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

[DeadEndAccount]

For me it is the half-assed half-baked replies that appear to be written by 10 year olds. Just because this is a forum and the atmosphere is relaxed doesn't give one a licence to write like a mouth breathing, knuckle dragging, teeny bopper texting tosser whose sentences are almost impossible to decipher unless one speaks 'duuuhhh' fluently (of which I do not).

How about spending some time to make your posts have structure, an actual point and if you are going to critique someones post then how about coming up with a coherent argument rather than the following garbage I see being posted:

If you can't somebody convince with your product you need to suit. WP7 is not so powerful but their lawyers are. Sad that Microsoft is going to be a patent troll.

Now for Google/Moto to get THEIR patents enforced the same way Apple/Microsoft does. F**k FRAND, sue the b**tards.

[RadishTM 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?

Looking for a solution to this too, really annoying :/

[dead.cell]

For me it is the half-assed half-baked replies that appear to be written by 10 year olds. Just because this is a forum and the atmosphere is relaxed doesn't give one a licence to write like a mouth breathing, knuckle dragging, teeny bopper texting tosser whose sentences are almost impossible to decipher unless one speaks 'duuuhhh' fluently (of which I do not).

How about spending some time to make your posts have structure, an actual point and if you are going to critique someones post then how about coming up with a coherent argument rather than the following garbage I see being posted:

That's the point I was trying to make, to which Glassed Silver talked about possible pains of over-moderation due to being so strict.

I was a lot younger when I first came here (disregard my join date, I lurked for a year or two), but that didn't give me the right to just go around this board posting like an idiot. No, I was kept in line by the examples I saw from others. Hell, me putting off registration alone until I felt I was able to actually contribute something to the forums says something. These days, it seems no one gives a damn about what they're going to post. They just dribble it out as if it's gold.

I truly believe having stricter guidelines to how people post would be welcome, in areas that have no use for garbage posts. We don't need memes in more serious topics of discussion. Keep that for off-topic chats and whatnot. Hell, we have a whole joke forum for you to do that.

In all honesty, I don't see why people have to get butthurt so easily. I mean, if you're a grown man or woman, you should be able to deal with moderators just enforcing the rules. This whole idea of who should and shouldn't get warned, playing blame games, calling out the mods on bias, and so forth... I dunno. That just seems childish. Grow up, accept what happened, let it go, and keep posting. We all screw up once in a while, we're not perfect, and it's not like being warned on Neowin is going to hurt your resume... Well, unless you work here I guess heh.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

The way I see it, you can have quantity or quality, but not both. Having greater numbers means attracting the less savory members. Having higher quality means you'll have to accept there'll be fewer visitors to the forums, but you'll also gain more quality members.

Never mind low quality gibberish posts at the moment. For now, I'd like the moderation team to *try* being more strict on personal attacks in the forums. There will be an inevitable backlash, but try it, stick with it for a little while and see what comes of it.

[ANON86364]

That's the point I was trying to make, to which Glassed Silver talked about possible pains of over-moderation due to being so strict.

I was a lot younger when I first came here (disregard my join date, I lurked for a year or two), but that didn't give me the right to just go around this board posting like an idiot. No, I was kept in line by the examples I saw from others. Hell, me putting off registration alone until I felt I was able to actually contribute something to the forums says something. These days, it seems no one gives a damn about what they're going to post. They just dribble it out as if it's gold.

I truly believe having stricter guidelines to how people post would be welcome, in areas that have no use for garbage posts. We don't need memes in more serious topics of discussion. Keep that for off-topic chats and whatnot. Hell, we have a whole joke forum for you to do that.

In all honesty, I don't see why people have to get butthurt so easily. I mean, if you're a grown man or woman, you should be able to deal with moderators just enforcing the rules. This whole idea of who should and shouldn't get warned, playing blame games, calling out the mods on bias, and so forth... I dunno. That just seems childish. Grow up, accept what happened, let it go, and keep posting. We all screw up once in a while, we're not perfect, and it's not like being warned on Neowin is going to hurt your resume... Well, unless you work here I guess heh.

The problem with that is it can be seen as opinionated moderation. Honestly though, I'm all for that. Surprised? Well I would expect no less living in a world inundated with political correctness. Personally, I believe administration should be able to guide this forum to the level of quality they want. I don't think being accepting of mediocrity is going to get us there.

[fusi0n]

Too many religious/anti-religious republican/democrat zealots on here now!

This is one Reason. There are too many people that want to fight with you.

HOWEVER, this forum is great and really the only forum i'm on now.

[jelli]

Unfortunately I have found that I have less and less time to browse Neowin, I generally look at the news articles that I am interested in but find I hardly browse the forums now. Shame really, I enjoyed the community. Maybe I should try and find some time...

[Dashel]

Moderation policies, choice of mods/MVPs, and generally dumber members.

I also loath the merging of many key threads that is absolutely disruptive to discussions. Getting rid of non-tech forums will be a good way to seal the 'never visit again' for me. They are the only place that generally has any discussion of interest. That and the MS beta forums. The main draw of Neowin originally was theming, which is pretty much dead today. Its second main draw is its international membership, which has little effect on tech issues (there are many better forums for that), but makes real world issues far better than some competing sites.

If anything, drop all the non-MS forums. Apple dorks and Droid nazi's are far worse than emotional political debates. That is the key worthless demographic that distorts any normalized tech talk.

I also dont understand why you added a like that has no 'karma' effect on post display order. Liked items should be boiled to the top of long threads.

[Soldiers33]

because ive grown up from sitting on the computer all day and activly seeking for work which is very depressing :(

[+LogicalApex MVC]

My reason for posting less often is I find I don't always contribute positively when I post. As such, I usually limit how often I post and how much so I don't annoy the rest of the community :p

[Glassed Silver]

My reason for posting less often is I find I don't always contribute positively when I post. As such, I usually limit how often I post and how much so I don't annoy the rest of the community :p

Usually you're amongst the highest quality contributors on here, so please, step it up again and don't let the butthurt people annoy you for speaking freely and most of the time sensibly.

Glassed Silver:mac

[Jeston 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?

Looking for a solution to this too, really annoying :/

Tap the bullet point (or star if you've replied to the topic) on the left of the title. I know it's a little odd to have to do that, but that's how you have to do it in the full version these days too, isn't it? I know I do.

Edit: Oops that's for first unread post, not the last post... Sorry!

[Glassed Silver]

It'd help to just be able to chose the page from a drop down list...

Large topic + mobile theme + wish to "just see the first post to check what this topic is all about" = rage quit.

Glassed Silver:mac

[TEX4S]

HH is just reinforcement of my belief that I am smarter than everyone & others fail to realize this.... :rofl:

[Amarok]

Too many religious/anti-religious republican/democrat zealots on here now!

This so much. People are so hostile. "You're different than I am, you suck and are inferior!" It's very frustrating.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

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.

This is perhaps not a bad idea. If the gaming sections' individual subsections are deserted, why not merge them into the main Gamers Hangout section? Console specific threads can simply be prefixed as such (e.g "[Wii U] Super Mario Galaxy 3"), much like threads in other sections are prefixed.

[a.mcdear]

I have never been active as a poster on Neowin, but have been an every-day visitor for 10 years now.

[dead.cell]

The way I see it, you can have quantity or quality, but not both. Having greater numbers means attracting the less savory members. Having higher quality means you'll have to accept there'll be fewer visitors to the forums, but you'll also gain more quality members.

Never mind low quality gibberish posts at the moment. For now, I'd like the moderation team to *try* being more strict on personal attacks in the forums. There will be an inevitable backlash, but try it, stick with it for a little while and see what comes of it.

Implying personal attacks don't qualify as gibberish. :p But yeah, I can agree with that. It doesn't matter if the person didn't directly insult them either (like saying people who use or have X is an idiot, knowing users here have or use X), there's absolutely no excuse for being an ass to someone for no reason. If that's the attitude people are going to bring, they need to learn it's not welcome here.

Another thing I notice though is that people complain that only certain awful posts get deleted, and believe there must be some sort of bias and conspiracy against X company or Y product. Question is: if you see a bad post and never report it, why the hell would you expect it to get deleted? Yes, the staff patrol the forums, but they're not actively reading every single post and comment that's being made. If you see something that's breaking the rules or even questionably out of line, report it! Worst case scenario: the mods get a few more reports to sift through. Not a big deal... (unless you're a mod I suppose)

[DeadEndAccount]

That's the point I was trying to make, to which Glassed Silver talked about possible pains of over-moderation due to being so strict.

Personally I find that the moderation as being misplaced and inconsistent rather than moderation being too harsh. Check out 'Fresh' on the politics/news board, or the number of people who reply to posts from the Mac section of the forum with stupid comments about how the original poster should sell their Mac etc.

I was a lot younger when I first came here (disregard my join date, I lurked for a year or two), but that didn't give me the right to just go around this board posting like an idiot. No, I was kept in line by the examples I saw from others. Hell, me putting off registration alone until I felt I was able to actually contribute something to the forums says something. These days, it seems no one gives a damn about what they're going to post. They just dribble it out as if it's gold.

I truly believe having stricter guidelines to how people post would be welcome, in areas that have no use for garbage posts. We don't need memes in more serious topics of discussion. Keep that for off-topic chats and whatnot. Hell, we have a whole joke forum for you to do that.

Or at least consistent guidelines that are consistently enforced which require moderators to actively read the forum rather than just waiting for someone to have a whine via the 'report system' because their precious feelings were hurt.

In all honesty, I don't see why people have to get butthurt so easily. I mean, if you're a grown man or woman, you should be able to deal with moderators just enforcing the rules. This whole idea of who should and shouldn't get warned, playing blame games, calling out the mods on bias, and so forth... I dunno. That just seems childish. Grow up, accept what happened, let it go, and keep posting. We all screw up once in a while, we're not perfect, and it's not like being warned on Neowin is going to hurt your resume... Well, unless you work here I guess heh.

Meh, I'd sooner just see posters not get so butthurt so easily because someone exposures their BS for what it is - be it using strong language. Debating in a forum is a full contact sport but far too many who sign up for the forum have this expectation of their opinions being automatically respected no matter how half-assed and half-baked the opinion might be.

The problem with that is it can be seen as opinionated moderation. Honestly though, I'm all for that. Surprised? Well I would expect no less living in a world inundated with political correctness. Personally, I believe administration should be able to guide this forum to the level of quality they want. I don't think being accepting of mediocrity is going to get us there.

IMHO I have a problem with opinionated moderation because then there is no consistency between the moderators - either there are a set of rules that are consistently implemented or you have a community based moderation system using 'karma' in much the same way reddit operates.

Moderation policies, choice of mods/MVPs, and generally dumber members.

I also loath the merging of many key threads that is absolutely disruptive to discussions. Getting rid of non-tech forums will be a good way to seal the 'never visit again' for me. They are the only place that generally has any discussion of interest. That and the MS beta forums. The main draw of Neowin originally was theming, which is pretty much dead today. Its second main draw is its international membership, which has little effect on tech issues (there are many better forums for that), but makes real world issues far better than some competing sites.

If anything, drop all the non-MS forums. Apple dorks and Droid nazi's are far worse than emotional political debates. That is the key worthless demographic that distorts any normalized tech talk.

I also dont understand why you added a like that has no 'karma' effect on post display order. Liked items should be boiled to the top of long threads.

In all due respects Neowin is a technology orientated forum, it was started as a technology oriented forum geared towards Windows users but then it expanded out to Mac and *NIX users with the non-technology parts of the forum being a non-core part of the forum.

As for 'Apple dorks' and 'Droid nazi's' then I suggest you look at the Apple forum and the number of 'Windows whingers' who post replies to Mac related topics who seem to be too lazy to check that they're actually posting in the Mac part of the forum. Most of the regular Mac users who do post outside of the Mac area don't bring any zealotry with them when compared to the overwhelming tsunami of ignorance that seems to sweep over to the Mac area from other parts of the forum.

Regarding the person further up this page talking abut personal attacks - learn the difference between a personal attack and an observation because the two are not interchangeable. If a person calls you something and uses that as a basis of their argument then that should be slammed but if it is an observation which is a part of a larger critique then quite frankly one should be the bigger man/women and move on with life.

[qdave]

I too noticed that Neowin has considerably slowed down. I guess upcoming windows 8 release is not peaking a lot of curiosity amongst people.

As for my reason..i am too busy with other stuff and have almost no time to spend on Neowin :(

[Daniel Tablas]

Like many others have mentioned, we've lost many members because the technology talk has died down in the forums. Most posts seem to be about personal problems, and the few that are about technology seem to be nests for flamewars.

Another thing I've noticed is that discussion isn't really happening anymore and the mentality of the forums has shifted into something like a commenting system. What I mean is that people only reply to the original post and don't bother to read anybody else's replies (think of a Facebook status or photo, people usually reply to the original poster, but no one engages in a conversion within the comments). This makes many members feel ignored , as it makes it seem like their contributions go unacknowledged and are not "good enough".

Since many members aren't posting as much, I think that we need to start merging subforums. There are two big advantages to this:

1. It makes the forums seem more active because everything is more concentrated

2. It becomes easier for people to discover new topics that they might have missed because they might've not surfed a particular subforum, therefore leading to more conversation

[Argi]

I think that getting a lot of those political discussions out of the mini spy is a good start. Part of what used to make it really great is discovering new threads on topics that you're familiar with, and can contribute to. That's just about all been lost.

[phunkymunky]

Look at my amount of posts, i've never been that active on here anyway...more of a lurker

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Usually you're amongst the highest quality contributors on here, so please, step it up again and don't let the butthurt people annoy you for speaking freely and most of the time sensibly.

Glassed Silver:mac

Thanks :D I'll post more frequently and lurk less.

[Hitman2000]

i was never a heavy poster.

i have i think 1 k posts in 7 years, so yeh.

plus now i have many other commitments, also things like fb and stuff take up more of my free time.