inactivity

[CPL.Luke]

hmm seems that the trend of inactivity on this forum is gettin worse, I just checked the number of posts made in the past day and it was an abismal 38.

 

thats a far cry from where it was in april at 400 posts per day.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Are you sure that wasn't the number of threads with new posts in them?

[jeremyhfht]

Well, during the school months a lot of people are at schools. Higher education, highschool, etc. So that isn't surprising.

[Gilded]

Personally, I have around 20h of high school a week so that isn't exactly preventing me from discussing science (or something completely unrelated on the IRC-channel... ). Especially since I have 6h of physics and 8h of chemistry of that 20h.

[CPL.Luke]

we've never really had this problem during the school months before, in fact i'd argue that the school months should benefit the forum because of students spending more time thinking about science. and considering that this trend started in april that doesn't seem to have been a major contributor.

[CPL.Luke]

I also just double checke, it is the figure for the past day.

 

you can also see this pattern in the subforums, the only forum with any real activity right now is the politics forum.

[blike]

There was a lot more than 38 posts -- how did you arrive at that number?

[GutZ]

I am sorry I tend to drive people away. *smells armpits* O_O

[jeremyhfht]

Well, it could very well be that there isn't many hardcore debates going that interest people. Forums tend to go to hell if everybody is intelligent, and they're all intelligent enough to find no reason to disagree.

 

So basically, once the idiots all leave, there's no more debate forum.

[Bettina]

Well, it could very well be that there isn't many hardcore debates going that interest people. Forums tend to go to hell if everybody is intelligent, and they're all intelligent enough to find no reason to disagree.

 

So basically, once the idiots all leave, there's no more debate forum.

 

Or... maybe when the "idiots" ask questions and get told their idiots instead of receiving an answer, they go somewhere else.

 

Bee

[CanadaAotS]

In the forums defence, we try to tell them their wrong first, but they then proceed to proving themselves idiots even more.

 

Its a viscous cycle

[JohnB]

It is also a possible side effect of moving the Theology discussions. Many threads in that forum were commented in or debated at length. This would have brought the daily post count up.

 

Perhaps a better measure would be to compare the total post counts of the current two forums with the post count before the split?

[ecoli]

true enough. Theologyforums.net has pretty busy since it opened.

[gcol]

Or... maybe when the "idiots" ask questions and get told their idiots instead of receiving an answer, they go somewhere else.

 

Bee

 

There is a lot of truth in that, I have noticed a gradual change in tone, too.

 

The drop-off also seemed to coincide with the sanitization and censorship of the theology section.

 

A clear case of one plus one plainly making two.

 

To have to open up and scan through two forums is trebly tedious....one plus one now makes three.

 

Or in other words, the bath is now clean and empty of water, but it is obvious to me where the missing baby went....down the plughole

 

 

Contributions by resident experts has dropped off, and some seem to have gone missing completely.

 

I wonder if the site administrators are aware, but dont want to admit their error or wash their private linen in public?

[ecoli]

@ gcol - "resident expert" means that they are well studied in their field. They don't really have moderator status, and AFAIK, they are under no obligation to make X number of posts per day.

[-Demosthenes-]

Well, it could very well be that there isn't many hardcore debates going that interest people. Forums tend to go to hell if everybody is intelligent, and they're all intelligent enough to find no reason to disagree.

 

So basically, once the idiots all leave, there's no more debate forum.

 

Assuming truth is universal.

[blike]

There is a lot of truth in that, I have noticed a gradual change in tone, too.

 

The drop-off also seemed to coincide with the sanitization and censorship of the theology section.

 

To have to open up and scan through two forums is trebly tedious....one plus one now makes three.

 

I wonder if the site administrators are aware, but dont want to admit their error or wash their private linen in public?

The goal of this site isn't to create a place to post about whatever you want to post about just for the sake of having high post counts. Yes, the post count dropped significantly with dropping of the theology forum -- does that mean there was an error or a mistake? Only if your primary goal is to have high post counts at whatever expense. That's not our goal. Our goal here is to have a nice free forum to talk about science. That's it.

 

What does everyone think? What can we do to increase volume here? Was having the frontpage more attractive?

[Bettina]

The goal of this site isn't to create a place to post about whatever you want to post about just for the sake of having high post counts. Yes, the post count dropped significantly with dropping of the theology forum -- does that mean there was an error or a mistake? Only if your primary goal is to have high post counts at whatever expense. That's not our goal. Our goal here is to have a nice free forum to talk about science. That's it.

 

What does everyone think? What can we do to increase volume here? Was having the frontpage more attractive?

 

 

I don't believe people posted here just to get high post counts because they would have stayed here to drive it higher still. I believe one reason was the loss of one stop shopping where you can discuss everything from D-branes, Intelligent design, flight mechanics, religion, etc, all in one place. And, yes it was a mistake that cannot be reversed now.

 

But another reason as to why some posters left for other boards are the specific pompous people on your board that go out of their way to insult someone less intelligent than themselves then display their colors in their signature attesting to that fact. Or, the posters that reply with one liners or Wiki entries. Another thing I noticed is that some posters who were banned here are good members on other boards and I've learned a lot from them so that tells me something.

 

This is an elite club now and I know I haven't been a model student here but I'm only answering your question so take it with a grain of salt. I'm quite happy visiting here and picking up information here and there but I just find posting here uncomfortable and do it somewhere else.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bee

[gib65]

Maybe SFN can be extended to include other topics or genres that might bring in other interest groups. I´m not saying bring back the theology forum, but maybe bring in something compatible with science. Can´t think of anything right now, but I´ll give my 2 cents if I do.

 

In any case, I´ll always post here whenever I have a science question or see a thread that interests me.

 

BTW, Blike, how low is the post count. Is it too low?

[blike]

I believe one reason was the loss of one stop shopping where you can discuss everything from D-branes, Intelligent design, flight mechanics, religion, etc, all in one place. And, yes it was a mistake that cannot be reversed now.

In what sense was it a mistake? This forum was never intended to be a one-stop shop. The fact that it took on that characteristic was an unintended consequence of creating a religion and politics forum in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I did not mind having the forums on this website. Nonetheless, when they festered up I had absolutely no qualms about getting rid of them. They are not science forums and as such they exist on this forum soley at our pleasure. Thus, to call it a mistake for removing them is misdirected. As you'll find, our purpose statement includes no such discussion.

 

But another reason as to why some posters left for other boards are the specific pompous people on your board that go out of their way to insult someone less intelligent than themselves then display their colors in their signature attesting to that fact.

I speak for myself here, and not any other staff nor the site. Ignorance isn't chastized, idiocy is. There exists a large and quite discernable divide between the two. I have little patience for those who refuse to even make an attempt to cross the bridge.

 

Another thing I noticed is that some posters who were banned here are good members on other boards and I've learned a lot from them so that tells me something.

The only thing it should tell you is that they refused in some capacity to follow our rules. I do not care how nice or informative they are on other forums.

[-Demosthenes-]

Maybe SFN can be extended to include other topics or genres that might bring in other interest groups. I´m not saying bring back the theology forum, but maybe bring in something compatible with science. Can´t think of anything right now, but I´ll give my 2 cents if I do.

 

In any case, I´ll always post here whenever I have a science question or see a thread that interests me.

 

BTW, Blike, how low is the post count. Is it too low?

 

Or create other partner sites, like you guys did with the Theology Forums, or partner up with already existing forums. Maybe a science fiction forum, a political forum, or something like that.

[raivo]

I'd rather agree wiht Bettina here. There is lot of insulting not because idiocy of those who ask questions but because of prejudices (or even strawmaning) of those who give answers. For example if someone tells that in his opinion particular scientific term makes false assotiations he/she may get lot of insulting because others interpret his statement as proof of not knowing science. It would not be hard to collect long list of examples of insults where victim surely is not idiot, just his statement was interpreted so that he/she can be shown as idiot.

 

In my opinion not "idiots" should be insulted but those who maliciously behave like idiots. In perfect world one should feel very safe to ask anything that he/she does not know. Path from "not knowing" to "knowing" is much more valuable than "knowing allready". In my opinion those who always want to know more and every day learn something new are worth more than those who once, ten years ago learnt something and now still are proud with that.

 

I have noticed this problem in other forums as well. For example good old Sciencemadness has somewhat changed in last year or so and anything that can be interpreted as idiocy will surely be thought to be. In older times this was not so.

 

I do not want to blame moderators. I suppose they just get tired when the same simple questions are asked tens of times again and again. Still, if this problem could be solved many forums would live longer and would give more answers to the questions that people really think of.

[GutZ]

You just can't let it get to you. It's their problem, no one here is all knowing. If someone calls you and idiot or act condesending towards you just ignore them, let them talk to themselves.

 

Personally if someone does that, I'd be more inclinded to ask more, and stupider questions.

[woelen]

Everything I write below, I write as a private member and not as staff opinion.

 

I agree with raivo, and I also want to add to raivo's words, that unfortunately a certain amount of arrogance is grown in the community over here at SFN. I have seen it very strongly in the religion forums, but sometimes it also pops up at other places. Some people give the impression they are the enlightened ones, and every question can be answered with science. The latter simply is not true, but unfortunately a group of people tells so, and if you are expressing your doubts on that and you express your doubt on the far-reaching implications of "established" theories, then they make a mockery of you.

For this reason, I also have become much less active over here. I do basic mod tasks (such as removing obvious spam, advertising and so on) and do post in math and chem, but that's all.

 

I am posting on the theologyforum occasionally, but not very frequently, but over there, I notice a similar attitude from some members.

 

If SFN wants to continue to be a lively and active community, then the narcissistic/overweening attitude of some members must be reduced. Now SFN more and more seems to become a small community in its own, with a select group of people, and all other members are outside of this community. In other words, we have a community in a community.

[Gilded]

I don't like people with that "IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL" attitude but on the other hand it's very rarely like that here, mostly someone just tells another to move his opinions to speculations especially when someone has asked a question and it's replied to with something that's as far from mainstream as can get. I think it's more than fair to provide people with answers based on generally accepted models. Of course, it's very different when someone just wants to discuss possible explanations or theories.