neowin Why are you less active than you used to on the Neowin forums?

[THolman Veteran]

Most of the members act like they know everything when they don't.

Exactly. Only a few of us actually do.

[corrosive23]

I'm less active, for the shear reason that better outlets exist. Reddit, Something Awfuls forums, and its due to the level of immaturity some posters posses and display, the moderation is lax and the constant flood of stupid questions got annoying.

[cyoung1616]

I've been around for a long, long time and as always post only when I have something to say. That doesn't mean I'm not here each and every day usually more than once a day and sometimes for several hours. Some of us just don't have to comment on each and every topic that comes up, it's still number one out of the two communities I visit.

Cody

[cyoung1616]

I guess I should add that I didn't vote as I don't have any gripes and still visit and post the same as I have always.

Cody

[Argi]

Too much US politics. It's so depressing and aggravating at the same time, pretty much mirroring their government - polarised and unable to come to any sort of agreement or coherent discussion.

Needs to be a filter!

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Too much US politics. It's so depressing and aggravating at the same time, pretty much mirroring their government - polarised and unable to come to any sort of agreement or coherent discussion.

Needs to be a filter!

As in a mini spy option which will show only threads from technical sub-fora? I'd agree with that.

[Doli]

"Too much discussion of non-technical topics."

It just looks like "Real World News" takes over during the day and tech news shows up more at night for me. Do we really need a "Official Abortion Discussion Thread"?

[Joni_78]

#7 & 14

[Steven P. Administrators]

When I think back, I remember I used to learn a lot from these forums. I learned about the Windows OS and how to custom-build a PC, among other things. But these days, I learn almost nothing new. The forums used to be largely focused on tech, but in a desperate attempt to attract new users, off-topic discussion is being pushed more than ever. Case and point, The other thread formerly known as: Forums about to reach... This ends up attracting a certain demographic which degrades the forums as a whole.

In other cases, when people ask for help with a problem, they end up being criticized for one reason or another (one example) which doesn't help the technical aspect of the forums at all.

Guest can't and have never been able to read that thread, and imo it still exists because there are members that want it to. I find it quite comical and have learned a few memes from it. It is one example of 1000's of posts per month too :/

The other points I make out from reading this thread are that "fanboys" are the problem, this has always been a problem from the start. People have different opinions than others, the only problem here is how they might express it, and for that there's a report button too.. Over the last eleven years we've been strict, gotten backlash from the community, then gone a bit easier on the strictness, and thats a problem too :p

I don't believe that we should be zero tolerance, if we were many of our long standing members will have never been allowed back after a ban.

One thing I'm decided on is to start with the minispy, make it tech only by default and allow a toggle to also show off topic posts.

I'm in discussions with the mods on merging some OT areas as well and will keep you guys informed.

Edit: Guests can only see tech related posts in the minispy btw (already).

[Pam14160]

In a "Word, BORING." It is just the same thing; different day.

[Paul Ferson Veteran]

Even though we're here to discuss why people are less active on the Neowin forums I'm enjoying the fact people are taking the time to suggest improvements as well. I think that counts for a lot since some of the veteran members have thousands of posts, and they're normally very recognisable on the site for this reason. I'm just not that active on Neowin at all at the moment, because I have GCSE examinations to work for. Still, when they're finished, I'll be able to put some more time back into Neowin and its forums. I already have ideas for a few more long-form articles for the near future, and there's one of them I'm actually adding little snippets to when I have time.

I think the primary reasons I'm not as active on the forums as I could be are mostly due to the politics and Real World News sections. To put it simply, I don't have the same connection to it. Technology is something all the users here have an interest in, or they probably wouldn't keep coming back to the site. Politics, and debates about abortion, aren't something I follow with as much interest. I still occasionally take a read of those threads because there are some moments of genuine intellect and wisdom in them, but for the most part I keep away. The main allure of the site is technology, and if the discussion was more focused on it than Mitt Romney's campaign policies, we'd be able to make some more forward progress with the forums. Post frequency might drop a little for a while, but the core focus of the site might become the main allure again.

With the forums I feel we should be encouraging more member interaction. I have somewhere around 1000 posts and there aren't many members I've really gotten to chat with in the forums. It might not be as much of an issue for longer-term members. From thinking about it the only members I think I've really interacted with on the forums - as in quoted and contributed/chatted with - are Glassed Silver, Vice and Farstrider. This could be worse really, since I have a reason to stick around the site and contribute to it with news, but for members who have signed up and don't really have a reason to stay around they might feel as if their presence is not wanted if they're not seeing an occasional response to their post. The only problem is that I'm not sure how to encourage people to contribute more stuff like that.

As for news on the front page, I understand the feeling that news on the site isn't always at the most cutting edge of the press. I also acknowledge that some of the authors aren't so popular, and I have no idea if I'm one of the less popular ones or not. It is useful to see people suggesting we don't push for 'new' in news, but for some more originality. Press releases are all well and good, but my favorite articles to write for the site are more long-form. If I was picking the three articles I found most fun to write for the front page they'd be the Das Keyboard and Scrivener reviews, as well as my piece on Samsung's originality. Some people prefer shorter articles but I really enjoy tackling pieces like that since it allows me a chance to really get into details. I do think that the quality of the front page postings is pretty good at the moment though. There are some mistakes occasionally, but the actual content on display is pretty well written.

[Steven P. Administrators]

I've instructed the news team to use via and/or source at the bottom of the articles again, our first example of this new method is here. Hopefully this will be a welcome change.

I'm also looking at forums that can be merged, and have just done so in the Help & Support Center. Off topic forums will be looked at too, but I want to make sure we do that right. I enjoy the Real World News section so I don't really want to merge RWI type topics in there, maybe that forum can be a sub section of Jokes & Funny stuff, as it's usually light hearted news in there anyway with some exceptions, that really should be in RWI.

[Elliot B.]

I post less because there is only a handful of active Computer Gaming forum topics each week :/

[Starbuck84]

Neowin is still the number 1 forum I visit. No butt kissing here, it's true. I love reading here and gain new knowledge. I do became less active during the last couple of months because of my new apartment. Moving your belongings and taking care of business takes a lot of time. When you're done for a day I tend to relax more, IE sit on the couch and watch a movie and or listen to some music.

[Glassed Silver]

I think a lot of decrease in post count can be attributed to the "Like This" button.

This isn't a bad thing, because sometimes you agree with someone so much and want to back his/her opinion - just sharing that YOU think the same.

Before the Like This button we had to "+1" posts, sure, we could furthermore write more about the topic, go into more details and all that, but often enough when my tab row is filled with threads on Neowin or other stuff, I'll just like and move on.

All this being said, I guess what we really need is embracing the tech talk, not minimizing the diversity and amount of non-tech talk, because quite honestly, Neowin is the home on the internet to me for the reason it's so broad and versatile.

We sure can improve there, but I think merging sub-forums doesn't help at all.

What we could need is contests, community projects, rewards for special contributors (on a monthly basis maybe, MVC is great, but those that have short phases of great contribution should get rewarded, too if we want to step it up).

Maybe we could even offer services beyond our own community or beyond forums.

If we attract "the right people" by offering more than the forums and news, we might see the tech talk get brilliant again.

I quite honestly think that we could offer something like an "express help" service.

Every member gets 1 or 2 express help tickets for free per month, no questions asked.

A pool of trusted forum members will do some research and quote the source or their personal background and reply.

Because, sometimes questions ARE very urgent or need quick tackling with no trolling interfering the topic.

I'd gladly take part in such a pool, because I already offer a similar service to everyone around here, anyone is free to PM me and if I actually find a solution, I reply as soon as I can.

I often tell newbies who create new member thread after welcoming them.

Or we could offer other services or partnerships with other sites.

So say we offer a download area (ad sponsored to finance itself) for anyone to host their programs they develop themselves and maybe even offer a guarantee it's hosted there "forever" free of charge.

Due to the ads it's a non-profit thing and a great attractor for many indie developers who don't like the big portals that possibly even bundle your software with adware, portal-custom downloaders, etc...

Not everyone wants to create open source programs, which are obviously well hosted on SourceForge and the likes.

Glassed Silver:mac

[sundayx Veteran]

One thing I want to quickly add: how the hell do you view the latest post in a topic on the mobile version? I use to post occasionally on the iPhone before the upgrade but now it's impossible cause I can't to to the last post. Everytime I view a topic I have to start at the first post, and that puts me off completely.

Unless there's a way already that I totally missed?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

One thing I want to quickly add: how the hell do you view the latest post in a topic on the mobile version? I use to post occasionally on the iPhone before the upgrade but now it's impossible cause I can't to to the last post. Everytime I view a topic I have to start at the first post, and that puts me off completely.

Unless there's a way already that I totally missed?

Hm? When viewing the forum in mobile IE 9 on WP7.5, I'm taken to the last page I was on....

[Fraud OS 11]

The Windows 8 threads are COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. Make an opinions of 8 thread, and keep the rest of the threads for actual debate and reasoned interaction. Every single thread I posted in had articuno1au et all openly attacking and insulting me. It means that what would be genuinely interesting threads are just unbearable.

[b10h4z4rd]

I'm actually more active now as a global moderator than I was before.

[articuno1au]

The Windows 8 threads are COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. Make an opinions of 8 thread, and keep the rest of the threads for actual debate and reasoned interaction. Every single thread I posted in had articuno1au et all openly attacking and insulting me. It means that what would be genuinely interesting threads are just unbearable.

I feel like this just reinforces my point.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Neobond can you not merge all the gaming forums into one subforum now, with tags people can tag a thread with, Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo/PC. It might make the gaming section seem more lively.

[Singh400]

For me it initially started with some problems surfing the site - thankfully resolved now. But for a while Chrome and Neowin did not get on. Had to use IE9.

I think that coupled with a "lul" between Windows releases and whatnot has probably had a major impact on me making regularly visits. I only really check a couple of threads these days, and very briefly skim over View New Content.

[SongHyeonDeok]

I think most of the issues discussed in this thread could be fixed simply by people showing a little more 'common sense'.

If someone personally attacks you because you stated your opinion, the most obvious thing is to ignore that person, don't cry about it or retaliate, just ignore them. If you want to make a couter-point, do so, but most of the time you'll be wasting your breath.

If you hate all the Windows 8 threads, I simply invite you not to go into them and ignore them too.

[floopydoodle]

Because my user keeps getting logged out. Using IE9.

[Glassed Silver]

I think most of the issues discussed in this thread could be fixed simply by people showing a little more 'common sense'.

If someone personally attacks you because you stated your opinion, the most obvious thing is to ignore that person, don't cry about it or retaliate, just ignore them. If you want to make a couter-point, do so, but most of the time you'll be wasting your breath.

If you hate all the Windows 8 threads, I simply invite you not to go into them and ignore them too.

See that the problem really.

You cannot start a Windows 8 discussion without it getting out of hand.

Whilst I certainly reside in the camp "Metro is junk on the desktop" I try to backup my claims and views and not be hostile, which a lot of the non-approving folks seem to forget.

Vice versa, too.

This ultimately results in many topics getting taboo-ized or not being contributed to with sensible posts -> our problem. :/

Glassed Silver:mac