Iām currently struggling to keep up with all thatās going on here as the site is so busy.
Iām approaching my sixth year of learning guitar and my sixth year as a JustinGuitar Forum/Community member.
I take my hat off to those of you who can continually offer support to others but Iām now finding it difficult to be enthusiastic with regard to the same questions and issues being expressed and raised on the forum, whether it be guitar lesson related or Community admin related. I listen to the AVOYPs and in many cases donāt know what to say. I realise this is very selfish as I have benefited from the advice and support from you all.
At the same time I say to myself āwhat do I knowā. Iām a mediocre player. I should be supporting others who are earlier in their journey and appreciative of the others who are far ahead of me.
Reading posts takes so much time but responding with something worthwhile takes even longer. I donāt want to be a āthat was greatā responder but replying takes quite a bit of time. I enjoy reading all the different posts to see what others are up to and what queries they have but already spend too much time on the site.
Please donāt get me wrong. Iām not a sad āinternetā person. I have a happy and fulfilling ārealā life but I do enjoy all the guitary Community stuff too.
I want to remain active on the site but am currently finding it difficult.
Perhaps I should just take a break from it all.
Hi Gordon. I tend to scan most posts quickly, together with the comments. If someoneās already said what I was thinking, I donāt bother duplicating it, a ālikeā indicates I agree with the comment. Similarly with AVOYPs, if Iāve nothing to add to whatās already been said, no comment, but a like on the post shows Iāve listened and like it. But at the end of the day, it isnāt mandatory to read every post, and I do read the ones with the most interesting titles first and then occasionally hit the ādismiss newā button. So I end up reading most posts, distributing likes fairly liberally, but only replying to those where I feel Iāve got something constructive to add to whatās already been said.
You are not alone my friend, so donāt feel overwhelmed. You donāt need to read and respond to every post, leave that to the super @roger_holland
To be totally honest since Iāve been a member one of the comments that I have received from you has been the one that has benefited me the most.
Again. You donāt need to read every post my friend. If I did that I wouldnāt have time to practice guitar even if I was retired.
Be selective read, watch and respond to what captures you attention and where you could give a constructive comment/response that would benefit the OP.
To be honest Iāve missed you. Iāve seen youāve not been as active as you used to be but at the end of the day be as active as life takes you. You donāt have to log on every minute of the day. Just pop on when you have the time, view the posts that interest you, comment where you feel fit and give feedback where your feel your feedback will add value.
Nooooooooā¦ seriously if you feel you need to take a break then do so my friend to recharge your batteries butā¦ and itās a big butā¦ you got to post your one take Wednesday productions on YouTube all public so I can still follow your progress.
Apologies for the big post but youāve been one that Iāve clicked well with on here.
Gordon, I remember @TheMadman_tobyjenner having similar thoughts a while ago. I think the way the community is now is very different than it used to be - I wasnāt on the old one, I only started learning just before this community went live. I think on the old site you could keep up with everything.
Those of us - like me - that were used to giant sites, like reddit/etc, still find the community manageable. I donāt think Iād been part of an internet community like this, where the regulars know each other, since my IRC days back 24 years ago. Somebody posted recently that there are less than 100 regular members.
How can you keep up with everything? You canāt. I just dip in and out in the stuff that interests me.
AVOYPs? I love to watch the regulars, and sometimes watch ānewā regulars - people that actually seem like they might be part of the community. Sometimes I write nothing, sometimes a one liner, sometimes something longerā¦ People that just post and arenāt really contributors, skip their posts.
Questions? If it strikes my fancy, Iāll write something lengthy or well thought out. Sometimes I canāt be bothered or think that the person should be able to figure it out by themselves so I say nothingā¦ or donāt read it.
Intro posts? I avoid these entirely, donāt even read them. Well, only go back to read them if I see the person writing elsewhere and I want to find out about them.
And plenty of stuff I miss. Loads of it. Someone posted an AVOYP recently and I thought it was their first one, I looked at their profile I noticed it was their third over 6+ months - Iād just missed them all!
Itās a bit like a pub I guess. Youāre not going to be part of every conversation.
I to find it a bit of a chore to try and keep up, one solution is to mute some of the Categories youāre not interested in. In AVOYP I just hit the symbol if I like the persons performance and only post if I feel the person has done something out standing. I also ignore posts when the get off topic. Which seems to be getting out of hand lately. Sometimes as early as the first few posts.
Donāt feel bad if you canāt be everything to everyone. After all we are human and have other things to do.
It just isnāt possible for me to keep up with everything, and I donāt feel the least bit guilty about it. Nor should you or anyone else. Keep it fun, interesting and help out as often as you feel inclined. Folks can always ā@ā me if they want to chat about finding their own voice on the instrument, mucking around with tone, affordable gear, and any of my known peeves, or other things that I tend to ramble on about, etc.
Its all good Gordon. Cut yourself some slack mate I reckon.
Youāve been an active and valued member here for some years now. And I, like many others, have always enjoyed both your engagement , and your playing.
As someone who came in a couple of years after yourself, you were one of those members who welcomed and encouraged me, and helped develop that great ethos that makes this community so special.
Life ebbs and flows, things change. Iāve always been grateful for those like yourself in the early days.
I became a bit overwhelmed when our ālittleā community exploded about 18 months ago. Didnt quite feel the same for a while, but Iāve adapted to it now. I utilise the little emoji alot more now. I do tend to welcome newcomers, will always click on a blues, an improv, or a theory post, and engage. And thereās certain people, like yourself, who I always read. As for the rest, well, thatās what everyone else is here for.
I think too that once you get to an intermediate level, one tends to focus more on particular areas, and engage with other sources along with JG and the forum. Again, all good.
Or perhaps all the above is senseless drivel from me, and you just need to buy another guitar Gordon
I donāt even try to read all the threads. If the thread title indicates something meaningful to me, or that I might be able to help with (which isnāt often, given my lack of skill) Iāll take a look. Otherwise not.
Many great valid comments here, but my two cents worth anyway. As an active new member I have gained sooooo much from this community, mostly from those older members (time not age ). I have been given feedback on AVOYPs and helpful advice on not only playing but also the tech that goes along with recording, videoing, editing not to mention the hardware side Itās like having a muso mate around the corner that you talk like minded stuff with all thatās missing is the
There are a key group (you know who you are ), whoās advice and information I value greatly. So, having gained so much I try to offer as much back as I can. Of course early in my journey itās hard when there are so many knowledgeable people here but if nothing else I have a keen ear and am happy to offer support and encouragement where I think its due.
I do plenty of other stuff including plenty of sport but whilst Iām watching tv or a youtube music video I check in on the āNEWā button for recent posts or whilst Iām practicing itās running on another tab on the lappy. If I have time I may delve deeper into a thread that interests me otherwise I only go as far as the NEW threads.
As has been said, no obligation, people do what they can. I think if we lost people from that core group it would be a shame and a loss but we all got do what we gotta do, these community journeys are rarely forever And this group is certainly growing at a great rate.
Yeah. I used to read most posts but, these days, I just dip in, scan the new post titles and only bother with ones that interest me of where I might have an opinion.
Gordon, donāt let this stress you - at least donāt less this stress you too much
I donāt know what it was like on the old forum ā¦ But, I remember, we have discussed about something similar at some point last summer a bit in a different contextā¦ Itās likely that the community will get busier. Surely especially adding the fantastic live clubs will attract more new members and encourage others to engage more (which is a good thing of course).
I can only chime in with what many people have said, donāt feel obliged to read everything, to welcome every new member to the community etc. Itās not possibleā¦ And I think some cherry picking is perfectly okay
Your comments have always been very helpful to me. Remember the Hcsterg-guitar? Still makes me smile, every time Iām trying
to record something. I liked your comment on my last video so much, because you were one of the few suggesting what I could improve.
Please do what feels best for you. If you need a break then take it Iām egoistic as well,however, and I would miss your helpful comments and beautiful one take Wednesday videos.
As another active ānewbieā perhaps Iām part of the problem! When I started I was commenting on every introduction and AVOYP but I quickly stopped as there was too much and now comment where I can add something or where a post or recording strikes a note with me (pun intended!).
I think @CT hit the nail on the head with ākeep it funā ā¦ this isnāt a sport and no one is keeping score.
Gordon, my friend, join the club
I have posted similar sentiments on at least three previous occasions (although I have a heavier habit than you ) Sighā¦
Itās quite liberating to free yourself from guilt feelings of āhaving to respondā to only doing what you feel like. (Beware being sucked back in ) @jkahn comes closest to expressing my current attitude, so I shanāt repeat.
Time spent in the Community and frequency of posting is neither good nor bad. Itās about what you get out of it yourself. The above responses show that you are obviously a liked and treasured member and I enjoy your comments, even if you give me a hard time. @LievenDV is an long-time member, accomplished player, active member with more valuable contributions than most of us in this thread. Take a quick look at his āstatsā. Thatās effective resource management
Iām afraid thatās all the waffle I can afford here. Iāve wasted all the time I was going to use defending the abolition of inheritance in a different threadā¦
See you around, you miserable Scot
Hi Gordon,
Iāve thought about you regularly in recent weeks, because I didnāt see you ā¦ you mentioned the crowds of people and the amount of topics more often, so I already suspected that that was it and not something more serious (health)ā¦ please donāt distance yourself completely and cherry pick what you want and as long as you want that and no one here is going to blame you for thatā¦
I think itās terrible that Iām the only one who didnāt receive that email
I will add, spare a thought for the mods, who do have an obligation to pay a lot more attention to the community.
I used to be a moderator on a fairly major forum for a well-known brand. I reckon a spent at least an hour or two every day just on administration and other duties: cleaning up spam and clearing out dubious accounts, checking the forum rules were being followed, moderating arguments, tidying up and merging threads, etc.
I enjoyed doing it at the time, but I donāt miss it.
As @jkahn said I expressed similar views a while back and still think that way. I often refer to the Community as a large city, compared from the old village forum we came form. That size difference creates a different feel and vibe. And there is no way you can keep up or comment of every post. Sadly we have lost some good folk here who were just overwhelmed but guess thatās progress some might say. Outside of this place I have no involvement with other forums apart from the odd search result now and then, so canāt compare in respect of volume, only attitude.
I also felt unable to offer advice like I used, as I was out of touch with the courses after the rewrite and additional material, so I just said nowt. Having gone back over those early Grades and going through grade 3 now, I feel more qualified to do so but its not mandatory.
These days I skimmed read most posts and only reply when I feel I can add value, or have been tagged or if something has caused some irritation - seems to be more of that these days, especially when folk have clearly not followed a lesson or read the notes with it - but generally bite my tongue. That could be grumpy old man syndrome anyway !
I rarely listen to recordings unless its someone I know or something that interests me, be that a song or the poster. And a lot of time Iāll just hit the like button rather than comment and no longer feel guilty about not contributing.
So donāt feel bad about how you feel, I reckon its pretty common and just the result of being something huge, with an ever increasing desire to make it bigger, it would seem. Growth is no longer organic, folk arrive here by default and often donāt have a clue where they are or why they are here.
At the end of the day do whatās good for you, there is no obligation to do anything more.
After thought from me as wellā¦ @sairfingers Hopefully, it has now been established that there is absolutely no need to feel guilty.
Like @roger_holland I am one of those who reads a lot. Accordingly, I have become quite familiar with the unique culture of the community, which I appreciate a lot.
I think, with new people joining (and Iām still new myself) and not knowing where they are and why they are here, itās important to keep this culture alive. And thatās where key-stakeholders come in. People who know how the old forum worked, who can help to keep the flame alive, so to say.
But itās not about quantity. Itās about quality. I thought about the donation issue a lot recently - and to me, donating your time is equally valuable as donating money.
So instead of receiving tons of hearts etc. I much rather take the occasional useful commentā¦ Andā¦ Ohā¦ @CT as soon as I will have finally really start progressing making songs my own will become a very important topic for meā¦ be warned
symbol if I like the persons performance and only post if I feel the person has done something out standing. I also ignore posts when the get off topic. Which seems to be getting out of hand lately. Sometimes as early as the first few posts.
). I have been given feedback on AVOYPs and helpful advice on not only playing but also the tech that goes along with recording, videoing, editing not to mention the hardware side 
all thatās missing is the 
And this group is certainly growing at a great rate.
) Sighā¦
