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Forum Traffic

Raho

Active member
Veteran
Hi Gypsy and Mods.
Any of us that have been here for a while have noticed that decline in traffic to cannabis forums across the web.
This is not an ICmag specific issue, but a culture shift that is impacting all cannabis forums.


Can you share some historical forum stats? Maybe avg monthly logins: members/guests going back the last 5 years?


This is a trend that is impacting all of us in the community, and I'm sure that many would appreciate a view into what exactly is happening.

Many of us lament this shift. IG can never build and nurture a community like our forum can, and we all should understand how much there is to lose if forums do not remain a vigorous part of the canna-web.



I can understand if the answer is no, but thanks in advance for considering this request.
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
This is an interesting observation. Any speculations on the cause? I know when states started going legal I saw a dramatic drop in local bud being grown and sub-par weed being imported, so maybe many commercial growers are saying fuck it and dropping off the map. You'd think legalization and canna-acceptance would have more people coming out of the woodwork.
 

MJPassion

Observer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I've seen a lot of folks leave because they are now working in the industry and do not want to compromise their jobs with possibly illicit information coming forth.


Stats would be interesting to see.
I know I've been a member of many forums in the past but it's pretty much IC exclusively now.
 

Shmavis

Being-in-the-world
Looking at the one stat provided, it looks as though 2010 was a booming year: Most users ever online was 5,213, 06-23-2010 at 04:57 PM.

Not sure why, but I regularly look to see how many folks are online. Guests always far outnumber members.

This is an interesting observation. Any speculations on the cause? I know when states started going legal I saw a dramatic drop in local bud being grown and sub-par weed being imported, so maybe many commercial growers are saying fuck it and dropping off the map. You'd think legalization and canna-acceptance would have more people coming out of the woodwork.

Prior to 2013 or thereabouts I wouldn't even dare to search anything cannabis related on the world-wide-web. The greater acceptance and legalization/medical is why I came out of the woodwork. So I too am surprised numbers haven't gone up instead of down. You'd think so many new to growing would seek out such resources.
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Prior to 2013 or thereabouts I wouldn't even dare to search anything cannabis related on the world-wide-web. The greater acceptance and legalization/medical is why I came out of the woodwork. So I too am surprised numbers haven't gone up instead of down. You'd think so many new to growing would seek out such resources.

I remember when I was I teen I was too paranoid to even talk about weed over the phone. A few buddies and I would call it "poodle." We were sitting around thinking the government had us wiretapped and all cause of the Patriot Act. One of us jokingly called it that and it stuck.

I've long since then realized Uncle Sam can't stop being caught sending dick pics, failing to balance a budget, closing his own government down over bullshit, and fighting never ending wars abroad... So he really didn't deserve the credit I was giving him. I'm sure the odd DEA agent and cop stops by the forums hoping to catch someone giving away a specific location or identity, but I really don't expect them to be on the same level as the CIA...

It's really great to see people feeling like the times are changin' enough to join the club and come out to talk about what they love.
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
If I had to guess, I would say there are more people registered on pot sites today than 10 or 20 years ago. Just because of fear and a necessity to remain anonymous. I never would have registered on a pot site back then. In fact, any pot site I visited was via anon proxy. Only in the past 5 or 6 years have I actually registered and posted on any pot site.

As for the amount of traffic (guests and registered members) if traffic seems less to someone today than years ago, again, I would guess that there's probably more pot sites today and so the number of people (although actually more than before) are spread out between more sites. And, many of them are way more 'progressive' than the old sites like ICMag. Look at Leafly or some of the new info sites. Very different but full of useful info. And, getting plenty of traffic, I'll bet.

Plus, forums used to be the only avenue for social media. Now, with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, people are visiting these old forums less and less for social relief.


JMO




.
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
That's true, there are way more media outlets than ever before, many way more popular than IC. I wasn't around in the Overgrow days, but people talk about it like it was the best site ever for cannabis. That getting raided by the DEA probably left quite a few people scared shitless over being on the web.
 

Chunkypigs

passing the gas
Veteran
The latest info and best pictures are on IG now, there are also plenty of growers showing and describing their TEK better and quicker than ever happened in this style forum.

It also sucks because it's not easy info to search for and if you are not following along in real time you miss things but once you start following lots of different hashtags as well as accounts I find it pretty acceptable.

It seems like ICmag has turned into a place that gets more political posts than knowledgable growing posts anymore.

I miss the content that west coast commercial growers used to post here most of all.

If you want to be on top of what's new and exciting in Cannabis this is no longer the place to look or listen to first unfortunately.

I just wonder how long the site will be viable to produce enough ad revenue to support the hosting?

Ps, my computer died and only use a tablet or phone now and I can no longer copy and paste the link info from my pictures as it is longer than what appears in the box and I cant access it to copy without a mouse.

I quit producing new content on my threads because I can't post my pictures anymore.

It was already quite time consuming to resize, upload and link pictures with my words here and I think ease of use is probably the biggest reason that ICmag was abandoned.
 

Chunkypigs

passing the gas
Veteran
If Instagram is the pinnacle of weed knowledge on this planet, we're fucked.

The pinnacle of weed knowledge today is probably conferences and panel discussions that happen at events like the Emerald cup.

This weekend in Maine there is the regenerative Cannabis event and I never saw it mentioned here on ICmag.
https://www.regenerativeorganiccannabis.com

It's been traveling around the continent and has one more stop in Michigan in three weeks, you can buy a pass to watch Online at the last one.

YouTube and Google are probable the actual pinnacle if you know how to search...

Here's Kevin Jodrey from the ROC in Canada last month.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkNlCKdhHw

The person who posted the above video has most of that conference uploaded here.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCpqoSJTH2Uve8bl4X3nOvtw/videos
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
Google is just an index of data on the internet, information isn't "on google". And Youtube might have some really great growing info on it, but it also has hundreds of thousands of videos on how not to do it being presented as fact. Which means you have to sort through the chaff to find the wheat. I would much rather go to an information source that is specialized, ie icmag for marijuana, than go to a generic social media platform that only exists to sell advertisements. The funniest shit to me about instagram is the majority of places weed isn't legal, and yet those people are straight up selling weed and weed paraphernalia in the open. And ya'll know instagram is owned by facebook right? They are literally data mining everything you post, every Direct Message, every interaction taken on that platform. You are the product on instagram. You only exist to be shown ads.
 

Chunkypigs

passing the gas
Veteran
Google is just an index of data on the internet, information isn't "on google". And Youtube might have some really great growing info on it, but it also has hundreds of thousands of videos on how not to do it being presented as fact. Which means you have to sort through the chaff to find the wheat. I would much rather go to an information source that is specialized, ie icmag for marijuana, than go to a generic social media platform that only exists to sell advertisements. The funniest shit to me about instagram is the majority of places weed isn't legal, and yet those people are straight up selling weed and weed paraphernalia in the open. And ya'll know instagram is owned by facebook right? They are literally data mining everything you post, every Direct Message, every interaction taken on that platform. You are the product on instagram. You only exist to be shown ads.

OMG, you're woke AF! Google isn't information, truth isn't beauty, why am I here?

#FeelLikeAnumber #WhatIsReality #TheyreComingToTakeMeAway
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
Facebook the one getting grilled by Congress on misusing people's data last time I checked the people who run icmag at least seem to care about user privacy. You do you chunky. :tiphat:
 
F

Frylock

I remember when I was I teen I was too paranoid to even talk about weed over the phone. A few buddies and I would call it "poodle." We were sitting around thinking the government had us wiretapped and all cause of the Patriot Act. One of us jokingly called it that and it stuck.

Nothing like good old fashioned paranoia :redface:

Imagining a huge facility with millions of agents listening to every word spoken on every phone at the same time.... PARTICULARLY listening in for John Smith talking about buying a gram to get blazed with his friend Joe Bloggs :biggrin:
 

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
Yes - due to the big corporate internet companies and their websites allowing much more cannabis content these days - seems like us small time website operators have been loosing traffic gradually over recent years - I can't really compete with them - but am determined to keep ICMAG up and running in this format for as long as is viable -

I wouldn't know how to get hold of historical forum stats - but yeah - its a little quieter round here than it used to be.


Hi Gypsy and Mods.
Any of us that have been here for a while have noticed that decline in traffic to cannabis forums across the web.
This is not an ICmag specific issue, but a culture shift that is impacting all cannabis forums.


Can you share some historical forum stats? Maybe avg monthly logins: members/guests going back the last 5 years?


This is a trend that is impacting all of us in the community, and I'm sure that many would appreciate a view into what exactly is happening.

Many of us lament this shift. IG can never build and nurture a community like our forum can, and we all should understand how much there is to lose if forums do not remain a vigorous part of the canna-web.



I can understand if the answer is no, but thanks in advance for considering this request.
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
If you want historical stats, log onto your host. The company that hosts this web site. They will have an entire menu of tools and add-ons. They will also have 2 or 3 tracking apps that have all your numbers and historical data.

Those logs can get pretty large and can actually take up a lot of your hosting space over time. I generally go into my host and delete the forum logs every few years. If you have an admin watching your site from that side, he is probably doing the same.
 

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