Lack of participation

[Farhan Ahmed]

I agree Khabbab and also with Izhar
There came a time when certain members had to be away for personnel reasons and there was entry of some who were not willing to be challenged rather felt offended when done so.
then you can see the trend on gardening Pakistan facebook page and other similar and popular gardening pages of Pakistan on facebook, very few are gardeners and willing to share and learn, people are more interested in sharing pictures and feeling elevated, with little or no knowledge on the subject. Anyone can buy and boost his belongings, is it joy of growing? bending the back or the competition who can spend more. You would not find learned members as like of our community say on green gardens and our garden pages, yet they have more members.....simply to say they are more popular, they even have commercialized in many ways.
I did not join any such page, as it feels very very wrong.....why? its my feeling.

[Farhan Ahmed]

the mood of the forum became sour ...........and those who did so left us in dismay

[M Farooq]

Thanks to Arif sb. for raising this point. I also agree with Farhan bhai, Izhar, and Khabbab that the spirit of discussion is missing. When there used to be discussions, people would mind and would leave the group or won't talk to each other for a while. I don't like facebook either because one cannot discuss and the topic is short lived. All people do is praise the photos. On the other hand, it is a quick way of getting responses and posting pictures. I am not sure about the number of daily visitors in this forum vs. the facebook version. Nowadays, we just answer queries :-). Anyway, the moderators are doing hard work (behind the scenes).

[MOHAN SINGH]

This topic raised by Arif Sir had made some valid point being brought which I agree completely with :

I give less time to facebook but that gets noticed to everybody due to nature of facebook. Facebook is a phenomenon which is unavoidable. I would more than welcome any suggestions to increase the participation by users on forum.

If someone asks a question, answer is posted and thats all. Nothing like "I would tend to disagree to your point" sort of thing.

Anyone can buy and boost his belongings, is it joy of growing?

And as a matter of fact this forum is an encyclopedia in itself with tons of information, not that it has reached its potential but that it has addressed almost all beginner and intermediate questions. I before posting a question search the forum and in majority cases i need not put up the question even. So if you look at it as an encyclopedia or smthn similar it addresses your question before you ask. However fb can never replace a forum like this since yes its very fancy and dsnt promote discussion or generates information as this forum does.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Discussion and debate is the life of any forum. We as a nation are afraid of discussions fearing it may not be in accordance with the laid down norms or may expose shallowness of our knowledge of the subject. During my studies in Aerospace Medicine to a question of mine a Master in that subject replied; Only God has the correct answer some think it is like this and others believe it is like that, I personalty agree with the first group.
A discussion always broadens your view, you get to see all sides and draw your own conclusions.
I LOVE WHEN MY GRAND CHILDREN SAY" OH DAD YOU ARE SO OUT DATED YOU DONT KNOW ANY THING.
In the heart of my heart I know they are right

[Usama]

We must keep this place live and running. It has, in my opinion, wonderful resources on a vast variety of topics. It is the only place i know where i could find such stuff.

I believe that there is virtually no gardening literature being produced in Pakistan. This lack of resources creates a void that is somehow filled by the experts here. I hope that one day these people share their knowledge and experience in form of books.

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

[aykhan]

I too feel bad about not being active on this forum for quite some time now. Many reasons. It gets difficult to access as even laptops are cumbersome now with the smart phones. Most of things we would do sitting down on a table are now handled on the move with the phone. Some challenges in life also force one to take a back seat.

Also it has to be noted that the forum and Facebook are two totally different media and modes of expression and should not be compared head to head. While the forum is the place for a prolonged discussion over even months the Facebook is more dynamic and hands on. I can come back after a year and join discussions here but on Facebook they get lost I the timeline. I do believe that the Facebook community will be larger, more interactive and result in keeping more people involved in gardening.

My Tapatalk is working now and I am able to participate more. Also alhamdolillah some challenges I have faced in the last year or two are hopefully resolved and I can focus more on gardening discussions.

[aykhan]

When I started activity in the Facebook page no one had posted there for months. For the longest time I was the only one posting there in the hopes to activate it. See the members there now and the activity. It has to be a good thing for gardening and our forum in general. It is also a blessing for those people who will never get involved in extensive forums like this for sheer lack of motivation and time but will be active on Facebook due to the rapidity and ease of information.

[aykhan]

I also just noticed a problem that comments posted on my subscribed forums are not marked on Tapatalk. It's probably a glitch but I will try to resolve it so discussions don't get lost.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

HAIY US ZOOD PASHEMAN KA PASHEMAN HONA.
I specified you only because I knew you will understand and not feel it.
Besides it also shows how much I missed you.
Arif