Where have all the readers/posters gone?

[brandtmolyneux]

I started reading Steer Planet when I was in junior high, now I am a senior in high school. I started reading because I loved to read the threads about things like daily hair care, feeding, and bulls. I never really posted, I only read. Over the past few months I have noticed the lack of new things to read. It seems to me that people were not posting like they used to. With the lack of things to read, I found myself visiting the site less and less.
I think that the biggest contributing factor to the decline in posts is how big social media has become. Now there are Facebook groups that people go to, to look for advice. I have also noticed that a lot of producers have been getting rid of their websites and just using their personal Facebook account or a farm Facebook page for advertisement purposes. Someone in this thread asked why there haven't been very many posts on here about the Denver bulls. Well, I saw multiple of them on Facebook.
I have not been on this site from the beginning but it seems to me that this site used to be the only/best site to get good information and communicate about all things relating to show cattle. Now, there are other ways to communicate that I think are taking away from this site.
With all of this being said I love the wealth of information that this site has to offer on almost every topic. Even without recent posts on things, I will still come to this site and search for what I want to know. Just yesterday I searched the archives on how to get rid of ringworm, but I also went to Facebook and searched "Everything Show Cattle" looking for the same information. I found the information that I needed in the archives so I did not need to make another post about it. Even if this site is not what it used to be, I hope that it is able to stay alive and continue to grow.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

I think double stuff is triple stuff.

I think he is carrier for

Pha
Th
Ds

Not a big deal./// Yea just use him on a clean one-

 

[SEA]

I registered on Steer Planet on December 29, 2008, but followed and read posts for quite some time prior to actually registering.  I could read posts without registering however, needed later to register in order to put up a post.  Prior, I too was on the old cattle forum Show Steers or whatever it was called.

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time and POSTED and COMMENTED on this conversation.  It makes me feel good to know that you are still “Out there”!

So very glad to hear from “Road Warrior”. HEY DOC!  Where are Shortdawg, Jill, and Mark?  Telos is back but many others that have not been on for along time.  Sure wish cowboy would get back on.  I have a sycronization question for him. Also, enjoyed Dr. Lana Kiser, veterinarian, from Michigan that i have not heard from in awhile?  Hey CAB how are you doing?  You re a wealth of information. I know my old buddy JLB reads all the time, but seldom posts. GO SPARTY ON!  HOW ABOUT SIMMIGIRL or SIMGAL?  She would add insight on something other that shorthorns.  Where is Chambrero?  Sure wish we could get some good “Bull Discussions” again on A.I. Bulls from various breeds and clubby bulls that we could all benefit from when trying to decide on which proven bulls “work”, what they do or change and on what type of cows that work on?

PLEASE - CONTINUE TO POST - DON’T BE A STRANGER! 
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES WITH US!

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[Tallcool1]

Ya know, I have thought a great deal about this thread over the past few days.  I really tried to figure out why I personally don't check in much anymore.

I came to the conclusion that I don't check in because my kids are done (barring me tripping over a cheap and REALLY good steer that can compete at KC or Louisville, due to their ages).  It isn't so much that I no longer care about show steers.  It isn't that I don't care about the people that I became familiar with on this site.

It is because I really miss showing steers with my kids, and I miss having the steers in the barn.  I miss all of the work that I sometimes hated when we had a cooler full of those damn things. 

It is easier to not miss it if I just avoid places like this! 

 

[aj]

The average herd of registered cattle has the average life span of 5 years. They are drug store cowboys for 5 years.........and then.......they are gone.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

The average herd of registered cattle has the average life span of 5 years. They are drug store cowboys for 5 years.........and then.......they are gone.//// NOTHING LIKE KIDS AND SHORTHORNS-THEN THEY GROW UP-AND THE SHORTHORNS ARE GONE-PS ILL bet that happend with alot of non-black purebred OR ANY COLORED  cattle- been posting things like this for awhile O0

 

[knabe]

Some just change breeds every 5 years.

 

[SEA]

The average herd of registered cattle has the average life span of 5 years. They are drug store cowboys for 5 years.........and then.......they are gone.

AJ:

Except for two things...

1.  Most of the “old posters” that I and Kanabe and others above have named, ARE NOT five year cowboys.  They are still in the cattle business.
2.  Then where are the NEW FIVE YEAR COWBOYS on this site to replace the ones that are gone?

 

[knabe]

not selling to 5 year cowboys probably has hurt your business.

Not sure I would want to treat potential customers like that.

Kinda goes hand in hand with a lot of things.

Not sure why you have never drank from a half full glass.

Must not be thirsty.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

I"m not thirsty (at the moment)-but when I do drink-I drink ALOT O0

 

[aj]

The average lifespan of a registered herd used to be anyway........5-7 years. I can't quote a source right off hand.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Some just change breeds every 5 years.//// I heard there is a big breed change coming with one of the big boppers-this time maybe it will be Angus-GOOOOD LUCK BUCKO O0

 

[Show Dad]

I got into a poker game with Big Foot and the usual gang. Vodka was involved......next thing I know I'm.....long story short (too many embarrassing facts to relay here).....I'm off planet.....and let me tell you this place has walls and they work!

SD
<alien>

 

[firesweepranch]

I'v been a registered user since Jan 2010, but was just a stalker before that. Everything said on here is true and fits for me; I have very little interest in Shorthorn cattle (though I did buy 5 straws of Manimal to try for spring half blood calves, on a recommendation that came from this site). I started here to learn about daily hair care and feeding, and still use AAOK's base ration for our feed. We too are in the "moving out of show cattle" mode, with both of my kids getting older and ready to move on (the third one has been out for several years now). I will still breed the cattle and sell good quality seed stock, but will not likely show for much longer.
I check in here about once every few weeks, just to see what is new and who is active. I too was looking for information on Denver Bulls, this used to be the place to go to get the newest information on what was coming up! Doesn't seem that way anymore. I get most of my information and exchange discussions on Cattle Today, that board is more active but has the same banter as here.
Good thread to see who is still out there and active. I miss the old guys too, but life moves on and people go different directions.

 

[knabe]

obvious that some people have figured out to make good customers out of the 5 year cowboys and some haven’t.


The next lines just write themselves.


That in a nutshell is why there are fewer posters if they can’t come to a site that offers interesting posts without getting slammed for being a 5 year cowboy, slamming the people that sell to them, and the one complaining the most and the longest is the one that has nothing to offer them and never will.


Not sure how to spin humor on this like SD always seemed able to do.

 

[SEA]

not selling to 5 year cowboys probably has hurt your business.

Not sure I would want to treat potential customers like that.

Kinda goes hand in hand with a lot of things.

Not sure why you have never drank from a half full glass.

Must not be thirsty.

For years, there are times that I could not understand Kanabe’s posts.  Sometimes his purposeful attempts at being “vague, thought provoking, and humorous” perhaps are an “inside joke” or he is attempting to be “sly and/or coy”?  In any event...

I do not understand what “set Kanabe off” about 5 year cowboys being customers and treating them poorly, let alone “a half full glass of water”?  I believe that I read all the previous replies on this post...

Perhaps there was a previous post that was removed by the Steer Planet Administration that I did not read prior to it’s removal that Kanabe found objectable?

Does anyone else have this same issue?  And...Can anyone help by giving me some insight here?

 

[Tallcool1]

not selling to 5 year cowboys probably has hurt your business.

Not sure I would want to treat potential customers like that.

Kinda goes hand in hand with a lot of things.

Not sure why you have never drank from a half full glass.

Must not be thirsty.

For years, there are times that I could not understand Kanabe’s posts.  Sometimes his purposeful attempts at being “vague, thought provoking, and humorous” perhaps are an “inside joke” or he is attempting to be “sly and/or coy”?  In any event...

I do not understand what “set Kanabe off” about 5 year cowboys being customers and treating them poorly, let alone “a half full glass of water”?  I believe that I read all the previous replies on this post...

Perhaps there was a previous post that was removed by the Steer Planet Administration that I did not read prior to it’s removal that Kanabe found objectable?

Does anyone else have this same issue?  And...Can anyone help by giving me some insight here?

Ya know what SEA, I tried really hard to stay politically correct as I weighed in on this thread.  This is really a great thread in which we can all hopefully learn something about ourselves and those that have disappeared over the months or years.

Here is the blatantly honest truth...for ME.

Knabe and aj , you two run people off.  You guys are like a couple of 10 year old children that need to be separated.  It doesn't matter what either of you says, the other has a smart ass answer.

How many damn times do we have to hear about some carrier bull that aj took to Denver a lifetime ago?  Don't you realize Knabe...the bulk of the people that used to come around this site don't give a crap about that?  They just don't care.  But you care...you aren't going to let that die for damn sure.

You guys are poison, and likely too self centered to realize it. 

I have checked in on this site every day, multiple times per day (like the good old days) over the past week of so.  I told myself that I need to stay involved here.  This is a great site that the founder built and I need to share whatever I know.

Now I remember why it was so easy to just gradually go away.  Both of you should have had your asses thrown out of here years ago.  Maybe you should have a little bit of respect for what the founder of this site built, and either agree to disagree with one another...or just go away.  You are slowly destroying this resource for the coming generation of showmen.

 

[knabe]

i got nothing except it grates on me to say how evil and bad people are that used carriers and then takes one to denver. don't like the continual bad characterizations.

i don't really like the characterization of drug store cowboy.
it's a glass half empty mentality.

many people make a successful living catering to them.
it's a glass half full mentality.

complaining about how much shorthorns suck and never producing ones that don't is a glass half empty.

creating and selling shorthorns that people think don't suck and make their children happy is a glass half full mentality.

i apologize for having a hard time giving an inch on this issue. i understand what talcool1 is saying. maybe the 5 year drugstore cowboys don't really need to know about the hypocrisy that bothers me. they can find it out on their own.

 

[knabe]

http://www.steerplanet.com/bb/the-big-show/for-knabe/

I guess I would consider myself a drug store cowboy.

I guess I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to have cattle.

went back and reviewed the last 10 or so pages.

i don't post on over 95% of the threads at all, create new ones that are just pictures or whatever and only 4 threads have anything anyone is talking about on 10 pages. about the same for AJ. it's not like we are even remotely taking up the bandwidth of the site. not sure what most means.

i would hardly call that every thread.

dropping it.

 

[simba]

I’ve been on here for a few years and I do read fairly often but I rarely post anymore for a few reasons:

1) I have a lot less questions than I did a few years back.
2) I have very little interest in Shorthorn cattle.
3) I have no interest in people bashing other people.
4) Most of the threads (including this one) get hijacked by AJ and Knabe.

That said, as someone who didn’t grow up in a “show family” I did learn a lot about hair care, nurtition, etc. from this website over the past years.

Edited to add: I also bought my first herdsire off of the Steerplanet classifieds!