[Rhodes22-list] The List Seems to be Fading Away

[THOMAS POLISE]

Sorry to say after 2 knee surgeries and 2 back fusions that my Rhodes is aging better than me.  

> On Mar 10, 2024, at 6:27 PM, Michael Corley <michael.4591 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I agree completely with Tom's comments.  They are on the mark.
> Old sailors, like old soldiers, never die, they just fade away .  .  .
> 
> -Mike
> s/v Ranger 1999
> Hampton Roads, VA
> 
>> On Sun, Mar 10, 2024 at 5:38 PM Tom Hyatt via Rhodes22-list <
>> rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:
>> 
>> The R22 Facebook account sees sporadic use. Kind of like the email list. In
>> February, there were no posts at all. In January there were 4
>> original posts with a number of comments. In December there were 3 posts
>> with follow-up comments. In November 1 post with comments.
>> 
>> As a new Rhodes 22 owner, I can't speak on why there are fewer posts. My
>> observation however is that the R22 community is an aging one. Looking at
>> where the most action is on Youtube, it is not with daysailing or
>> trailer-sailers but with young couples giving up their day-to-day lives to
>> travel around the world on blue-water cruisers. So perhaps there are not as
>> many new sailors drawn to the kind of weekend sailing on small boats that
>> we all do.
>> 
>> The majority of R22 owners that I have met so far tilt more toward the
>> retired crowd or toward people who once were owners and now have either
>> moved to power boats or larger sailing vessels or have given up sailing
>> altogether. Maybe those that have stayed with their R22s, as I think
>> someone indicated already, have solved most of their issues and questions
>> and don't have as much need for the community as they once did.
>> 
>> Not having GB as an active and vital business certainly has dampened the
>> enthusiasm that would be generated toward new owners if Stan and the
>> business were as active as they were 25 years ago.
>> 
>> Just an observation from a new owner.
>> 
>> Tom Hyatt
>> S/V Eliza Jane 1978
>> Baltimore, MD
>> 
>> 
>> On Sun, Mar 10, 2024 at 4:51 PM Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Thank you to those who shared their thoughts on this topic.
>>> 
>>> Clearly it's true that people sell their boats for whatever reason, and
>>> the former owners generally no longer participate in the list.  But if a
>>> boat has been sold, there's now a new owner, and a new potential list
>>> member.  It seems though that fewer new owners are choosing to join our
>>> community.
>>> 
>>> Several people mentioned their age as part of their decision to sell
>> their
>>> boat, which underscores the point that boat buyers will generally be
>>> younger than boat sellers.  This may be a factor in the list's declining
>>> participation numbers.  I've read that kids these days (probably meaning
>>> anyone younger that around 60) don't like to use email much.
>>> 
>>> So, that's really the questing that's been rattling around in my brain
>>> lately: is the size or level of engagement in our community declining due
>>> (at least in part) to the fact that it is based on a technology (email)
>>> whose popularity is also declining?
>>> 
>>> I offer one point of evidence for this proposition: Nabble.  As you may
>>> recall, Nabble was a 3rd party website that provided a web interface to
>> the
>>> Rhodes 22 email list.  There were never any hard numbers about how many
>>> people were using Nabble to participate, rather than using an email
>> client
>>> app, but it was clearly pretty popular.  On the downside, we never had
>> any
>>> control over what Nabble did, and towards the end of June of 2021, it
>> just
>>> went away.  That month had a total of 384 posts.  The most active month
>>> since (October 2021) had 230 posts, and that was something of an outlier.
>>> As I pointed out in the post that started this thread, in 2023 our
>> average
>>> posts per month was 86.
>>> 
>>> Thoughts?
>>> 
>>> On a related point, I don't have a Facebook account.  Can someone comment
>>> on how active the Rhodes 22 Facebook group has been lately?
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> Peter Nyberg
>>> Coventry, CT
>>> s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)
>>> 
>>>> On 2024-03-08, at 17:17:49 EST, Peter Nyberg wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> If you've thought that traffic on the Rhodes 22 email list has been a
>>> little on
>>>> the light side lately, you're not imagining things.  Message volume has
>>> been
>>>> declining for some time.  Below are the figures for average monthly
>>> posts for
>>>> the last few calendar years:
>>>> 
>>>> 2020 - 229 posts/month
>>>> 2021 - 216
>>>> 2022 - 126
>>>> 2023 - 86
>>>> 
>>>> 2024 has not exactly been off to a roaring start with 38 posts in
>>> January and 35
>>>> in February.
>>>> 
>>>> Back in 2008, there were over 1,000 posts/month, but things fell off to
>>> only
>>>> around 400 in 2009 after political posts were discouraged.
>>>> 
>>>> I'm hoping to start a discussion about possible causes and possible
>>> remedies.  I
>>>> have a few thoughts, but I don't want to start by steering the
>>> discussion in any
>>>> particular direction.
>>>> 
>>>> So, what do you think is causing the decline, and what do you think we
>>> might be
>>>> able to do about it?
>>>> 
>>>> Peter Nyberg
>>>> Coventry, CT
>>>> s/v Silverheels (198/2016)
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>