Declining Interest in Web Forums – Part II. What to Do About it?
I read CNJ831’s post: Declining Interest in Web Forums along with the numerous responses and have been thinking about the issues raised. In picking through the responses, including my own, I believe this is a reasonable summary of the possible reasons / reactions given (in no particular order):
– Rudeness / Snippiness(Yes, it is a word! Look it up!)
People should be more civilized. (Yeah, we’ll get right on that! [:P])
Too many “Know-it-alls” (who don’t)
“My way or the Highway” mentality
Reaction to “Snippiness”, Sharp, or Direct (Blunt) Comments
– Search Issues / Information Availability(Did you try SEARCHING for it first !?!?)
– “One-Time Problem”(One Post, One Answer, Hasta La Vista Baby!)
– Boredom / Redundancy(Boy, I wish I had a nickel for every time this question was raised…)
Give me a day or two to read/digest your post and see if I have anything of remote importance to add/subtract/divide/multiply that will amount ot a hill of beans to this post!
It took me three days to formulate what I wanted to say on the OP preceeding this one.
You have several valid points,and I am sure I have one or two to profer here,as will others.
We can analyze this to death but:
there will still be know-nothing novices
there will still be “everything” {I know best] know-it all eperienced
there will be the young and old
there will be those who used to “play with trains” as a kid now 20-30 yrs later returning to a whole new ball of wax
I am sure I could have more to say. but for now…can’t we all just get along and enjoy what we enjoy about the forum and forgive the rest?
How to make it better…?
Well I mentioned one thing that you seem to have mentioned also…a "FAQ"s section- “frequently asked questions” section that may allow the newbies to search for answers
Give me more time I may have more to say on “UPgrading” {making it better} the forum…if only the moderators and the bosses would look at. I’m interested to see what others say!
If “google it” solved all our problems, then there would be no reason for this or other forums to exist. I admit to finding lots of things on google and finding the right things, but how secure/safe/acurate is the info? “GIGO” Garbage In Garbage Out.
Actually its amusing because right after I finished this one I went back to see if there were any new responses to the previous one and saw your post and was thinking “Dang! He said what I said!” [:D] We must have been busy posting at the same time-- you know what they say about great minds being alike and all that? …Okay. Well, forget that part. They were probably only joking anyway.
[(-D]
And I’m definitely not trying to knock the site in any way shape or form-- in fact I like it here very much and my only thought is “So now that everything is out there on the table, what can we do to improve it and make it better for everybody?”
you know , i have mostly given up on asking anything, mostly i get some wisenhymeer who tells me what a dummy i am or i no reponses. now if posted , Did you hide any easter eggs on your layout . well people would respond , and thats totally ok, just saying when i need some info , this forum is not the best way to go…
Aw, easter eggs on the layout are one thing, but don’t give up on this forum. THere is a wealth of info here and a ton of experience. It’s all about how one chooses to express answers to legit questions. and forget the rest.
Even the “older wiser” patrons have been known to post a “duh” question, or get “DUH” ansers to their problems. Take the good answers as gold, and blow off the rest.
By the way you could have “googled this”*…lol only joking!
Glory, finaly some who not only sees the problem but actually gives suggestions on how to resolve them. I was about to reply to the other Post myself but you seem yo have hit all the issues and your suggestions are on the mark.
If your kid had a question would you send them to the Net to “look it up”?. No, we need to guide the Newbeis like they were our kids or how we would like our kids guided.
If someone is rude to you do you just take it? No, you give you side or simply walk away. ( Don’t answer the Post!)
Yes this may all sound like Pleasentville, but if we don’t tak the time to do it the Hobby may be at a perile.
John,I think for a basic modeling forum we do well.
My thoughts-oh,oh.[swg]
Rudeness / Snippiness
Sorry,but,I have notice this on several forums.Its up to the moderators to draw a line and take action when that line is cross.
Too many “Know-it-alls” (who don’t)
Ah yes the forum experts and experts wannabes you find 'em on every forum…Some actually make sense.
“My way or the Highway” mentality.
What can I say? Some just believe they have the best answers to a simple hobby.
Reaction to “Snippiness”, Sharp, or Direct (Blunt) Comments
The printed word can be misinterpreted and such issues should be left in the hands of the moderators.It would be best to report a reply and let the mods make a decision and they must remember where there is no rule infraction there is no foul…
“Economic Issues”
I think the current economy gets blame for everything from the JFK assassination to the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald and beyond…I just don’t see that locally and we have 15% unemployment.Every time I go shopping in Marion or Mansfield the stores are crowded…Folks are still buying,planing vacations,going fishing etc.I think there is a lot of media hype.
Apart from encouraging all who enter to be active, and not just in reading or responding, but to providing private, and if absolutely necessary, public, feedback when others’ behaviours impact apparently negatively on the forum, I don’t see that much should change. By the way, positive feedback ought always to be welcomed, too. Some members are exceptional at helping.
This is like a buffet, and the buffet contains what is placed out for consumption. Part of that is provided by the flavour of our Hosts and their Magazine, but each of us brings ‘something’. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Leave question or an observation/tip, or take one of those. Same for opinions, which in this hobby are multiplied with a factor of n to the n-1 (means 'like, forever…" in mathematical terms).
It’s a public access forum, and the public paints the place with the palette that appeals most to them. When that runs at odds with the ideal our Hosts provide in the rules, we mods do what we can, and when we run across them or are apprised of them. People rub each other the wrong way, and it sometimes comes across in sharp and hurtful words.
The magazine is for beginners mostly, so it should not come as a surprise that we see so many ‘basic’ questions. With some patience and good will all around, they will continue to appear and be answered. Then, as many of us do, we find a place that is a better match for our current ‘maturity’ in the hobby when we feel the disparity is sufficiently great that we should move on. I am not there yet, although I have a commitment in other ways. Thankfully, we have many long-timers who are like comfortable old uncles who have bags of experience to share, and they do it consistently and with good humour and wisdom.
Kudos to those who keep giving and taking less as time goes on.
yeah i know , maybe we need two general forums , one for techincal info and one for just shooting the breeze… as with the rest of the world there are real people and there are those caught up in themselfs… (nice phrase for jerks)… opps , spelled themselves wrong…
It seems to me that most of the reasons given have been true for quite awhile. I think we need a longer time period to see if there really is a drop off or just normal fluctuation.
But I do agree that we could all work at being more polite/respectful with others, have more patience with the new folks, have more tolerance, take offense less easily, etc.
A big forum draw is well illustrated posts showing the construction of something, rolling stock, structures, bench work, back drops, control panels, trees, mountains, whatever. All it takes is a point&shoot and considerable time. A post as informative and as well illustrated as a magazine article isn’t beyond the capabilities of some of us. So this is a plea to all of us to take the time and effort to post more illustrated “how to” posts.
Another plea. Try the search feature before asking a question. There are a lot of really good posts on nearly everything and search often brings them up. Instant gratification.
Search works of the title of the posts (I think). Titles like “Newbie needs help” don’t improve the search results much. Could it become possible, or is it possible now, to edit the titles of a post to something more informative. Could one edit a title without giving offense to the original poster?
Finally a FAQ would be wonderful if someone had the time and energy to create and maintain one. Perhaps an auto FAQ builder feature? Allow us readers to mark posts worthy of inclusion in the FAQ, and when a post accumulates say 35 votes, it goes into the FAQ?
Actually, it’s because members are “reactive in denouncing anti-social behavior when they spot it” that enables bad behavior to continue and often spins a topic into a tit-for-tat exchange and then lock down.
I would suggest the opposite approach. Ignore bad behavior. Don’t reply to it. Trouble makers love the attention, so don’t give it to them. Instead, hit the “report abuse” button and bring it to the attention of the moderators. Let them handle the situation. It’s their job.
"Reaction to “Snippiness”, Sharp, or Direct (Blunt) Comments "
I actually think we need to be more blunt on here. Too often somebody posts a pic of something…“sub par” to put it mildly and people respond with “nice job” and “that looks great”. No it doesn’t. It looks like crap and you know it. If you don’t want to be blunt or honest, then don’t post. Some of the people posting these remind me of my reaction to my daughter when she brought home a sculpture from Kindergarten and I had to pretend I knew what it was just to not hurt her feelings. I’m still not sure what it was, either a horse or an ash tray.[%-)]
I also think the forum should allow profanity. Nothing livens up a MR converstion like a few Fbombs thrown in there. Just a thought.[:D]
Dstarr, I am with John about our search engine, it could suck rust off steel rails!
First thing it is hard to find!
Second, I used it last week. I wanted to look up some links to dirt roads. It pulled up something like 60 pages. Any topic that either had Dirt or Roads in the posting. Not just Dirt Roads. No wonder we see the same questions asked over and over.
Far as new people, I do like the one time posters. I like to see if we had the right answer to there problem. But, I like helping new people! It is my favorite part of the site. I will all so take the less than purest approach when it called for if conventional things do not work.
Far as the trolls, I don’t think that is why the postings are down. Does not help, but a troll or 2 will not stop most people.
Slow economy might. Lets faces it, this is not a cheap hobby. (cheaper than my last one) But, it could be stopping new people from starting or going past there first starter set. With the Athearn BB kits being a thing of the past, a new car is $11.00 to $19.00? Sure slowed me down in buying.
FAQ sections are a very good idea. However even though just about everything I have learned on this journey back into this hobby in the last five years has come off this forum. I didn’t and don’t need to post questions about a lot of things I wanted answers or suggestions for. I did it because I wanted the interaction with fellow modelers. “Chit Chatting” back and fourth is like being at a club meeting. Sure we discuss the same old things over and over. However I can sit here with my glass or two of “fine white” yak a bit, enjoy myself immensely and the drive home is just the right distance. Once or twice I have hit the high posters for the day column just talking on one thread.
In short, if you want interaction read and post. If you don’t “search”
I am one of those newbies that needs help, and if I didn’t get help from this forum, I would be completely lost with my new layout.
Sure I recieved some “constructive critisism” but I understand that when you experienced guys tell me I did something wrong and need to re-think my plans, I know it’s for my own good, to keep me interested in the hobby.
Just have to weed out the rude people, which I do, and focus on the guys who are very friendly and give me detailed information.
We newbies need hand holding, yes indeed, but now all the information, help, suggestions, etc. from these forums over the last 4 months, I feel I have grown immensley, and my interest in the hobby has grown ten fold. Heck, I have even started answering other newbies questions!
But I just think the main reason why interest is down is because of spring time. After a long cold winter people just want to get out of the house.
New to the forums in the sense that I never signed up for a profile. I have been what you would call a lurker. I have been doing this off and on for a few years now. I never signed up for a profile. I just wanted to come to the forums to read and look at pictures.
I have loved trains for as long as I can remember. I am sure my grandfather working for the Pennsylvania Railroad (I believe) had a lot to do with it.
So far the only layout (I use the word layout very loosely) I ever had was the track that came with the set I received and cardboard boxes I drew windows and doors on. For those who live in the mid west, one of my “buildings” was a box that “White Castle” used to come in that looked like the restaurant! My cars where “Hot Wheels”!
I am a beginner in every sense of the word. I am at a point in my life where I finally have some space and some extra money to finally start building my first real layout. My wife has been very supportive of this in fact she bought my first subscription to MR for my birthday! I plan on building an around the wall layout. I plan on building it in 2 foot by 4 foot sections. Large enough to get a start and small enough to stay out of trouble.
Just last week I got some scrap pieces of poster board, some of the old brass track I had and ballasted for the first time ever. Was it as good as what I have seen at Train Shows or in the pages of MR? Of course not but considering I had never done it before, I thought it was pretty decent. I have done a few more test tracks and each time I have gotten a little better at it.
As you can see and I freely admit I am very much a beginner. There are two reasons I never posted before.
1 The feeling that beginners are tolerated but not really welcome here, which I have got that impression a few times.
2 Intimidation. When you are new at something and you see the really great work that some people have posted pictures of you are understandably hesita
Big Red, I thank you for your important message. You have said volumes. It will mean a lot to many people, I hope, and encourage them to post away, even if they get some cold shoulders. It’s just the way the world turns. Take what you can get, go use it to advantage, learn your own way ahead, and then please come back and share your experiences. Most of us find tricks and new ways of doing things that are worth sharing.
But do, please, feel welcome and someone with as much value as any other poster, no matter how many posts in his/her count, or how good the photos may be. None of us was born with a spoon in his mouth or with a DCC system hooked up. I have never wired a selector, but it is my user-name. I couldn’t point one out to you in a line-up of six electronic gadgets. [(-D]
Thanks so much for taking the time to register and post. I would love to see you develop a profile over the next few months.
Big Red! Welcome to the forum officially! [#welcome][#welcome][#welcome] I know you will find the great majority of us eager to help you on your journey.
May I be the first to say come over and join us for lunch in the diner. Feel free to chat and share with us what you are now doing in the hobby!
I gotta admit, I haven’t used the search function enough to know it well. It shows up on the main page, perhaps not prominent enough, but at least it isn’t buried deep inside menus. It SHOULD allow dirt AND road to get a hit on anything with both words in it. Dirt OR road should get a hit on one or the other, and “dirt road” only gets a hit on the exact match. I don’t know if this works right or not.
The thing is, after you have entered an eloquent post on some-thing-or-other, you lack the energy to re enter eloquent post a few weeks later when the same question is posed again. I suppose the proper answer is for us eloquent posters to do the search and pass a link to the eloquent post as a reply.
