Well, somebody beat me to it, but just in case Mike does pull the plug, it has been set up.
reddit.com/r/swaylocks
Mike , perhaps we should be asking you , what do you need ?
ha ha. good question…
I need…
- to upgrade the software Swaylock's runs on.
- a good chunk of change to do that, well into the tens of thousands to do it right.
- to figure out new ways to draw in new users.
- to figure out what people want to participate in/get out of swaylock's. This means new features and improvements (that's the original point of this thread)
- to figure out what people are willing to pay to participate in/be a part of swaylock's.
- to generate reasonable ongoing revenue from the site to make all the effort worth it
- to do it in a way other than banner advertising (banner ads look like shit and don't generate enough revenue).
I want…
- to rebrand swaylock's
- to bring back the original spirit of Swaylock's and introduce some new spirit at the same time.
- more time in my life to do everything I want to do...
You left
"• a warm puppy " off the list.
With the preface that I know nothing about the internet ant it’s workings, it seems a discussion forum for us numbskulls won’t generate much revenue.
I’m thinking it would need to become a lifestyle brand. A bit of an etsy marketplace. Craftsmen making surf gear, apparel, boards. U get a percentage of everything sold.
Then add an influencer/ surfers journal section where stories can be told.
A search with categories. Just like PornHub. What’s your kink? Glossing? A dozen glassing videos in a drop down. Shaping? Another series of videos. Materials? Etc.
Paid advertising too. Not just banner click bait. Fiberglass Hawaii gets a link. Resin Research gets a link. Revchem gets a link. Okley glasses gets a link. Just like Google, a few cents per click. These links would be at the top of the search. So if I search for shaping blanks, a U.S Blanks add runs for 10 seconds before each video. That add should list the price and model of the blank in the video. Ant the end of the video, a click to order link.
A “tip of the week” where board makers can write a short essay on whatever hints they want to share. That would have to be managed by the administration. This would not be a discussion area. You might get some pros back that way.
I’ve said it before, so I know I’m nagging; it has to be closely moderated. It has to be full stoke only. No snarky comments about how someone else knows better. No put downs. No over the top bragging. Sways magic days were around pre2010 Kokua was the man. Only stoke, and shared everything. Real Legend pro builders were posting.
I hope these ideas make you millions Mike. I’m going to want my percentage!
Some good comments here.
As a moderator, I have to speak in defense of the moderation here, which I think is top-shelf (even tho I myself haven’t been much involved the past year - after losing my kids to a tragic car accident and my wife of 33 years to covid, surfboard shaping took a backseat during my breakdown / recovery of the past year). The exact amount of moderation is a fine line, and while swaylocks moderators have been very good about limiting the sh!t-slinging fests, I also know that I have personally come under fire many times for not blocking or deleting more, and for the exact opposite, deleting (or moderating) too much. Like Trevor says, damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
I try to be very tolerant in the gray area, and only take any action at all when a line is clearly crossed. And then its usually just moving a thread to errors and bugs, or deleting one specific sentence that is over the line. Both of which are very rare occurrences for me. But I am unapologetic about that, it is what a moderator is IMO supposed to be doing.
I would have no objection to giving the author / originator of a thread some power or input to moderating their own thread. Maybe some kind of icon would identify a thread as moderated by the author of the thread, and people could choose to read or participate knowing in advance what they are getting into. Even tho its easy to say “ignore the trolls”, most trolls know how to push buttons that make them hard to ignore, regardless of how ignorant, inflammatory, or off topic their comments. Its an unfortunate fact of life. I too would like to see more build threads from everysurfer and others, who I know refrain from posting because of the sh!tstorms their threads generate. It does kinda kill the stoke. Greg Griffen specifically told me that is why he quit posting.
I agree that posting pics could be easier. Instagram allows you to upload a pic of any resolution, and it gets posted at a standard (usually lower) resolution. Its a hassle for me to post from my phone, cuz I have to take a screenshot of my pic to get the lower resolution needed.
I also think that a savvy keyboard cowboy could generate some income and some activity with a swaylocks site on Instagram, maybe tik-tok, or even facebook, with a link to the site. Instagram and tik-tok short videos are the rage, and there is a ton of content here to draw from, if you know how. Maybe moderators or other volunteers could be trained and tasked with keeping the accounts active.
I know some blogs and accounts like kookslams and jamieobrien generate income with swag, I don’t know much about it, but it clearly brings money in for them. Towels, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. If you had a monthly competitition for nothing more than bragging rights you’d probably get a lot of free content to pick from. Somebody has to fill and ship the orders, but if they can figure it out I’m sure swaylocks can too.
I also would love to see a “hub” for each member where you can go to see links to their past posts, threads, pics, etc.
Also, I recall a shopping list of changes and upgrades that were supposedly in the works some time back, and I was excited about it. But they never came to fruition, just sayin’.
Like most here, I consider this an entirely different level from most social media platforms, where content is thin and conversations are superficial. I would hate for us to lose this repository of info, like we lost tree-to-sea wood surfboard forum several years back.
These are just a few of my knee jerk reactions to the thread, I hope there is something here of some value. I really value this site.
Huck,
You’re an honest-to-God gem of a person. Thank you for everything you’ve contributed to Sway’s over the years in the way of stoke, good vibes, and creativity. I just wanted to make sure that was said. I’m really sorry for everything you’ve been through.
I wish I had something else to add to the thread, but there have been some really good suggestions made already. I hope the forum can be kept alive, or at the very least preserved for posterity. It’s been a pleasure to have been affiliated with this funny little community for the last twenty-plus years. I haven’t had a lot to contribute, but have tried to be helpful when I could. Thanks to all of you for the wisdom and stoke.
Kind regards,
Andrew
WELL SAID.
I’m a newer garage shaper, old enough to appreciate forums and young enough to enjoy instagram.
I don’t think swaylocks type forums and social media truly replace each other, and I’m always surprised and a little bummed when I meet another newish garage shaper who doesnt go on here. I haven’t yet, but I’ve considered pressuring (ahem, encouraging) them to join and be more active here. Instagram gives a 1-2 second flash of what someone is doing. Nothing in depth. Those posts are almost ad-like. Ideally, I could see shapers posting an instagram photo with a note to go to their Sways posting for more in depth photos and writeup.
A large part of of the value of Swaylocks to me as a new shaper: for every question I have as I learn to build boards, Swaylocks has multiple threads from multiple decades with totally different approaches and thought processes. It’s really valuable. Some approaches get identified for why they are a bad approach, others clearly rise to become the consensus “right way to do it”, and others become options for particular situations where the best materials or space or tools are not available. I try to read every thread about an issue before I move forward, in an attempt to identify both what to do and what not to do, and why, and what gray area options might fit my needs. Swaylock’s, as a mature full recording of these thousands of conversations, is priceless.
To me, for every interest, the main forums for that interest online become the living library for that topic. Modern Vespa, The Samba, Cichlid Forums, Old Jeeps, Ih8mud, all of them, like Swaylock’s, have decades of conversations between rookies and amateurs. Unlike Instagram or facebook, the searchable database aspect of a forum is a huge strength and something that in my mind makes forums somewhat immune to being completely replaced.
A weakness of Swaylock’s, as already mentioned by others, is the clunky, outdated tech. It’s hard to load photos, it’s hard to move around the site on a cellphone compared to a computer, and every page on the site loads slowly. Classified ads seem to zombie along undeleted, years after the item was sold. Whatever. Those are fixable with upgrades. Fundamentally, as a straightforward forum about shaping, I think the bones still work well.
I’ve followed swaylocks since the beginning, didn’t join until 2005 or so, and only started posting and shaping in the last few years. The group present now, although smaller than those busy years in the early 2000’s, is a supportive and positive group.
I wonder with some social media ads and mentions from established shapers who might still be friendly to Swaylock’s what might be possible.
Like others, I’m sure, I’ll admit to daydreaming a few times “how would I bring back Swaylocks?” If I had the site myself 
I’d suspect there might still be some “vintage website” affection for Swaylocks out there. I wonder if possibly a new series of “Hot Seat” Interviews linked to Instagram ads trumpeting their publication on the site combined with a logo and maybe sways merchandise for sale could bring some new traffic.
Also, shapers like Josh Martin and Brock Jones and others are skilled at creating short how-to videos and articles on instagram that would work well on Swaylocks; maybe there would be a way to involve shapers like them who are comfortable in the instagram world and could shine a light back this way.
Sorry for the long comment by a newbie; I do love Swaylocks and get tremendous value from it.
…sorry to burst your dream bubble fellas but reality is reality and that is what is seeing here. An internet space like this cost to maintain and maintain this site for what? for a few retired guys that do not have other Life? Sounds harsh but again; is the reality. I am included in this reality.
As others mention in this thread; the internet World and now the new generations want different things.
Old members actually will not come back; all the stuff that you mention about possible changes to try to bring new members here not work at all; Is not negativity is what I and you can see in Internet and again with new generations that do not care about things that happened “last year” Yes; in a big Country like USA could be a few new guys trying to make something with their hands; like a board; but Swaylocks cost money to keep it into the net and for what? for these few guys?
Yes; all very pretty to keep this site going on but if you do not have the old members; do not have members that now are famous; do not have Industry members that are not coming and opted for Instagram; that the forums are dinosaurs and you know new generations do not even use email because for they as these forums is outdated and no matter what you can make up the chick; still would be not hot enough for the masses no matter if actually is pretty.
Heck; even surfboards shapers do not exist anymore! All fake right now about many things included the mediatic virus.
How many active members are? a few. In several forums of other stuff I see that; only a few members everyday and a few new members that mostly lurk over. Nobody cares and nobody want this anymore; you know thousands and thousands of surfers in USA; Brazil; Aussie land and beyond; many many boards brands (the machine; yes lower case) and only few members here?
I understand that these words sound bad but is a reality. A reality that I see on and on with youngsters that surf like a photocopy and their boards are just that and they do not care about anything board related except that the parents pay for their trips to some International torunament in some other Country and to live in their bubbles thinking that they can be the next big thing. Too much Ego; free Money; time; health and no care for anything except themselves.
I do not see those guys here. Do we need those? I do not think so but who are we need? Well; again; the only ones that can appear would be one of those other few guys that I referred but they are only a few in a 300000 million people Country…
You are the man! Take your bullshit and move on amigo. Lowel
Ok Huck, Gdaddy, Mike and any other moderators following this thread.
Is there hope for the website, and to get the posters you want, back on the site?
Several notable posters, myself included, say we don’t post here anymore, because of the hostility that is allowed.
McDing just wrote to another longstanding and contributing poster, “Take your bullshit and move on amigo”.
Reverb has posted far more excellent content than this troll.
What are you going to do about it? I won’t be contributing in a meaningful way until this is stopped.
Ball is in your court, gentlemen.
I dont know Mcdingo , but 95% of the time he is very helpfull , unfortunatly every now and again he opens his mouth without engaging his brain , I wish he would not do that , I think Sways would be less without him .
I agree that Reverb didn’t say anything that warranted that reaction. Most such disagreements shouldn’t be taken personally.
With that said, Reverb is capable of handling such comments on his own. If he wants a moderator to step in he can report it. Or, if the discussion turns into a running gunbattle then the mods can step in for that reason. Or the other members can chime in and say their piece. Which you just did.
And there you have it Mike. A troll tells another poster that his thought is bullshit and he should leave, and your moderator says it’s okay to have different opinions.
We told you why we don’t post.
Gdaddy-
Kind of weird how you edited your reply to something different after I replied to it.
And a member of the former clique whines…
Gotta love hypocrisy.
Hewie had honor.
.
Still whining.
Why don’t we review past flaming and trolling…
(And then he deletes his comment.)
I can learn something of value from Everysurfer. And I certainly agree with his position, stated above. Let’s keep him on board, eh.
You’re right, I did reconsider and edit while you were writing your other reply.
Here’s the way I see comment moderation: I consider censorship and the jackbooted banhammer to be the option of last resort when everything else has failed. Reverb didn’t report the comment or ask for help, and neither did anyone else until you blamed us for not reacting immediately. So the question at hand is do the mods wait for a complaint or do they go on offense and start stepping on people every time they cross someone’s line? Is it my role to curate the safe space or to function as the last resort when one of these threads goes into self-destruct mode? In lieu of instructions to the contrary I have taken a relatively lower profile in these things, only stepping in when it’s become the running gunbattle. Maybe that’s thw wrong thing to do. If that turns out to be the case then I apologize.
legalize free speech