harshgoel1975 Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 How this forum checks its health that it is not a rotten forum... just curious to know
harshgoel1975 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Posted September 10, 2014 Rotten in what way? rotten.. mean rotten... no new fresh ideas... discourage the open thinking , giving people not warm welcome.. forum govern by so-called owners...etc etc... i don't think that this forum is rotten or so... but do we have any introspection of reflections.in place....... just wondering if any such kind of thinking is in place here....
Ophiolite Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 Rottenness, as you describe it, would be measured as a value judgement and not by objective measure. There have been plenty of posts where members have claimed there are no new ideas here, that open thinking is discouraged, that new members are scared away, that moderators impose their personal prejudices on what and what is not allowed, etc. Clearly those members, most of them now former members, felt this was a rotten forum. Equally, most of the regular members would disagree with those positions. Who is correct? It depends on your perspective. 1
Fuzzwood Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 As long as you stick to the forum rules you agreed to, there should be no problem.
swansont Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 Speaking from my perspective as a moderator, we don't squelch ideas, we enforce reasonable behavior to foster discussion. As long as the discussion is within the scope we have defined as acceptable; some topics and attitudes are not, and some of that is to ensure people are not prevented from participating (e.g. by not having a hostile environment based on irrelevant factors such as gender, race or religion, etc.) As Fuzzwood says above: just follow the rules.
Phi for All Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 no new fresh ideas... I think the ever-changing front page and the number of new threads gives us a good indicator that fresh ideas are constantly being offered. I define "fresh" as subjects people want to talk about, not necessarily "new" ideas that have never been raised before. discourage the open thinking This is too subjective as an indicator. Crackpot ideas that have obvious flaws in the OP are refuted quickly, and often the person who posts them wants us all to think beyond the flaws to see what they see. Unfortunately, that's not how science works. You don't start with a cracked foundation and expect to build anything reasonable. Still, from the poster's perspective, this is often seen as being close-minded, not giving the idea a chance, a lack of "open thinking". Actually, in most cases, it's the person with the crackpot idea they're convinced is right that's really being close-minded. giving people not warm welcome.. We can definitely improve here. The staff really appreciates the efforts of the other members in greeting newcomers when they post in the Introduce Yourself thread. We don't always have the time to welcome everyone and still keep up with our reading and monitoring, and our normal posting as SFN members as well. If you're referring to someone joining who immediately starts posting a lot of speculative work phrased as assertions, we probably could do a better job there too. It's difficult when someone is out to "prove" their idea is correct and ignores all the methodology we've come to trust as the proper process for scientific understanding. We often seem rude to people because of our more clinical approach. "Warm welcome" is pretty emotional for science, but "welcome" should be at least part of any discussion, I agree. forum govern by so-called owners... I don't know what you mean by "so-called". None of the Moderators have an ownership stake in the forums. We aren't paid. There's no monetary reason that might influence the way we treat the membership. The Administrators have allowed the rules and guidelines to evolve organically over the years, based on what appeals most to the membership as a whole. The rules aren't set up the way they are to suit the Admins; their goal is to have a reputable science discussion forum that attracts a broad slice of the scientific community, from novices and students to hobbyists and enthusiasts to professional scientists and educators.
studiot Posted September 10, 2014 Posted September 10, 2014 As a complete non sequiteur, but cheekily on topic, there used to be constituencies in Olde England called "Rotten Boroughs". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs
harshgoel1975 Posted September 11, 2014 Author Posted September 11, 2014 some of the key words.. are (1) reverse..(2) prevent (3) balance (4) enhance and (5) promote so what i understand that rules to prevent the forum to go out of scope of the topic is in place.... what about if the topic already went out of scope how to balance a balance between in scope and out of scope ... is this limited to few people only... what are the measure taken /established to enhance the freshness/relevancy of the forum is there is any survey done to establish the happiness factor.. if you say most of the people will not participate .. then its a negative sign rather positive.. really don't want to go out of prospective here....but just curious only.... what majority of people say is reflected anywhere .. or only few people driving..... just two cent thoughts
John Cuthber Posted September 11, 2014 Posted September 11, 2014 It's clear that we don't discourage new members of the forum, because we get new members and they stay. It's also clear that we discuss new things- for example- the rottenness of the forum which was previously not even defined. The forum is governed by a set of rules.
Phi for All Posted September 11, 2014 Posted September 11, 2014 if you say most of the people will not participate .. then its a negative sign rather positive.. Well, yes, but nobody said that. swansont referred to rules we have that enforce reasonable behavior so more people are encouraged to participate. He didn't say, "Most of the people will not participate". I don't know where you read that.
Ophiolite Posted September 11, 2014 Posted September 11, 2014 some of the key words.. are (1) reverse..(2) prevent (3) balance (4) enhance and (5) promote Other key words (1) Scientific (2) Logical (3) Organised (4) Structured (5) Informative (6) Fun Oh, look! If you take the initial letter of each word and rearrange them, it spells fossil. I win!! so what i understand that rules to prevent the forum to go out of scope of the topic is in place.... what about if the topic already went out of scope It is brought back into scope: a) threads may be relocated b) or split c) Members may be warned d) Or banned e) Posts may be deleted how to balance a balance between in scope and out of scope ... is this limited to few people only... We don't try to balance between acceptable and unacceptable. We want the balance to be weighted entirely to the acceptable side. In the real world that is impossible, but attempting to allow some out of scope posts in would just be silly. what are the measure taken /established to enhance the freshness/relevancy of the forum We call it a Science forum. We have lots of sub-forums related to science. We invite people interested in Science to join. We involve scientists and those with scientific outlooks in the running of the forum. Since science is, by its very nature, fresh and relevant, the rest happens naturally. really don't want to go out of prospective here....but just curious only.... what majority of people say is reflected anywhere .. or only few people driving..... The metrics of the forum reflect this. just two cent thoughts Did you like the $5.00 answers? 2
harshgoel1975 Posted September 12, 2014 Author Posted September 12, 2014 Did you like the $5.00 answers? Yes .. I like...where is $4.98 the difference...
CaptainPanic Posted September 12, 2014 Posted September 12, 2014 Even though I am a moderator myself, I'd like to respond to this too. This forum is one of the healthiest places I know on the internet, precisely because the moderation is quite strict. If we would allow anyone to post just anything, bigotry, racism, crackpottery, pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, etc., this forum would quickly become quite rotten. The internet has a tendency to produce lots of filth, especially when you allow people to remain anonymous. It takes a bunch of dedicated moderators to keep that off the forum. At this point, I would like to repeat that the moderators are volunteers. We are not paid. We do this for fun, because we like this forum. Regarding fresh ideas, we welcome them with open arms (that is my opinion). Typically, new ideas generate lots of replies. That, in my opinion, is a warm welcome. Obviously, this being a science forum, most people who reply will try to shoot a hole into the new idea. But that is just science in progress. Yes .. I like...where is $4.98 the difference... It was spent on cheese nips to bribe the moderators.
Ophiolite Posted September 12, 2014 Posted September 12, 2014 Yes .. I like...where is $4.98 the difference... I have a wife and her wardrobe to support.
harshgoel1975 Posted September 12, 2014 Author Posted September 12, 2014 I am on same boat....no worries... :) I have a wife and her wardrobe to support. .....be happy no matter what happen.... time will never be same again....
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