Question for everyone : Forum Ideas

GingerScraps

GingerScraps

Administrator
Staff member
Hi all!
I just wanted to get your feedback real quick.

I don't know about you, but I'm really getting tired of Facebook! All I see are ads and maybe posts from like five people I actually know. I remember back a long time ago, before social media was even a thing, when the GS forum was always busy with so much chatter. I would love to bring that back!

What do YOU think we could do to have more fun chatter here?

We just started the book club back up, and that’s going really well!
I know we have the Daily Chatters thread, which is great!
And of course, the challenges are still the most consistently active area.

I love entertainment (did you see my recent thread about Wicked? LOL). I was thinking of starting an entertainment section where we can talk about movies and shows.
Does that sound fun? Maybe we could pick a movie or show to all watch weekly or monthly? I love Survivor and lots of other reality shows, so I could totally start something for that kind of chatter.

I would also love to see all the other crafts you all do! Maybe an area to share that? Right now (other than scrapping of course) I’ve been coloring and doing the diamond drill stuff. But I’d love to see what you all are creating too! Maybe a “Let’s Get Crafty” area where we can share projects, creative spaces, and more.

Do you all think it’s a good investment to get a chat room? There are a few options with this new forum, but I don’t really like any of the free ones. Is it worth it to get one? Do you think we’d actually use it? Do you all like the old-school chat and scrap or speed scraps in the chat room format?

Give me your feedback and ideas! :)
 
@GingerScraps dear, I think it's a brilliant idea! I really love it
Regarding facebook, the same thing happens to me with facebook. In fact, I don't see anything from people I actually know, but I watch tons of blog posts and reels from people I've never even seen in my life and have no interest in following. And if I go to a group and want to share something, especially about scrapbooking, it sends it to some "moderator" who, after talking to the group administrators, doesn't notify them, and when they try to check if it's pending something, they find a broken link. And don't even get me started on fb messenger. I'm one of those people whose messages all appear blank. I'm not kidding. I write a message, send it, and it disappears right before my eyes. I never know if anyone will receive it or not. And I, on the other hand, receive incomplete messages or simply don't receive them at all. It shows that I have a message at the top on notifications, but when, I try to open it, it's all blank. I've practically stopped using Facebook, because when I went to fan groups, I couldn't "like" all the posts I wanted, because it showed that my activity was "suspicious". So if I can't see anything from my acquaintances, I can't interact, or send messages, fb isn't working for me, and it has really become obsolete.
I love the idea of forming discussion groups on the forum! I'm currently watching a Hallmark series called "When Calls the Heart," which, although based on the book by Janette Oke, is quite different. I'd love to hear what other series or movie suggestions all you have. I actually watch about four different movies a week, usually while baking or scrapbooking, although I've recently started reading while baking. As for crafts, I'm a crocheter and a sewing apprentice, but more crocheter, so I'd love a craft group.
I'm gonna keep an eye to this post, and I hope we will be able to create especific groups where we can chat about movies, tv-shows, crafts, and maybe watch a movie together or a tv-series, how super fun!
 
While I agree with your assessment of farcebook, I really don't use it as much to keep up with my friends as to keep up in general. The ads just don't bother me that much. I click the "x" and close them. I tend to be an optimistic person and, being raised by a business salesman, I understand the necessity of ads, 🤷‍♂️ whether I like them or not.
That being said, I just don't have time for yet another "social media" venue.
I adore GS, but I use GS for it's intent. I come here to post layouts (which have become NON-existent lately), chat in several groups, and participate in some of the contests and challenges. That's it! I still work full-time and that's all I can give. Even when I retire NEXT YEAR (WOOHOO!!!) I don't think that's going to change. I just don't feel the need to add another social media venue to my list. I don't do Instagram, I don't do Snapchat, I don't delve into Pinterest unless I know I have hours to dive down the rabbit hole. I certainly don't do Tik Tok.
Sorry, that's my two (or eight) cents.
Love ya!
 
From personal experience I would not spend money on a chat room especially if it costs a lot.
Choosing times for chats is difficult to please the majority as we all live in different places in the world.
Personally, I found chat rooms a little frustrating as you have to type fast to keep up with the chatting and by the time you type something the conversation has changed. Also with typing fast you make spelling mistakes that can cause what you wanted to share sound very different.

I like the idea of forum sections for sharing our different interests/crafts. The Book Club is proving to be a good thing happening.
But with sharing threads I personally find what we already have with our chatting and waffling too daunting with it going for the whole year. I would prefer things like that to last only for two or three months at a time so someone coming along finds it easier to go back through past posts to catch up on things.
 
I enjoyed the chats and scraps we used to do over a decade ago. There were some that were hosted through a regular thread post like the other challenges and then there were some in a designated chat space. Connie hosted a weekly or bi-weekly one at one point. That was where I got to know her and her Creative Team years before I joined her Creative Team myself. Speed scraps, slow scraps - both were fun!

I love the special events that are hosted here at Ginger Scraps. I know there is a lot of work that goes into them behind the scenes though.

I go through seasons where I can spend a little more time in the forum and then seasons where life gets overwhelming and I all but disappear. I think that's happened to a lot of us. Ginger, you've always provided a fantastic home base for many of us long-time scrappers and I greatly appreciate all the care that you put into this space for us!

How about a spotlight interview with a random scrapping member each week? Throw the names into a random name picker and make a list of 5-10. Reach out to them and see if they would be willing to answer some general "get to know you questions" and spotlight a few of their layouts from their gallery. Sometimes really awesome layouts get overlooked because they move down the preview of new layouts pretty quick. I would love to get to know more of the members and make them feel loved by swinging through their gallery and leaving a few comments.

During special events, I enjoy the scavenger hunts that have happened. Maybe a scavenger hunt each month alternating between member galleries and designers stores? Or if monthly is too much, do something quarterly?
 
I've never been much of a forum chatter and I don't do any social media. The internet doesn't feel a very safe place to me anymore. I avoid posting personal things and tend to only post non-people layouts (when I actually do any).

Like @FormbyGirl I miss the fun we used to have in the chat room at our old site. That was a long time ago now and I'm not sure you'd get the same participation. It was always tricky with time zones but we had many regular chats and events with designers from both sides of the world so there was usually something you could get to. I even recall a few 24 hour chat events! However, I doubt that it would be worth spending money on.
 
As I ponder this question.....I personally would not use a chat room. I feel spread thin with time the way it is, and especially limit myself to what I say online. Ginger, you do a wonderful job of keeping scam off the site, but forums are still open for anyone to see.
I really do miss the speed scraps/slow scraps. Those were something that I felt helped me with design and how to get started. If once a week/twice a month there were directions listed 1.2.3.4..... for a page and you then designed your page according to the directions. Individually everyone could decide if they wanted to set a timer for doing it in a certain amount of time, or take all day. The recipe challenge is somewhat close to that. I'm thinking more along the line that Dandelion Dust Designs used to do on GS.
 
I used to be a huge forum chatter and miss those days! I don't like Facebook either. It just feels a lot less personal these days, and my feed isn't full of people I talk to, its full of random things. I use Facebook because I'm in several happy mail groups, but that is pretty much all I do there anymore. I've been MIA both from forums and from scrapping due to really stressful life stuff. I've been wanting to jump back in and just visited the site today for the first time in a long time. I think all of the sections you suggested sound amazing! I love talking about lots of things not having to do with scrapbooking - crafts, happy mail, cooking and recipes, TV, movies, books, etc. I used to kind of get bummed when logging into a forum (not just here) and finding that there were hardly any new recent posts to comment on. I love challenges, but its also fun to jump into conversation, so I think additional sections would be helpful! I also did like speed scraps back in the day, but I don't know if that would be worth it as far as money goes.
 
I'm not a fan of a chat room. I'm not a native English speaker, I can manage but I've got to think too much about what I write and how. You can find me at the Gingerscrap site in the morning (for me) when you are all asleep. And although I'm retired for five years now I do not spent a lot of time on forums. I do a lot of voluntairing that takes a lot of my time.
 
kelley said:
I used to be a huge forum chatter and miss those days! I don't like Facebook either. It just feels a lot less personal these days, and my feed isn't full of people I talk to, its full of random things. I use Facebook because I'm in several happy mail groups, but that is pretty much all I do there anymore. I've been MIA both from forums and from scrapping due to really stressful life stuff. I've been wanting to jump back in and just visited the site today for the first time in a long time. I think all of the sections you suggested sound amazing! I love talking about lots of things not having to do with scrapbooking - crafts, happy mail, cooking and recipes, TV, movies, books, etc. I used to kind of get bummed when logging into a forum (not just here) and finding that there were hardly any new recent posts to comment on. I love challenges, but its also fun to jump into conversation, so I think additional sections would be helpful! I also did like speed scraps back in the day, but I don't know if that would be worth it as far as money goes.
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Kelley dear! so glad seeing you back ❤️
I too miss speed scraps.
 
Thank you all so much for your feedback!! I really appreciate it! I'm going to leave this suggestion thread open so if you think of other ideas feel free to come back and post them!

I will be thinking on all of this and figuring the best way to organize the new sub-forums. I'm excited to have some more chatter here again. Thank you again everyone! <3
 
Hi everyone. I'm new here so maybe my two cents worth doesn't count. But I'm loving it here. I used to run a forum and I miss it so much talking to all my online scrapbook friends. It was my stress-free environment. I'm not really into chat rooms. But I like checking out all of your threads and reading them and commenting if I have anything to contribute.

The movie and series idea sound very interesting because I have only a few people at work that I talk media with. But to be honest they mostly want to tell me what to watch which I appreciate too. LOL People are funny that way.

I also like the idea of a crafts thread. I have so many like photography, painting, drawing, making t-shirts, cross stich, etc. But I don't have time to do most of them. I do work a full-time job in a bakery over-night 11pm-7am. And I'm always so tired when I get off. But I make time to scrap in any way I can.

As far as facebook goes it's facebook. LOL I keep up with who I want to like family and friends and online friends. If I don't see their posts, I go find them and then read their posts. Ads don't bother me at all because I'm used to them everywhere. On facebook I just skip past them. I do have my own groups I use for my scrapbooking needs. I post my layouts and stuff that I make. I think it's useful enough.

So just wanted to say I'm enjoying it here. And I can't wait to see what all you guys do. Now I need to go make another layout. haha

Also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
 
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