What happened to the UK members?

[mixman]

I have read many of the old archived posts and noticed there used to be many UK members posting here. I noticed as of late very few are still posting. Coincidence? I happen to think they give a different perspective on vacuums relating to the UK and Europe.

 

[sebo4me]

Yes it's a shame they very rarely post on here anymore

 

[turbo500]

A combination of factors really. I guess the biggest thing is that there's a UK specific Facebook group up and running which gets a lot of posters.

Also bear in mind the UK is very small in comparison to the US, most of the UK collectors now know eachother in person and tend to keep in touch as we would with other friends and meet up fairly regularly.

Another factor is that peoples lives have changed. For example Jack (DysonAnimal, previously VintageHoover) was a regular poster for many years and kept the UK posts up, but since he now works in the industry, he's unfortunately not in a position to post here anymore. A brilliant thing for Jack, but not so great for us lol. Personally, I've been here 10 years now and my life is very different to what it used to be. I just don't have the time to post here as much as I'd like to, but with the Facebook group, it's on my phone so very quick to post to.

And lets not forget, Nar (SeboFan) who was a regular UK poster passed away last year very suddenly and unexpectedly.

I think the combination of all those factors has resulted in a decrease in UK posters.

 

[dyson89]

Im still here.....

Hi.

Turbo500 has hit the nail on the head.
When I first discovered Vacuumland I lived at home and worked part time.
I now have my own house and work upto 7 days a week.
I frequently check the site but rarely post.

The uk Facebook group makes posting really easy, just point and shoot with the camera and the post is made. To post here I have to forward the pics off my phone onto the PC and then upload in spare time.

I enjoy learning about US machines (I have 2 myself I use with a transformer)I hope you guys across the pond enjoy our UK machine as they do differ slightly.

 

[turbo500]

Hey Matt - I'm the same! When I joined here, I was still a student and had way more free time. I now have a house, partner and career to think about. Hobbies often take a sideline and the convenience of Facebook being on my phone makes things easier.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I find the Facebook group a little more personable. There's a person associated with it, not just words on a screen and a username.

Chris

 

[turbo500]

Prime example...Matt just had to message me and ask if it was me who posted on this thread! Lack of identity, I guess. Although maybe some people will like the anonymity, it doesn't really happen with the UK collectors as we all socialise outside of the internet now. Both the joy and the drawback of social media.

 

[sebo4me]

Personally I think this site is dying a slow death

 

[sebo4me]

If you have time to socialise with all the UK collectors you can't be as busy as you make out

 

[turbo500]

You're damn rude Marcus, you know that? No wonder the UK guys don't post so much anymore with comments like that.

The UK meet up's tend to happen a couple of times a year and then smaller, more local meet up's happen at various times. There's no set schedule, just whenever people are free. Not that it's any of your business but between work, family, friends and then collector friends, my time gets pretty full up. I'm also studying part time as well as working full time at the moment, so I haven't had as much time for friends lately as I'd like.

Think about it, what would you rather do? Meet up with people in person or just chat with people over a forum? Even at the meet up's now, the chat is never focused on appliances as the majority of us are friends and involved in eachothers lives, so it's more now like meeting up with friends that just getting together for vac-talk.

As for it dying a death, it still seems as popular as ever, just with less UK/EU postings that there used to be.

 

[sebo4me]

Rude me? I have impeccable manners

There's not as many posts on here as there used to be. But I still enjoy reading the people that still do post.

 

[mixman]

Nar's passing

I did not know about Nar's passing. I missed that in reading the archives. Wondered why he suddenly stopped posting. That explains why he never answered when I took a couple of jabs at Sebo's high prices here in the US.

I am not sure I would say the site is dying, I do however notice a decline in posts and responses even from last year with the most obvious difference being the decline in the U.K. members posting.

 

[sebo4me]

Mars passing came as a big shock to me. I miss his posts on here.
You cud have a good argument with him. Haha

 

[sebo4me]

Nars. Predictive text

 

[mixman]

That's actually what made me notice, when Nar failed to respond to my jabs at Sebo, I then saw that not only he, but a lot of UK members were not posting anymore.

It was actually videos by he and Roger(sensotronic)that convinced me to get a Felix.

 

[sebo4me]

Haha yes I got a Felix after seeing Rogers video. I'm slightly going off Sebo uprights now though.

I do like the new E series cylinder. I will be getting one soon.

 

[jmurray01]

I'm still here! Although I class myself as being in Scotland rather than the UK (but that's a whole other political story we probably shouldn't get into!), I am of that region nonetheless.

I first joined this forum in 2011 when I was 16 years old and didn't have a job, so I had every minute of every day to myself and spent hours browsing and posting here and fully appreciating my collection (albeit then rather small). The "good old days".

Fast forward 6 years and I have a full-time job which is currently pushing me to the limits of my depression and anxiety, insurmountable money problems and other issues I'm not prepared to discuss. Basically, my life is not in a good place.

Sometimes I come back on here and it helps to distract me, but more often than not I can't even look at the vacuums let alone check the forum.

Mostly I just log on to see the "miscellanea" and "household" areas for any personal news from the members whom I converse with, but nothing about vacuums per se.

 

[matt8808]

I'm still kicking about... just LOL

I browse this site most days if I've got time to kill, I just rarely post.

Not a member of the elitist private Facebook group as I no longer use Facebook... So if I find the desire to post anything vac related it will be on here

 

[beko1987]

I rarely post here anymore, it's just too american. Which isn't a dig at anyone per se, but it means that any UK content gets pushed off the first page quite quickly.

I'm only on here today as I was reading turbopowerpaul's turbopower 2 thread (jmurrays actually, but TPP added lots of content), so posted up my latest haul, and am having a click around. But in a few minutes I'll have to stop procrastinating and get back to work, then go home and put children to bed. Then have dinner, do some washing and other boring stuff, then go to bed myself, although I really must get a dyson apart to refurbish and sell!

It's a shame really, as Hooverland was always very active over both sides of the pond. I scraped all the messages and photo's/files from it a few months ago to save incase yahoo binned the group off, keep meaning to pop them in the cloud somewhere, but I doubt people would be interested.

 

[thekirbylover]

Not a member of the elitist private Facebook group

this made my day hahaha. I think UK members dont post as much as quite frankly no one comments or replies on threads. I have to agree this site isn't what it used to be. lets hope it picks up