Why is Boards so quiet?

Ben Gadot

I don't think boards is a lesser beast because of moderation or politics/left/right/whatever. I joined boards in 2008 and these things existed back then as issues that constantly caused strife. So it's nothing new.

The problem as I've always seen it is simple: content. Posters drive the content so if things are slowing down, it's likely because people either have nothing new to say or have grown tired of having the same debate as if in a time loop.

Boards was at its peak 10 years ago as the popularity of forums was still something new and exciting, and people were able to have the debates that were otherwise taboo to utter in open space back then. Boards doesn't have that advantage anymore as it's simply been replaced by a different kind of social beast.

You can't blame the people behind the site or who mod for that. At least with boards there's still an element of accountability behind what you post where people can be challenged.....and which can't be avoided by pressing a handy block button.

Skylinehead

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

There's a few things to consider there - the first is that this is what the Politics Cafe was supposed to be - the AH of politics. Whether it is actually that is another matter entirely.

Second, what constitutes a "major" political event? Seems very open to interpretation - this for example, has been coming for months and is hardly a surprise to anyone, nor will it have any particularly large ramifications. We could just open the door to any old political thread and end up back where we started.

I'd be genuinely interested in what the users want, but it's very hard to gauge.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

jackofalltrades

IMO there needs to be a mix of current affairs/news and fun threads in AH.
Like it or not AH is the frontpage of Boards.
If something happens in this country or internationally it's where I go to see if it's being discussed.
And it's a format that seems to work on other sites too e.g. Thejournal, Dailymail, Irishtimes.
If it's all "What colour are you eyes?" type threads then I wouldn't bother with the forum.
That said if it was full to the gills of political threads I wouldn't bother either.

pjohnson

Politics seems much more serious than the supposedly light hearted AH.

Actually case in point: http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057740803/1/#post103510549

Edit. Link doesnt work. Thread below this one mentioning how a SNL video was removed.


So:
No satire in politics.
No politics in AH.
So satirical/funny posts go where?

KERSPLAT!

pjohnson wrote: »

Politics seems much more serious than the supposedly light hearted AH.

Actually case in point: http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057740803/1/#post103510549

Politics is, IMO, Politics Cafe however was supposed to be AH for politics as outlined above.

I wouldn't mind an Enda thread in AH myself. Maybe fire a PM off to one of the mods of AH and see how it goes?

Will I Am Not

If the Politics Cafe was set up as a sort of spill over forum for After Hours why is the posting standard expected to be so close to the actual Politics forum instead of After Hours?

maudgonner

I'd hate to see After Hours having loads of Politics threads, much prefer they be kept to the Café (with the odd exception being allowed for genuine major events perhaps).

There's been a number of attempts at political threads in AH over the last week or so, many of them little more than ill-tempered rants. It would definitely put me off the forum if they were allowed to dominate.

It also feels like there are some posters who deliberately post in AH because they know their rants wouldn't be allowed in the PC and they want to skirt the charter. Grand if the PC has its problems, that should be addressed. But exporting the issue to AH isn't a solution.

kneemos

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Politics is, IMO, Politics Cafe however was supposed to be AH for politics as outlined above.

I wouldn't mind an Enda thread in AH myself. Maybe fire a PM off to one of the mods of AH and see how it goes?

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/reply/2057737972/post/103546084

God forbid people get what they want. Rules are more important.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Murrisk

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Oh, I see! That's a shame.

Murrisk

Loughc wrote: »

Do you really want to visit a forum site where the same topic pops up 3 or 4 times in different threads? To new users it just looks unorganized and would put people off.

Skylinehead wrote: »

And a few short years ago we had plenty of posters complaining that AH was dominated by politics.

Perhaps, but the AH threads would have a different feel, populated by many politics tumbleweed heads like myself. And that gave a different perspective. Current affairs discussion for laypeople and dilettantes. I like those kinds of threads, they are a kind of Politics 101 that could even foster an interest in politics in a user who hasn't visited the politics forum before.

The resignation of the Taoiseach is a huge event.

ThisRegard

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

2 of those threads deserved to die in any forum, the poster is still trying to start the same type of nonsense.

LuckyLloyd

Feedback: not having an After Hours thread on the resignation of Enda Kenny is crap.

iguot

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Exactly and it's the sh1t moderation at fault here to.

dudara

iguot wrote: »

Exactly and it's the sh1t moderation at fault here to.

Please be more explicit in your feedback than simply throwing out "sh1t". Feedback by definition is meant be used as a basis for improvement. But in order to address and improve we need something more specific than reference to faeces

Pelvis Parsley

It is a ridiculous scenario when you have to ask permission to start a discussion on the top news story of the day.

Rules for the sake of rules.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

JCX BXC

dudara wrote: »

Please be more explicit in your feedback than simply throwing out "sh1t". Feedback by definition is meant be used as a basis for improvement. But in order to address and improve we need something more specific than reference to faeces

And yet, the only thing the admins have addressed is these posts!

If users have the respect to post constructive feedback, do admins or higher up not have the respect to respond to this?

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

This thread is utterly pointless.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Pelvis Parsley

JCX BXC wrote: »

And yet, the only thing the admins have addressed is these posts!

If users have the respect to post constructive feedback, do admins or higher up not have the respect to respond to this?

They're only middle men.

Even if by some miracle, the floodgates were opened and posting on a myriad of topics allowed on AH, the problem is still there.

A culture of pedantic enforcement of pointless rules, that has made this place a joke. No thread or campaign is going to fix that. Sadly.

kneemos

Hunky Monster wrote: »

This thread is utterly pointless.

It's an exercise in looking up your own ass.

Little CuChulainn

JCX BXC wrote: »

And yet, the only thing the admins have addressed is these posts!

If users have the respect to post constructive feedback, do admins or higher up not have the respect to respond to this?

What's with the need for validation? It's been said multiple times that the feedback is being listened to. Decisions for big changes won't happen in the course of this thread and smaller changes will be made in the forums. What response are you looking for from the admins?

Murrisk

One thing I've observed is that boards.ie can be a little afraid to try things they think won't work and stubborn about it to boot. I've been here under a few other accounts down the years and two examples come to me, one from a few years back, one more recent. Both ideas that boards.ie was very resistant to but they have turned out fine.

The first was the creation of an online dating forum. I was a member of it a few years back. My god, did it take some cajoling to get boards.ie to create it. The powers-that-be and many mods were convinced it wouldn't work and dug their heels in for a long time. Online dating was burgeoning at the time and people were in uncharted territory so it made sense to have a dedicated forum but it met such resistance and any questioning of it was dismissed especially when people pointed out that there were forums dedicated to much dafter things. Mods and admins were worried that it wouls descend into a flirt-fest and pretty decided that would be the case. When I was on it, it worked very well.

The second example was allowing photos in AH. "It won't work". "No, it won't work". "Meme posting will take over". "It won't work". Users pointing out that it worked on other forums was dismissed for a long time. And have photos and memes taken over? Not that I can see.

These examples just point to boards.ie being set in its ways and slow to adapt. There is also a paternalistic or teachery vibe to it, like "we know best and that's that". There's a fear of trying things out. Social media sites are continually tweaking, updating, trying things. They don't all work but many do. And then the one big change that boards made, putting everything under the Categories banner didn't work, probably because it didn't seem to be based on feedback from the community.

Hootanany

Murrisk wrote: »

One thing I've observed is that boards.ie can be a little afraid to try things they think won't work and stubborn about it to boot. I've been here under a few other accounts down the years and two examples come to me, one from a few years back, one more recent. Both ideas that boards.ie was very resistant to but they have turned out fine.

The first was the creation of an online dating forum. I was a member of it a few years back. My god, did it take some cajoling to get boards.ie to create it. The powers-that-be and many mods were convinced it wouldn't work and dug their heels in for a long time. Online dating was burgeoning at the time and people were in uncharted territory so it made sense to have a dedicated forum but it met such resistant and any questioning of it was dismissed especially when people pointed out that there were forums dedicated to much dafter things. When I was on it, it worked very well.

The second example was allowing photos in AH. "It won't work". "No, it won't work". "Meme posting will take over". "It won't work". Users pointing out that it worked on other forums was dismissed for a long time. And have photos and memes taken over? Not that I can see.

These examples just point to boards.ie being set in its ways and slow to adapt. There is also a paternalistic or teachery vibe to it, like "we know best and that's that". There's a fear of trying things out. Social media sites are continually tweaking, updating, trying things. They don't all work but many do. And then the one big change that boards made, putting everything under the Categories banner didn't work, probably because it didn't seem to be based on feedback from the community.

It's the Mods I don't really bother anymore it's s shame as I really enjoyed my time on here.
But not all mods mind. I hope it gets revamp and rethinks it's moderators ethics.

Gavinz

Hootanany wrote: »

It's the Mods I don't really bother anymore it's s shame as I really enjoyed my time on here.
But not all mods mind. I hope it gets revamp and rethinks it's moderators ethics.

Tbh, I dont think it is just "the mods".

I used to think that, but if you actually take a wider Macro view of the place...yes, the moderation is needlessly excessive, yes, there are too many mods, yes, it can stifle discussion when there is no need, yes there are rules for the sake of rules...BUT



BUT, from reading the place since 2004 (my first job) I can also see that the users and attitudes themselves have changed.

Yeah, yeah great. "Boards used to be so fantastic"

It's not just the fcuking mods, it's the crepe-paper skinned generation who have ruined it.



Constant reporting and whinging. That's what killed Boards.ie.

Gavinz

Hunky Monster wrote: »

This thread is utterly pointless.

The thread is not pointless.

Some of the views expressed are. Fine.

If we all learned the difference then the whole place would have a nicer vibe.

Hootanany

Gavinz wrote: »

Tbh, I dont think it is just "the mods".

I used to think that, but if you actually take a wider Macro view of the place...yes, the moderation is needlessly excessive, yes, there are too many mods, yes, it can stifle discussion when there is no need, yes there are rules for the sake of rules...BUT



BUT, from reading the place since 2004 (my first job) I can also see that the users and attitudes themselves have changed.

Yeah, yeah great. "Boards used to be so fantastic"

It's not just the fcuking mods, it's the crepe-paper skinned generation who have ruined it.



Constant reporting and whinging. That's what killed Boards.ie.

I beg to differ and that is good but then a mod would take your side and ban me do you understand.

Pelvis Parsley

Murrisk wrote: »

And then the one big change that boards made, putting everything under the Categories banner didn't work, probably because it didn't seem to be based on feedback from the community.

That was done for one reason-to pimp out the Talk To category.