What topics provoke discussion?

[lobeydosser]

This is an interesting topic!

Vaping is now "mainstream" and apart from new inventions that make it easier and better for users to experiment with, most people have found their preferred vaping equipment have no need to go looking for a new experiences.

However, Vaping, good as it is for us, it is still very much in the minority in our Nicotine demanding world.
Those who now switch from Smoking to Vaping, do so before they join a Forum and start to search for more information.

So not only has AAE-C slowed down a pace, but the whole momentum of new members who are "finding" this new and safer method of getting their Nicotine Fix, also becoming fewer.
IE, Those who have tried Vaping, but still continue to Smoke are still in the majority.
That is where our continued growth will come from, but how to persuade them to give Vaping a proper go? Well that is the question!!!!

[smifee]

I read several vaping forums every week but am only a member on AAEC because it's so well moderated.

When I started vaping, 4 years ago, I kept getting new stuff looking for vaping perfection. Since finding my ideal setup, iStick 30W & Kabukis, I rarely try the latest wonder gear.

Now I tend to check new posts every day but only log in when I want to post.

With no interest in squonking or sub ohming there aren't many posts I want to read.

[Perpetua]

Jan 10, 2018 19:08:15 GMT sydsut said:

I think the slowing down of activity has for me at least one main cause. A few years ago Vaping was under attack from all quarters, government, the EU, medical authorities, the press, the ANTZ etc. This occasioned a hell of a lot of debate in these pages, but recently the Anti Vaping lobby has been sidetracked by the change of heart of the government, especially in the House of Lords and the about face by much of the medical fraternity in the face of overwhelming evidence as to the safety of vaping compared to smoking. A few years ago there were a lot of posts, seemingly daily, about some of the outrageous crap spouted by the ANTZ and there fellow travellers. Newspapers, especially the Daily Mail, were full of spurious tales of exploding mods, vaping being much more dangerous than smoking etc. This appears to have dwindled down to a trickle at least here in Britain. On the whole vaping has now become rather old hat and has settled down into it's accepted place as a relatively safe pastime, enjoyed by millions and increasingly seen as the best way to give up the fags. Unfortunately this isn't worldwide, and there is much work still to be done in the States, South America, Australia and Asia. But I no longer fear that vaping will disappear in the UK.

Agreed Ken . . . . and thinking on, the quality and reliability of our equipment has improved dramatically in a relatively short space of time. ( We used to be inundated with tales of vaping woes! ) So again there's less need for people to seek information if they're essentially satisfied with what they're using - albeit possibly at premium prices.

Jan 11, 2018 11:22:03 GMT lobeydosser said:

This is an interesting topic!

Vaping is now "mainstream" and apart from new inventions that make it easier and better for users to experiment with, most people have found their preferred vaping equipment have no need to go looking for a new experiences.

However, Vaping, good as it is for us, it is still very much in the minority in our Nicotine demanding world.
Those who now switch from Smoking to Vaping, do so before they join a Forum and start to search for more information.

So not only has AAE-C slowed down a pace, but the whole momentum of new members who are "finding" this new and safer method of getting their Nicotine Fix, also becoming fewer.

To an extent I agree Lobey . . . . although as mentioned the increase in High Street stores, improved equipment and Facebook also play a part in the decline of our new membership registrations. Locally there was a time when I seldom saw anyone vaping out and about - now the reverse is true and the biggest concentration of smokers I see is at work! And they aren't very numerous either, literally a handful out of 150 staff.

So I'd like to think, hope that the message is still very much out there for smokers looking for a better and safer alternative . . . . .

Jan 11, 2018 9:25:28 GMT snow said:

It isn't just this forum or vaping forums though it's all forums regardless of the subject, facebook killed off an awful lot of boards and has very much impacted on post counts and membership, however as Perpetua said in some ways the slow down can have some positive effects. One of the boards I'm also involved with used to have thousands of posts per day, now its lucky to get 20 but the hard core of members who remain are now a very close group of friends, very supportive of each other and very much enjoying having time to really talk about things that matter to us away from the goldfish bowl of social media.

Whilst a lot of vaping stuff has ended up on facebook I've found myself using the new "snooze" feature for almost all of the vaping groups I belong to as I was sick to death of reading the non stop posts from people asking for juice recommendations, or constantly droning on and on and on about ohh look how big/dense a cloud I can make. There is so much misinformation out there it winds me up no end and any attempt to correct it invariably ends up as a huge row. Not forgetting the scammers and backyard juice makers - it bothers me no end seeing home brew being advertised and sold for silly money and recommended in groups with the inevitable fights when the sellers get overwhelmed with orders, can't cope, fail to deliver and then the wheres my juice complaints start and fights break out between the people who support one side or the other.

And then there are the raffles - more than one group hold regular raffles for donated vape stuff ostensibly they are doing it to raise money for charity but I have yet to see any proof that the money is passed on to whichever "charity" is named - I'm not saying that they don't pass on the money simply that they are not being as transparent as they should be.

Now that I have "snoozed" the groups at least they aren't showing up on my feed irritating me and I can choose to go to their page and see what I want to see when I want to see it.

I think AAEC will pick up again, but may never get back to the pre TPD heydays and thats OK so long as we remain welcoming, friendly and a source of good knowledgeable support and advice we'll do fine.

Me too snow!

[pxr5]

Well. I don't do that facebookery, twittery or instagrump stuff, never wanted too, never will. Maybe I'm anti-social lol. I've always used forums and am still a member of a couple going back to 2001/2003. I don't deny that FB etc., has taken away from certain forums, but thankfully not all. A couple of the car forums I use are as busy as they ever were.

This place really is fantastic, I don't post that much but I do visit every day and have learnt everything I need from this site, and I thank one and all for that.

What I have noticed with all forums I use, is that they have all become nicer places since social media came along. Maybe all the people who like to stir thing up have long since attached themselves to FB and the like where they can menace others there instead.

AAEC will last well into the future because of the lovely people here

[striker42]

The main reason I come here is, thankfully, we have no "big time Charlie's" simply because they would not be tolerated here. I'm on three Facebook groups but was added to many more, simply because entry to a free competition entails a member tagging and adding three/five/? friends to the group running the competition. Most of which I just used the "leave group" option as they were not the type of groups I wished to be in. All it needs on facebook groups, is someone to ask a question on appropriate batteries for a particular build and watch the sparks fly accompanied by sarcastic remarks of epic proportions. Try mentioning clones in a few and they'd like to see you serving 20 years hard labour. Likewise, if you ain't vaping 70vg + juice at 0.09 ohms at a million watts you get treated like some kind of alien dropped out the last space ship that passed over. Facebook groups are full of people who fail to understand that every individual has the choice to vape in the style that suits them. AAEC will always be the best place, as you will not get ragged for asking a question of any description.

[gill2009]

  Well said everyone 

[kreed]

While I will agree that Facebook isn't for everyone...... it's a sweeping generalisation to suggest that ALL vaping groups on FB are nasty places.

Claire, Chris, Tom and myself started one nearly 2 years ago now....... and it isn't like that at all..... we wouldn't tolerate it.

We also keep it VERY specifically mixing related...... so no handchecks, spam posts, cloud pics or hardware chat.

It's actually pretty civilised ..... and we pride ourselves on it

[furble]

Jan 11, 2018 11:22:03 GMT lobeydosser said:

apart from new inventions that make it easier and better for users to experiment with, most people have found their preferred vaping equipment have no need to go looking for a new experiences.

I don’t know how true this is for the sort of people who would possibly be active participants of forums like this.

I see there being two main groups of vapers/e-cig users.
- Those who use it primarily as a smoking cessation method, most of whom were the pen and CE4 types (and are now migrating onto TRPR equivalents) and buy their 10ml bottles from Morrisons and the like.
Few of these will even look for something like this (or the FB equivalents) and if they didn’t wouldn’t be that active.

- Those who are using it for smoking cessation, but are also hobbyists for want of a better term.
They are the sort to be active in online forums and FB groups, and a lot of them are interested in new devices, new tanks and RDAs, new juices, or DIY juice making. It’s a large part of why they join places where they can discuss and find out about new Stuff.

[furble]

Like it or not, potential new members are likely to either not be internet savvy, or already on FB so will look there first for places to interact and discuss vaping.

I just googled “what e-cigarette should I buy” and this forum didn’t come up in the first 4 pages of searches. Same for vaping and other related terms.
So apart from already knowing about it or word of mouth who will find their way here (or any other vaping forum).
On the other hand search on FB and you get dozens of results.

[ghostrider1971]

With the number of enthusiastic DIY mixers we have on here, I'm surprised there aren't more concentrate reviews - I would certainly enjoy reading them and would definitely benefit from them.

I know some people stick to what works for them (quite right!) but many others are frequently trying new stuff from different places.

It's always nice to hear what people think of a one shot (or other) rather than the sales pitch from the seller.....

[furble]

I’m currently setting up single flavour testers of the Pure Flavours line from Germany. I’ll have try and remember to post my notes on here.

[Perpetua]

Jan 11, 2018 17:29:04 GMT ghostrider1971 said:

With the number of enthusiastic DIY mixers we have on here, I'm surprised there aren't more concentrate reviews - I would certainly enjoy reading them and would definitely benefit from them.

Must admit I tend to wait until someone asks about a particular flavour or if it's mentioned ghostrider1971 , then if I've used it - I'll pitch in with my thoughts.

In the back of my mind is always how our tastes can and do differ . . . . so personally I'd prefer to try something myself if it takes my interest.

But we're all different in what we find helpful information or not.

 

Jan 11, 2018 17:33:12 GMT furble said:

I’m currently setting up single flavour testers of the Pure Flavours line from Germany. I’ll have try and remember to post my notes on here.

Coincidentally I'm waiting on their Toffee concentrate from Chefs . . . . . hoping it's going to be a flavoursome and authentic taste.

[lobeydosser]

Of the 6 houses in my immediate vicinity, we are 1 Vaper and 1 non-smoker/vaper. (My goody goody 2 shoes wife.)
2 houses are non-smoking/vaping.
One houses is 1 smoker and 1 non-smoker.
One house is 1 Vaper and 1 Smoker.
And one house has 2 Vapers.

I know that the Smokers buy their fags at the local shop as I see them there.
The Vapers buy their paraphernalia at Brick & Mortar Shops in Glasgow and Paisley.

Me? Well I have enough stashed away that it will be years before I have to go out to buy anything.

My main point is that originally I had to find a Forum to get the information I needed to buy the equipment and chemicals to further my knowledge and purchase my stuff online.
But of the rest of Vapers in my vicinity, they buy all their stuff in B&M Shops and whilst they know about AAE-C, as far as I know, non of them have joined our, or any other E-cig related online group.

So while E-cig related Forums will still be around for many years to come, the necessity for them for finding out what is available seem to be overtaken by B&M Shops and folks are using them rather than going online.
I guess people like to handle and perhaps use the equipment before they buy.

[Perpetua]

Jan 11, 2018 17:52:55 GMT lobeydosser said:

So while E-cig related Forums will still be around for many years to come, the necessity for them for finding out what is available seem to be overtaken by B&M Shops and folks are using them rather than going online.
I guess people like to handle and perhaps use the equipment before they buy.

Had B&M shops been around when I started, then they would have certainly been my first option!

Out of all the vapers in my local acquaintance, either from work or fellow dog walkers - other than myself, there's one chap who buys his supplies online and also mixes. All the others buy from the kiosk we've got in the Shopping Centre and their eliquid from the pound shop. As they're perfectly content doing that, who am I to say that they could do it differently . . . . . none of them are smoking, which has to be the most important factor.

[furble]

Perpetua - the toffee is apparently very good and apparently 8% is the sweet spot for single flavour.

Second hand knowledge as I haven’t got that far yet.
Started A-Z and only done lick tests on the first 20. Will be doing first vape tests this weekend.