Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
#13363 12/19/00 05:59 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
J
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
J
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
Yes, this has been discussed earlier, but the volume of posts on this board each day is becoming a serious problem. I've greatly enjoyed my six months of membership here, and I currently have no intentions of leaving, but the fact that there are upwards of 150 posts per day is scary. The majority of the content is interesting, it's unacceptable when it takes two hours to sift through all the posts. Yesterday, I was practically skimming all the posts and it took quite a long time. The ability to read at lightning speed and instantly grok everything written shouldn't be a prerequisite for enjoying the board.

Thusly, I have come up with a few recommended guidelines that I consider more than fair.

1. Please try to keep yourself to one major post per day. Other minor posts can be made, but use temperance. I don't want to point people out, but a certain upper-case citizen from the land of small, flightless birds has recently made 33 posts in a 24-hour period, the majority of which were quite long. Far be it from me to chide anyone, but I find this a little excessive.

2. Brevity is the soul of wit. Be concise and don't use circumlocution. I've noticed that it's mainly newer members who make the long posts, where those who have been around a bit longer (Tsuwm, Jackie, Anna, myself) tend to keep our posts short.

3. Don't dig up ancient, dead threads. Yes, it's sometimes nice to see what people have said in the past, but if the thread is obviously dormant, take extreme caution when deciding to post to it. The main problem with bringing up an old thread is that for anyone to understand what in the world you're talking about, they have to read through the whole thread, thus adding quite a bit more to what one has to read. If you want to talk about the issue again, be kind and just start a new thread. If you want to back up what you're saying, provide a link to the other thread or summarize it.

I would like to see the opinions of other experienced members on this subject. I don't want to sound mean, but I think we all agree that this is becoming a major problem. This will be my only long post of the day, thank you.


#13364 12/19/00 07:25 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Jazz, while I admit to feeling daunted by the number of new -- and, yes, from what I have seen so far, many lengthy -- posts that arrived during this past week when I was away from the board, I don't view its growth as a serious problem. My feeling is you can't place constraints on the product of what is inherently an anarchic means of communication (just ask AlGorethm - he invented it ). If we don't want to spend hours reading through, then I guess we just have to pick and choose what to read and be glad this place even exists.




#13365 12/19/00 07:55 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Jazz, I agree entirely. I will do my bit for collective sanity by removing for the next fortnight, and will try to follow your points which I agree is the only way for this to stay a viable conversation.


#13366 12/19/00 08:39 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
I am not sure that there is anything to be done about the volume of posts on the board. The more people join, the more posts we will get in a day. I know there are some people who have the opportunity of logging on during the day, so too many posts to you or me, might not be too many for someone else.

If you find that you are overloaded, maybe you should stick to one or two forums, like Q&A and Wordplay. This time of the year is REALLY busy for me so I generally skip Info&announcements and catch up to it on weekends.

I do not feel right about censoring anybody. We enjoy a pretty open forum, turning a subject that can be dry and pedantic into something enjoyable. Plus, I think the board is set up to be like a conversation and as such it can veer in many different directions. It is what makes this Board vibrant and interesting.

If we designate a forum, say Q&A as a "straight to the point / no fooling around" forum, this will only be apparent to the existing members. Any new member will not be aware of this decision.

You are right, in their enthusiasm, new members tend to do things that make the threads longer. Like feel the need to post in EVERY thread, under EACH sub-topic submitted since its inception, or reprint the post they are answering in its entirety, or bring up dead threads. It does make the read longer, but everybody settles down after a while. Everybody is faced with the same quantity of posts to read so the new members learn the ropes rather quickly. I think we should have a little patience with these people…we were new too.



#13367 12/20/00 08:16 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Jazz,

Believe me, yesterday was exceptional. And probably won't be repeated.

Not guilty of your point 3.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#13368 12/20/00 09:51 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
... before, as you know, JazzO.

My opinion, for what it's worth - this place is open to all to do pretty much as they please - nobody forces anybody else to read all the posts. I don't care who posts how much or what (though I might object to personal criticisms of anybody, since I believe this forum has managed to avoid that superbly so far).

So this is the one place where I am, contrary to my liberal leanings, in favour of laissez faire

cheer

the sunshine warrior


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Glad to see I'm not to be labelled as the only disciplinarian any more.

I did see a reference to summarising previous posts. I think it’s a good idea to provide a way in to one's post, but swiping thorough a whole previous post and dumping it at the beginning is a bit excessive. Even if I am sometimes guilty of this, I will try to avoid it.

On the subject of long posts, I have just had a very interesting couple of hours trying to catch up. There were some exceptionally interesting longer posts, so I'm not complaining. I’m just glad to see that there are a few people in the world with something interesting to say. I love ya all!


#13370 12/20/00 03:58 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
R
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
R
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
"There are no problems - only challenges and solutions"

No idea what the solution is to this problem - but I have a definite sense of deja vue (should that be without an "e" at the end - it looks a little strange either way - serve me right for being pretentious!) Didn't we shred mav just a little bit for being prescriptive, a couple of months ago? I have to say that I agree with AnnaS on this one. My fear is that if we try to stop the flow a bit then it might dry up altogether, which would be disastrous. Not to be even considered!

I guess I've missed quite a lot over this past three weeks when I've not had the time. Even so, I manage to look at a couple of threads most days and even put in the occasional assinine remark.
Aesop's philosphy is helpful, here - "What can't be cured must be endured."


#13371 12/20/00 04:51 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
just an addendum on rule 3; I think NicholasW has shown us the way with his reference to the previous 'begging the question' thread. metameta now has the option to LIU, if he is so inclined.


#13372 12/21/00 01:09 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
W
wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Dear Jazz,
I did all that stuf when I joined and it was because I was so kindly recieved in spite of my fumblings that I knew this was the board for me. You are young and have many demands on your time. I am old and retired and still I have many demands on my time but I'd rather spend three hours in an evening or early morning reading this board than watching re-runs on TV! But I will try to remember your suggestions.
wow


Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5