Insensible postings.

maybe you should pin this since it has travelled quite far down the list already and it's important

 

I think you should post some examples what you find unacceptable. Otherwise, how would we know? Except in academic journals and print-forums, I can't think of many examples where everyone is always on topic with every comment. And then let's consider in the internet factor! So i think the rule of only adding comments that directly and completely pertain to the topic is unduly restrictive. I agree that posts should stay relavant for the most part so examples would be good.

 

I whole heartedly agree with Kwun. When I first joined the forum last year I was quite impressed with the quality and substance of the average post. This forum was a pot of gold of information and a melting pot of enthusiasts from around the globe. Nowadays I hardly even bother to read any of the threads because I find myself having to weed through so many irrelevant and/or illogical posts. Many posts are evident that some don't even bother to read preceding posts. I've also had many discussions in the past couple months with fellow members regarding this very problem. They too agree that there is a problem with this. As for the post count, I vote to have it turned off or at least have it invisible to everyone except admin. The post count seems to serve no purpose other than to promote quantity over quality.

 

I highly doubt people post for the sake of increasing some number.

 

Re: Re: Insensible postings.

If you go over the threads over the past month, I think you'll find Kwun is referring to a small number of members that have been going beyond reason and not the average member. Posting examples would be publicly centering out members which I'm sure he doesn't want to do. After reading through this thread they might know who they are anyway. Deleting posts and handing out warnings (or however he decides to handle this) would hopefully get the message across without public humiliation.

 

I second that, however, I think I contribute to some of the junk replies. Sometimes u jus cant resist replyin sth even tho u kno iz gonna be dead stupid

 

Re: Re: Re: Insensible postings.

I mean examples of what not to do rather than a direct quote of what was said.

For example, is saying just "I agree." considered a useless post? On the one hand it shows support for a view that might be under attack by others, on the other hand it doesn't add substantively to that argument. But what if the original poster already used all the substantive arguments to supports his or her view? Is the people who belive the same supposed to remain silent?

Also, compare "I agree." with "I agree!!!! "
would you allow one but not the other? I think most people's gut reaction is to allow the first but not the latter if the choice is a close one. But surely a rely doesn't change from useful to useless by merely adding extra quotating marks and a smilie, even if that does make the reply more childish. This is a "family" forum afterall, and there's bound to be some youngsters posting. Why should we force everyone to use the same diction?

I don't think the main problem is with useless posts. The problem is with threads by people who do not search, and thus end up asking something that was already asked the day before or even a few threads down.

 

Hmmm... if the administrator and the moderators say there is a specific problem, I'd be inclined to just accept that as fact. I don't think I'd be too far off by thinking they read through more posts than any other member, and not only for the content, but also viewing it from the perspective of it's contribution to the forum.

BRL, I think you're reading a little too much into this . If you're not one of the culprits then you have nothing to worry about and nor are your (or anyone elses) posts in any danger of deletion.

Like I said, I'm sure the members in question know who they are, and if not, I'm sure they will soon enough .

 

A fact is that the noise ratio in BF has increased, and we have decided to try to do something about it.

The first step is to ask the members to think twice before hitting that "submit" button. There's really no need to clarify that further, is there?

 

I agree with kwun's approach.

I think it's really down to the members themselves to "behave". Once reply, just try to be informative, provide reasons, facts before either agree or disagree. If an answer of just "good" or "bad", seems really makes non sense.

As BRL stated, "I agree" surely shows some support for the previous posters, but if we can simply add a sentense or two, by say, talking about my own experience, etc, it will make the reply be more reasonable and useful.

I don't think post up examples will be good. If I ever had a post similar to that, I will surely feel hurt. To me, I think just once a while, making something off topic, or a 1 or 2 sentense joke is ok, but if this happens more often, say, half of the posts are nonsenese, that really become unacceptable.

I don't think kwun is really targetting any particular ppl here. He did not really force every post must be written in a professional way. With different background (expert, pro vs rookie, newbie, young ppl, etc), and writing skills, I think it's ok that a statement is not very well written. However, as long as the poster tries to provide some good information, it's ok. On the other hand, just one or two word of repeating the same topic without explaination is the one we are pointing at.

Also, I agree with BRL's point of "post without search". Well, that's why some members were trying to povide links (search result) for the newbies, instead of bring up the same discussion over and over again. For ppl who received this kinda reply, I think it's ok to make a mistake once a while, but if keep taking advantage due to laziness, well, don't be surprise that ppl will pick on u.

Another suggestion, some common words might not be very easy to search (say, "string" will bring up 2000 threads). However, if u can put a little bit more specific description in serach, or, just read the first 2,3 pages of threads, we can cut the "dupe threads" by huge amount.

 

Please don't turn them off. I've been using them to judge whether I should trust a seller from the "Market Place", unless you create a sticky thread where we can post our feedback about sellers/buyers.

I know I could also use a search for a user name to get an estimate of the post count of that user, but it'd be a hassle.

 

I feel that people with a lot of posts carry the distinction of being a regular on this forum...developed a rapport with other frequent BF posters. Those with a lot of posts also seem as though they have a lot of information and insight in the world of badminton. In the end, that person may not be trustworthy, but you still have a sense of security when dealing with that person.

To stick with this thread, I think irrelevant posts should be limited as well but as mentioned before, relevancy will need to be determined...

Good judgment is the only way to go on this one...by the poster and by Kwun if he decides to delete the post.

As for deleting the number of posts...I kinda like seeing how many posts I've done...let's me know that I am actively participating in this forum. I rarely see this much activity in any forum.

 

i somewhat i agreed with the moderators. Let try to post within topic and not lure into casual conversation, we have PM for those

 

Like I stated above, sometimes, a lot of things could be very hard to be judged. It's more down to the users to "draw the line". Ppl's standard are different, but we can't use this as an excuse to stay away from the fact of "un-necessary posts". Obvious "waste" should be limited as a minium.

Post to be deleted could be harsh to someone. However, if the public / majority set a rule, i strongly ecourage ppl to follow/obey. It's not easy to eastablish a nice community, and even harder to keep it. If everyone just raise their standard a little bit more, and be aware of "unnecessary traffic", I can only see a positive improvement in the future.

 

remember the sense of a forum

If we physically were at a conference, each of the topics would have members sitting in a room listening and discussing the topic real time. A moderator is there to initiate then direct the topic accordingly. If it goes of track, members start to wander or get into arguments or becomes abusive or profane, the moderator steps in and gets it back on track or shuts it down.

In some workshops, the moderator is the person who started the thread and is given some leverage to request the thread to stop if it gets out of hand or totally off topic. Is that a possible way to reduce traffic and banter?

If there is no moderator constantly sitting in, then rules of engagement are needed so that members can guide themselves accordingly. We do have a sense for what is appropriate language, sense of good judgement. But we will need an idea of what is expected from the moderator as to what is acceptable and what is not.

Can you write down a set of expected behaviour or code of conduct you would like to see from members?

 

Well ... it's one of the factors to help with the decision and there are always risks of buying things from strangers via Internet. That's why a feedback system like eBay's would be very helpful.

I think I'd trust a seller X with, say, 1000 posts than one with only, say, 3 posts (no offense to those with only 1-3 posts You're new and it takes time to make yourself "visible" to the community). X is obviously addicted to the forum and I don't think he/she would risk being kicked out by scamming people here

 

Tammy,

I dont think vbulletin (software used by badminton forum) could support those type of feedback ...

and to customize the software will take a lot of times and you cant enjoy the free upgrade of the based software.

The only visible thing that I could find is to ban those who are repeat offenders or repeating posting unrelevant materials ... may be for 1 day - 3 days and up to 1 month. This is what happened in webhostingtalk.com

 

What about setting up a new forum for ppl with silly topics, novice questions or who don't want to do a search? Threads will be deleted automatically if no new post shows up in a month or two. Thread starters decide that if the thread will contain materials with reference qualities and post it in the right forum. Moderators can also move those stupid threads into this forum instead of deleting it. Maybe, thread starters in the regular forum will have less excuses for not doing a search first!