What effect do you think AI is having on shave forums and shaving in general?

[Sam]

I had a thought that a lot of people go to Google for AI or they go to ChatGPT. I know that the algorithms can make it so that aggregation of reviews can be had very much quickly, but sometimes they might go to the sellers website and head to head comparisons, like we might get in the shape forms, might be fewer or far between. So it might skew a little bit more to how popular an item is. Am I right on that. Am I wrong? Has it changed the way that you feel about this form or shaving supplies in general?

[drmoss_ca]

I belong to forums related to shaving, photography, hi-fi and CLL. All have seen a downturn in activity since the rise of social media, and I think it is Facebook and Reddit and suchlike that are eating our lunch. Should AI provide all the answers when people want to learn about a topic, I expect that Facebook etc will also take a hit. Social media has one survival feature though in that it is designed to be addictive though the use of the Like button. It would be trivial however, for an AI to addict users the same way (as many chat bots already do).

PS I corrected the AI-caused errors in the title (the original is still visible in the header of this post).

[woodsrider]

I doubt that AI will have much of an impact on shaving and shaving supplies. A newcomer might be able to learn some technique pointers, but as you know, nothing replaces practice. An interesting experiment might be to upload ingredient labels from several soaps and creams, and ask the LLM to compare and rate which should deliver the densest, slickest lather and give the best shaving results. I have a few (ahem...) soaps and creams in storage...I might have to run them through Grok and Claude at some point.

Of course, you'll probably have to also put your water hardness and other variables in the query....and nothing can replace the actual user experience...

[brothers]

While browsing this afternoon I received the following AI statement: "ShaveMyFace was an early online wet-shaving community, but the original domain and forum are no longer actively maintained as a primary discussion hub. Users seeking active wet-shaving communities now commonly visit alternative forums like Badger & Blade, Against the Grain, or Shave & Chat."
I have no clue what that means. Can someone explain this for me please? The last phrase evidently explains why there is no new activity.

[Sam]

I have no idea other than maybe some bots monitor activity. Yes. We are slow compared to when we first started.

[brothers]

While browsing this afternoon I received the following AI statement: "ShaveMyFace was an early online wet-shaving community, but the original domain and forum are no longer actively maintained as a primary discussion hub. Users seeking active wet-shaving communities now commonly visit alternative forums like Badger & Blade, Against the Grain, or Shave & Chat."
I have no clue what that means. Can someone explain this for me please? The last phrase evidently explains why there is no new activity.

My concern is the part about the original domain and forum are no longe ractively maintained . . .
Sounds pretty serious to me. Is that true?

" . . . committed to sustaining our site for as long as possible regardless of user activity."

[drmoss_ca]

I'd say it is mistaken. (Unless it refers to the fact that the forum owner is rarely here.)

I have argued with an AI when it told me something that was wrong, it said 'let me check' and then apologised and said I was right. Now that might be simply what it is trained to do in order to please customers, rather than an honest transaction. I hope you argued with it, Gary!

Chris

[drmoss_ca]

I asked Perplexity:

Tell me about shavemyface.com, a shaving forum.

ShaveMyFace.com (often abbreviated SMF) is one of the oldest and most established online forums dedicated to wet shaving and men’s grooming.
Overview

ShaveMyFace is a community-driven message board where enthusiasts discuss all aspects of traditional wet shaving, including:

Safety razors, straight razors, and shaving brushes

Shaving soaps, creams, and pre/post-shave products

Shaving techniques, blade comparisons, and razor maintenance

Reviews of shaving gear and vendors

General men’s grooming topics

The forum is known for its long-running, active community and its role in the early development of the modern wet-shaving subculture online.
History and significance

ShaveMyFace is frequently cited as the oldest English-language wet-shaving forum, or at least among the very first, alongside Straight Razor Place (SRP).

According to long-time members of the wet-shaving community, the chronological order of major forums often starts with:

Straight Razor Place (originally a Yahoo Group, then a forum around 2005)

ShaveMyFace

Badger & Blade (founded by a former SRP/SMF member after a split)
Many later forums (The Shave Den, The Shaving Room, Shave Nook, etc.) spun out of these early communities.

This makes SMF a kind of “ancestor” forum in the genealogy of English-language wet-shaving communities.

Current status

The forum still exists at https://forum.shavemyface.com/ and is listed in modern roundups of top shaving forums.

It continues to host sections for:

General wet shaving discussion

Newbie introductions and learning threads

Product reviews and vendor links

Men’s grooming beyond just shaving

Like many legacy forums, its activity level may be lower than peak years compared to Reddit’s r/Wetshaving or newer boards, but it remains a recognized and respected resource, especially for historical threads and long-term product discussions.

If you’re interested in wet shaving history, classic techniques, or long-running product threads, ShaveMyFace is worth browsing alongside newer communities.

So I clicked on "Compare these sites, Badger & Blade, Shavemyface and The Shave Den" and it asked the AI this question:

Create an interactive scorecard for Badger & Blade, Shavemyface, and The Shave Den. Rate each forum on a 1-5 scale across five categories: technical accuracy of advice, friendliness to new wet shavers, speed of gear news, depth of historical threads, and level of vendor influence. Include brief 'pro' and 'con' summaries for each, and a summary table helping users decide which forum is the best source for their specific shaving needs (e.g., straight razor vs. safety razor vs. artisan soap collecting)

After six minutes of work, it came up with this: https://drmossca.pplx.app/

Seems like a fairly accurate summary. Looks like Reddit is where all the B&B refugees go these days, based on their accusations against the management of said forum.

[Gene]

I'd say it is mistaken. (Unless it refers to the fact that the forum owner is rarely here.)

I have argued with an AI when it told me something that was wrong, it said 'let me check' and then apologised and said I was right. Now that might be simply what it is trained to do in order to please customers, rather than an honest transaction. I hope you argued with it, Gary!

Chris

I was shocked to learn that AI does this. The term is called hallucinating (oddly), and my son was the first to tell me about it. If you suspect an answer you should challenge it right away. AI will own up to the glitch (in my experience anyway) - but that won't stop it from continuing the practice.

[brothers]

I'd say it is mistaken. (Unless it refers to the fact that the forum owner is rarely here.)

I have argued with an AI when it told me something that was wrong, it said 'let me check' and then apologised and said I was right. Now that might be simply what it is trained to do in order to please customers, rather than an honest transaction. I hope you argued with it, Gary!

Chris

I can't seem to locate the guilty AI this morning. Imagine that!

[drmoss_ca]

What do you think of the comparison? https://drmossca.pplx.app/

[CMur12]

What do you think of the comparison? https://drmossca.pplx.app/

That was a clever inquiry, Chris.

It looks pretty good to me; better than I would have expected.

I don't have any experience with Badger and Blade or with The Shave Den, so I can't make any comparisons.

I like that SMF got the highest score for Technical Accuracy, and I can appreciate the low score for Gear News Speed, at least in recent years. I would give us a higher score for Historical Depth, as well as a lower score for Vendor Influence, but, again, I can't make comparisons to the other two fora. The Pros and Cons, appear to be sound observations.

I haven't done anything with AI, so this looks pretty positive overall.

- Murray

[brothers]

What do you think of the comparison? https://drmossca.pplx.app/

Very well researched and accurate.