Generating forum traffic
- Thread starter Stuart
- Start date
I am a new member in the eastern United States and arrived here during my research of Ridgetail Monitors (Ackies), of which I have four, and Argus Monitors, which I'd like to have but probably cannot house.
I read through ALL of the archived material pertaining to these monitors that was available prior to the forum update and found it incredibly educational and very valuable.
I joined the forum to keep up with new posts and to help add to the population and traffic, and as a side benefit, I am learning to read Australian. ;-)
Although I have kept reptiles since I was about 7, and am in my mid-60s now, I do not have enough specific knowledge to contribute very much here on anything, except very general topics and a few things I am personally experienced in.
My thoughts:
There is a vast amount of knowledge available here, both in active members' current contributions and in the existing posts.
Advice given is usually sound from the beginning, as evidenced by agreement by several experienced forum members.
With the large number is extremely experienced members present, it would be great of one or several could develop 'care sheets' for the various animals discussed here. Information that many members take for granted is buried in single posts answering specific questions: "Is xx degrees warm enough for my Woma?" gets answers like "everybody knows this is too cold/hot", whereas if a care sheet existed, everyone would know.
I quit school and went to work in construction when I was 15. I have worked my way up through the ranks, served in the military, finished my education and got some college, ran my own business as long as my health would allow, and currently manage a business building homes, "Thin-skinned" is really not in my vocabulary, but when I see comments like "the Americans think ____ care is appropriate, hahaha", I wonder if those persons would or could substitute actual knowledge for their criticism of inappropriate care. Thus the suggestion of compiling some care sheets that could be available through the site. I would personally give more credence to a care sheet generated at a site local to the animal's habitat, vs a foreign seller that just wants to make the animals seem easier to case for and thus sell more easily.
The information that initially drew me to this forum now seems unavailable. Are the archives gone, or have I just failed to see access? Having some sort of access to that huge repository of information, and search engine recognition, would seem to be a big plus with regard to drawing new members.
There is often a condescending tone used by experienced members when a new keeper is asking "stupid" questions, which I personally find as a little 'off putting'. Perhaps it is only a cultural difference I have yet to fully understand and I am mistaken, but I am describing what it seems.
As a very long term member of other forums specializing in other subjects (ham radio, firearms), I get that answering the same old questions by people who could have done a bit more research can be tiresome. Candidly speaking, a little patience and tact would go a long way toward making this a bit 'friendlier' to inexperienced keepers/new members, a source of the desired 'site traffic'. I often have "casual questions', but after seeing the treatment some members get, I keep these questions to myself and try to research my way out of it, when I could have just asked. Certainly, there are times when a member asking a question probably deserves a bit of derision, but these 'stupid questions' are exactly what others read when researching stuff and DO have intrinsic value, so a good answer does more than just serve the presumably lazy member that asked.
I hope not to have ruffled any feathers, but as a new member that visits almost daily, these are my impressions.
I read through ALL of the archived material pertaining to these monitors that was available prior to the forum update and found it incredibly educational and very valuable.
I joined the forum to keep up with new posts and to help add to the population and traffic, and as a side benefit, I am learning to read Australian. ;-)
Although I have kept reptiles since I was about 7, and am in my mid-60s now, I do not have enough specific knowledge to contribute very much here on anything, except very general topics and a few things I am personally experienced in.
My thoughts:
There is a vast amount of knowledge available here, both in active members' current contributions and in the existing posts.
Advice given is usually sound from the beginning, as evidenced by agreement by several experienced forum members.
With the large number is extremely experienced members present, it would be great of one or several could develop 'care sheets' for the various animals discussed here. Information that many members take for granted is buried in single posts answering specific questions: "Is xx degrees warm enough for my Woma?" gets answers like "everybody knows this is too cold/hot", whereas if a care sheet existed, everyone would know.
I quit school and went to work in construction when I was 15. I have worked my way up through the ranks, served in the military, finished my education and got some college, ran my own business as long as my health would allow, and currently manage a business building homes, "Thin-skinned" is really not in my vocabulary, but when I see comments like "the Americans think ____ care is appropriate, hahaha", I wonder if those persons would or could substitute actual knowledge for their criticism of inappropriate care. Thus the suggestion of compiling some care sheets that could be available through the site. I would personally give more credence to a care sheet generated at a site local to the animal's habitat, vs a foreign seller that just wants to make the animals seem easier to case for and thus sell more easily.
The information that initially drew me to this forum now seems unavailable. Are the archives gone, or have I just failed to see access? Having some sort of access to that huge repository of information, and search engine recognition, would seem to be a big plus with regard to drawing new members.
There is often a condescending tone used by experienced members when a new keeper is asking "stupid" questions, which I personally find as a little 'off putting'. Perhaps it is only a cultural difference I have yet to fully understand and I am mistaken, but I am describing what it seems.
As a very long term member of other forums specializing in other subjects (ham radio, firearms), I get that answering the same old questions by people who could have done a bit more research can be tiresome. Candidly speaking, a little patience and tact would go a long way toward making this a bit 'friendlier' to inexperienced keepers/new members, a source of the desired 'site traffic'. I often have "casual questions', but after seeing the treatment some members get, I keep these questions to myself and try to research my way out of it, when I could have just asked. Certainly, there are times when a member asking a question probably deserves a bit of derision, but these 'stupid questions' are exactly what others read when researching stuff and DO have intrinsic value, so a good answer does more than just serve the presumably lazy member that asked.
I hope not to have ruffled any feathers, but as a new member that visits almost daily, these are my impressions.
You will need to elaborate on this in order for me to provide a definitive answer. There was some data loss when the site was under different ownership, though that was well over 5 years ago and Stu has since managed to restore a great deal of it. Apart from the Admin area, there is no restricted access. Shortly after Stu took ownership of the site, we implemented a Veterans forum, though that was recently pruned due to no traffic - We only have a couple of Veterans regularly posting and they are flat out keeping up with the general forums.
OK, this one has blindsided me somewhat. In days gone by I would have just said "that old chestnut" but I don't believe this statement to be applicable anymore. Sure, I may allow a little banter between regulars but new member interactions are monitored very closely so that the above is avoided. Having said that, I've been on this site a long time, near on 9 years on this account alone (8+ in Admin), so perhaps my eyes do not see the same as a fresh pair would. I always make myself available to members (via PM) if required, and any such posts should be reported so that we can look at it more closely.
Hi Rob,
I don't know where to find them (which is the problem I stated), but when I joined, there were pages and pages of locked threads. These threads seemed to be locked due to aging out at one year. Since the forum update (when the default display went to green, which I like), I don't know where to find these threads anymore. As I had said, maybe I AM missing them and they ARE available, but there is a whole encyclopedia of reptile knowledge locked away in those old threads.
Regarding the perceived tone of many posts: Again, this may simply be a cultural difference that I am not fully understanding, making it seem worse than it really is. I am reluctant to report posts that "seem to me" to be terse, impatient, belittling, disdainful, condescending, etc.. These posts, when taken alone, don't seem especially bad and none actually break any rules, but after reading every day for the time I've been here, a certain feel does emerge.
I've been general manager of a successful luxury home building company for 25 years and we have had many employees come and go over the years. I have to admit that I have learned something from almost every one, good or bad, and we have had much innovation as a result of comments on things we did "because we've always done it this way"...
Two points here:
One, I'm not from around here andmay not probably do not flly understand the 'banter'. Were one to visit one of our construction sites and listen in on the banter, they would swear the guys were going to kill each other any minute, but the truth is that they would kill FOR each other.
Two, I like it here. I enjoy the forum and don't mean to criticize. I am just stating the impressions I have as an outsider when I think of how to encourage traffic and new members.
Ed
I don't know where to find them (which is the problem I stated), but when I joined, there were pages and pages of locked threads. These threads seemed to be locked due to aging out at one year. Since the forum update (when the default display went to green, which I like), I don't know where to find these threads anymore. As I had said, maybe I AM missing them and they ARE available, but there is a whole encyclopedia of reptile knowledge locked away in those old threads.
Regarding the perceived tone of many posts: Again, this may simply be a cultural difference that I am not fully understanding, making it seem worse than it really is. I am reluctant to report posts that "seem to me" to be terse, impatient, belittling, disdainful, condescending, etc.. These posts, when taken alone, don't seem especially bad and none actually break any rules, but after reading every day for the time I've been here, a certain feel does emerge.
I've been general manager of a successful luxury home building company for 25 years and we have had many employees come and go over the years. I have to admit that I have learned something from almost every one, good or bad, and we have had much innovation as a result of comments on things we did "because we've always done it this way"...
Two points here:
One, I'm not from around here and
Two, I like it here. I enjoy the forum and don't mean to criticize. I am just stating the impressions I have as an outsider when I think of how to encourage traffic and new members.
Ed
reptilesforlife
Not so new Member
I honestly can agree that I have seen some slightly condescending and not-so-nice behaviour towards people asking questions and newbies
It’s a real shame to see this forum become quiet and not so beginner friendly, it used to be highly recommended on blogs etc as the best place to find information, now a lot of those blogs are dead and as far as I know there is not much to replace them.
As far as new traffic, a lot of the questions that used to be asked here are now asked on Facebook, maybe arranging a sponsor type thing with an existing group, or writing articles or care sheets as suggested above and plugging them in said groups can get a lot of those new owners over here again, especially now that animal sales are banned on Facebook
As far as new traffic, a lot of the questions that used to be asked here are now asked on Facebook, maybe arranging a sponsor type thing with an existing group, or writing articles or care sheets as suggested above and plugging them in said groups can get a lot of those new owners over here again, especially now that animal sales are banned on Facebook