Forum Feedback Where is TE headed?

[blr_p]

@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.

Few ways to look at this
- TE is not as leading as it used to be in the past meaning other alternatives have sprung up.
- The influx of ppl in the last year isn't the same calibre as in the early days.
- Have we sort of plateaud tech wise in the last year or so compared to 2007, meaning all those that were in the market at the time got stuff thats good enough until the next upgrade.
- Being a techie isn't as lucrative as it once used to be. Tho this could be due to the present economic climate.

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).

That's an interesting question, one that would need an economist to answer. Lets say we had some Nobel prize winner to answer it, how would you then deal with expectations ?

If the seller got more than he wanted he's happy but will any amount of explanation be sufficent in the opposite case.

It reminds me of the auto-rickshaw stand where a cop fixes the fare before you leave. No meter is used. The goal is the same, a 'fair' price.

What i notice is during peak hours there's no autos at all, but there is a long line of ppl waiting. However in off-peak hours its the opposite. So ppl get upset and say there's never an auto when we need one.

So what do the cops do, they fix a price that slightly higher than the meter, naturally this attracts more drivers and this way the ppl think they are getting a fair price and everybody is happy.

Question is was the price fair or not ?

The only fair price is what both parties agree to, yep the seller has the advantage here. But one hopes a comunity like this one would allow a buyer to determine for herself whether it was or not and somehow even the odds.

Because too many buyers and few sellers is bad. I think the best prices always happen when the goods chase the money than the other way around. And for that to happen the site has to give a slight edge to the seller

 

[phoenix844884]

I joined TE for the sole purpose of gaining more knowledge about anything that is related to technology.
In the past year my knowledge has grown in leaps and bounds, and that is saying something for a person like me whose main stream is so far away from technology.
It is my passion to learn more and TE has opened the doors to greater knowledge for me. I cannot thank everyone at TE enough for their unwavering support.

I spend almost 2-3 hours on TE everyday, reading through almost every new post and topic that comes up. It is my place to relax, read, contribute, and help out in whatever small way I can.

If the market section is what is causing the riff-raff to come in and spread their crap around, then shut it down for some time. Or maybe make it harder to get into it.
Gannu's suggestions of "Post Moderators" is a good one. I am sure there are many people like me who spend a lot of time on TE everyday. Everyone should pitch in and do the needful.

Senior members making such threads shows the level of concern they feel for TE. We should respond in a positive manner.

 

[Mephistopheles]

As a relatively new member here, I would like to share some observations/thoughts/solutions that I have.

I have seen a lot of threads which are not updated properly, the first step towards improving anything should be to keep threads up-to-date. For eg. "Hardware Recommendation thread" or the "TE price guide" etc.

For preventing the creation of repetitive "What should I buy" threads there should be proper and exhaustive guides/threads on various types of combination's wrt various types of budgets of various products that people could have a query for, with notes on its pros/cons, so that they can simply see for themselves as to what suits them best and what should they buy and most importantly these should be updated on a regular basis. There should be more buying guides,and the PC buying guides should have more sections and combinations of various budgets. First 25-50 posts should be monitored of any newcomer who joins TE and there should be a time limit (if possible) rather than a post count limit to access the market section, say only after 1-2 months can he/she be allowed to view the whole of the market section.

Just my two cents...

 

[cranky]

But not that everybody has that much patience or enthu

Then TE is not the place for them. That is the point. They are welcome to register here, but will always be peripheral to the community unless they change first. Remember the core of any forum is passionate people. everybody else is just hanging around.

You have a point about not many senior members creating threads nowadays. Know why? When we see the calibre of replies, we wonder if our question will get drowned in a similar barrage.

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

Well - I first joined a forum in 1995. It used to run on a mailing list. You know how that works? You subscribe and you get the days' posts in your inbox. Over a 1.6 kbps dial-up connection. Been there? I basically joined a list that told me about forums and how they work. Most people in the country didn't know what a computer was, the ones who knew couldn't afford one, and those who could afford them didn't know how to use them.

 

[harryneopotter]

A good thread indeed. I joined TE a long time back. Though i dont know wat i do here . I havent bought anything from market, sold may be a couple of items, never posted to any meaty topic/discussion, never created any informative thread. I joined TE (or other tech forums) for gaining knowledge, staying updated with latest technology, and most importantly, to be among the tech enthusiasts (read like minded people). And even i agree with bikey's First Post. Seems like more and more people are joining TE for the Market section, and it may generate some more traffic, but its not good for this community. Some changes are in order,but the ques is "Which and when" .

 

[malhotraraul]

Joined in 2008, learned quite a lot since then, really good site, i do agree with bikey but how many people are gonna decide what is right ?

 

[prabs]

I recommend that any new topic started by a new member is put in a pipeline till the mod goes through it. If the mod approves of it then it is displayed else it is not. If the mod feels that the topic is already present then he can simply advice and warn the new member. If the member keeps repeating it then the mod can take the suitable action.

Other members - senior or new - can simply report to the mods if they find a post that is objectionable or unnecessary or put a reply as a warning or a suggestion quoting the post in question. Ofcourse the only drawback of this is some dictator idiot decides to quote everybody else's message and writes a warning or suggestion. The mod can then warn such members or ban them for a period of time or permanently.

This way we can ensure quality to some extent and remove the unnecessary members.

 

[Spacescreamer]

Dont know how i missed this thread, but thanks Bikey.

[No i am not gonna rep u for this like some ppl do for kicks]

I been thinking hard, IF Madmins can think on this:

Form Crack Teams.

We have a fantastic platform and some really good members here. Like Cranky sleeps with speakers, Greenhorn flirts with soundcard an related tweaking devices.

You form small teams and let there be some sort of plan as to cover things/topics which are not here in TE. Like Soundcard, speakers, gaming consoles. They can look into interesting info regarding topics and make good articles for TE.

Depending upon number of teams, decide that few articles be released for sure for good knowledgeable reading. We all can devote few minutes to an area we like, share the findings and make a detailed post on that topic.

We might end up with a database here like none others.

Pls dont drive it by organising contests.. let the ppl think and look up freely.

If the need be, then throw in some goodies.

Just a suggestion.. dont come gunning for my head if i sound crazy (or emotional)

 

[blr_p]

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.

This is an intractable problem i'm afraid

After a while you get to know a place so well you might get bored of it, unless there is sufficently compelling content to hold one's attention. If that content is very narrow then you've figured it out faster.

 

[Aces170]

Bikey, most of the old crowd has grown up and moved on with their life. TA was formed in late 2003, its been 7 years since then. Give time to the new joinees to increase their tech knowledge. If the old members dont post regularly, the new ones are not gonna know where they are going wrong.

Also I feel the pace of change in technology has slowed down over the years, I have a low end computer which is 3 years old and is able to play almost all the games at full HD Did you ever thought this was possible in the late 90's and early 2000? One of the main reasons for a person to develop interest in computer hardware was games, we were required to upgrade every 2 years and spend approx. 40k for a mid end computer. Now for 40k you will get a system which should be able to handle gaming requirements for atleast 3-4 years, with the introduction of consoles, the crowd is getting "dumbed" down not only in knowledge but in video games too.

 

[Party Monger]

I think we need more competition for people to post, how abt tags like "the mobile expert", "The TV expert"
Or something on that lines, these should be based on a system of reps probably..

How you'l do it, is something i have no idea abt..

Just suggesting random ideas...

 

[blr_p]

They want non-random ideas

 

[mav2000]

About the only positive suggestion I can give is to have a minimum of 50 reps or whatever to post in the market scetion....peoiple can view and can buy but they cannot post so no sales...this will help get most people interested in posting good content to get those minimum reps....this system has worked for some forums and u also get people who will try and work harder for those reps....

 

[BIKeINSTEIN]

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

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

When i joined in Sep2005, i had everything going in my favour here.

I was an absolute m0r0n when it came to tech.

I only read and read and tried to understand the active members, what they said, why they said so, how they must look and looked forward to opportunities to interact with them personally, via PMs/IM/mails/meets.

For the first 6-9 months or maybe a year, i was mostly greeting people in the Introduction lounge or starting 'happy birthday' threads. hyeah:

When most join a forum, almost everyone has a slight inclination to show off their knowledge. :ashamed:

But i was so overwhelmed by the level of discussions here, i somehow showed extreme prudence by not putting my feet in my mouth often.

Once in a while i would partake in discussion that involved basic concepts learned in the early years of schooling/college.

TE had some of the best minds in India posting quite often then.

Almost all of them were on the latest platforms or moving to it.

News and discussions were so good that there wasn't a need to check an XS or VRZ- honestly.

But that is as far as content and participation is concerned.

It was also good then coz i could see 2 people literally rip each others hair off over some point, in a sane way- not using abuses or anything else unrelated to the discussion.

There would be others taking sides wholly/partly or building bridges based only on the technical discussion in question.

There would be a logical conclusion to almost every thread that would be almost unanimous.

And these very 2-3 people would be busting the seats of their chairs, laughing, while interacting on IM simultaneously or on some casual thread in GT elsewhere.

What has changed is the lack of need to post correct info at all times- sab chalta hai,

actually most just want to leech info/resources and move on.

And it's happening in almost every walk of life.

Most young guys cannot handle a differing POV without getting offended or taking it personally.

Almost everyone wants to make a statement but not be open to listening to others.

They will indulge in rude behaviour in order to tick someone off who was in direct/indirect disagreement of what they firmly believed in.

How will fruitful discussions happen.

There is too much testosterone, maybe inflated egos/fake superiority complexes and it ends up here on the forums coz even a fruit fly can be a pterodactyl on the internet.

Age or time spent on a forum is immaterial.

What really matters is the will to be of service, atleast to those one has gained from- and in the broader sense, to TE and it has to be as accurate as possible.

That is what according to me keeps the spirit of any tech(-help) forums alive.

I am not expecting the senior members who have moved on in life to make a comeback- coz honestly, they really don't have the time now.

What got screwed up was the following batches of members didn't carry on from where they left.

 

[Nikhil]

I think we need more competition for people to post, how abt tags like "the mobile expert", "The TV expert"
Or something on that lines, these should be based on a system of reps probably..

How you'l do it, is something i have no idea abt..

Just suggesting random ideas...

How about Tyre Expert?

Bikey, dont remind me of the glory days

Chatterbits was one of the funniest sections anywhere on the internet. Our conferences were insanely fun. Our CSS sessions were the best online gaming sessions ever in my life.

However, I do understand that TE has grown. At that time, it was small. Everyone knew everyone. So, we could be casual and get away by posting totally offtopic and nonsense stuff in the forums. Even in the technical sections.

However, nowadays, we cant. We have to adapt to the newer TE. We'll have fond memories of our OC'ing contests, our 3D Mark contests, Darky being broke, etc... but we have to now move on. The only way is to meet up with friends offline. Having met with Chaos and Bottle quite a few times last week reminded me of how much we've grown over the past years.

Nowadays we meeting doesnt constitute a "meet". We just meet as friends. Not as online friends.

 

[Spacescreamer]

Forget the noobs, i have even seen few of the mods replying and smirking in threads and at topics which were crass.

 

[BIKeINSTEIN]

How about Tyre Expert?

Bikey, dont remind me of the glory days

Chatterbits was one of the funniest sections anywhere on the internet. Our conferences were insanely fun. Our CSS sessions were the best online gaming sessions ever in my life.

However, I do understand that TE has grown. At that time, it was small. Everyone knew everyone. So, we could be casual and get away by posting totally offtopic and nonsense stuff in the forums. Even in the technical sections.

However, nowadays, we cant. We have to adapt to the newer TE. We'll have fond memories of our OC'ing contests, our 3D Mark contests, Darky being broke, etc... but we have to now move on. The only way is to meet up with friends offline. Having met with Chaos and Bottle quite a few times last week reminded me of how much we've grown over the past years.

You have grown for sure NikB- tyre expert now.

We had a cool carpenter, now we have a cool tyrewala too.

Nowadays we meeting doesnt constitute a "meet". We just meet as friends. Not as online friends.

Same here in Mumbai.

If we actually listed/reported all the meets some of us had, E&M section would have seen way more threads that it does now.

And that is what made TE even more special- the bond extended offline too.

How many would expect a surprise visit from someone you met on a forum and had been good friends with there or on IM or something- at tims from a totally different city.

Very tough imho to find such genuine and strong friendships once past school/college and sometimes at the workplace.

The level of contact may diminish over time but the feeling never dies- provided both the parties are mutually genuine.

 

[kippu]

well for me TE was to meet a lot of like minded people and get inspired ...i did OC , learn to setup the computer , keep in touch with the latest gadgets , drool at the droolmaal of others and it was all well till they opened up the dealer section and the onset of new people ...with the same questions over and over and i am not denying i read the market feedback with popcorn in my hand , well its good so far but i can sense the old close knit of all the members here disappearing .....

all i have to say is , thanks for all the friends and the people who have helped me and the others who have posted , you guys have helped me in more ways than you will ever realise

 

[LaatSahab]

I joined TE when TDF went for a toss. Like any civil person, I never forgot my netiquettes here too. Whenever I could I would try to point the n00bies in right direction, doing so sometimes I did got flaked but this never deterred me. Check following threads to know what I mean.

1. http://www.techenclave.com/broadband-forum/adsl-light-blinking-please-help-158265.html
   
2. http://www.techenclave.com/security-solutions/microsoft-security-essentials-158511.html
   
3. http://www.techenclave.com/broadband-forum/broadband-over-bluetoooth-156050.html
   
4. http://www.techenclave.com/broadband-forum/nokia-5800-as-download-rig-155027.html
   
5. http://www.techenclave.com/applications/x-box-media-centre-users-please-155569.html
   

Yes sometimes some good efforts do go by unnoticed, like this thread,http://www.techenclave.com/applications/xbmc-9-11-camelot-out-155301.html. I might have not followed the posting method, if there is one, but I was amazed to see that nobody replied It is an open forum, open for discussion by all.

Places like the Hardware and Application and the GPU and Storage Sections, they are the most heavily crapped ones as general notion for newbies is to use them as buying guide or a troubleshooting pad. The only foreseeable solution to it is that, the forum itself, I mean the backend software, should search the thread's topic itself and if it finds a similar thread, which I'm sure it will, merge the two. I mean we do have Automerge for Double Posting, why not auto-merge threads. This way there will less crappy threads for PSU,GPU,CPU buying queries and troubleshooting.

What I just said is what I feel right. Correct me if I am wrong as I dunno jack about Web Dev. and Forum Management. :ashamed:

 

[sabby]

Then TE is not the place for them. That is the point. They are welcome to register here, but will always be peripheral to the community unless they change first. Remember the core of any forum is passionate people. everybody else is just hanging around.

You have a point about not many senior members creating threads nowadays. Know why? When we see the calibre of replies, we wonder if our question will get drowned in a similar barrage.

Yeah, that is true. But why give up ? And new threads don't necessary mean queries, they may be discussions too right ?
Noobs will always be noob unless senior members guide them like elder bros. And by noobs I don't mean the newbies; people like me, who are here for a few months, knows the basics but the level is saturated. Its the interaction of wiser members like you guys that uplifts this level. So when Bikey sir says "What got screwed up was the following batches of members didn't carry on from where they left", I guess the baton wasn't handed at all.

And some people just can't read the post before measuring his/her rep/post count. I've seen people like cranky,gannu, LN, TTM etc. who replies every post/pm we do ( even when I was a newbie here ) and ther are others who just don't care to reply even a pm ( I'm not talking about spams or any useless stuff ).

Also, Bikey sir has mentioned a vital reason for the recent mess in various topics

Most young guys cannot handle a differing POV without getting offended or taking it personally.
Almost everyone wants to make a statement but not be open to listening to others.
They will indulge in rude behaviour in order to tick someone off who was in direct/indirect disagreement of what they firmly believed in.
How will fruitful discussions happen.

There is too much testosterone, maybe inflated egos/fake superiority complexes and it ends up here on the forums coz even a fruit fly can be a pterodactyl on the internet.