In the selected boards for which I tracked posts, in the last 39 days, both General Topics and Food Media & News averaged less than 2 posts a day, Cookware averaged less than 3 posts a day, while Home Cooking averaged less than 7 posts a day. NAF had a total of 7 added posts in the last 39 days, while BBQ and Grilling has a net increase of 3 posts. Over 39 days (the time period 9/22 through 10/30, which excludes the first few weeks of the redesign rollout).
These numbers reflect new topics added, not replies. If you scroll through the boards, the traffic would appear to be mostly all replies added to old posts. For new users, old posts probably have relevance but for long time users not so much. Especially when a new user chimes in on a question that was asked years ago. How long will it take for them to realize they killed it?
That LinkedIn profile was there before the redesign, so Georges was talking about goals that were allegedly reached in the year before it. âContent productionâ probably refers to articles written for chow.ind, the magazine component, not chowhound.chow.ind, the discussion forum.
But still, to leave it up at LinkedIn is kind of brazen.
OK, hereâs the new-post traffic for the past month, 10/6 thru 11/2 (T), and the past week (W):
General (+51T/+17W)
Home Cooking (+183T/+61W)
Cookware (+68T/+11W)
Not About Food (+3T/+4W)
Gardening (+2T/+2W)
Wine (+7T/+1W)
Beer, Etc. (+3T/+1W)
Food Media (+62T/+26W)
Site Feedback (+96T/+9W)
Restaurants (+346T/+128W)
My analysis is that with the exceptions of Food Media and Restaurants, Chowhound continues to languish. Home Cooking had a bit of an uptick, but Site Feedback took a nosedive as people give up complaining over what wonât be changed.
I just went to CH to see whatâs new on Site Feedback and was greeted by a quick USER SATISFACTION SURVEY!!! Told them what I thought, though it wasnât really an in-depth thing. Mostly about whether Iâd recommend it and what my biggest issues were. Should be interesting to see what they get (if theyâll say) and how they react.
Itâs a pop up, it isnât anywhere to be found. It popâs up and asks you if you will take a survey. The survey takes place in a separate pop up box from the actual site.
Well I was looking for the survey, mostly on the Site Talk board, but it took me awhile to even figure out how to get to that board, so at some point it just popped up.
I was feeling unwanted, but I got the survey request today when I went on CH. So I told them what I thought⌠very nicely, of course. Then, feeling inspired, I wrote the following on the âBring Back Area Forumsâ thread (figured Iâd share it here for comments/criticism):
I can only speak for myself. I liked the feel of the original site, bad software and all. Over the years, there have been changes & some of these improved the feel of the site for me, while others bothered me or hindered my enjoyment. Nothing so significant so as to push me away. However, this new look and format feel very alien to me & I just donât enjoy using it. To me, it feels like a gigantic Google âkey wordâ search & I donât see how it can possibly create (or sustain) a community of folks who all go to one place to read about othersâ finds in that area. You know, the thing that brought me here and has kept me here over many years. Yes, its true that the new format does not stop me from still posting about a restaurant Iâve been to in Brooklyn (where I live) or elsewhere, but its annoying (to me) that my post isnât being deposited into a âlocation boardâ reserved for similar type posts (& feedback), but cross listed with everything that anyone has deemed worthy of co-existing with it when that tag is clicked⌠things that wouldâve been considered off topic and not seen when I went to the Outer Boroughs board. Itâs even more annoying since I know that many of those who would have previously read my post are no longer here to do so and that I wonât get their valuable feedback. And thatâs a fact, regardless of cause. As I think the kids say today, CH âI just donât feel youâ (well, maybe no one actually says anything like that⌠Iâm old, what do I know about kids today?).
The list of posts that I get when I click on Manhattan begins with this thread, which has little to do with Manhattan (actually it could be tagged with every geographic tag with as much relevance⌠why isnât it?) & the rest of the list when you click on Manhattan is similarly populated with all sorts of posts and responses. Its not a Manhattan board, its not a place where people who feel themselves to be part of the Manhattan community would go to share information. It no longer walks like that duck or quacks like that duck.
Bottom line is that, whether food boards have run their course and this format change was just a convenient exit point for folks like me, or whether the siteâs format is the main cause & can be reversed, or whether it canât be reversed because the old way isnât fiscally sustainable⌠none of this matters to me, as an individual user. Iâm not an investor. If a restaurant changes ownership, chef and menu and the new place keeps the old name but doesnât thrill me like the old place did, I am saddened but move on. Well, one of my favorite places (CH) has been sold, there is a new management approach and theyâve brought on new cooks to serve things that are only marginally like what I used to get. I gotta decide how much I wanna go back. No dramatics, just consumer choice.
Presunto
(--> Back in Athens - Goat's/Sheep's Yoghurt every day ... [Fleeced Taxpayer :@)) :@)) ])
161
Iâve noticed the staff now post articles and stuff, and the staff also give each other âlikesâ. So desperate for content now, arenât they. What a wretched existence!
