The reason for the decline in forum membership - anyone?
- Thread starter Quantum Quack
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Yes.
Frequently found in the heaps of the rubble after the accident too.
R1D2......smarten up. Dead posters are only good for one post. Obituary.
Maybe that's what has happened to some of the former posters?
Natural selection?
A little trick that comes in handy sometimes. Click on a forum. The next page lists the threads in that forum. At the top of this page you will see Replies/Views. Click on Replies. Then go down and click on the reply number for any thread. A pop-up window will appear listing all who have posted in that thread and how many times.
Interesting concept.
Deleting entire posts of off-topic nonsense would be a good option but not messing with anyone else's content.
It might work, if people realized that if they respond to the nonsense that their post would also likely get axed to retain continuity of thread and topic. :shrug:
Deleting entire posts of off-topic nonsense would be a good option but not messing with anyone else's content.
It might work, if people realized that if they respond to the nonsense that their post would also likely get axed to retain continuity of thread and topic. :shrug:
Expanding on the above. Click on a member's number of posts and all of their posts in that thread will load.
I tend to feel that if moderators just simply and with out fuss moved posts that even seemed to be off topic to a holding area the issue will very quickly become very minor as those that post humorous one liners and those that posts esteem attacks will have to realise that it is futile doing so as those posts will with out any major judgements by the moderator get moved.
It is important that the moderator starts his/her actions with something like:
"For the greater good of the sciforums community this post has been moved to a holding area where justification for it's reinstatement is asked for."
to avoid humiliating the poster into becoming an attacker.
No doubt you will end up initally with a holding area with hundreds of useless posts, that can be automatically deleted after say 30 days but my guess is that very quickly the threads will be running clean of off topic posts by regular members and only see the occassional by newer members as they settle in.
It is important that the moderator starts his/her actions with something like:
"For the greater good of the sciforums community this post has been moved to a holding area where justification for it's reinstatement is asked for."
to avoid humiliating the poster into becoming an attacker.
No doubt you will end up initally with a holding area with hundreds of useless posts, that can be automatically deleted after say 30 days but my guess is that very quickly the threads will be running clean of off topic posts by regular members and only see the occassional by newer members as they settle in.
Unfortunately you run the risk where a thread starter will censor any reasonable opposition to their objectives which in turn lowers the open standard of the forum regarding critical assessment etc.
I was a member of a forum that had all members after 30 days become moderators... it actually worked quite well whilst the forum stayed small and low in numbers but when it became larger serious censorship and bullying became apparent to the extent that the entire board was unworkable and the whole forum died a rather sudden death.
Nop :shrug:
Yes, the only off topic posts will then be by moderators who often post off - topic just like regular members do. Sometimes they do that and then warn regular members not to respond to them. Citation as needed.
Look - threads are like regular conversation, the topic drifts around a lot. The more it drifts the more diverse and interesting the thread is and the more members contribute to it. (example: "Electric Cars are a Pipe Dream" in Science and Technology forum http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?101877-Electric-cars-are-a-pipe-dream) Many of the topics do not have any appeal on their own and those threads would die a quick death without someone picking them up, changing the subject and making them interesting. Just because you start a thread on a web site does not mean that you "own" it or that it should be "under your control". This is the Internet and you must drop your real world notions of propriety and ownership to fully participate in the conversation and get the full enjoyment out of so doing. If you make too many rules, you will drive away a lot of users. Then you can sit here by yourself secure in the knowledge that there is no-one else to jack your thread.
Yes.
Frequently found in the heaps of the rubble after the accident too.
R1D2......smarten up. Dead posters are only good for one post. Obituary.
Maybe that's what has happened to some of the former posters?
Natural selection?
I was joking. I have text an drove before but I knew someone who died doing that. I try to not do that. I will admit to taking some calls now an then.
An it was bad joke, yes. But I was only joking none the less. I have "smartened up".
I understand what you are saying. My thoughts are that if the thread starter uses their option to delete too many posts, they will end up with little or no participation and so the thread would essentially become little more than a blog. On another forum, I have a few threads and there are a couple of posters who are incredibly wide of the topic and frequently, lol. My way of dealing with them is to thank all but totally incomprehensible to me posts and then ask them a question that relates to my topic.
When they get too creative or prolific (none of them are abusive or profane) I just stay away for awhile and my tenure there is of sufficient duration that they take the hint and take a sabbatical from flooding my thread. I have no idea what folks who may be reading the thread think of it's many twists and turns but it remains intermittently active after 17 months and has been viewed 13,563 times. For any who may be interested, here is the link. My forum name there is 'Labelwench'.
http://www.toequest.com/forum/assume-true/5596-thought-energy-form.html
The premise in this sub-forum is 'Presume it to be true' and then discuss. It is a conceptual thread more than a 'hard science' thread yet it wanders between the conceptual and the perceptual depending on who is participating at the time.
Be warned. I was in a time of crisis when I found that first forum and I was a very prolific poster there.
That's good to know.
My 'den mother' instincts surface when I sense danger.
I do apologize for both taking myself too seriously at times and presuming to tell you what to do. It would be a shame to lose you as a participant though, considering the topic of this thread.
At that time, I believe, there was an orchestrated attempt by some moderators and members who had infiltrated sciforums from JREF forums to destroy the popularity of this forum. The posting behaviour and word use was incrediby transparent. But most importantly their strategy to have members banned was effectively standard proceedure at JREF at the time.
They would deliberately bate a poster into breaking the forum rules then report the offending poster to the board moderator. Glaucon I believe was aware of this especially after someone had used his username on a couple of occassions to post comments that would flame the entire board. [false representation of Glaucon]
I believe knowing Glaucon to be a person of extraordinary intellect, integrity and honor was placed in a very difficult and invidious position, one that ultimately left no recourse.
The posters from JREF sought to destroy the popularity of sciforums especially anything that would suggest "freethinking" or "contraversy" to their own belief systems. Destruction of credibility being their main skill learned as part of an "unofficial" and "uncondoned" JREF strategy.
Hard posting evidence to support the above claim is available if seriously required both from JREF and sciforums archives and screen shots taken at the time, but it will take an awful lot of work to dig it all up. [JREF Forum is not beyond being infiltrated either I might add]
The reason I returned to Sciforums after a long absence was because it appeared those extremely malicious behaviours had subsided however some fall out still remains and this is in part why I started this thread. I would hope one day that Glaucon and a few other major contributors may see a way to returning to sciforums and again offer their "brilliance" for the benefit of the community as they did.
If I am able to be proved wrong in the above assessment I apologise with out reseveration...
"Have you ever heard someone use the word "necromancy" in a philosophical context before?" as Glaucon did on one occasssion that I am aware of.
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This is actually a global issue right now that major intellectual property orientated companies are having to deal with. Some companies Incredible market worth in $ is highly attributed to it's ability to analyse the memberships personal and posting data.Stoniphi said:
However what we are really talking about here is the ability for a thread to achieve something of value if at all possible, not only to the originator but to members and the global community as well. The use of forums generally has shifted and their utility for expression has changed as well [last 10 years]. The threads are becoming more seriously focused as a starter due to the fact that networking sites are taking the brunt of the "I wanna chat and flirt" traffic.
But you do have a point and IMO, a very valid one.
Interesting thread .....and site generallyI understand what you are saying. My thoughts are that if the thread starter uses their option to delete too many posts, they will end up with little or no participation and so the thread would essentially become little more than a blog. On another forum, I have a few threads and there are a couple of posters who are incredibly wide of the topic and frequently, lol. My way of dealing with them is to thank all but totally incomprehensible to me posts and then ask them a question that relates to my topic.
When they get too creative or prolific (none of them are abusive or profane) I just stay away for awhile and my tenure there is of sufficient duration that they take the hint and take a sabbatical from flooding my thread. I have no idea what folks who may be reading the thread think of it's many twists and turns but it remains intermittently active after 17 months and has been viewed 13,563 times. For any who may be interested, here is the link. My forum name there is 'Labelwench'.
http://www.toequest.com/forum/assume-true/5596-thought-energy-form.html
The premise in this sub-forum is 'Presume it to be true' and then discuss. It is a conceptual thread more than a 'hard science' thread yet it wanders between the conceptual and the perceptual depending on who is participating at the time.
Be warned. I was in a time of crisis when I found that first forum and I was a very prolific poster there.
Is achieving this "something of value not only to the originator but to members and the global community" even theoretically possible?
Do you have any evidence of it?
Something may be of great value to one person, but be useless to someone else. Then what?
well this thread for example has proved most enlightening for me and no doubt others reading it. Any one doing research on the successful running of forums would find benefit. You never know it might make into an ebook at some stage.
Has it had any benefit for you?
How long do you expect that this enlightenment from participating in this thread will last?
What new actions and new attitudes have you taken on and are committed to keep, inspired by participating in this thread?
That's a rather meagre consolation ...
Not sure about that.
So many discussions of formal issues make the participants feel empowered, make them feel like things are changing for the better - when in fact that empowerment and positive change are not actually taking place, or just barely.
why do you think change is not as you think it should be? What is preventing change from happening?
I am sure you did what you felt was best..
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