Fade
The Beat Strangler
After reading these posts, I think the main problem is the whole newbie thing. In 2003, there were only a few people on the site then it exploded with a bunch of new signups, and now you're all veterans of the site. Now that you've all moved on in your own way, it's time for the new guys to come in. So the key lies with the newbies.
It's true though, it's not just ILL, it's all over the place because a lot of people just hit up sites for quick info, or they prefer social sites like Twitter and Facebook. I believe those sites are good, but will die eventually. *cough*MySpace*cough* The communities are where it's at, but basically I've given you guys the tools, it's up to you to help push this site. You're the ones that are on here daily. I'm not saying I'm not gonna do anything else, in fact I still look for ways to improve the site, but what I'm saying is; you guys are the community, so it's up to you to welcome the newbies and make them feel at home.
There's nothing wrong with cliques but it just depends on how they treat others, that's all. The only reason there's cliques on here is because it's a tight knit community and we all know each other, we're used to one another. I'm trying to analyze forums like the Ubuntu forums because they have TONS of newbies on there since everyone's trying Ubuntu.
It's not just how we act towards the newbies, it's also what we offer them. For example, the Introductions forum is great, but few people welcome the new guys. Even then, all that section gives a newbie is the chance to say wassup, that's it. If there was a section for newbies to introduce themselves AND ask dumb newbie questions, then that's more inviting. Maybe the Introductions forum should be changed to Introductions and Newbie Questions.
It's true though, it's not just ILL, it's all over the place because a lot of people just hit up sites for quick info, or they prefer social sites like Twitter and Facebook. I believe those sites are good, but will die eventually. *cough*MySpace*cough* The communities are where it's at, but basically I've given you guys the tools, it's up to you to help push this site. You're the ones that are on here daily. I'm not saying I'm not gonna do anything else, in fact I still look for ways to improve the site, but what I'm saying is; you guys are the community, so it's up to you to welcome the newbies and make them feel at home.
There's nothing wrong with cliques but it just depends on how they treat others, that's all. The only reason there's cliques on here is because it's a tight knit community and we all know each other, we're used to one another. I'm trying to analyze forums like the Ubuntu forums because they have TONS of newbies on there since everyone's trying Ubuntu.
It's not just how we act towards the newbies, it's also what we offer them. For example, the Introductions forum is great, but few people welcome the new guys. Even then, all that section gives a newbie is the chance to say wassup, that's it. If there was a section for newbies to introduce themselves AND ask dumb newbie questions, then that's more inviting. Maybe the Introductions forum should be changed to Introductions and Newbie Questions.