How to make RC more active

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The problem I'm seeing in this thread is we are using words like "better" which are incredibly subjective. What counts as better? Seems like there are a lot of very different definitions being implied.

Are we trying to get more of what RC is already best at? Or are we trying to change RC to be better at something it is not currently good at?

Is social media, or competing forum XYZ, "killing" reefcentral? I don't think that's possible really. Reducing traffic? Yup. But is a certain number of hits per day really what we want to be good at? Does it have anything to do with the soul of the experience? I hope not.

[muttley000]

I hope this doesn't offend because that is not my intent. I have been a member hear for a long time. This was the first forum I joined when I was getting ready to set up a salt tank again after a brief stint before going back to my African cichlids in the early 90's. I used to stop in a couple times a day, now I don't stop in once a month on average. The reason is that even though I personally have not had a problem with the mods here, I have seen behavior that seemed unfair based on what was public. I'm not saying I deserved to hear more, but to the casual bystander it seemed that there was a "because I said so" attitude with several of the mods. In particular the episode with carbon use/HLLE/Jay Hemdal sticks in my mind. Again, I could only see what was public, but it appeared he got railroaded for having a debate where a mod disagreed. I have communicated with him since and I can tell you a couple years ago he still didn't feel he was treated fairly. The rules have always seemed pretty tight here too. All that said it is forum leadership's prerogative to run it how they wish. Please don't take this as an opinion you run the forum wrong, but there has been a lot of chatter at other forums over the years about it, and I suspect that is because no one was comfortable talking about it here fearing being diciplined or banned.
I frequent the other "big forum" and as it grows (it is very active lately) it is showing some of the same issues. First and foremost I am still a member of my local forum, and it remains my highest priority. That forum does not put up with "too cool for the room behavior" and to be honest I like communicating with people I will meet at our local expo. I agree Facebook is a factor, but I don't and won't use Facebook. I like I can search the forums anyways so I'll use them until they disappear!

[2_zoa]

Yet again a longe term member muttley000 higher 1,000’s posts.....same msg as anyone else. So......
Who owns RC anyway? Why aren’t they reading this thread?

[BrianD]

I would be 99.9% certain that:

• We aren't going to pay for content
• We aren't going to have contests
• We aren't going to have changes to the forum interface or page design
• We aren't going to have all the little add-on features

The way for traffic to increase is for more people to be online and for more people to post more. That was Jesse's point (Misled). Simple, but the reality of the situation.

[BrianD]

The "Serenity Prayer" comes into play here. There are things we (as moderators) can change, there are many, many more that we cannot. Modifications to the infrastructure/software etc fall into the "cannot" category.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by 2_zoa

That’s just it. Being or saying it is what it is. Isn’t doing anything to keep up to date in an ever changin society. Resting on the laurels of what once was will get any organization, nowhere. People come and people go in this hobby based on disposable income and life responsibilities. That means to me, a newer generation of people and mindsets that have to be catered to. Period. At some point, the sponsors of this site will pull their accounts due to diminishing return on their investment and the amount of traffic it’s exposed to. Everything in life is related to business.

As to you being on line more.....that wasn’t my message. I apologize for not being more clear to my generalization of references. I was simply referring to a motivational side of business and that’s really what is needed here. Not give away sand shiny cheap trinkets. Yet, a more meaningful approach that addresses the root cause and gets the group motivated to all come together and pull for something that is valuable and an understanding that it all starts with each and everyone of us.

My understanding of this is, RC is in "denial" stage of recovery.

as to catering to younger people, they are the future of, pretty much everything. so a site or service has to cater to them.

Times change. and most things, including msg boards, need to adapt. Otherwise, we should still be churning our own butter. And yes, churning our own butter worked years ago and still works now. businesses like nokia and blackberry did not adapt to changing times (or maybe too late).

[BrianD]

You're missing the point. No one is in "denial".

[BrianD]

Saying that another way, no one is more aware of the decline in traffic than the moderators. I've been here for a few years. I remember the boom times well. I also know the traffic we have now is a fraction of where it was in the past. No reasonable person can or should deny that.

The car we are driving is the car that will take us the rest of this journey. That is the way it is.

[reefgeezer]

I like RC. It is the only one I regularly participate in. I do miss posts from some that have left. Others have stepped up to fill the void though. Maybe the best opportunity for improvement is to keep them posting and encouraging others to post more.

Maybe some new forums.

"I'm goin' t' pick a fight" Forum (Read with a Scottish Brogue)
This forum could be where those that want a vigorous debate could go. The rules might be relaxed a little in this forum. Maybe for "less holes barred", enter at your own risk kind of stuff.

Mentor's Forum
This forum is where mentors, possibly selected by RC Staff, start and moderate individual threads about reef care related topics.

RC's TOTM or TOTQ Forum
This is pretty straight forward. It doesn't have to be as involved as the old feature, just allow the winner to post a new thread in a tightly moderated new forum and a change the Forum's Home Page picture.

Upgrade RC's ROTM
I don't really know how ROTM works, but it could be a good vehicle to encourage people to participate. Prizes aren't required... just recognition.

[d0ughb0y]

its not about acknowledging the decline in activity.
posts are suggesting something has to be done to increase activity. does not have to be exactly what others are doing.
will activity increase on its own with status quo? time will tell.

[Hal]

Originally Posted by muttley000

I hope this doesn't offend because that is not my intent. I have been a member hear for a long time. This was the first forum I joined when I was getting ready to set up a salt tank again after a brief stint before going back to my African cichlids in the early 90's. I used to stop in a couple times a day, now I don't stop in once a month on average. The reason is that even though I personally have not had a problem with the mods here, I have seen behavior that seemed unfair based on what was public. I'm not saying I deserved to hear more, but to the casual bystander it seemed that there was a "because I said so" attitude with several of the mods. In particular the episode with carbon use/HLLE/Jay Hemdal sticks in my mind. Again, I could only see what was public, but it appeared he got railroaded for having a debate where a mod disagreed. I have communicated with him since and I can tell you a couple years ago he still didn't feel he was treated fairly. The rules have always seemed pretty tight here too. All that said it is forum leadership's prerogative to run it how they wish. Please don't take this as an opinion you run the forum wrong, but there has been a lot of chatter at other forums over the years about it, and I suspect that is because no one was comfortable talking about it here fearing being diciplined or banned.
I frequent the other "big forum" and as it grows (it is very active lately) it is showing some of the same issues. First and foremost I am still a member of my local forum, and it remains my highest priority. That forum does not put up with "too cool for the room behavior" and to be honest I like communicating with people I will meet at our local expo. I agree Facebook is a factor, but I don't and won't use Facebook. I like I can search the forums anyways so I'll use them until they disappear!

With my apologies if I've already said this earlier in this thread, but I've pretty much left reefcentral because I've seen too many instances where I thought the moderators where rude or tyrannical, or even resort to insulting/haranging the member. One specific example is that I saw threads closed because the mod didn't like the tone of the discussion. I thought the threads were still helpful and the discussion was fruitfull. I'll admit it can be a matter of opinion, but for me, my opinion was that the mod was too eager to show that they were in charge and that people who disagreed with them were shut out.

I think I've seen similar comments so I'm not the only person seeing this. The last time I brought this up a mod went after me to show me how rude I was (I didn't think I was, and certainly wasn't trying to be rude. In fact I was very careful to parse my words. IMO, the mod read my statements incorrectly). Even if the mod is right, there is some merit to the idea of "perception".

Good luck with all this. This used to be a great place. I'd love to see it that way again.

[smatter]

I can tell you one thing that we don't need: A "Like" button.

[D-Nak]

Originally Posted by BrianD

The car we are driving is the car that will take us the rest of this journey. That is the way it is.

This makes it sound like there are no plans in the future to improve the site.

Maybe it's time to upgrade to vBulletin 5?

Just an updated interface would help. I know for me personally, it feels antiquated (but I'm an art director/designer). A skin update shouldn't be too hard, right? I know folks who haven't been on the site for a while, then come back to see a new interface might be enticed to poke around.

And again, image hosting is a big deal. Looks like V5 has expanded photo and video capabilities. Not sure what that means exactly, but I know that quicker posting with visuals attracts eyeballs. I oftentimes scroll through longer threads looking for photos.

It also looks like mobile optimization is better. Maybe it won't force people to use Tapatalk?

[BrianD]

There are no plans to change the forum software. I wish I could promise all sorts of changes to the software, and all sorts of bells and whistles being added (the relative value of same being up to each user's opinion).

I can't. There are things I control in life. That isn't one of them, nor are any of the moderators able to enact that change.

[BrianD]

Trust me, I see many people on this thread that have been friends of RC for almost two decades. I wish we could give you what you ask for. I really do.

[Nanook]

Like Brian said, all of the strings and ability to affect any major changes are completely out of our hands. The volunteer moderator group is small and we do the best we can with what we’ve got. Our site is on auto pilot and it is understandable that folks would like more, unfortunately, this is out of our control. Our small core base still has a lot to offer, but I know many have left because they found us lacking.

I appreciate everyone’s input and participation!

[Tastee]

I’m a new member (1 yr) but for what it is worth here is my 2c worth. I have no issues with the site design and software. I know some dislike Tapatalk but as an iPad user it is very convenient to make and edit posts and upload photos from. The web interface itself works well enough in Safari for me. I am in IT myself so if there were significant technical issues they would annoy the tripe out of me, and they don’t, so no issues there.

I moved to SW after a long while in FW and have increased my knowledge in both hobbies more than 1000% in the past year. RC is a big contributor to that. The quality of posts and responses is overall excellent. Yes sometimes a bit of a slanging match ensues, but not very often.

I check in daily. This is the only forum I currently do that for. I do search and read others, but do not monitor them. I find the speed of responses quite good and when it comes to time critical posts excellent. I was extremely impressed by the responses I got to one of my early posts about a sick fish in QT. In fact the speed of response, and the quality of those responses, are most likely what made me follow RC in the first place. I see this type of response from the RC community regularly.

So I am still a fan. Keep up the good work and build on your strengths. Site hits and ‘likes’ or equivalent are not a meaningful measure of long term success. Quality of discussion and value to your members is - much harder to measure but much more important.

[sde1500]

Improving the ability to upload pictures I think would do some good. I frequent this forum more, found it first and am more comfortable with it, but I do frequent another large one we are annoyingly not even allowed to name here. One thing that stands out between the two, vibrancy. Maybe something that seems little, but look at the color schemes here. Gray and blue. I mean fine, but its...bland compared to clay-boa. Another observation, not sure how it happened because I know he used to be a big contributor here, but they have Reef Chemistry by RHF, and he is a frequent contributor, plus Dana Ridley for lighting. Big names that have draw and can provide content, expertise and discussion. Not saying no one here has the knowledge to discuss as they do, but the names are a draw.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by 2_zoa

At some point, the sponsors of this site will pull their accounts due to diminishing return on their investment and the amount of traffic it’s exposed to. Everything in life is related to business.

does not look right, I checked RC sponsors, and counted 24. I checked the other site and counted 122.

current users online both both sites appear to be the same, about 6000 (I think this stat is users logged in the past 24 hours?), but somehow, activity here is less. It is a far cry from few years ago where there can be 60,000 active users a day.

I don't know what the limitations are, but I think in general, anything is possible with proper motivation.

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

does not look right, I checked RC sponsors, and counted 24. I checked the other site and counted 122.

current users online both both sites appear to be the same, about 6000 (I think this stat is users logged in the past 24 hours?), but somehow, activity here is less. It is a far cry from few years ago where there can be 60,000 active users a day.

I don't know what the limitations are, but I think in general, anything is possible with proper motivation.

I’ve never checked the sponsors here or anywhere else. Sponsors aren’t why I visit. That speaks to a lack of cash flow for RC though.

So what drives the same user to be vocal on one site and not another?

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by Hal

With my apologies if I've already said this earlier in this thread, but I've pretty much left reefcentral because I've seen too many instances where I thought the moderators where rude or tyrannical, or even resort to insulting/haranging the member. One specific example is that I saw threads closed because the mod didn't like the tone of the discussion. I thought the threads were still helpful and the discussion was fruitfull. I'll admit it can be a matter of opinion, but for me, my opinion was that the mod was too eager to show that they were in charge and that people who disagreed with them were shut out.

I think I've seen similar comments so I'm not the only person seeing this. The last time I brought this up a mod went after me to show me how rude I was (I didn't think I was, and certainly wasn't trying to be rude. In fact I was very careful to parse my words. IMO, the mod read my statements incorrectly). Even if the mod is right, there is some merit to the idea of "perception".

Good luck with all this. This used to be a great place. I'd love to see it that way again.

I think admins are nicer lately. maybe because there is less crap/stress to deal with due to less traffic.

I agree with your observation that there was a lot of arrogance a while back during the peak of RC.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by smatter

I can tell you one thing that we don't need: A "Like" button.

maybe, maybe not.

but, a "like" button motivates people to post more, as people like it when their posts are liked.

I also noticed, most prolific posters/contributors here that moved to the other site, are given awards or recognition. I think that motivates them to post more, hence a more active forum.

just reporting my observations.

[Hal]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

maybe, maybe not.

but, a "like" button motivates people to post more, as people like it when their posts are liked.

I also noticed, most prolific posters/contributors here that moved to the other site, are given awards or recognition. I think that motivates them to post more, hence a more active forum.

just reporting my observations.

I would respectfully oppose a "like" button or similar. IMO, a "like" button is just vanity. No doubt it is popular with the masses, but do we really want to encourage bad behaviour? I come here for information about my fish issues, or to help others with their issues. If someone wants to compliment me, then add a post saying that you agree with me. Not only do I get an indirect compliment, but the OP sees a reinforcing opinion.

The other forum I frequent has too much window dressing that results in a screen full of crap. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but please "just the facts, ma'am".

And yes, making it easier to upload pictures would be a great boost. It would make the threads more attractive visually.

[EMeyer]

My two cents:

This board is aesthetically much better than the other one. That place has a terrible layout. The simple forum design here is much cleaner and less cluttered.

Like buttons are only fun when you also have a "dislike" option. I doubt theyre ever useful or a net positive but at least then theyre fun.

Only thing I'd change about this place: get rid of the ludicrous rules about linking to other sites or even naming other sites. What are we, a bunch of Hogwarts students wetting our pants over He Who Must Not Be Named?

[Member No. 1]

There have been some good points made in this thread.
I understand why some suggestions/improvements can't be implemented.
Some are good, other not so good.
I come here for the info, to ask questions, bounce ideas around, maybe help if I can. I like the way the format is set up. Easy to navigate. Maybe it's because I'm familiar with the layout.
I poke around over there, to hard to follow. I do miss some of the more knowledgeable people that use to post here.
As to my frequency, I go in waves. I'll be on as much as I can, then go months without checking in. But that's just me and is no reflection on RC.

However, I will +1 the easier picture upload/hosting. I for one, know I would post more if I could add pictures with ease. ( TapTalk)