BATMANThe clientele in the diner has changed a lot over the years and there have been some interesting people in there. I use to exchange PMs with several of them in years gone by. The numbers have dwindled to almost nothing,
Could be that they didn't like what was on the menu, or starved to death on the imaginary food.
@Greg, I'm on both forums. Yes, there are many posts on here and the other one that can have many replies. I'm usually on them in the morning and evening, unless I'm sitting at my desk doing other things, then I'll peek again.
For the most part I'll read the threads that I have an interest in or something that is different. As long as the people reply stay on topic, I'll keep reading. However, when it goes off topic or people talk about 'other things', then I'll stop reading.
Since the owners of the forum have made it more difficult to communicate amongst the members, I think that's where some of the 'socializing' comes out in the forums.
Now I will say I've been guilty of this, and it's when Amhearst Train Show in January gets close. Then I ask who is going and tell them if they have time to stop by where I will be for the show. No naming of the booth, just the location, so the moderators can't say I'm advertising.
@Kevin, I agree that we not only need new modelers on the forum, but we need to let these people ask their questions even if someone asked about it years ago. In addition, I think we need to stop telling these people their first couple posts are being moderated. That's the moderators job, and those who make that comment, IMO make them feel superior to the ones posting a question. We don't know if the poster is a true newbie and a youngster, or a seasoned modeler joining the forum so he can learn more.
Many people who are not computer literate finally join the forums for many reasons. They probably still have a flip phone for a cell phone. Whatever they are, they are now here. Let's not scare them off from the beginning.
So let's hear from those beginners or new folks with your thoughts and questions. That's what we're here for, right?
Neal
SeeYou190 AEP528 I can't be the only person who has noticed that the longest posts on this forum, and the ones with the most personal information, are from people who proudly state they've moved far away from urban areas and value their isolation. Yes. I have wondered often if these posters are actually just trying to convince themselves of something rather than have an audience for their thoughts. What good is having it all if no one sees it... I know... I'll talk about it over and over on a choo-choo forum.
AEP528 I can't be the only person who has noticed that the longest posts on this forum, and the ones with the most personal information, are from people who proudly state they've moved far away from urban areas and value their isolation.
Yes. I have wondered often if these posters are actually just trying to convince themselves of something rather than have an audience for their thoughts.
What good is having it all if no one sees it... I know... I'll talk about it over and over on a choo-choo forum.
This sounds like a couple of schoolgirls out on the playground gossiping about who is saying what. When I joined the forum 17 years ago the diner was a thriving place where you went to talk about your day. Now I see that people have opinions on what is being said and rather than not read it, complain about it. The clientele in the diner has changed a lot over the years and there have been some interesting people in there. I use to exchange PMs with several of them in years gone by. The numbers have dwindled to almost nothing, maybe it is because all of a sudden they are being judged on what they say.
York1 AEP528 I can't be the only person who has noticed that the longest posts on this forum, and the ones with the most personal information, are from people who proudly state they've moved far away from urban areas and value their isolation. That may, in part, refer to me. I moved from an inner city to a rural area. However, my reason was my three daughters, who were going into high school. I actually have more close personal friends in this rural area than I did in the large city.
That may, in part, refer to me. I moved from an inner city to a rural area. However, my reason was my three daughters, who were going into high school.
I actually have more close personal friends in this rural area than I did in the large city.
They are probably referring to me John....or both of us. You keep on posting and I'll keep on reading about your day(s) Though for how long I am not sure, the last thing I want to do is add stress to someone's life by seemingly making them read things they are free not to read.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
One of the reasons I joined the forum was; I was a DCC newbie, in fact I hadn't decided on DCC for sure. Since I participate in the Diner, I have to admit it's a social experience there. I have no interest in posts about favorite train movies, TV or songs. Maybe there should be an off topic subforum.
I belong to a couple of forums on groups.io and I am surprised when a newbie asks a really basic MR Question, but OT to the group, that people will rush to shout OT when a simple answer would help the OP.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
AEP528I can't be the only person who has noticed that the longest posts on this forum, and the ones with the most personal information, are from people who proudly state they've moved far away from urban areas and value their isolation.
York1 John
tstageI've seen a trend more towards entertainment and away from interesting or helpful threads. That's not to say that aren't interesting or helpful topics being posted here.
We need new blood and beginners.
When I started in here, about once ever two months some newbie would post a question about kadee couplers. The first few responses were always like "here we go again", or "why can't you use the search function".
We need to be more careful about responses to newbie posts. Just welcome them and answer the question. Don't suggest they are doing it all wrong, suggest something beyond their skills, or give them a too technical answer.
New people get the intersting discussions going.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
We had some of these discussions regarding the 'policies and procedures' for the old steam_tech egroup, before Melissa came along and ruined things.
Kurt Greske, a self-proclaimed 'curmudgeon', noted the approach taken by the Ampex (tape-recorder) enthusiasts: their list was wild and free-wheeling, 'moderated' only by the self-control of its participants. This worked admirably in the early days of BBS and reflectors, where the only participants were people in 'the confraternity'... and adult enough both to engage in humor and deal with those who abused the privilege.
We also consciously decided to preserve 'free speech' in posting, but also accommodate the (many) participants interested only in hard steam technology and disinterested in off-topic discussion even of associated railroading -- and in the olden days might be on dial-up connections unable to deal with people who didn't snip their posts correctly. We dealt with this by convention -- in the subject line we put OT for off-topic subjects, and YAK for material not related either to steam technology or railroading. This was a compromise, but to me infinitely preferable to, say, Ben Hom's PRR list, or the current B&O discussion group, where any off-topic thread is remorselessly deleted as soon as the eagle-eyed dictators spot it, usually with a caustic comment that it strayed outside the pale (note that this included, for PRR, any discussion of Penn Central as being 'off-topic'...)
You cannot rely on that today. Something that goes unremarked is the number of spam or insincere postings that the Kalmbach moderation has to deal with each day. We had to use mandatory initial moderation since there were a few people who actually researched steam enough to make a few credible posts before hitting the spam. We also had quite a community of sweet young things from Cebu City in the Phillipines that I suspected were far less interested in the technology of locomotives than other things. Deciding what to keep and what to ban involves -- and ought to involve -- careful herding of the cats who are active participants as well as 'lurkers'.
We did not have a Mike on steam_tech, like one of those 'edgy' people recently mentioned in connection with a certain high-priced cab ride auction, although we certainly had a bunch of Europeans with poor opinions on American steam practice and other things. It's a difficult thing to balance freedom of expression with things that some users find extremely distracting if not inflammatory. Different communities will handle that in different ways... or neglect it as expedient.
I certainly think that over the years the Kalmbach forum system has been very successful in weeding out a fairly wide range of participants. In fact one moderator, who shall remain nameless, actually managed to get me to quit posting for a few years, and I wonder how many others just left and gave up.
gregci wonder if some forums are more for entertainment than information.
Greg,
I think in the nearly 20 years that I've belonged to this forum, I've seen a trend more towards entertainment and away from interesting or helpful threads. That's not to say that aren't interesting or helpful topics being posted here. I just don't see nearly as many of them as I used to, which is sad from my perspective.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I can't be the only person who has noticed that the longest posts on this forum, and the ones with the most personal information, are from people who proudly state they've moved far away from urban areas and value their isolation.
ever since i started looking at forums, i thought it would be interesting to read what a psychologist thought about them. each seems to have it's own characteristics. fortunately, they've found ways to prevent/discourage abusing and even inconsiderate posters.
but i see different cultures on MR forums i watch in terms of # of posts and relavence to the thread topic, as well as other, more techinical forums (e.g. Arduino Programming Questions)
what i find surprising is the large # of comments on a typical MRH thread. i checked recently and found the average # post/thread to be 73 and not uncommon to see 200+ while threads describing someone's particular RR, started years ago have far greater comments (e.g. 800+)
i am reluctant to read a lengthy 100+ post thread which may be on a topic of interest, searching to find useful nuggets of information and gotta wonder about their value. i wonder if some forums are more for entertainment than information.
i realize for some, a forum is a community and an outlet for social interaction and valuable to avoid isolation highlighted recently by the Surgeon General. perhaps this forum's monthly "Diner" thread is a useful way to keep thread's focused on the topic
but like magazines, i wonder if the popularity of a forum more about the social interaction and culture than the topic of the forum
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading