My son recently purchased an older home. This meant he also took on a new hobby, fix-it up.
After a few basic carpentry projects he seemed to enjoy the feeling of making things himself and started a few more complicated woodworking projects.
As I am downsizing, I started giving him some of my duplicates: routers and bits, layout tools, ... whatever. Then I said the best tool I've used in the last decade or so was my participation on SMC. Suggested he join.
A while later I asked if he had seen any threads that helped him.
He said, "No, usually if I have a question I can find the answer on youtube. I looked at the forum and for every question there are different opinions as to how it should be done. Sometimes it is hard to visualize. On youtube I get different ways, but I can see what they are doing, then I can see for myself which ways are safer or better."
I responded that yes, but more information is always better.
"Maybe, but for the time invested I think youtube is better."
OK....
Just curious, is the self-help forum slowly fading out?
When I joined it seemed like the topics were more varied and replies were more numerous. Sometimes if you didn't check daily your thread of interest was a page or two back. It doesn't seem that way anymore. It is like that in several other forums I am a member of, also.
How are the numbers? I know the membership is rising, but that just means the current members aren't removing themselves from the rolls as they become inactive. How is the traffic doing?