strictly out-of-print material more openly, and maybe even attract people here that way? (And that's an intentionally naive question.)
AGREE. Reminds me that I've BEEN needing to donate. (Thanks, Raj.)
It'd be nice if you could tag someone within a thread to bring their attention to it, similar to Facebook. (Notice I said SIMILAR. Last time I got flamed because people thought I was suggesting a link between SS and FB.)
For example, Tripledouble quickly glances at the board and sees nothing of interest to him, especially uninteresting to him is the thread titled "Kanye's at it again!"...HOWEVER, as it is and has always has been with this place, threads branch off into crazy tangents and say that particular one happens to veer off into a discussion about Stinky Steve. Wouldn't it be cool if I could post "Man, >>Tripledouble has some crazy stories about that guy!" which would in turn trigger something like a flashing envelope on T's end leading him into the discussion??
I don't even know if that's possible on a forum like this, I just think it's a good idea. Unfortunately, it seems I'm the only one... :funnysad:
the point is to have a good amount of people contributing because the strut is slow as shit nowadays. the people are on social networks. go to them.
Brilliant idea.
I'm unsure of its feasibility, but I love it.
I know I sound a like a curmudgeon, BUT it's social media that put these mom and pop web sites out of business. In order to survive we are forced to conform to that soulless piece of shit site that exists entirely for data mining purposes. And its hilarious that people put as much as they do on there...
I'm OK with the demise of the strut. I have evolved nicely away from the site, but it is a big piece of my heritage and it's hard not to salty over these Walmart type social sites.
Anywhoo. I really am leaning towards making Soul Strut 2014 a fan site. An archive of once was. I would still keep this forum up out of respect to those that have stuck around.
Plus i thought FB was for old folks like me.
how would instagram or twitter connect improve forum content?
Don't kill it, Raj!!! There are many die-hards like me who love Soul Strut as is.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak