What to do with the Bar Towel Forums?

[Cass]

So there's something that's been on my mind for a while now. Obviously the emergence of social media has migrated many beer-related discussions off of forums like the Bar Towel, although I am heartened to see some of the loyal folks still chatting here and there. Even myself I visit less often on my own site. But I don't always love using Twitter for beer chatting and it seems like maybe others feel the same way. And what's still going? The trusty Bar Towel forums.

So I'm wondering what we could do to, or if it is worth trying to, spark interest back in the forums again? Do we feel like forums could gain popularity again as an alternative to social media? Should we re-brand into something new? Change up the colour scheme? Change up the forum categories? Something else? Or not bother?

I'd welcome any thoughts from the group!

[GtownRandy]

Hi Cass
I have been here for over 5 years and have got lots of info
In that time

Whenever I have mentioned the site to other beer fans at breweries or bars no one has ever heard of it

I know this is a boomer answer but possibly starting a bar towel Facebook group might be the answer
And include the word “beer” in the group’s name

It would be easy for beer interested people to stumble across it and would take advantage of the network effect of FB

As far as posting, the FB format makes it easy to create a post and reply to them

It could be bootstrapped by announcing it here and referring visitors here to the FB group

[JerCraigs]

Short of full on moving the forum to a different platform - Is there a way to auto-post new threads to Facebook/Twitter to drive traffic here?

I do wonder though if that would do much. People have enough other outlets via social media to talk about beer on platforms they are already using.

[S. St. Jeb]

I'm just one voice, of course, but I don't "do" social media. If you move this to Facebook or Twitter or something, you'll probably lose me.

Since I like the BarTowel as it is, and continue to read and use it regularly, my opinion may not be the important one. It would be interesting to hear from people who used to visit and post here a lot and no longer do.

[shintriad]

Short of full on moving the forum to a different platform - Is there a way to auto-post new threads to Facebook/Twitter to drive traffic here?

I do wonder though if that would do much. People have enough other outlets via social media to talk about beer on platforms they are already using.

Not a bad idea, but if there are a lot of topics, people might ignore the social media updates quickly.

I still enjoy this board, and forums fulfill a need that can't be met by some social media platforms. That said, phpBB is pretty old-school. Is it time to refresh the board with a new platform? Personally, I'm a fan of Discourse.

[Cass]

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

I am certainly not thinking about migrating to a social platform like Facebook - in fact the reason I'm thinking again about the forums is as mentioned, they fill a need that social generally doesn't. People use Facebook but nobody really likes it. There's "Beer Twitter" but again it's not conducive for much more than fleeting conversations & then there's all the bad stuff. Instagram isn't conversational.

I guess what I'm wondering is if folks might come back to the BT forum (or get some new folks in) if we gave things a shot in the arm. I kind of sense that we could get a "what's old is new again" with forums generally. Maybe? People who want the potential of viral glory will stay on social and that's fine.

I like the idea of a new platform like Discourse. I also think I would move the forum to the top of a domain (so no /forum/) and maybe even switch up the name. The Bar Towel itself is pretty old school nowadays!

[seangm]

Like some others here, I'm drawn to Bar Towel specifically because I'm not very active on most social media platforms; I've always preferred this format for conversations and finding information. That said, admittedly it's getting quieter around here. I like the new platform and name change ideas, something to really let people know this is a great resource for the Ontario beer scene (and beyond).

Whatever you end up doing, I'd just like to say thanks for all the effort. I've really enjoyed using these forums and have found lots of valuable information over the years.

[Cass]

Like some others here, I'm drawn to Bar Towel specifically because I'm not very active on most social media platforms; I've always preferred this format for conversations and finding information. That said, admittedly it's getting quieter around here. I like the new platform and name change ideas, something to really let people know this is a great resource for the Ontario beer scene (and beyond).

Whatever you end up doing, I'd just like to say thanks for all the effort. I've really enjoyed using these forums and have found lots of valuable information over the years.

Thanks for the kind words. The forum here truly is an amazing archive of the last 20 years of Ontario beer, save for the recent few when many went to social media. I don't want it to go away, in fact I'd like to see if we can bring back some of its old glory!

[S. St. Jeb]

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

I am certainly not thinking about migrating to a social platform like Facebook - in fact the reason I'm thinking again about the forums is as mentioned, they fill a need that social generally doesn't. People use Facebook but nobody really likes it. There's "Beer Twitter" but again it's not conducive for much more than fleeting conversations & then there's all the bad stuff. Instagram isn't conversational.

I guess what I'm wondering is if folks might come back to the BT forum (or get some new folks in) if we gave things a shot in the arm. I kind of sense that we could get a "what's old is new again" with forums generally. Maybe? People who want the potential of viral glory will stay on social and that's fine.

I like the idea of a new platform like Discourse. I also think I would move the forum to the top of a domain (so no /forum/) and maybe even switch up the name. The Bar Towel itself is pretty old school nowadays!

Good thoughts and ideas here.

[S. St. Jeb]

Like some others here, I'm drawn to Bar Towel specifically because I'm not very active on most social media platforms; I've always preferred this format for conversations and finding information. That said, admittedly it's getting quieter around here. I like the new platform and name change ideas, something to really let people know this is a great resource for the Ontario beer scene (and beyond).

Whatever you end up doing, I'd just like to say thanks for all the effort. I've really enjoyed using these forums and have found lots of valuable information over the years.

Agree.

[portwood]

as a relative newcomer (~6yrs) I'd hate to see this go to the wasteland of hate that is Facebook!

as far as I'm concerned, nothing wrong with the site - other than perhaps low level of activity (which isn't always a bad thing).

I prefer quality over quantity of posts

[dale cannon]

Still drop in here and there after 15 years. Thanks for keeping it up Cass.

Another factor behind the reduced activity is likely that good beer is not as scarce as it used to be. The discussion of, and hunt for good beer (and communal grumbling about the LCBOs lack thereof) comprised a good bulk of the chatter. I suppose that’s a good problem.

[Craig]

Still drop in here and there after 15 years. Thanks for keeping it up Cass.

Another factor behind the reduced activity is likely that good beer is not as scarce as it used to be. The discussion of, and hunt for good beer (and communal grumbling about the LCBOs lack thereof) comprised a good bulk of the chatter. I suppose that’s a good problem.

This is definitely the biggest thing for me. I used to hunt for things, line up for releases. We used to hype up little events like tap takeovers because they would have, gasp, 12 whole taps of one-offs! These days when I run out of beer I just kinda scan a few breweries websites and put in an order. Events are a dime a dozen now, outside of a couple of outliers like Cask Days and Zwanze.

The other thing we used to do a lot of was review individual beers and compare them against others. But there's too many out there to do that now, and everything is a one-off anyway, so what's the point? We're drowning in choice, and that has really kinda eliminated the need that this forum was originally servicing.

I'll echo the sentiments that Facebook sucks. I'm in a few facebook groups and they're fine and all, but it's not a good medium for in-depth discussion. I think the younger generation of beer geeks who are really into online discussion are using Discord groups more than anything. A BT discord would be a fun group and would likely get a lot more discussion going if everyone switched over, but it wouldn't really be BT.

Sadly, I'm not sure there's a good answer to be had here. We're not really getting new signups any more, so we're dying a slow death of attrition. How would people even find the forums these days? It's not like people are out there Googling "Ontario craft beer forum" or anything. I think the BT blog used to drive some new people to the forums, but that's been pretty inactive as well. I'm not really sure what could draw new people here. Maybe a little advertising on OBDI or something?

[cratez]

Echoing much of what has been said already, I still find this forum useful for obtaining information on new beer releases and where to buy them, brewery and venue openings, industry announcements, and the like. BT is the reason I discovered LCBO Watch after Drinkvine ceased to exist, and it has always been a valuable resource for beer-related travel recommendations (which will probably become more relevant as we return to normal). I also enjoy seeing what people are drinking and comparing that to my own preferences.

That said, I do think the forum could benefit from a platform and branding refresh, and I would welcome such changes. For search purposes, you might want to ensure the terms "Beer Forum" are in the new name, or at least in the site description. Onward and upward!

[Cass]

Thanks guys for the thoughts so far. I suppose it is a correct analysis that as beer has become more plentiful and of a higher quality, there's less to congregate about. As mentioned, can't possibly talk about every new beer and every beer event anymore. That being said, there's certainly lots of things in beer to talk about (sales/future of breweries, diversity/inclusion, etc.) but maybe that is less meaningful in a regional forum. Not sure.

Anyway, I am starting to research Discourse as thanks to the Bar Towel community we have some connections there. And I am thinking about some name refresh ideas. Maybe I can do a focus group with some of the loyal folks here before making any firm decisions