OLD POSTS

What to do with necroposting


  • Total voters
    20

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
I've toyed with different scenarios with respect to locking a post.

The first though was lock them after a certain amount of time.
Next was lock them after they have run their course and the inquiry was satisfied.
Then it was leave them open, even if necroposted.

It happened that John, a member here, brought up in another forum about business models and forums. One of the blogs at forumdr talked about the admins getting rid of "fluff" posts as they add no value to the forum. Well, if we consider postings as an asset to attract new members, this does bode well for us to keep the threads alive. Also in that article, it recommended the admins edit the titles to reflect what the topic is about. All this extra work is to improve the SEO position. If EETECH Media went towards that direction, I think the moderators should be paid.

Also considered an asset is the members, as they are the force answering the inquiries. If we were to consider the acquisition costs to convert someone to a long term member, it would be enormous. You have willing volunteers working for a for profit organization. Maybe EETECH could sponsor some "interns" to assist the moderators attempts to "clean out the fluff."

So, it comes to the final question ... what are the metrics that determine a post adds value to the forum? Is it like pornography? We will know it when we see it? That metric has way too much wiggle room.
 

Thread Starter

ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
I've toyed with different scenarios with respect to locking a post.

The first though was lock them after a certain amount of time.
Next was lock them after they have run their course and the inquiry was satisfied.
Then it was leave them open, even if necroposted.

It happened that John, a member here, brought up in another forum about business models and forums. One of the blogs at forumdr talked about the admins getting rid of "fluff" posts as they add no value to the forum. Well, if we consider postings as an asset to attract new members, this does bode well for us to keep the threads alive. Also in that article, it recommended the admins edit the titles to reflect what the topic is about. All this extra work is to improve the SEO position. If EETECH Media went towards that direction, I think the moderators should be paid.

Also considered an asset is the members, as they are the force answering the inquiries. If we were to consider the acquisition costs to convert someone to a long term member, it would be enormous. You have willing volunteers working for a for profit organization. Maybe EETECH could sponsor some "interns" to assist the moderators attempts to "clean out the fluff."

So, it comes to the final question ... what are the metrics that determine a post adds value to the forum? Is it like pornography? We will know it when we see it? That metric has way too much wiggle room.
If we stick to necroposting,
What I was after here was what the members would like.
At the risk of being political it looks like we have
The liberals - Just let people post to them and If it's not a useless post or a hijack, let it ride.
The conservatives - Lock threads older than 1 year
and Lock it after 6-8months except for the OP and those that contributed already prior the locking
The moderates - Start a new thread for the poster and close the old thread
So if it were a (near) perfect world, we would address Gofert's concern by stopping a new guy before he posted.
Keep the hijack part the same - make them a new post. Stopping the new guy before he posted might help this as well.
Let anyone else post to the exiting thread.
How would that be?
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
There is always a catch-22.

The closing thread argument will continue long after I depart this earth.

The same arguments will be discussed until someone in authority decides on how they want it done. The moderators are NOT the authority in this example, and neither is the membership. The best those two groups can do is discuss their thoughts.

Once someone in authority decides on the value of the old posts, the decision becomes easy.

The rest of us are playing a what if I were in charge game.

I did vote for the third choice.
 

Thread Starter

ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
There is always a catch-22.

The closing thread argument will continue long after I depart this earth.

The same arguments will be discussed until someone in authority decides on how they want it done. The moderators are NOT the authority in this example, and neither is the membership. The best those two groups can do is discuss their thoughts.
I'm cautiously optimistic that if we present a coherent idea instead of screaming at the moderators we might get what would appear to make most people happy. Only time will tell. :rolleyes:

Once someone in authority decides on the value of the old posts, the decision becomes easy.
I'm not a sales or marketing guy, so I guess I don't get the value of a couple of posts a week one way or the other. I can see leaving them on the site so when people Baidu a problem they get to the site, but if it's open or closed can't make much difference. Can it?
I did vote for the third choice.
Thanks. Pretty good turn out.:)
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
What about suggesting a more prominent flag for necroposts? I can't see how there is any serious business concern with providing such a flag, except for some small cost to implement it in software. Folks like me then wouldn't care whether a post was a necropost or not, and there would be less need for a mod to handle them at all, one way or the other. Surely any suggestion to reduce the work of the mods would get an open ear?
 

Thread Starter

ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
What about suggesting a more prominent flag for necroposts? I can't see how there is any serious business concern with providing such a flag, except for some small cost to implement it in software. Folks like me then wouldn't care whether a post was a necropost or not, and there would be less need for a mod to handle them at all, one way or the other. Surely any suggestion to reduce the work of the mods would get an open ear?
That would be nice. Maybe something like the date in red or something at the beginning of the post.
I have no idea how easy or hard it is to modify the software. I imagine creating a bug is a big concern.
upload_2016-2-4_10-19-55.jpeg
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
@ronv

Ron,

Non value postings include all the posting in a morale area like Off Topic .... There is a need for the off topic area to socialize on other topics, and the membership can be restricted .... By posting groups like greater than a specified number of posts. I would recommend 100, 1000, and 10000 groups with only the 100 - 999 group being moderated.

Another example of a non-value adding posts are fluff ones to increase the members post count. These include the posts that simply say thanks, agree, concur, etc. A fluff post could be one that provides the answer, just the answer, in the homework area.

Grading posts to discrimate them is a subjective process. That discrimination could lead to higher than necessary standards for posting.

The membership could flesh out the idea and present it to the owners.
 

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
FWIW I took 'useless posts' to mean those of the "I'm experiencing a similar issue" 'caste' --- That said, even such a post may have value where it supports the OP's observations/credibility...

Best regards
HP
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
You can't be serious? -- Do that and 98% (at least) of these fora's value is forfeit:( --- Information 'keeps well' and, in point of fact, improves with time where 'maintenance' is allowed/encouraged:)

Best regards
HP
Sure, why not? It would make the mods life easier. And makes about as much sense as locking them for some one making a 'necropost'. The forum, when someone is making a new post, gives that person a few examples of similar posts. That seems to me, to be an invitation to post to one of the existing threads. And then the member gets the thread locked. And many newbies would think, "hey, they don't want me here".

I was new to forums when I joined this one, and posted to a few archived threads, if that would have caused a 'lock down', I'm pretty sure I'd have never came back. And many probably would have wished I would leave.
 

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
...And makes about as much sense as locking them for some one making a 'necropost'.
--Emphasis added--
I'll grant you that I find the policy of locking threads following on topic posts merely for the 'latency' of the former to be ill advised on a number of levels (including those outlined in your post) --- That said, I can see no positive corollary to compounding said (comparatively) petty annoyance with the atrocity of deleting/failing to maintain an archive!:eek:

Best regards
HP:)
 
Top