Dropzone.com: stick a fork in it, it’s done.

[CDRINF 1]

There was a time when you his was THE place to find out what was going on in the skydiving world. You could find out out everything that was going on: The latest in the boogie scene, immediate info on incidents within minutes of them happening, reports from USPA board meetings in real time. There was a vibe so strong that there were actually Dropzone.com boogies where jumpers who knew each other only online came together and instantly bonded. Plus there were the ongoing shenanigans: the drunk dial list, seeing how quickly you could get banned on any given topic, and the truly bizarre ravings on the DB Cooper threads. It was a unifying force. No longer! Call it the Facebook effect or what have you, but it’s just not what it once was. Time to put it to rest. 

[gowlerk 1,904]

There isn't really anything that's replaced it. Unless that happens it will probably live on.

[billvon 2,392]

1 hour ago, CDRINF said:

There was a time when you his was THE place to find out what was going on in the skydiving world. You could find out out everything that was going on: The latest in the boogie scene, immediate info on incidents within minutes of them happening, reports from USPA board meetings in real time. There was a vibe so strong that there were actually Dropzone.com boogies where jumpers who knew each other only online came together and instantly bonded. Plus there were the ongoing shenanigans: the drunk dial list, seeing how quickly you could get banned on any given topic, and the truly bizarre ravings on the DB Cooper threads. It was a unifying force. No longer! Call it the Facebook effect or what have you, but it’s just not what it once was. Time to put it to rest. 

I remember when people were saying the same thing about DZ.com around 2001.  "DZ.com will never be anything like rec.skydiving!  (freedom, expression, character, immediacy, TooyT etc etc.)  We have lost everything that made the online skydiving community good."

[yoink 321]

I’ve never understood the point of posts like these, on any forum.

Its a free world. Nobody is making you post here so if you don’t like it anymore just move on. Why make a ‘thing’ about it??

 

 

[CDRINF 1]

On 2/17/2019 at 9:58 PM, billvon said:

I remember when people were saying the same thing about DZ.com around 2001.  "DZ.com will never be anything like rec.skydiving!  (freedom, expression, character, immediacy, TooyT etc etc.)  We have lost everything that made the online skydiving community good."

... and that should be the clue. I remember well the old “wreck dot.” It spiraled into oblivion with only a hand full of hangers on making the majority of the posts, most of which were grumblings about the “kids” on dz.com and assorted insults towards each other. The dropoff here has been not quite so dramatic, but the volume of posts is way down, and most of the old “post whores” that made it a true community are gone. It’s sort of sad, because I don’t think anything that ties the whole skydiving community together in real time has taken its place; certainly not to the level where it could generate its own boogie for several years running.

[DJL 232]

14 hours ago, CDRINF said:

... and that should be the clue. I remember well the old “wreck dot.” It spiraled into oblivion with only a hand full of hangers on making the majority of the posts, most of which were grumblings about the “kids” on dz.com and assorted insults towards each other. The dropoff here has been not quite so dramatic, but the volume of posts is way down, and most of the old “post whores” that made it a true community are gone. It’s sort of sad, because I don’t think anything that ties the whole skydiving community together in real time has taken its place; certainly not to the level where it could generate its own boogie for several years running.

Face book and other social media has taken over much of the social aspect that was on DZ.com.  Same with (at least in my world) gear sales.  I think DZ.com is not getting new jumpers into the forums as it's not the one stop shop that it was.  

[fog52 58]

Yea........ I just come for the jokes anymore but even they are dropping off.

[BIGUN 1,051]

3 hours ago, fog52 said:

Yea........ I just come for the jokes anymore but even they are dropping off.

There's eleven years worth of jokes. Go back and read them again. Surely you can't remember them all!!!    

[jacobdouglastx 1]

• I'm relatively new to DZ.com, but since I have joined I regularly use the site and enjoy it.  I'm finding that this site has endless amounts of useful information and even more stuff that's pure entertainment (such as the speaker section with BillVon's endless rants lol).... and yes I know FB has skydiving pages that draw membership away from DZ.com, but the pure amount of data on here is unmatched. (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Edited February 20, 2019 by jacobdouglastx

[SethInMI 145]

6 hours ago, fog52 said:

Yea........ I just come for the jokes anymore but even they are dropping off

ok, you know a few jokes, so post up some of your favorites.

 lurkers who don't post can't complain when there is not enough traffic... 

[skybytch 259]

On 2/17/2019 at 5:17 PM, CDRINF said:

There was a vibe so strong that there were actually Dropzone.com boogies where jumpers who knew each other only online came together and instantly bonded. Plus there were the ongoing shenanigans: the drunk dial list, seeing how quickly you could get banned on any given topic, and the truly bizarre ravings on the DB Cooper threads. It was a unifying force.

I was just thinking about the drunk dial list. And weekend numbers. And pimp fees. And the Pub. And the dz dot com record jumps. And the tents at WFFC.

It was a unifying force. A family even. But like the sport itself,  people move on to other things. A new dz opened (facebook) and people went there instead. Life happened and people went away.

None of that devalues this place, really. There is still soooooo much information here and quite a few people with loads of experience posting. Just fewer people around to read and reply now.

[gowlerk 1,904]

It's not that FB replaces Dizzy. It's just that the world has gone mobile and the format isn't a good fit. People have less need to sit in front of a screen now. When they did, DZ was an easy stop to check out. Now they they just check the email and messages on a handheld device they don't bother. The new format will help a little, but still is not all that compelling on mobile. If DZ is going to remain relevant it probably needs to be accessible via an app. 

[fog52 58]

Yea, I have been bad about not posting.  I'll try to remedy that.

[SethInMI 145]

11 hours ago, fog52 said:

Yea, I have been bad about not posting

thanks for the jokes

[fog52 58]

Hope you got a chuckle.......

[flyhi 24]

I don't think this is a good harbinger for the site. 

 

 

[Meso 38]

On 2/21/2019 at 5:12 PM, gowlerk said:

It's not that FB replaces Dizzy. It's just that the world has gone mobile and the format isn't a good fit. People have less need to sit in front of a screen now. When they did, DZ was an easy stop to check out. Now they they just check the email and messages on a handheld device they don't bother. The new format will help a little, but still is not all that compelling on mobile. If DZ is going to remain relevant it probably needs to be accessible via an app. 

We actually considered going the route of an application. But let's just say the costs that are involved in such an exercise would force us to shove popup ads in your face on nearly every click. The truth is that the site isn't cheap to run, there's a whole lot of server space being used and ad networks have made life quite difficult over recent years.

We've got a lot of ideas, but none of these ideas come cheaply. And we don't want to ruin the user experience with video ads etc. If the majority of people felt like they'd rather deal with annoying ads in exchange for more features, we'd go that route but historically we've seen what even one or two rogue ads can do in terms of user response.

I'm always all ears to suggestions for the site. If anyone feels like they have a good idea that could benefit our users if we implement it and help the community, we'd seriously look into it.

I do have some fairly affordable additions I want to make to the site this year, small things that may make the engagement on the site feel a bit more fulfilling in what users expect in modern site design and social media etc.

[catfishhunter 1]

It’s always been and will always be about the people. There are still some good people here and some a-holes with giant egos and insane political ideologies that creep into their use of the hammers and authority given to them which is the biggest issue as for me coming reguallr6 and reading the same post by the same people . The good ones have died or moved on leaving the ones that like to hear themselves type. And for the record I fall into that category (arrogant a-hole) quite often so I’m not just pointing at Billy Boy what I am getting at is the place needs characters, we need people like Tonto, girlfalldown.shrek etc...RIP... then the ones that stopped coming like Rosa, chilli,winging and mouth to name a few. Anyone can step up and breathe life and excitement back into dizzy.. but as with this whole generation it has to happen in 6 seconds or the milleniual brain looses interest...is Dizzy done? Nope...but it could use a shot of adrenaline or at least a couple monsters