Forum Feedback Where is TE headed?

[BIKeINSTEIN]

I cannot debate much on this as even i am not so regular on TE or online in general anymore.

And it's been ages since i posted something in the Tech sections and have been more of a market rat/mole.

But i am very very unhappy with the direction in which TE seems headed.

Only a lucky few will get some replies to their query threads.

A few genuine and proper replies get submerged in a deluge of crap posts- so the knowledgeable few, maybe already less active (due to busy schedules) are turned off even more.

People are unable to carry on discussions without getting offended with differing POVs.

I have a sudden feeling of impending doom for this place.

Bouquets/brickbats time-

(1) Do you think Market section (and maybe Dealer section too) should be closed down for sometime?

Reason: to gauge what's the status of the actual forums in general excluding the trading activities.

(Some may say we don't need to- we already know where it stands and that is almost an e-commerce site primarily now.

All the more hurtful when the others make such accusations))

(2) And are we looking at a probable sale of TE based upon the inflated statistics- a sort of closure to all that has been as it's beyond control now- maybe?

Mods- please move this discussion elsewhere if inappropriate here.

 

[47Shailesh]

Exactly this way I felt few years ago when I was at digit.

At that forum they kept on asking same PSU/Mobo/Antivirus queries. And then I joined TE.

I Liked TE v much, as it has many responsible members answering genuinely

TE is more like a hangout place now for me, where I log in and read whatever I like and answer if I wish.

More than Closing Market I feel Closing General Section for some time will be more appropriate. As GS has become an efficient feed which capture almost everything that's happen in Politics/Social n/w.

 

[cranky]

I think it's fine, actually.

Any forum (or corporate, or society, or even religion - any congregation of people) faces the same issues. As the numbers swell, the quality and focus drop off - which is why every single large-ish collection of people spawn breakaways, offshoots, and a number of the core and important people set up their 'own' thing.

Think about it - political parties, companies, religious sects, yoga classes When a body changes, the reasons you are part of that body may change as well.

It's called evolution my friend. Get over it.

 

[NinByChoice]

+1 to Bikeys views. But it feels like your suggestions were born out of emotion rather than analysis.

I would prefer a much stricter admin/mod group, like in team-bhp maybe. Tougher registration procedure would be good too, to keep the rtards out.

Some way to get senior members more involved in the whole process would be good.

@cranky, The identity of the forum is changing so quickly, certain ppl feel the need to resist the change. The resistance is just as relevant as the evolution.

Accept the need to remain the same. Get over it.

 

[BIKeINSTEIN]

But it feels like your suggestions were born out of emotion rather than analysis.

Observations, snidey comments/remarks and emotions but of course.

As this place gave me knowledge and let me meet/interact with some very genuine people, some of whom are best friends for life and still throws up a chance to meet/interact with some nice people once in a while now.

The world knows i use my heart to think (not my brain even if i had one ie). :ashamed:

@cranky sir- I am open to change but only if it's for the better.

After all i have been through, i am a much changed person now though i can't say for sure if for the better or not.

Problem is the basic essence cannot or should i say should not be lost, no matter how huge the change.

Not sure how many will agree to this-

But a lot of guys are here to make petty profits.

Some indulge in buying stuff cheap from genuine members and reselling for more at other places, esp local n00bs- some maybe proper dealers at their respective places.

Since the knowledgeable/genuine are not so active now and these people are very very active, they also find time to post much more.

And they along with many others also post for the heck of it many a times.

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

I would prefer a much stricter admin/mod group, like in team-bhp maybe. Tougher registration procedure would be good too, to keep the rtards out.

I think we strike a fair balance between being strict and laid back.

We know which areas are more problem prone and are pretty strict there - the market for e.g., but we try to give members more leeway in sections like GT.

Some way to get senior members more involved in the whole process would be good.

Suggestions on the same?

IMHO, I think a lot of senior members feel their standard of discussion has elevated to a higher level (nothing wrong in this) and hence don't respond in the simpler threads or get fed up of answering seemingly obvious questions to every new learner. This is where the half-read folks try to fill the void and make a mess. The ones attempting to answer are only going to put across what they've heard/read - so its really upto the senior members to take the effort to 'train' the newer folks.

But a lot of guys are here to make petty profits.

Some indulge in buying stuff cheap from genuine members and reselling for more at other places, esp local n00bs- some maybe proper dealers at their respective places.

Since the knowledgeable/genuine are not so active now and these people are very very active, they also find time to post much more.

And they along with many others also post for the heck of it many a times.

Which is why we've reduced the post count requirement for Market to a negligible amount. If someone is interested in only the market, why force them to spam around in the tech sections.

Any and all ridiculous posts in the core tech sections are dealt with (and of course, make sure you report any such posts you come across).

 

[blr_p]

Problem is the basic essence cannot or should i say should not be lost, no matter how huge the change.

Given you're of a 2005 vintage could you put in words what you think the essence of TE is

To clarify, you've attempted to say what it is not, but it would be better to state the positive.

 

[cranky]

Bikey, I was not surprised that Raghu misread the tone and intent of my post - but given that we spoke a little before you posted, I would have thought you would know where I was coming from and why the post was written the way it was.

And as I have said many times earlier, I had joined TE purely for the market, but stayed on because it was a pretty nice place to hang out. I actually stopped going to the foreign tech forums (I still don't visit as much) after finding all the people I did know, and some nice guys I did not know before. It has also led to some nice offline friendships and acquaintances.

Eddy: As for taking initiative to 'train' others, one would like very much to do so. Remember the guys who joined a year back - morgoth and a few others? They would spam the forums with tech news from various sites and keep peeps up to date. It was a very useful way for them to integrate with the community, and also learn a few things along the way. that was their effort, and it was commendable for newbs to do something like that.

I don't mind taking the effort and do so sometimes, but if I just don't see any effort from the newer lot. It seems everyone is here to sell their old stuff and move on - very few actually contribute. The community is growing and that's a great thing, as progress only comes from growth. But somewhere roles for people also have to evolve. Otherwise 'senior' people stagnate inside a growing community. That is what I would think the problem is.

We have a lot of fly-by-night people who transact on the market. A lot of them can be unscrupulous and this affects TE's reputation as well. It may seem nice to see a growing bottomline and valuation, but the founding basis of the community cannot change.

So here's my few suggestions:

1. Lock the market out for any member. Have a system where the intending seller posts a thread which he and only he can bump. No other member can post in that thread. Since this may lead to people asking for outrageous prices, have to figure out a way of evaluating if the price is 'fair'. I don't have any good ideas for that (though I have a few terrible ones).

2. Moderate all posts from newbs upto the first 100 posts. This is going to be stressful on the moderating team - so I would suggest you take post mod volunteers. Not full mods you understand, just for moderating newb posts. This will cut down on a lot of the horse excreta flying around. I don't mind volunteering a few hours of my time to do this, about 100 -150 posts a day is fine. I see the volume of posts is roughly about 600-800 a day, so all you need is a team of 10 post mods, maybe some mods can double up for this.

I know this is going to be a pain in the butt to do.

For example:

See the kind of effort that senior members and mods are putting in, but you have cross-posts and general havoc because newer members don't do the basic stuff right. Is it the impatience of an old man at people who have not been in communities before? Or is it something else? when I joined a forum for the first time, I went through at least a dozen sites on etiquette, lurked for a long time to figure out if the site was right for me and I would be able to contribute or not, and then join.

How many people even do that nowadays?

This runs much deeper than a bunch of trigger-happy cowboys with an email ID and a mouse to click on the 'Post reply' button. It is the sign of a generation that does not care about anything beyond the boundaries of their own skin, and do not do anything diligently. Sorry if I sound cranky but hey, that's me.

 

[sato1986]

Observations, snidey comments/remarks and emotions but of course.

As this place gave me knowledge and let me meet/interact with some very genuine people, some of whom are best friends for life and still throws up a chance to meet/interact with some nice people once in a while now.

The world knows i use my heart to think (not my brain even if i had one ie). :ashamed:

Not sure how many will agree to this-

But a lot of guys are here to make petty profits.

Some indulge in buying stuff cheap from genuine members and reselling for more at other places, esp local n00bs- some maybe proper dealers at their respective places.

Since the knowledgeable/genuine are not so active now and these people are very very active, they also find time to post much more.

And they along with many others also post for the heck of it many a times.

So true... Makes me sad, specially the profit-making part. A huge amount of people are selling stuff in profit without being registered dealers.

This has been happening alot in the recent ever-so-glamoruous GO's.

Moreover, even the basic market has suffered from people who purchase a used item from a good deal on TE and then sell it at a higher price to a needy TE member. Very unethical.

I know it seems OT, but actually such deals have attracted too much of the profit-oriented members, who have absolutely no motive about gaining/sharing tech knowledge.

IMO, such people should be immediately infracted according to following rules:

-If original costing from an unregistered dealer (outsider) is less than the selling price on TE.

-If someone purchases a used item on TE and then tries/sells the item to TE at a higher price.

-If anyone tries to buy/sell without posting in respective market thread. (This rule functions very well if Newbies < 100 posts are'nt allowed to even see the market threads :cool2

Just my 2 cents about solving a small part (profit-oriented/attracted noobs) of the mentioned problem.

 

[cranky]

@blr_p: I joined much after Bikey, but to me TE was a leading technology forum. You're from the same time as me - there were some wonderful discussions on CPU architecture, power supply topology and fundamentals, and some great reviews. And a lot of stuff on audio, as well deeper stuff on display technology.

If you take a sample of a month's posts from 2007 (any month) and 2009 (same month) guess which will have more meaty discussions and informative stuff? All I see today are people selling hardware, or people checking if the hardware they are going to buy will work/will not work. The answers are all out there, but the questions have to be asked first.

 

[6pack]

........
IMHO, I think a lot of senior members feel their standard of discussion has elevated to a higher level (nothing wrong in this) and hence don't respond in the simpler threads or get fed up of answering seemingly obvious questions to every new learner. This is where the half-read folks try to fill the void and make a mess. The ones attempting to answer are only going to put across what they've heard/read - so its really upto the senior members to take the effort to 'train' the newer folks.......

This is true with me. After being a member since 2005, all I can say is new members should learn to use the search feature more effectively. Granted that the search will give some outdated results too - like old prices of products etc, but many of the problems people face here have already been answered in some thread or other looooong time back. Just that people don't take the time to search and just hit the post new thread button.

 

[sato1986]

This is true with me. After being a member since 2005, all I can say is new members should learn to use the search feature more effectively. Granted that the search will give some outdated results too - like old prices of products etc, but many of the problems people face here have already been answered in some thread or other looooong time back. Just that people don't take the time to search and just hit the post new thread button.

So true!!! I learned one thing at head-fi:

Your query will not be answered if a similar query has been answered in the past.

So, all the knowledgeable TE members should make it a habit of not entertaining any redundant queries.

Eg: Newbie member ABC asks "Which graphics card under rs.2500 for my P4 system?"

A TE member should reply "Please use the advanced-search feature."

 

[s_anuj]

1. Lock the market out for any member. Have a system where the intending seller posts a thread which he and only he can bump. No other member can post in that thread. Since this may lead to people asking for outrageous prices, have to figure out a way of evaluating if the price is 'fair'. I don't have any good ideas for that (though I have a few terrible ones).

This is a great suggestion! as for a 'Fair price', members here at TE are smart enough to figure it out.

 

[greenhorn]

I gave a damn till a year ago or so.

Now I'm just enjoying the ride. wherever we are headed to , whether we become the technology equivalent of team bhp or , alternately, 4chan, though its beginning to tend towards the latter. I don't care anymore

 

[SunnyBoi]

wel I support bikey. TE was SO MUCH better in the old days. The so-called seniors were a closey knit group, having OC battles, 3dmark benchie battles, etc. Also the conferences etc was surely fun however today everyone has grown up, have things to care of and find little time to do the same stuff.

Nowadays there are too many people here, as many have said useful posts get drowned in a sea of useless replies.

Got lots more to say but i'll save it for some other time.

 

[The Sorcerer]

so its really upto the senior members to take the effort to 'train' the newer folks.

Remember the hitler vid

Yeah well with all respects, only a few want to learn properly, rest of the bunch act like bunch of monkeys and posting any crap around the forums. How old are these guys? What kind of training they need? potty training? How hard can it be to run a search before posting? You can't spoonfeed all the time btw!

Besides, even if one member does try to "train" someone, we see a bunch of samples (I prefer calling them bottleneck busters with a great sarcastic smile hyeah come in groups and they question the person's comments and crap it up. We can report them once, twice but what? All the time? Which reminds me, what happened to this idea: http://www.techenclave.com/feedback...e-indian-technology-155395-2.html#post1380723 ?

We can always restrict members joining in for the time being or we could make up some system where people with a particular amount of rep (or mod/admin reps) can give him access to invite someone to join the forum- like in private torrent sites. Let the guests run a search or read the guides for their benefit.

 

[sabby]

@blr_p: I joined much after Bikey, but to me TE was a leading technology forum. You're from the same time as me - there were some wonderful discussions on CPU architecture, power supply topology and fundamentals, and some great reviews. And a lot of stuff on audio, as well deeper stuff on display technology.

If you take a sample of a month's posts from 2007 (any month) and 2009 (same month) guess which will have more meaty discussions and informative stuff? All I see today are people selling hardware, or people checking if the hardware they are going to buy will work/will not work. The answers are all out there, but the questions have to be asked first.

I understand. But I have a question. I don't see much senior members creating threads in many sections. And most of the threads newbies create are "What should I buy" type. So how can we expect some more meaty discussions and informative stuff ?

I guess most of them ( the seniors ) think like what greenhorn said. But come on, its your turn to lead this forum even if you are not a mod. I mean I like to visit old threads ( either arbitrarily or from the old members' fav thread ) whenever I can find time. But not that everybody has that much patience or enthu.

 

[Keane 16]

My proposed solution: Have a separate section for new users, give them restricted access to the main forum, and promote the ones who talk sense.

 

[sibot]

when I joined a forum for the first time, I went through at least a dozen sites on etiquette, lurked for a long time to figure out if the site was right for me and I would be able to contribute or not, and then join.

I hope you're kidding when you say this...

 

[Sanjeet Arora]

I read all the posts made by *very old* members and very* learned ones too, all of them know what the problem is and everybody wants to share experiences. I say "Are we here only to say?" This thread, i assume was created by Bikeinstein to solve issues, not to share experiences! He has already written what's wrong and what's happening. So instead sharing we should think of some serious solutions and bring it to the knowledge of moderators. Though some members have done so but their suggestions are neglected by the *great* experiences we have here. So if everyone thinks on the right track and gives even the least contribution I'm sure the TE team is so large and smart that we will surely figure a way out. I hope the discussion heads on the right track.

No offense please. I'm noob{posts<100 [this is how people are identified, not by the quality of their responses(according to some people)]} out here so very small for even a small suggestion, so no suggestions right now from my side but if i have in future i will surely post it.

Moderators please delete this post if its offensive.