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Frunobulax said:

It's "different," and we've unfortunately lost some of our knowledge base, but in general, yes, the quality of hat discussion has deteriorated a bit. I have always viewed WHAYWT as the most "social" of the hat threads - the place where we converse a bit and bust chops occasionally. But the other, specialty, threads, such as say, Adam Alley, should be about hat information.

There has always been light-hearted discussion in the thread, just go back and read the posts.

I think it's cyclical. When I came on board (2014/14?), a new crop of posters had also come on board. This included moon and Bob and a few others. I truly believe some of the older members bailed on us because they didn't like OUR style. More loosey-goosey, more modern references and less pure reverence for the Golden Age.

Some have checked out for other reasons.

But, as we go forward, some of the newer Members will become old hands and develop more historical knowledge to impart. There are some on here now who unfortunately say some incorrect things about hat manufacturing, history, and the like, but some of those guys are going to learn, get better, and be the "experts" in the future. When moon first started on here, his historical knowledge wasn't near what it is now, but he became a go-to guy for many an academic discussion. Hell, I knew less than nothing, but (though I wouldn't call myself an expert, I'm comfortable making statements and answering many questions with some authority. But I learned at the feet of Steve, Alan, Anthony, Daniele, and several others.

However, losing moon, having Alan post less, losing the Hatted Professor - those were big blows to the knowledge base in recent history. That's noticeable to some of us who have been here a bit longer.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

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Hurricane Jack said:

Responding to every single post when the "Like" button would suffice: "I like that ribbon", "I like that color", "that looks good", etc. I would also add posting above your head.

I'm going to be pulling back now.

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nvilletele said:

or is it talking/pontificating about things you don’t really know much about? (Serious question)

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deadlyhandsome said:

Because my hat size makes the acquisition of vintage hats difficult, I’ll never have the vintage hat knowledge base. I’m also not all that interested in the nuances of the old hats. I only really appreciate them as quality items I can still wear. Even if I was a size 6 7/8 I don’t see becoming the oracle with all the answers; I’m just not wired that way. I’m glad that the knowledge isn’t lost and that others know it, but for me it’s often just trivia. Sort of like how I view archeology; I know it’s a real science but for me it’s just curious bits of information.

I think the Lounge should be a big tent forum where the experts with their museum quality hats can rub shoulder with a new-to-hats member with his Akubra. Both can coexist. Surely diversity here is a good thing? Maybe both can get something from the other?

I think I’m understanding the over posting comments. I’ve had to scroll through a couple of pages to find a new post rather than a reply, but it just doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is not seeing the outstanding hats some of the longtime contributors used to post. I leep looking for them, but they’re just not there anymore. That really does make me sad.

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AbbaDatDeHat said:

I respect your views Jack...

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AbbaDatDeHat said:

Understand completely! I regret not feeling comfortable posting alot of my hats cause i just can’t keep up and respond to it all. I get lost in it all quickly and feel like i’m being rude or pretentious. I just like other’s to share my enjoyment cause my dog, she doesn’t care!!
Blah blah, think i’ll start throwing them in the dedicated threads instead of whaywt.
Look forward to your “jumps”.
Be well. Bowen

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Just A Hat Rack said:

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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Just A Hat Rack said:

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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• I feel like since I arrived, the custom maker market has increased its presence in the lounge and in real life. IMHO, it might be worthwhile to delineate the hat forum into vintage and modern. Even if that means splitting time between two sub forums.
• While I do value the immense knowledge base here, the format of a forum is not the best way to archive said knowledge base. What would be awesome (but itself a huge undertaking) would be a hat Wikipedia.
• Reading old posts of my own, I've been guilty at times of talking over my head. So apologies if that's made anybody roll their eyes at me. I'm happy to keep learning new things all the time here.

Just A Hat Rack said:

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

jlee562 said:

I have no hard data for these conclusions, these are just thoughts of an overthinker:

• I feel like since I arrived, the custom maker market has increased its presence in the lounge and in real life. IMHO, it might be worthwhile to delineate the hat forum into vintage and modern. Even if that means splitting time between two sub forums.
• While I do value the immense knowledge base here, the format of a forum is not the best way to archive said knowledge base. What would be awesome (but itself a huge undertaking) would be a hat Wikipedia.
• Reading old posts of my own, I've been guilty at times of talking over my head. So apologies if that's made anybody roll their eyes at me. I'm happy to keep learning new things all the time here.

Click to expand...