Survey: CHOWHOUND or not CHOWHOUND?

@christinam, welcome! please feel free to spread the word about HO to your wfd and home cook pals.

  1. I used Chowhound extensively for years but after the remake just quit. They tried to fix something not broken.
  2. Only time I see Chowhound is when running across in Google, or searching for, an old thread.
  3. I favor Home Cooking, but roam a bit.
4 Likes

Yes.

No.

Manhattan.

1 Like

Person of few words, I can respect that. Welcome! If you have any questions try to keep them short and weā€™ll be glad to help you out!

1 Like

I should add, even polite complaints about the site and constructive criticism are deleted. Before I left I posted again on Site Talk saying I was still having trouble and asking for a status update, as it had been over a month since they broke the site. I went back today to see if thereā€™d been any response and my comments were apparently deleted. Basically the equivalent of slapping their hands over their ears, closing their eyes, and saying ā€œlalalalalala.ā€

Itā€™s all good though. I will miss some of the regular posters, but Chowhound has essentially devolved into a bunch of stupid-ass listicles and dumb clickbait articles.

3 Likes

Bring the regular posters here!

What is up with deleting posts? I had mine deleted too, after two years of solid posting, and itā€™s the sole reason I left (well, that, and itā€™s a ghost town now). Why do they think weā€™re going to spend hours posting good content, just so they go into God-mode and delete whatever they want? Talk about ruining your fan-baseā€™s trust!

Honestly, I think theyā€™re trying to limit the number of posters and make it a circle-jerk of CH employees talking to each other (cā€™mon, I speak the truth). That way, thereā€™s no variables, no mavericks, no flame-wars, just a bunch of happy homecooks, making meals fit for the masses. All-Recipes 2.0

They did that 2 years ago.

4 Likes

Iā€™ll probably get no love for this, but I have to say that I still visit CH most days and do participate once in a while. Years ago (pre-revamp) I wasnā€™t involved in most of the areas that people seemed the most devastated to see change. I was mostly interested in California things and wine topics. I was upset with the elimination of regional and local boards but I mostly follow(ed) only a few boards anyway, so I now access them through the ā€œlatestā€ feed and my own profile feed.

The biggest loss for me has been the people that left. Luckily many are here and in FTC. I guess I never found navigation changes all that concerning in CH, probably because my access was specific and limited. Just sayinā€™.

6 Likes

I actually agree with this. I found the 2015 revamp clunky but was able to manage despite it because I pretty much just roll with it. Iā€™m a few decades younger than the average user and reasonably tech savvy, and just kind of figured it out. However, the users that left really left a hole. Thatā€™s why this latest round of site bugs was enough to drive me over the edge - it severely cut into the functionality of the site. I mean, if you canā€™t type a reply in mobile, and you canā€™t post photos most of the time, thereā€™s not much left, is there? I do feel Yelp is taking over from Chowhound as far as user reviews go, although quality varies. It also does on Chowhound.

Hi Christina! I wonā€™t say welcome because Iā€™m newish too, but itā€™s nice to see a familiar face!

2 Likes

Oh Iā€™m so glad you made it here!

1 Like

Ohhhhhh come on!! You can say Welcome! I can say Welcome! Hell we can all say Welcome!! Cā€™mon everyone welcome @ChristinaM (and @Saregama too!!!)

4 Likes

Iā€™ve been lurking for a while (was trying to figure out where everyone went the past couple of yearsā€¦ ta da!)

1 Like

Indeed. If we have to find our own workarounds on a regular basis, itā€™s frustrating even for the tech-savvy. They still havenā€™t figured out why their mobile site regularly seeds a virus page on my phone browser.

I donā€™t think Yelp is really a review replacement, though. I use it for information and pictures, but the reviews are often the equivalent of asking random people what they think (which is what it is, right) - who knows what they think good food is. Sometimes Iā€™ll search for a different restaurant name in the reviews for the one Iā€™m considering - in case thereā€™s a comparative review, thatā€™s more helpful (to me).

I do miss the restaurant discussion from CH, donā€™t think thatā€™s been replicated anywhere. Thatā€™s still a big hole.

1 Like

Wait - what?! I found it odd that site talk never showed up on ā€œlatestā€ - so to figure out whether your comment has been addressed, you have to specially go to site talk, because new comments there are filtered out from ā€œlatestā€ - I guess itā€™s self-serving, why highlight the issues.

Now Iā€™m going back to see if my feedback was deleted too!

1 Like

Iā€™m convinced they have made it hard to find. The whole thing has become a case of the emperors new clothesā€¦most criticism, critique and concern disappears.

They donā€™t care if the participant experience is negatively impacted because they donā€™t see the contributions as significant. Itā€™s a for profit enterprise and they are operating it for biggest return in the "nowā€™ with no concern of investing in the future.

4 Likes

I donā€™t know what region you are from, however Iā€™m in NJ and our board is rich with reviews. For the rather short period of time we have been established here, we have an active archive of reviews which is obviously growing every day. Please feel free to join into your local board and telling what you like and where!!!

1 Like

I concur completely.

Listen CBS owns/owned them, the decision was made that there was ample content in their archives that they didnā€™t want to spend the time, energy or money is cultivating any more user driven content.

They changed the format to more flash than substance and they are willing to let the archive fuel hits to the site via search engine. Thatā€™s the model they have switched to and thatā€™s their discretion to do. You/me/we have to remember, when a site is free WE are the product. While the illusion is we are the ā€œusers or membersā€ the truth is we are the product. (well our content)

4 Likes

You know, I just went to see the resolution for the picture problem that Christina mentioned, and I couldnā€™t find the thread. I had to search for it and filter through. Ditto the thread about replies not loading. Geez. I donā€™t mind the issues if they fix them. But obfuscation is unnecessary.

2 Likes

Nyc / Manhattan. I posted a question about chinatown two weeks ago with no replies, which was disappointing.

1 Like