So I’ve recently begun reading here on HO and went back to the precursor site Chowhound. Can I say how much I miss the old boards and hate tags? I logged back into my old account on CH and tried to click through on what used to be my saved “boards”. Its terrible. Everything is cluttered. The shit that shows up because of the tags in places where its just total chaff. Makes it incredibly difficult to find relevant stuff now. I guess most of you knew that.
I strongly dislike “smart” advertising, which in essence tags are. From my experience, it is most often off base, misinterpreting my experience and my needs. There are sites where you see ads when you are guesting and not signed in. It would be lovely if tags would disappear if you were signed in. But that negates the original business plan of Chow’s acquisition.
We have an all purpose CH bitch thread somewhere.
I haven’t looked at CH for years. No need
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I visit CH daily, as I visit HO daily, contributing to discussions on a couple of forums.
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I actually haven’t been there forever, so I have no idea how much Chowhound has changed. All I remember is that there was a very big change of the website and I left, but how the contents have changed over time, I have no idea. Thanks.
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Same. There is no one site that’s the be-all-end-all for me.
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I used Google to search CH now. I throw in a users name, the board name and a few other search terms.
The search function on CH doesn’t work for me anymore. I bookmark some users and threads I like.
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It’s not just the tags. My Feed is broken and has been since (checks post complaining about this) October 2020. Instead of displaying posts by newest first, it’s just a mish-mash, with some posts simply not showing up at all. CH has showed zero interest in resolving this, preferring to force everyone to use Latest instead, the result being - as you know - that I have to scroll past a lot of posts about Ontario and Boston, AS IF I CARE.
Then again, HO keeps showing me that error message about “excessive load,” which brings me back to my “no one site…” stance.
Hmm… I have to disagree. The search function never worked for me as well as google.
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Hey CK!! How have you been doing? I haven’t seen you since last week on Chowhound!!! (lol)
Nahhhhhhh that place sucks!!! All the kewl kids are here now. Chow is so 20-teens!!!
I still go to Chow to post recipes, but in each one I change an ingredient so it spoils it. (joke)
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Are you telling me that you are not 20s?
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Well hiya sailor’! Don’t you want my name first? Yes, I’m in my 20’s 31 years ago!!
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I still have favorite threads like dungeness crab, preserved lemons, and meatballs that I visit seasonally.
actually ChowHound, HungryOnion and FoodTalkCentral are all pretty much on par now-a-days.
the vast bulk of posts concerns eateries in specific areas - which is fine if you live there. not a lot of interest to people ten states away - unless they’re trip planning…
not a lot of “general cooking” stuff tho, on any of them.
the moderators killed ChowHound and caused the big rift. the staff and policies have been changed and there’s not the same mud slinging going on.
I’m of the opinion the entire world of “on-line forums” is in a terminal decline.
Facebook, Twitter and xxx-tubes have absorbed the keyboard energy - just us old geezers left here.
same with NetCookingTalk - gags and games, not much else.
DiscussCooking trundles on at low to very low activity.
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I tried IG, YouTube, etc but it’s not the same as a forum where you can discuss and learn. They are more focused on super positivity or negativity. Reddit would be most similar to older forums but it has also moved more toward the over-politeness end of the spectrum. And overall I never feel there is much experience or knowledge behind most of the content on these platforms.
We may be a dying breed, yet even today if I had to choose only one place to discuss and learn about food, it would be HO. Knife sharpening, oven repair, bread baking, intense focus on specific cuisines, and even laid back browsing like What’s For Dinner, it’s all here.
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I check instagram and twitter but that’s all about consuming. Its one way. Discussion boards with knowledgeable people is what I crave. I’ve been away from posting for a while. Been too busy with life. But kids are older, job is going really well as my staff does everything to make me look good so I’m trying to get back to finding delicious things to eat. I don’t care as much for the pretty pictures. If there were an app that could break down smells chemically at one end and recreate them at another, that would be amazing. Maybe I got to get back out as places reopen and post about them. Like the old days.
Nice to see that some of the posters from the old days are here. I wonder where some others like bagelman, silverjay and delucacheesemonger are at. Really miss the exchanges we used to have with veggo but that sadly ended before the Great Nebula Burst, the Zactor Migration and the Melosian Shift.
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Out of curiosity, what is the season for meatballs? Around my house it is a four season dish.
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I thought of that as I was posting. My husband’s “birthday month”. Not really season, but quite a project, and not something I do often. I’m going to park my favorite meatball thread here.
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I see your posts on CH, Harters. I don’t post there anymore. But I do read it.
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I log in once a week or so, but dont typically post any more.
Most of the people I interacted with are here, so I find myself logging in for a few select threads (pickles, fourunders great tutelage on roasting meats, and red velvet cake lol) and not digging into it like I used to
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