As we head towards the end of a successful year the AA Crew are finally winding down towards Christmas!
As we look back on 2022 we’re reminded at this time of the year of the words of one of our favourite animated characters (the big green guy who is NOT the Grinch!) who observed that “onions have layers”, and our own onion is now very much the same… since our move to a free-to-read, digital-only format the “AA Onion” has actually grown fresh new layers with the formation of Red Cell and The AA Legion, and our own onion is looking VERY healthy as we approach 2023!
Our in-house remit to become the friendliest, most widely-read, internationally recognisable and trusted airsoft information source is moving on as we continue to land articles and reports from all over the world from a broad range of experienced, knowledgeable and highly-valued contributors and this will continue next year as our geographic reach grows.
However, online content-creation is apparently accelerating as never before… but is it really, and is all content good content?
With mainstream social media platforms continuing to clamp down on and “cancel” anything even vaguely firearm-related, including realistic replicas, these channels of communication are becoming increasingly unstable as a viable long-term information source. Social media-driven content may appear attractive and informative in the short term, but it has become an inconsistent delivery medium as channels can disappear without trace or recourse, quite literally overnight. Channels can be wiped out for no reason other than it does not “fit” with the current “cultural mind-set” of the platform owner, and we are now seeing this more and more.
At Airsoft Action we have already taken steps to ensure that our content can be delivered consistently, and is future-proofed, as our web platform and the portfolio of online publishing platforms we choose to work with has been created with great care, and everything is managed solely in-house. Because we solely manage our main daily news and monthly magazine we can offer proven, risk-free continuity; Airsoft Acton is entering YEAR 12 of uninterrupted publication (and every bit of content is still available in the FREE BACK ISSUES section here on the website) and is STILL working in its current format as our independently-verifiable analytics show.
Since our move to digital-only we have amassed nigh-on 1.75 MILLION READS, which equates to some 53,000 READS for each and every issue we publish!
This figure is not ours, it is based on the analytics we receive from the publishing platforms we work with, and does NOT take into account the additional traffic generated by our social media and daily web news, or indeed the many thousands of you that dip into our FREE BACK ISSUES every day, month, and year!
And across the board, the airsoft industry is experiencing unparalleled growth, and with increased competition airsoft brands are seeking to connect with all of us directly and in all ways they are all looking for the same thing, for us to embrace what they offer. One way to filter this torrent of information is to have an impartial, unbiased and trusted third party voice that provides content across a multitude of mediums, and Airsoft Action is already delivering this, with plans to increase our digital footprint even further.
You can never stand still right, in life or in-game? We’ve been asked if we will be “doing video” and we’re pleased to report that this is something that we’ll be kicking off with in the New Year with a new kind of reporting for us as we start to create our own shorts both at home and abroad, and link up for bigger reviews and events in a collaboration with our old and trusted friend Neil at RACKNLOAD! Some of you may follow him already for his excellent airgun and firearm content, and in partnership with Airsoft Action this will be extended further into airsoft territory.
MOA has come and gone and showed us many exciting new airsoft directions, and there’ll be an in-depth report on this in the first AA of 2023! We’ll be covering SHOT SHOW ’23 too, as well as heading on out to Germany for IWA ’23 so you can rest assured that we’ll have all the very latest to report on as we move into the next twelve months.
None of this of course would be possible without strong and trusted relationships, and we’d like to express our sincere thanks to all of our airsoft industry partners who have supported us SO well again this year; your support and friendship is very highly valued and we look forward to working closely with you all going forward.
For now though, all of us at Airsoft Action would like to wish all of you you around the big wide world of airsoft a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS if you celebrate it, or just HAPPY HOLIDAYS if you don’t! AAHQ will be shut from 21st December until the New Year, but rest assured we’re already working on Issue 145 for January when we’ll strive to peel back even more of those “onion layers” as we continue to offer you, our fellow airsofters, the very best unbiased, insightful and entertaining coverage and content that we possibly can.
