Netsmog has grown.

It seems now days I cant come onto this board without at least one other registered member and 2 or 3 guests online as well.

Certainly a big change from when I first registered here, I remember that the most posts anyone had (other than admin)was a little over 60.

Its certainly interesting to see how many people have registered, posted once or twice and never been heard of again.

There seems to be only afew of us who are posting threads regularly, however this is in no way a bad thing.

Its good cuz it means that netsmog doesnt suffer the spam and crap that plauges so many other boards.

However I do realise that netsmog is growing and soon there will be a fair few regulars, which is great!!  I just hope that they are not forum spammers with nothing better to do that piss people off.

I mean even the most prolific posters on this board (currently Admin and ProZak) manage to make all of there posts mean something (unless its in the owrd association thread ;D ).

I think that is one of the best things about netsmog, the lack of crap.  



 

thanx. me is very honored. i have to say that this is the first forum i´ve joined through my ´bout 4 and a half years i am on the net now, and it´s the best. i love this big fat family feeling, i love ya all .

btw, i´ve chosen "stay always logged in" so you´ll always see me online  ;D

[Uranium-235]

Prozak == forum whore

^yeah , blame it all on me. but i´ll have the last word (post) ;D

Hi Simo,
While not trying to pick your thread apart, there are some items that I do disagree with and would like to post my opinions in rebuttal.

Is netsmog really growing ?

"Its certainly interesting to see how many people have registered, posted once or twice and never been heard of again".

If this were my forum, I would find this troubling and try to remedy the situation. Yes, those that come here looking for a forum home, then registering and never coming back is perplexing. Why is that ? Does this forum display a 'pleasing personality' or a 'porno complexion' ?
Personally I feel that too much porno talk is permitted, and even encouraged by the 'management'. This is not going to attract a heavy stampede of the 'fair sex'. Nor will it be listed on many 'family bookmarks'. I think this is a stumbling block to the orderly growth here. And yes, most posters are the same 5 to 10.

" There seems to be only afew of us who are posting threads regularly, however this is in no way a bad thing."
Actually it is a bad thing, couldn't the same 'few regulars' just go to a chat room ?  

" Its good cuz it means that netsmog doesnt suffer the spam and crap that plauges so many other boards."
Again, spam is an internet byproduct, webmasters will have to learn to deal with it and most do.

"However I do realise that netsmog is growing and soon there will be a fair few regulars,"

I'm not so sure there are any more posters here now than in the beginning. I do see the admins posting on other forums here and there trying to 'drum up new members'. Then there was this post by a visitor :
-----------------
terrorbyte
    Newbie
    Posts: 1

    The Netsmog.com Tech
       Forums Rule!          

           

                         Re: Windows XP problems  
                         « Reply #19 on: December 22nd, 2001, 12:01am »                                                                                    


                      well, just checking out different forums and for my first visit, I have to say if this is
                      it, I'm not impressed, couldnt see to much in the way of answers, just stupid childish
                      comments, and, you guessed it,  I'm out of here. >>>>>

                      As for the thread starter, sounds like you installed xp over the top of ME, a clean
                      install is the only way with xp to avoid the problems. I have installed XP 34 times
                      now and have not had 1 major problem.
--------------------------

What do you think brought him to that opinion ? Most all the posts being made here are to some word association thread or whatever. Not that many actual computer technical questions being asked. Now that is the problem. Quantity seems to prevail over quality.
This forum could grow in an orderly fashion if attention was given to certain details, but as long as the 'status quo' is active, I wouldn't bet on it.

For the new year I wish this forum success, good examples would be  'AmazingTechs' and 'Asendtechnologies', both new forums started up since Nov and now are very active.

All comments - positive or negative- welcomed and encouraged.

thats quite a bit of critic. at first i want to say that netsmog has grown, when i came here there were about 5 to 6 regular posters. no we are abit more than 15 or so i think. and do not blame the word association thread being nonsens. i simply should push traffic a little bit and mybe get the users to communicate just a little more than before ya, and if you are looking for technical interesting threads you are on the wrong adress with the general board (everything belongs there) have a look into the hardware or operating systems section. i personally spend most uv my forum time in the voided warranty afflitiate board, cuz i came here through VW, so go and have a look at my follow-me-step-by-step modding articles which will probably (if i ever get a cam) be transferred to the voided warranty articles section.
and my opinion to the p0rn: if we don´t post the p0rn itself, nobody should be obsessed and to my bad language : i´m sorry, but i´m used to it, i try to keep it in borders to prevent the admin from deleting my posts. i´ve once linked a erotic linksite an´d the post disappeared ´bout 25 minutes later. cheers to the admin, he does good work.

PS:i don´t wanna offend you, trust me, but if ya don´t like it here.........

[Omega]

jinx, I agree, I'll state that bluntly.  Netsmog most assuredly isn't anything near the forums at large boards like ArsTechnica (that still amazes me, how many people they have), but I feel we do have a growing user base, and therefore, a growing potential for questions and answers.  I think it's a bit of a "which came first: the chicken or the egg" type question.  We want to attract more people so we'll have a larger discussion base, but to attract them, we need more discussion.

As a side note, -=aoC|PRoZaK=-, just because you stayed "always logged in," I think that just means that you don't have to type in your password all the time.  I believe that we still will only see the people actually browsing the forums in the "online" section.  I'm not giving any guarantees, but I think that's probably how it works.

I'll try to do my part, and post any questions I have, and I certainly try to do my part to answer any questions people ask, if there's not someone already expressing my answer.

I didn't see any pornographic posting, or explicit content, so I can't really comment on that, other than to say that I would remove it if I did come along it.  I'm fairly sure that type of content is prohibited in the user agreement.

The general board is a board where people can discuss anything, and is aimed at regular discussion, not the technical discussion that is expected in the other forums.  I'm guessing it's quite a bit easier for most to post in the General boards because it's mostly opinions, and bits of what happened in your day today, etc.  This isn't an occurrence unique to Netsmog, however.  Again using ArsTechnica as a reference point, it will be observed that their general forum has about five times the amount of posts as their other forums (597,343 posts in "The Lounge", versus 123,940 posts in NT & Windows 2000 Mojo").  I'll be honest and say that I personally feel the word association thread(s) is/are fairly pointless, and bordering on spam.  We could be optimistic and think that there's a lack of computer/technical questions because everyone's computer(s) is/are in perfect working order, but I find that a little bit difficult to believe.

Like I said, I'll try to post more questions.  I'm done rambling, and I really have to get working on my stuff that has to get done prior to my 7:00 AM departure tomorrow morning.  Thanks for the opinions.

[wizbones]

I think "jinx" has allot to say and should be taken seriously.

I frequent this board now and again to see if there are any posts I can answer to help out.

When I first started coming here there were more posts asking questions. As of late I come here less often becuase it's mostly conversation now and less n less technical posts.

There are even posts still on the board that no one even attempts to answer as well.

Overall I like this board but it could use some tweaks here and there. Too much idle chit chat for the most part. But I guess poeple do need to vent things once and awhile.

I myself would like to see more questions & answers as I believe this to be the boards purpose. But I do not have any questions to ask myself. Unless the Admin's want us to post questions we've been asked and have resolved ourselves. I don't know.

There is a larger membership here but not all those that have signed up participate, that does say something about the content of the board.

If there is anything I can do to help, just holler at me. If I think of something I'll pass it on to administrators of the board.

Best wishes in the New Year all

[vee_ess]

i would agree ith jinx for the most part, except that jinx is just a tiny bit too critical, but that is what makes things get done

My main motive to rebut some of the points in Simo's thread was because I was about to post a thread on the same topic with different views. Then when I saw his post I just rebuted some of his statements and prefaced them first. His post raised some of the same views I saw different, others I agree with.


Simo, Omega and Wizbones  provided excellant feedback to this dialog which is nothing more than ways to improve the retention rate of new members and other ways to attract new members and improve Netsmog.

Whether or not you agree, Netsmog does indeed have these problems. Wizbones  responce did  actually finger most of them,
"As of late I come here less often........" really should be a major concern to all members. Terrobytes post should also be a concern.
Unless the problems are illuminated and discussed in honest dialog, not much will be done. That is exactly what worries me. You see I like this board, it is fast, has most user features and forums. I simply do not wish to take Prozak's advice right now and leave. Prozak may have tipped his hand to another problem with that statement, which is = smugness. Smugness has destroyed lots of forums.

I plan to stick around awhile longer, and post where I can. No one has a monopoly on computer knowlege. I came here in good faith, like the preceeding 351 members - now gone, I was simply looking for a 'forum home' a place to belong. But if i wrote a letter to Ann Landers, it would reveal that I am having a hard time fitting in here. So if things do NOT improve, I will join the mass exodus of the preceeding 351, (366-15=351) then what ? Will those whom use obscenities in every post feel less threatened ? Think about it ! Can this forum continue to exist with 15 or so posters ?  More points for consternation.
Whether I stay or not doesn't change the problems one iota, unless corrected, they will still be here - regardless.

1- At present I would simply recommend that obscenities be filtered out or the poster be blocked. That is obscenities- not necessarily profanities, there is a difference.

2- Start a New Members forum, where new members can ask questions about the board and existing members can interact with them.

Again for the New Year, I do wish Netsmog and its members the best in progress and happiness. Thanks to all who responded already and may do so in the future, may your opinion account for something.

jinx