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Thread: Dear Pet Talk people, old and new

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Windham, Vermont, USA
    Posts
    40,828

    Dear Pet Talk people, old and new

    Dear Pet Talk people!

    We are writing to all of you for your thoughts, ideas and input!

    We know a lot of you rarely come to Pet Talk any more, even though I see you over on Facebook, and you participate in the FB community there.

    What could we do to improve Pet Talk so more people would participate here? I worry that most of the forums are very quiet, and while a pet may get "likes" over on Facebook, and on Google+, the people whose pets are being featured cannot see those. They can see posts on Pet Talk, even if they do not join themselves. I often get emails from people saying thanks for the comments, who never join the forum but "lurk" on their pets' day.

    Would it help if we added Facebook integration to the Pet Talk forum so you could log in with your Facebook ID?

    Since we came late to Facebook, it is almost impossible for others to find the Dog, Cat and Pet of the Day pages on Facebook. If you think them being there has any value, please let us know or "like" these pages.

    Also, what could we do to improve Dog, Cat, and Pet of the Day to attract more people to the homepages? We make sure the Pet, Dog and Cat we feature are loved pets already in homes, and the photos and stories are of good quality. We celebrate the love and relationships between people and pets, and know how important folks pets are to them, and want to keep the websites going, and growing!

    We appreciate you "Liking" "Plussing" and sharing the Dog, Cat and Pet of the Day. And we know that dog lovers and cat lovers and pet lovers are a group that is diverse in every other matter, with widely varying musical and cultural tastes, politics, religions, nationalities, ages, genders and everything else.
    But we know our love for our pets can unite us, and make the world a better place for people and the animals too.

    Please let me know how we can improve by writing to me at [email protected] or here on Pet Talk.

    Facebook
    Dog of the Day - https://www.facebook.com/DogoftheDayOfficial
    Cat of the Day - https://www.facebook.com/CatoftheDayOfficial
    Pet of the Day - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pet-o...16055821791272

    Google+
    Dog of the Day - https://plus.google.com/104780259361843036149/
    Cat of the Day - https://plus.google.com/+CatoftheDay
    Pet of the Day - https://plus.google.com/+PetoftheDay

    Twitter
    Dog of the Day - http://twitter.com/dogofthedaycom
    Cat of the Day - http://twitter.com/catoftheday
    Pet of the Day - http://twitter.com/petoftheday

    Pinterest
    Dog of the Day - http://www.pinterest.com/dogofthedaycom/
    Cat of the Day - http://www.pinterest.com/catoftheday/
    Pet of the Day - http://www.pinterest.com/petoftheday/
    I've Been Frosted

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Copenhagen, Denmark - GMT+1
    Posts
    15,952
    Dear Karen and Paul, to be honest, I miss PT as it was in the old days, but of course, some members drift away and new ones join. I do come here every day, though, but don’t always have ideas to post anything. It also has to do with my loss of Fister. However, I do post when I catsit. I do miss quite a few of the oldies. Some died and others left because of certain other members. I sometimes feel like a stranger myself.

    For me, it won’t help whether I can log on from FB or not - in fact, I’m not very happy with FB at all, it’s often quite a nuisance! I think that most people post on FB because it’s easy and you tend to just make short comments, and there may be a group you agree with.

    I like to reply to COTD, I remember how much I enjoyed reading the replies when Fister was COTD, but I don’t always get around to doing so, and I have wondered whether people who has a pet featured actually see the replies.

    Sometimes, my computer acts up and I give up.

    Well, I can’t think of how to improve PT, there are forums for just about any animal subject, plus a few more.

    Btw, someone (Danish) I know just got a dog and I am going to write up a reason for him to join PT and nominate his dog.



    "I don't know which weapons will be used in the third World war, but in the fourth, it will be sticks and stones" --- Albert Einstein.


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Delaware, USA - The First State/Diamond State - home of The Blue Hens
    Posts
    9,321
    That's a tough one, Karen. I personally prefer PT over FB, and it's discouraging coming here every day, only to find that more and more people have gone m.i.a. I always said I would never join FB, and it was my son who pestered the daylights out of me to sign up. He felt it would be a good way for me to keep up with "home" since I was living in NC. I reluctantly agreed, and it was in January when I joined - and also January when I left NC and came back here to DE - so IMO it was really a waste of time. I continue to this day to check in at FB, but I'm very quickly losing interest and patience with it - it is VERY time consuming to check thru all the new posts that land on my page every day - and at least a couple of times each day too - to see if there is anything REALLY worthwhile. A lot of cute pictures posted and also some interesting articles - but for the most part it's just not worth my time. I find it's more of a place for people to boast, bitch and complain, cry the blues, act like total asses, and in general, create a lot of drama. I just don't need drama - I had more than a lifetime's worth in the 3 months in spent in NC.

    I have a few fiends left here on PT, that have not gone to FB, and for that I am very grateful. I'm actually sorry I joined FB, and had I known it wasn't even needed, then I never would have in the first place. What we won't do for our kids.......

    I said all along that FB killed PT. You remember that song, don't you??? - "Video Killed the Radio Star". Just put FB and PT in place of "video" and "radio star". Sad, but true.

    I hope that collectively, we - meaning you and other dedicated PT members - can come up with some ideas for rejuvenation. I would not want to see this community fade away - I love it here.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Wolfy ~ Fuzzbutt #3
    My little dog ~ a heartbeat at my feet

    Sparky the Fuzzbutt - PT's DOTD 8/3/2010
    RIP 2/28/1999~10/9/2012
    Myndi the Fuzzbutt - Mom's DOTD - Everyday
    RIP 1/24/1996~8/9/2013
    Ellie - Mom to the Fuzzbuttz

    To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
    Ecclesiastes 3:1
    The clock of life is wound but once and no man has the power
    To know just when the hands will stop - on what day, or what hour.
    Now is the only time you have, so live it with a will -
    Don't wait until tomorrow - the hands may then be still.
    ~~~~true author unknown~~~~

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Magnolia, TX (just north of Houston)
    Posts
    1,424

    Hoping you get more participation!

    Hi Karen,

    My husband and I visit Cat of the Day most every morning, but you are correct, I haven't participated in Pet Talk for a long time. I used to have a number of friends there, and hope your posting this will bring some of them to the surface as well.

    Part of the reason I don't participate on PT any more is time online...I go through 200 or so animal rescue emails a day - share them nationwide in an effort to get orphaned pets new homes. I do have a facebook page, but it too is mostly for animal rescue, and I really don't post there as much as I'd like to. I wasn't even aware that there were facebook pages for Cat/Dog/Pet of the Day. I've just now visited your Cat of the Day fb page...very nice.

    Integration of the other entities might work. Would it be possible to have a link from the facebook page, etc., to pet talk and maybe a note on the top of the pet talk page for the day about "visit us on facebook" and others giving the link? Going back and forth might draw people who list their cats/dogs/pets to check out the facebook page and others to see comments there. Not sure how you'd do all of that, but I know you and Paul are very online savvy.

    I will try to visit more often and make a comment, although I admit that we only visit Cat of the Day, rarely taking time to visit dog or pet pages.

    I would be happy to post a comment on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/baris.r.page encouraging my friends to visit your pages, but again, I really don't have that large a following - mostly just family and rescue people. I discourage most postings not relating to animals.

    Let me know where this leads...maybe you'll get some good comments from other pet talk people.

    Good luck.

    Bari DuBois

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
    Posts
    20,164
    Dear Karen, I visit Pet Talk every day and just about always say something, at least respond to the Cat of the Day. I'm most active in the Cats area, as those are the animals who have so graciously allowed me to share their lives.

    I haven't joined Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or Pinterest, have not yet heard and cannot imagine any reason why I would ever want to, and do not intend to ever. ..so I don't really have any ideas as to how to lure people from those sites or back from those sites.

    I miss many people who no longer or rarely participate now. (lvpets2002, can you "hear" me?) Aside from those who have passed away or whose life circumstances no longer allow them the opportunity, I have no advice on how to lure the others back.

    I love Pet Talk, the friends I've made and the community I'm part of here, and all the hard work you do and have done to create this site and keep it going, Karen and Paul. I hope it will keep going for a long time yet.

    God bless! and loads of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, ~~~~PURRS~~~~, and from Pat, Poppy, Elmer, Bob, Sparkler, and the Angels
    I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
    Death thought about it.
    CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.

    -- Terry Pratchett (1948—2015), Sourcery

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    9,541
    Karen,

    I spend more time on Facebook than PT mainly due to the fact the forums are no longer as active as they used to be. Facebook is easier to access plus I usually don't have the time to be on here anymore like I used to. I rarely use my laptop and rely heavily on my iPhone. And it's not very easy to sit here on an iPhone and type out a really long post as such. I like that the site has a mobile version now but maybe you could integrate an app or tapatalk or something into the forum? That might bring some people back. I am always on Facebook though and that is the easiest way to reach me. I just don't have time anymore to come on here and post pictures of all the critters like I used to and take all that time uploading photos when no one even really notices.

    I miss PT the way we used to be though and I miss a lot of my old friends. I have been a member going on 9 years now, but it's just not the same. I do check in every once in a while though, just not as often as I should.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    62

    pet talk

    I forgot my user name. Now that you emailed me I will be on more. I love this site.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    At university in Hertfordshire, UK
    Posts
    4,944
    Karen,

    I post a lot less than I used to, but that is mostly due to time. I had a lot more free time to browse threads as a teenager, and now work and student life takes priority. I do pop in now and then, although I find I need a good deal of time to read threads thoroughly and to post an appropriate reply. That is less the case with Facebook, on which I can simply scroll through my newsfeed, see what catches my eye, and a short response or even just a 'like' will suffice. The laziness of the modern era!

    Saying that, I don't think PT should become like Facebook, or necessarily have it integrated into the system. It is, of course, far better to read threads to catch up on how everyone and their pets are doing than a fleeting glance at a status. Occasionally, I will see a post on Facebook and follow it up to PT, so in that way, Facebook acts like a flag for a thread that may be of interest to me! I think the PT pages are doing that very well as it stands.

    The boards are a lot quieter than they used to be, which makes the place less lively. I used to enjoy the mix of characters we had here, even those I had my spats with, funnily enough. However, I think I may have been one of those that drifted away in the first instance, and came back to notice a lot of people were missing, rather than noticing the gradual drifting away of members. I wonder if that may explain why it seems fewer people frequent the boards - most of us are still around, but keep missing each other.

    Zimbabwe 07/13


  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Houston, Tx. U.S.A.
    Posts
    244
    Karen,

    PT is one of the first forums I got on. I visit sometimes twice a day, and totally enjoy the congeniality, intelligence and experiences I see posted by the Users here. It's one of the most "easy going" forums around ! I don't do Facebook or other social sites, and as far as changing something...don't.

    This site is better than most, just like it is.
    Sneakers, Becca, Ichabod & NA'vi

    Dogs know that you love them, whether you own them or not
    If you’re not watching FREE TV, you should be !

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Guatemala
    Posts
    1,563
    Hi dear Karen!
    I felt so guilty when I read your email and the main reason is because PT has been very special to me, unfortunately I haven't posted in a while because of my job, since I was promoted I have more things to do and sometimes I just visit COTD but fail on posting a comment...

    I don't think you have to change anything, maybe it's us, the PT people, who have to get more involved, the way we used to some time ago; maybe we should promote activities on the forum like discussing every day topics related to our fur kids or sharing articles, pictures, etc.

    I can't think of anything else...

    BTW, thank you for your email it made me stop and think.

    Love to you all!
    Astrid
    astrid

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Portland, Orygun, USA
    Posts
    2,565
    No Google+, Twitter or Pintrest for me.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Windham, Vermont, USA
    Posts
    40,828
    Quote Originally Posted by astrid View Post
    Hi dear Karen!
    I felt so guilty when I read your email ....

    BTW, thank you for your email it made me stop and think.

    Love to you all!
    Astrid
    So good to hear from you! We were worried about you, and missed you and Sophie!
    I've Been Frosted

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Chicagoland, IL
    Posts
    2,608
    Talk about a blast from the past!! Wow! It feels like forever since I've been here.

    Thanks so much for the email, Karen! I sent you a friend request on fb.

    But to answer your question, the reason I stopped coming around, besides facebook is that I felt everything was getting very cliquey. When I came back to share pics of my Boxer, Sheila and I received very few responses and saw little interest in what I shared. It was pretty discouraging. I hope I don't offend, but I really felt that way in the cat forum and had stopped posting in there long before I stopped coming to PT.

    I too miss the old days.

    Looking at my signature, it's been a long time since I've been here since 2 of my dogs went to the RB and Hugito is now 8!

    I'm not sure if my response helps as I don't have any suggestions as to how PT could be better (it's already so wonderful). It was so great to hear from you again.




    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "Ladies, we need to stop comparing men to dogs. Dogs are loyal!" Wanda Sykes

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    6,493
    Blog Entries
    2

    Mon

    I am not on FB and don't wanna be. I would sure miss PT and really appreciate it so I will be more active in the future. I have just been busy. Cannot think of much to improve. Think all the bases are pretty much covered and am very satisfied with all of the content. Love this web site a lot.Thank-you.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Windham, Vermont, USA
    Posts
    40,828
    Quote Originally Posted by Lobodeb View Post
    Talk about a blast from the past!! Wow! It feels like forever since I've been here.

    Thanks so much for the email, Karen! I sent you a friend request on fb.

    But to answer your question, the reason I stopped coming around, besides facebook is that I felt everything was getting very cliquey. When I came back to share pics of my Boxer, Sheila and I received very few responses and saw little interest in what I shared. It was pretty discouraging. I hope I don't offend, but I really felt that way in the cat forum and had stopped posting in there long before I stopped coming to PT.

    I too miss the old days.

    Looking at my signature, it's been a long time since I've been here since 2 of my dogs went to the RB and Hugito is now 8!

    I'm not sure if my response helps as I don't have any suggestions as to how PT could be better (it's already so wonderful). It was so great to hear from you again.

    Hard to believe Hugito is 8! We still think of him as the pudgy little baby in your signature image! So glad you posted, do come back, and folks will get to know you again and vice versa! Things have changed - I have a new doggie niece at Lady's Human's house, and Angel keeps us amused!
    I've Been Frosted

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