Fred Holder wrote:
For many years, I have read and posted to rec.crafts.woodturning
newsgroup, but in the last year it seems to be dying or people are
being run off by the off topic posts selling some unrelated item or
promoting something not related to woodturning.

I am reading it through Google, so it could be this is the problem. It
was only a year or so ago that my old source went away.

Fred Holder
http://www.morewoodturning.net


I don't think I've contributed here before, but I've been reading for a
year or so.

I think that the main reason that this newsgroup (as well as many
others) is dying is that it is text only. A lot of discussions are made
clearer by referencing photos/drawings and that is easier on the various
forums that exist (I use http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/ and WOW).
UKWorkshop, for example, lets me post messages that have embedded images
rather than having to post a message that says to follow various links.
It can take a while to get used to because you require personal image
hosting but, once set up, it's pretty straightforward.

Another potential problem with newsgroups is that they are un-moderated,
and this can lead to spam problems and discussions that get out of hand.

Duncan

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