SJ.com ratings going down?

[printdust]

Going here was like going to my morning paper back when papers were fat and full of news, before CEOs decided to cut resources and other self-defeating moves.

Of course, there were thread topics no longer part of this section, just like those papers of the past.

Now, the threads can be read, like my newspaper, in a matter of minutes. I don't think I've ever seen so few daily thread updates by midday.

 

[Cousin Oliver]

This place has become painfully boring.

But aside from that, I wonder how much Facebook has affected sites like this. Facebook serves the same purpose -- online socializing -- but without needing to scroll through pages of posts from people you don't care about.

And there's your free enterprise story idea of the day. You're welcome.

 

[Moderator1]

Well, some of our members went elsewhere to a place they felt more comfortable and that's fine - it's a big ol' Web. Naturally our numbers will be down. From a moderator's standpoint, it's great. MUCH easier to keep up with and I enjoy the slower pace a whole lot.
And this is NOT a dig at those who left, though I'm sure some will see it that way. Problems have been down, too, related to less traffic I'm sure rather than anyone who left. Complaints, PMs, report to moderators are way, way, way, way down.

I used to wake up and almost dread the crap I'd find. Threads had grown by 6-7 pages with 1-2 posts on topic. Strange threads had popped up. I'd have eight PMs and there would be 3-4 "report to moderator" threads to read.

Now? Gone. I sip coffee and enjoy catching up. You can count on one hand the number of non-political deletes or locks I've made recently and I'm sure my colleagues will say the same thing.

So your disappointment, printdust, is our pleasure. At least mine.


Oliver, if you're bored, why come here? Not snarking or challenging, just asking.

 

[Cousin Oliver]

Oliver, if you're bored, why come here? Not snarking or challenging, just asking.

To see if there's anything interesting, which often there isn't.

And, to your point, what you refer to as more relaxing and problem-free others see as boring. I'm sure there's a lot less disagreements and flame wars on flowers.com's message board, too. But I don't post there --- or, at least, not as much.

 

[The Big Ragu]

It's a shame this site doesn't entertain you enough yawn/bobblehead/scribepharisee/printdust. So sorry.

Take heart, though. It's a big, big Internet!

By all means, explore the interwebs and find a meatier message board where you can enlighten others with your "Wouldn't it be great if Glenn Beck was the new judge on American Idol so he can sit next to Ellen," contributions that so brilliantly mask the same winning personality that has graced half a dozen other user names on here with the same variation of the same post getting thread after thread locked. It'll be our loss if you leave, but it would be selfish of us to keep your pearls of wisdom from the rest of the world.

As tough as it will be, we're willing to take yet ANOTHER (sigh) "ratings hit" when you leave. We may be boringly light reading, but don't call us selfish. Go forth and bestow your brilliance on someone else. It won't be easy, but we'll try to manage without you. In fact, take Oliver with you, if he wants to go. You and him can trade the witty repartee that has won over so many on this site. And others can enjoy the rays of sunshine you are. We really want to hog you for ourselves, but it would be completely unfair.

 

[Moderator1]

Well, I didn't sign on to be a referee and I don't think the others did, either. If your idea of non-boring is pissing matches, etc., we're on opposite sides of the fence.
I just don't understand why people come, complain and then keep coming back! We're not offended. We know we're not for everybody.

I will add this. One of the driving forces behind the other board remains a good "real life" friend (and visitor here whether or not he wants to admit it). We give each other some **** now and then and he claimed recently our traffic was down "60 percent."

Sure it's down (again, not a bad thing). I don't think it's that high.

Overnight traffic (when I go to bed about 11 eastern and get up about 6:30)? Down more than 60. Sweet!
PMs to me? Down about 95 percent. Very, very few of those I do get are a complaint. Mostly communication.
Reports to moderator? Down about 90 percent. Maybe more.

There are 2-3 members who used to draw the ire of a lot of people and many complaints were about them. I honestly don't know if those 2-3 people still post here. I never, ever hear a word about them any more.

 

[YankeeFan]

I understand why you wanted to get rid of political threads.

But while a ban on arguments about divisive issues like abortion, the death penalty, immigration, etc. are understandable, I wish we could talk about the political news or happenings.

Like the other day, when Mizzou started a thread about Hillary potentially being the VP in 2012. He said something like, "I don't want to start a apolitical thread, but."

And you saw it as a political thread.

But in his defense, I don't see it that differently than speculating about who will be the next college football coach at Florida. (Or wherever.)

Now, maybe it would have gone down hill, but I'd like to think we could avoid the divisive threads and what Starman calls the "neener, neener" threads, but still talk about politics more broadly.

Either way, it's still a good site with lots of smart people.

When I'm bored or can't sleep am I sometimes disappointed that there isn't more going on, sure, but I don't miss most of the folks who have moved on.

Anyway, thanks to the Mods for putting up with our bull****.

 

[Moderator1]

Hmm. A thread about VPs? How on earth did I come to the conclusion it might be political??

I, too, hope we can get to where we can discuss that stuff here. We'll see. Ain't up to me, actually, or any of the "management" team.

 

[YankeeFan]

Hmm. A thread about VPs? How on earth did I come to the conclusion it might be political??

I, too, hope we can get to where we can discuss that stuff here. We'll see. Ain't up to me, actually, or any of the "management" team.

Don't get me wrong, I get your point. it's obviously about politics.

I'm just saying that some topics -- Obama is to blame for the Gulf Oil Spill, Abortion should be outlawed everywhere -- are more likely to start a pissing match.

Broader political topics, and the musical chairs type threads are less likely too -- you'd think.

But I also get why none of you want to babysit a group of adults all day, so I defer to your judgement.

And, despite causing some problems on occasion, I do appreciate your efforts.

 

[Moderator1]

And we appreciate that, YF. Truly.

I also want to add that I'm very glad the other board exists, for reasons other than making my life much easier.

Many of those folks are my friends. Many are real-life, met face-to-face old fashioned friends. Many are Facebook friends and some are just folks I got to know here. If they weren't happy here, I'm glad they have a (very similar) place to go and hang out and do what they want to do.

As for me, one board is enough and I like it here just fine. Even with some b.s. over the years, it's been a positive addition to my sorry-ass life!

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The split was not good for either message board. It was like the IndyCar split which created two weakened racing leagues and allowed NASCAR an opening to take over.

Sock puppet use went down with the closing of the political board, current thread notwithstanding.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

I used to wake up and almost dread the crap I'd find. Threads had grown by 6-7 pages with 1-2 posts on topic. Strange threads had popped up. I'd have eight PMs and there would be 3-4 "report to moderator" threads to read.

And most of those would be one or two word posts saying look at me, look at me.

Some of the posting decline can be attributed to be spending less time in front of the computer as well. So yea, that 60 percent number is bogus.

 

[Moderator1]

The split was not good for either message board. It was like the IndyCar split which created two weakened racing leagues and allowed NASCAR an opening to take over.

Sock puppet use went down with the closing of the political board, current thread notwithstanding.

This is not big business. We're not the next Big Lead. It was quite good in that some folks who were unhappy here found a place that better suited their needs and, as a result, the griping here went down. I assume they're just fine and happy in their new home. Things are easier here. How is that bad? This isn't a contest. No one is getting rich off a simple message board.

 

[playthrough]

Our jobs board traffic is down, of course, though I'd love to have $5 for every "looking for unpaid bloggers" ad we've deleted.

 

[Moderator1]

Hey, it's a JOB!!

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I frequent both places. Neither is as fun as SJ was at it's height. But perhaps that is just the evolution if things. I am in an online fantasy baseball league with 24 guys who have met through playing the game. We have an outng every year to a different baseball stadium. Recently the Commish shut down our off-topic board because a couple guys got into it over something. That's with two dozen people who know each other.

I type this while watching Fox News and planning on attending the SportsJournalists.com outing.

 

[Moderator1]

Again, different ideas of fun. Which is fair and fine.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

This is not big business. We're not the next Big Lead. It was quite good in that some folks who were unhappy here found a place that better suited their needs and, as a result, the griping here went down. I assume they're just fine and happy in their new home. Things are easier here. How is that bad? This isn't a contest. No one is getting rich off a simple message board.

The funny thing is the reason a lot of those left was because they were supposedly being outed and treated unfairly (I've heard what they call Webby over there).

But they start their new board and are just as bad outing people over there, if not worse. They deny it all they want, but it happened (and I'm sure it still does). ****ing hypocrites.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Why are normally otherwise intelligent people taking the time to respond to Cousin Oliver?

 

[Moderator1]

Why are normally otherwise intelligent people taking the time to respond to Cousin Oliver?

Very good question

This is not big business. We're not the next Big Lead. It was quite good in that some folks who were unhappy here found a place that better suited their needs and, as a result, the griping here went down. I assume they're just fine and happy in their new home. Things are easier here. How is that bad? This isn't a contest. No one is getting rich off a simple message board.

The funny thing is the reason a lot of those left was because they were supposedly being outed and treated unfairly (I've heard what they call Webby over there).

But they start their new board and are just as bad outing people over there, if not worse. They deny it all they want, but it happened (and I'm sure it still does). ****ing hypocrites.

Let's please not turn this into a rant on the "other" board. I've been assured things are being handled on their end and I have no reason to doubt that. Thanks.