Forum Topic

Popularity of ChiswickW4 Forum?

I had always assumed that it was more active than Ealing's as a direct relationship to wealth and, possibly, more idle time to dwell on such forums.However in an idle passage of my own I had a look at the dedicated Forums for Wandsworth & Fulham, both affluent areas, and it appears they are quieter than even Ealing's.Any suggestions why W4 should be so active above all others?

Philip Coe ● 4090d14 Comments

And none in Fulham & Wandsworth?

Philip Coe ● 4081d

Lots of bored yummy mummies in Chiswick...

Paul Smithson ● 4081d

Plus they have the 'doggy and pet' set and more than one 'resident nutter' (don't care if that's not PC) to keep people re-visiting.

Nigel Brooks ● 4085d

Although there are a limited amount of posters on this site I believe the readership and users number quite high. I have had an advertisement running in the service directory for seven years or more and still get quite a few enquiries from this site. The Chiswick site has a few people from the media sector and they do like the sound of their own voices.

Tony Maxey ● 4085d

Even the Chiswick forum has been rather quiet of late.

Susan Kelly ● 4087d

The Chiswick Forum was always lively and interesting - they're the "chattering class" I guess.

Gerry Tan ● 4088d

'Judging by the comments made on this forum it appears to me that many if not most contributors here are pensioners or otherwise not working'Sue, that could be said about virtually every forum that ever existed ever. The most regular contributors are always going to be with time on their hands which is why forums like these are never, ever representative of the readership of a site.I wasn't meaning to imply that the readership was elderly by my posts in another thread. It is probably on average older than the average news site given that it integrates less well with social media and the general demographics of the area but I would still put the average user age in the mid to late thirties.Also be very sceptical about what people tell you about their web site use. People are always anxious to give the impression they are on the internet less than they actually are and anyone who regards this forum as too negative has very little experience of other forums and comments pages on news sites. EalingToday's readership is probably much smaller than the Gazette's was at its peak but it would be wrong to compare it with that or the Chiswick site which is by some distance the busiest site of its kind in the country. The last time I saw numbers for EalingToday they were something in the region of 40,000 visits a month which incidentally would be below Getwestlondon. Even allowing for the way internet traffic can sometimes be a bit inflated this makes it a busy site so either you have a rather narrow and unrepresentative circle of friends or they aren't telling you the truth.

Stuart Howard ● 4088d

ChiswickW4 was started up originally in his spare time by a BBC journalist living in Chiswick. There were a lot of local news stories that didn't appear elsewhere, it was lively and interesting. I don't know how long the Ealing board has been going (I only moved to the area 4 years ago), but I suspect not as long as ChiswickW4, which would obviously impact on readership and activity on the forum pages. Judging by the comments made on this forum it appears to me that many if not most contributors here are pensioners or otherwise not working. My experience of ChiswickW4 when I lived in the area gave me the feeling that both the audience and those contributing to the forum were somewhat younger than those Ealing (ducking for cover there). Topics seemed to cover  a broader range, and on the whole were more positive/outgoing/varied. And Chiswick is a smaller, more closely defined area than "Ealing". Nobody else I know living here in Ealing/Hanwell etc. uses this website: "not enough local news", "forum is too negative", etc. A question to ask perhaps is whether EalingToday is for those living in the former borough of Ealing, or for those living in the current borough, which is far larger and more diverse. If it is for those living in the current borough, then at many levels it is competing with the Evening Standard and Metro rather providing a service to a neighbourhood.

Sue Rowe ● 4088d

Indeed!

Keith Iddon ● 4089d

Yes, it's a better class of hot air on Chiswick :)))

Penny Crocker ● 4089d

I'ts more to do with the range of topics and the 'culture' of the debates imo than whether you live there or are connected to the area. During my life in London ,since 1977 I have lived in Ealing, Acton, Southall, Chiswick and now Brentford so I do have an inkling into these areas but it's the quality and range of debate which attracts people.

Keith Iddon ● 4089d

A fair point but demographics remain a subsidiary factor. Consider Richmond, similar demographics to Chiswick - no active local discussion board as far as I can see. The lack of news site like this one must be the reason for that.

Stuart Howard ● 4089d

I think demographics do play a part in local forums as opposed to general news forums etc. Chiswick has a less transitory population with a higher percentage of owner occupied homes; such people will therefore have a greater interest in local issues.

John Walker ● 4089d

Participation in the interactive bits of news sites has very little to do with demographics. A tabloid will get just as many comments on stories per visit as a broadsheet. The most important factor by far is overall readership. You can expect about 1% of your readership to be an active participant on a discussion board associated with the site. The Chiswick site has 18,000 subscribers to its newsletter which would equate to 180 active users on its forum, this site has 5,000 which gives you 50 which is just about enough to deliver a discussion board  which is not tumbleweed. In areas like Wandsworth and Fulham these sites have a much smaller readership - theoretically there might be about 10 people who would be keen to participate in local discussion but that just isn't enough to generate enough posts for the boards to be worth visiting.

Stuart Howard ● 4089d