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UER Forum > UE Main > UER new FMs and general website traffic (Viewed 6540 times)
AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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UER new FMs and general website traffic
< on 1/15/2020 11:14 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
So maybe this is a question for the mods or anyone in the loop as far as website traffic statistics, but I was wondering if anyone knew how many new accounts get made on the site these days and how many Full Member upgrades actually go through? Just curious if this place is still getting new blood or if it's as abandoned as the locations on the DB with a few squatters that just wont leave still remaining.

Was thinking about going through the DB for my area and really going to town putting actually decent standing locations in my area up. When I first joined this site and got FM it was my ultimate goal to give back to the community that made such a huge impact in my life. Now years later and having only been very semi active in the past years on this forum, I return and I wonder if anyone would even appreciate (let alone mods approve locations?) any work I put in.

On one hand there is the "DB locations get burned" sentiment, but on the other hand I doubt any rascally insta kids even have the attention span (or anyone for that matter these days) to commit to gaining full member access for the purpose of posting the next fire emoji shot.

Maybe this post is just a message in a bottle, but I truly love this site and community and directly owe the person I am today as a result of my interactions with members met from this website.

Would love to see more new members here. Even if it means reading *more* angry grouch comments towards new members by the double digit star members lol

On another note I saw the site online counter jump to 800 today? are those just google crawlers? only saw like 5 registered usernames at that time in the list.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
Aran 


Location: Kansas City
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 1839 likes


Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 1 on 1/15/2020 11:53 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
There's actually a statistics page where you can see various stats on UER membership and use over the course of the entire site's history. As you can see, the number of posts made each month has dropped by nearly 90% since the site's height in 2009. Likewise, the number of photos posted has dropped 85%, database locations created has dropped by 95%, and accounts registered has dropped by 82%.

Furthermore, 77% of the roughly 900 accounts that are active any given month are lurkers, so that's maybe 207 people posting each month. That's not a lot, especially as from my personal observations many of them are rookies who don't stick around.

I try to keep participating in this community in the hopes that activity will get people to stay- encouraging people for their exploration photosets, being generally active in the forums, etc. I do contribute to the database, and try to keep it up to date in my local area. I also add some new locations, though I don't add everything I find for a variety of reasons.

It's the indisputable truth that UER has declined in recent years. That doesn't mean it's dead though. Instagram and Facebook may have drawn a lot of traffic away since this style of forum has fallen out of favor, but I still try to give back the community and truly believe that UER is a valuable online gathering space and social hub for our subculture. I don't want to see this site go the way of the Brew City Grime Punks, the Milwaukee urbex forum that's been dead for years like so many others.

Sometimes it feels like I'm one of the last holdouts refusing to let go of the past, but hey- isn't that what this hobby's all about?



[last edit 1/15/2020 11:57 PM by Aran - edited 3 times]

"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.

blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
Total Likes: 3996 likes


UER newbie

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 2 on 1/16/2020 12:42 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
http://www.uer.ca/...s.asp?rank=XXXXXXX


Someone's bumping the site count, goes on in the mornings.
Multiple hits 1-2 second apart with 1 page views.

Quality not quantity otherwise FM status is meaningless.
Basic members who have no explorer pics, never met up with anyone here and have less than 10 posts shouldn't get FMs.
This is far below the listed requirements generally eccepted yet it's the biggest factor for FM strikes at least for myself.

I know of at least one basic member who's been on here 7 years but never posted. They view sometimes 200 pages in a day.
Due to health reasons they don't explore but enjoy watching others.
Be nice if they had full access but the rules are in place for good reasons.
Otherwise I would have put them up for FM years ago; they are a nice person that has a sincere fascination with UE.

Basic members shouldn't worry about getting their FMs.
If you contribute, post exploring pics, don't beg & bitch, don't hang with vandals... someone will notice you and you up for FM.
Read more than you post; learn from others mistakes and don't repeat them with dumb ass threads and posts.
The mods jump in members who are not up for FM on a regular basis.
Many FMs will put members up if they think it's appropriate.

If you're a FM you should help trying to find good prospects and put them up for FM when you notice them.
That also means trying to vet them by reading all their posts and PMing with them. It is time consuming.
Put ones that look promising on your favorite list and watch them for a few weeks or months.
Do they login a lot or not?
How many pages do they view per session?
These are indicators of their interest in the site.


Basic Members who are vandals, thieves and scrappers degrade the site even without FMs. If there's any doubt they should never get their FM.




Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 3 on 1/16/2020 12:52 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Wow thanks Aran, That's exactly the kind of information (albeit sad) that I was looking for.

Posted by Aran
Sometimes it feels like I'm one of the last holdouts refusing to let go of the past, but hey- isn't that what this hobby's all about?


And that pretty much sums my feelings up as well. I don't always know exactly what keeps bringing me back to login to this website. It doesn't exactly help me in any tangible way anymore, as all of my connections from here no longer are active here and I can just pop them a message on instagram if I want to meet up or share something.

Yet I have a real desire to share and give others a similar sense of wonder at the truly special nature of this subculture which feels starkly different in terms of morals and values to that of the instagram/facebook exploring crowd.

What are your thoughts on advertising UER through other venues more prominently in an attempt to bring more new life into the forums?

On the drive home from work just now I was thinking about hosting a sort of old school Urbex open meetup through instagram in order to attract some of the younger street and urbex photographer crowd, and have a sort of workshop where the core values and culture side of the art kind of represented and instilled, and directly encouraging users to visit the website through some sort of incentive.

Obviously you can't force a subculture ideal, but it may be a primer that many would take to. And there's still the FM vetting process to pluck out the weeds.

I have a fair amount of pull in my local instagram exploring and rooftopping community, I think if I with the help of other explorers from this website advertised such events we could get quite a turn out.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
Aran 


Location: Kansas City
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 1839 likes


Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 4 on 1/16/2020 1:34 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by blackhawk

Quality not quantity otherwise FM status is meaningless.
Basic members who have no explorer pics, never met up with anyone here and have less than 10 posts shouldn't get FMs.
This is far below the listed requirements generally eccepted yet it's the biggest factor for FM strikes at least for myself.


That's something we can agree on. I'm all for showing rookies the ropes, but FM status is a badge of trust. Not unconditional trust, not by a long shot- but trust none the less. Giving it to everybody regardless of their activity on this site cheapens it. I'd say anyone who doesn't meet the stated requirements shouldn't get full membership- it's not hard to meet them if they're serious about becoming community members.

Posted by AdventureDan
What are your thoughts on advertising UER through other venues more prominently in an attempt to bring more new life into the forums?

On the drive home from work just now I was thinking about hosting a sort of old school Urbex open meetup through instagram in order to attract some of the younger street and urbex photographer crowd, and have a sort of workshop where the core values and culture side of the art kind of represented and instilled, and directly encouraging users to visit the website through some sort of incentive.

Obviously you can't force a subculture ideal, but it may be a primer that many would take to. And there's still the FM vetting process to pluck out the weeds.

I have a fair amount of pull in my local instagram exploring and rooftopping community, I think if I with the help of other explorers from this website advertised such events we could get quite a turn out.


I think that could go a long way. The simple fact of the matter is that Instagram and Facebook are far more accessible to rookies than UER, so they might not find it. Showing rookies what this part of the subculture is about and encouraging them to join could go a long way towards breathing some life back into this site.



[last edit 1/16/2020 1:34 AM by Aran - edited 1 times]

"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.

AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 5 on 1/16/2020 3:12 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum


Someone's bumping the site count, goes on in the mornings.
Multiple hits 1-2 second apart with 1 page views.


Not sure exactly what that means. Someone connected to the site attempting to get more exposure here?



I think that could go a long way. The simple fact of the matter is that Instagram and Facebook are far more accessible to rookies than UER, so they might not find it. Showing rookies what this part of the subculture is about and encouraging them to join could go a long way towards breathing some life back into this site.


I'm going on a long overdue out of state exploring trip with some members here this weekend. Going to go over some ideas for this. I'd really be willing to put in some time and effort to make this a reality, maybe even work towards some more UER sanctioned star events with the mods. I think HEXTEXPEX was the last one for the south (not sure how to verify that.)

But point being If that went well and actually got some new quality explorers in here, it would be a good precedence to start discussing with the active members of their respective regions to try and kickstart a new generation of UER members.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
Boffo 

Moderator


Location: Smithers, BC
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 109 likes


HONK! HONK!

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 6 on 1/16/2020 3:31 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
The internet was a very different place back in 2009. Today people can easily connect through facebook, instagram, youtube etc. with little need for message boards. Especially forums that require you to contribute or meet people before you get to the bulk of content or the ability to add content.




Here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you.
blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
Total Likes: 3996 likes


UER newbie

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 7 on 1/16/2020 3:44 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by AdventureDan


Not sure exactly what that means. Someone connected to the site attempting to get more exposure here?






I've seen 300 to over 700 online users at times in mid morning.
Most the same browser and OS.
Could be a number of things including an attack I guess.
This started recently.
At the same time only a few registered users online.




Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
Explorer Zero 


Total Likes: 2026 likes




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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 8 on 1/16/2020 4:02 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by blackhawk


Could be a number of things including an attack I guess.



Russian hackers or grouchy old double star members?




EsseXploreR 


Location: New Jersey
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Total Likes: 1172 likes




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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 9 on 1/16/2020 10:15 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Personally I'm no longer referring new members to the site. I've wasted a lot of energy trying to defend this site and bring new people here but after the last few weeks I don't see any reason to continue. I'm very disappointed with this place.



[last edit 1/16/2020 12:38 PM by EsseXploreR - edited 1 times]

https://www.flickr...62837453@N07/sets/

http://www.tfpnj.blogspot.com
Beebs 


Gender: Both
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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 10 on 1/16/2020 1:01 PM >
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everybody went to reddit, and now with reddit being dead(primarily r/urbanexploration) abndonedporn took over and even that is dwindling down. lol

I'd be posting on this site but literally all photos are too large of a file, even small reduced images saved from lightroom, and then screenshotted from that, lol. oh well



[last edit 1/16/2020 1:03 PM by Beebs - edited 1 times]

Strange places with Max Power and Free4All, also Eric and Myles
becckeez 


Location: 804
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trippin.

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 11 on 1/16/2020 2:00 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by blackhawk



I've seen 300 to over 700 online users at times in mid morning.
Most the same browser and OS.
Could be a number of things including an attack I guess.
This started recently.
At the same time only a few registered users online.



I saw 800 online users a few days ago and was like ... whhhaaa?!?




AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 12 on 1/16/2020 2:39 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by Boffo
The internet was a very different place back in 2009. Today people can easily connect through facebook, instagram, youtube etc. with little need for message boards. Especially forums that require you to contribute or meet people before you get to the bulk of content or the ability to add content.


I've thought a lot about the death of the internet forum as a means of communication in the past couple years. Mainstream social media has indeed been the main contributing factor to this and with a few good (and bad) reasons. It's more convenient, it's more accessible to a wider audience, appeals to the increasingly shortened attention span of modern society, and also appeals to peoples vanity and self absorption.

However I think what is really lost is meaningful conversation and rapport among a group of individuals.

This translates to a major shift in values as far as urbex itself goes i think. Instead of exploring for the experience and just enjoying the small things, it becomes a race to the next wow shot or whatever will appeal to the largest audience.

How many times have you posted a set of photos here and another member pointed out something completely obscure or gave a bit of history on something in your photo that you never would have even thought about?

I can't say that i've had that experience on instagram.

Sadly I believe that it's not just an internet trend, but a trend in society as a whole, and a negative trend at that. And this assessment doesn't just affect our little sub culture. I was reading a similar lament in an article about the IMDB forums shutting down. A lot of people called that place home and considered it a meaningful part of their lives before it's slow desertion and eventual shut down.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 13 on 1/16/2020 2:42 PM >
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Posted by Beebs
everybody went to reddit, and now with reddit being dead(primarily r/urbanexploration) abndonedporn took over and even that is dwindling down. lol

I'd be posting on this site but literally all photos are too large of a file, even small reduced images saved from lightroom, and then screenshotted from that, lol. oh well


you know you can use the embed code to use external image hosting services right?

The built in image uploader has never been the optimal means of posting photos.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
blackhawk 

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.


Location: Mission Control
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UER newbie

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 14 on 1/16/2020 6:10 PM >
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Posted by Boffo
The internet was a very different place back in 2009. Today people can easily connect through facebook, instagram, youtube etc. with little need for message boards. Especially forums that require you to contribute or meet people before you get to the bulk of content or the ability to add content.


Vetting is important for a site's integrity.
FB is a huge security risk and a mess.
The other main stream sites are as well.
They literally give me a headache.
This site is more isolated by design and it filters out a lot of the riffraff by it's interactive nature and rules.
Smaller is better in this case.
When everyone's a member, what's the point of being a member?


Posted by AdventureDan


Sadly I believe that it's not just an internet trend, but a trend in society as a whole, and a negative trend at that. And this assessment doesn't just affect our little sub culture. I was reading a similar lament in an article about the IMDB forums shutting down. A lot of people called that place home and considered it a meaningful part of their lives before it's slow desertion and eventual shut down.


IMDB had insufficient vetting and ineffective mod intervention.
Freedom is never free or easy; it is a constant struggle.

It's sad it was shut down because it was a valuable source of information and a way to connect with people in the industry*
Never posted there but enjoyed some of the posts.
IMDB use to be a good resource 10 years ago but in recent years commercialization has ruined it.
Wiki is generally better now.



*When those people die, many of their experiences will be lost forever...



[last edit 1/16/2020 6:21 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
skatchkins 


Location: The Desert
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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 15 on 1/16/2020 6:55 PM >
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This is the only UE community I hang with / post to.
Thread comments have unfortunately been pretty acidic for a while here.

For what it's worth, every forum I belong to for other subjects have subscription and post tanked also.

*Instagram is for toilet time cell phone photos.



[last edit 1/16/2020 6:57 PM by skatchkins - edited 1 times]

Flickr Pitchrs
AdventureDan 


Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 366 likes


I'm here to make wavy eyebrows and climb on stuff

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 16 on 1/16/2020 7:05 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Posted by blackhawk
Vetting is important for a site's integrity.
FB is a huge security risk and a mess.
The other main stream sites are as well.
They literally give me a headache.
This site is more isolated by design and it filters out a lot of the riffraff by it's interactive nature and rules.
Smaller is better in this case.
When everyone's a member, what's the point of being a member?


I and no one on this post has suggested getting rid of the vetting process. I don't think there's anything wrong with the process to gain FM here. The argument is that there's not enough new people coming period. There's a difference between filtering riffraff and not having anything to filter at all, which is where we are close to being. The "riff raff" have much flashier and easier pastures to invade. Everyone: riff raff, quality explorer, and would be quality explorers the like are mainly interacting through social media now because it's much easier and there isn't much incentive to be here on this website anymore.

I think a large portion of that is due to social trends as I mentioned before, but I believe the other large contributing factor to be lack of fresh blood. People get tired of the hobby and leave, older members become more offputting, and there is less and less quality content circulating the site.

My suggestion is to increase the exposure of the website, directly invite new prospective members through other platforms, and (for myself) contribute more content to encourage more activity here.




AAAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!!!
Explorer Zero 


Total Likes: 2026 likes




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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 17 on 1/17/2020 12:52 AM >
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Posted by AdventureDan


I and no one on this post has suggested getting rid of the vetting process. I don't think there's anything wrong with the process to gain FM here. The argument is that there's not enough new people coming period. There's a difference between filtering riffraff and not having anything to filter at all, which is where we are close to being. The "riff raff" have much flashier and easier pastures to invade. Everyone: riff raff, quality explorer, and would be quality explorers the like are mainly interacting through social media now because it's much easier and there isn't much incentive to be here on this website anymore.

I think a large portion of that is due to social trends as I mentioned before, but I believe the other large contributing factor to be lack of fresh blood. People get tired of the hobby and leave, older members become more offputting, and there is less and less quality content circulating the site.

My suggestion is to increase the exposure of the website, directly invite new prospective members through other platforms, and (for myself) contribute more content to encourage more activity here.


Drop Av a note with your list of ideas.




Dee Ashley 


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Write something and wait expectantly.

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 18 on 1/17/2020 12:04 PM >
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This is a great thread and I have a few thoughts on it as well, but I’ll have to gather my thoughts and come back to it when I have more time.
I did want to quickly say thanks to AdventureDan for posting this!

*I would totally particiate in a local meetup again if that ever comes to fruition, btw...*




I wandered till the stars went dim.
Wei 


Location: Los Angeles, CA
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 97 likes


whoops

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Re: UER new FMs and general website traffic
< Reply # 19 on 1/17/2020 6:01 PM >
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Basic Member here. Been exploring since 2015, had an account here since 2017. I know when I first joined UER, I had been so excited to talk to other explorers, especially since I'm based in California. But a friend of mine who I knew a little while before realizing she was a FM here had told me stories about the history of the PSW subforum. Suddenly I had a lot less interest in starting threads, joining conversations and posting photos if there wasn't as many people to engage with as I had thought. Years later, I understand that's more a reflection of my frame of mind at the time, rather than anything on UER's part.

That being said, as someone who exists on Instagram and Facebook mainly to connect with other explorers at this point, I've had a fair share of both positive and negative experiences with this current crop of explorers whose primary outlet is social media. Whenever I've mentioned UER to them, they'll either a) acknowledge its existence but express disinterest since their main communities are all on SM, or b) actively disparage it and its members as they've had negative experiences of their own on the site. Which, considering everyone I talk to is based in the PSW and urbex is a relatively small subculture, I'm sure some of those "negative experiences" were well-deserved in the end.

I haven't received FM, nor would I except to since I'm pretty sure I have less than 30 posts here in the last 3 years. There's nothing wrong with how y'all vet folks here. They're just... not here. And from my interactions, I'm not sure most of the current generation of explorers should be here. Their groups are much smaller, but they don't have the same established camaraderie and trust you're more likely to find here. Locations are more likely to get burned. Drama is more likely to start, and it's usually for pretty petty reasons.

I'd like to think UER still serves a purpose, especially as one of the original online communities for urban exploration. But the current generation ironically aren't interested in learning about their own history.

AdventureDan, thank you for starting this thread. It's nice to know folks still care.




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