How Do we get more/better posters at ASFN?

[MastersofCombat]

I just read a subject where a guy is leaving after years of being here and it lead me to make a post about ASFN.

1. First and foremost ASFN is the freakin bomb for the Cardinals, and no site no where covers them better. They also have so many people that give quality information and threads for the most part. The Cardinal section of ASFN lives and dies with their team. Inspiring to say the least when you consider the Cardinals are considered 1 of 3 worst run frachises in sports history.

2. Second however is the Phoenix Suns forum and while there are some good posters here, theres not near enough quality and quantity. If you go by the last 3 months most would say what do you mean? But think about this the Suns just went through what could be said the greatest acheivement year in their history. They overcame everything but the Mavs and had some spectacular players evolve out of Dantonis system.

This is the Suns home site and there are a lot of fans out there! How can we direct them here? How can we get the word out?

Cardinal site is going to blow up this year I believe more so than ever before if something happens where Leinart comes in and is successful. This will be plummer frenzy times 100 and the Suns will get drifters from there I realize.
Lets just hope the Cards go off and alot more insightful people find ASFN.

 

[Tank]

I am a member on another site that limits the number of posts for new users. New members are only allowed 5 posts/day until they hit 25 posts and they cannot start new threads. Seems that this allows them to become a part of the community rather than just trying to take over and post like crazy.
Also, it keeps people from trolling too much, but if you do, you know they're gone after 5 posts and banning them is not required.

Just an idea, but that seems to be what this thread is for...

 

[SirStefan32]

How about just letting people post, and stop over- moderating?

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I think we get new posters here by the following methods:

1. Ask your friends, tell your buddies about this site...invite them to join in.

2. When a new poster joins and comes on the board, treat him with respect and like he knows what he's talking about, until he proves otherwise.

3. If you see a new poster, maybe do one of our "Welcome to the board" threads where we welcome new people and ask for our "food orders". That creates some comraderie and makes the new person feel accepted.

Overall...we just can't scare people off. I'm sure there have been good potential posters who see other new people get bashed for an idea they posted about, and decide to not ever post.

We have to be more accepting. If some new guy's first post is about Marion, and how he feels maybe we should trade him...either give him the respect you'd give another person on this board, or just don't post on that thread.

But mostly, don't do a "roll eyes" or whatever...let them get involved in the site and feel welcome.

Also maybe next year, some people can meet up for a couple of big games...that really helped the Cards board bond...halftime meets, etc.

Mike

 

[Gaddabout]

The longer someone posts in a community, the more they're going to absorb in opinion and attitude from the community. You get better by participating. I don't know that we need MORE posters. At least, I don't think you go looking for them.

 

[DeAnna]

I think we get new posters here by the following methods:

2. When a new poster joins and comes on the board, treat him with respect and like he knows what he's talking about, until he proves otherwise.

3. If you see a new poster, maybe do one of our "Welcome to the board" threads where we welcome new people and ask for our "food orders". That creates some comraderie and makes the new person feel accepted.

Overall...we just can't scare people off. I'm sure there have been good potential posters who see other new people get bashed for an idea they posted about, and decide to not ever post.

We have to be more accepting. If some new guy's first post is about Marion, and how he feels maybe we should trade him...either give him the respect you'd give another person on this board, or just don't post on that thread.

But mostly, don't do a "roll eyes" or whatever...let them get involved in the site and feel welcome. Mike

'tis true.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

How about just letting people post, and stop over- moderating?

Very well Said

 

[nowagimp]

I think we get new posters here by the following methods:

1. Ask your friends, tell your buddies about this site...invite them to join in.

2. When a new poster joins and comes on the board, treat him with respect and like he knows what he's talking about, until he proves otherwise.

3. If you see a new poster, maybe do one of our "Welcome to the board" threads where we welcome new people and ask for our "food orders". That creates some comraderie and makes the new person feel accepted.

Overall...we just can't scare people off. I'm sure there have been good potential posters who see other new people get bashed for an idea they posted about, and decide to not ever post.

We have to be more accepting. If some new guy's first post is about Marion, and how he feels maybe we should trade him...either give him the respect you'd give another person on this board, or just don't post on that thread.

But mostly, don't do a "roll eyes" or whatever...let them get involved in the site and feel welcome.

Also maybe next year, some people can meet up for a couple of big games...that really helped the Cards board bond...halftime meets, etc.

Mike

I'm not sure that I understand what has expired here regarding Eindholm and Yuma, so I'll not address the actions(?) of the moderators for that. Yuma and Eindholm have contributed to many useful and knowledgable discussions over the short time that I've been posting here.

What posters can do to make the site more hospitable is to have a little patience with new posters(and old) and allow them to gain knowledge or extra points of view at their pace without getting personal. The "ultimate truth" will probably never be a realistic goal, so policing the "uninformed" statements of new posters(and old) does not have to be such a zealous undertaking. Useful knowledge can be gained at this site by many basketball fans, but all basketball knowledge does not eminate from this site. Clusters of hostile posts tend to scare off posters not looking for confrontation, meaning that some interesting views may go uncommunicated. Its possible to say that an idea "seems silly" instead of that the poster is a moron or idiot. Posters need to learn to persuade a little more and condemn a little less. Human beings do not learm by beinhg beat over the head(figuratively), they need time to adjust and adapt their ideas while not being totally embarrassed. It is possible that posters will not agree a significant number of thread tops. Thats OK, if everyone was assimilated to the "best" view, the world would be a boring place and this board would be uninteresting. Hopefully those guys and their interesting insights will come back, but if a break is needed, I'd understand.

 

[abomb]

I think a lot of the recent flack comes from the Suns having a deep playoff run and attracting Suns fans (and accompanying trolls) to the board. I think things will settle down for a while, but once the Cardinals start winning this fall, we will have our work cut out for us even more.

 

[D-Dogg]

The Cards board on this site is one of the best Internet communities I've ever been a part of. It's amazing how tight knit that forum is.

 

[SunsTzu]

I think we get new posters here by the following methods:

1. Ask your friends, tell your buddies about this site...invite them to join in.

2. When a new poster joins and comes on the board, treat him with respect and like he knows what he's talking about, until he proves otherwise.

3. If you see a new poster, maybe do one of our "Welcome to the board" threads where we welcome new people and ask for our "food orders". That creates some comraderie and makes the new person feel accepted.

Overall...we just can't scare people off. I'm sure there have been good potential posters who see other new people get bashed for an idea they posted about, and decide to not ever post.

We have to be more accepting. If some new guy's first post is about Marion, and how he feels maybe we should trade him...either give him the respect you'd give another person on this board, or just don't post on that thread.

But mostly, don't do a "roll eyes" or whatever...let them get involved in the site and feel welcome.

Also maybe next year, some people can meet up for a couple of big games...that really helped the Cards board bond...halftime meets, etc.

Mike

The thing I find odd about not just this Suns board or msg board in general but other msg boards for Az teams is the lack of fans from other teams participating. A large portion of fan sites have an "Around the League" type forum that attracts posters from opposing teams and stimulates a great deal of discussion giving contrasting view points. While I don't think this forum is overly harsh to opposing non-troll fans I also do not believe it encourages their contribtions either.

For example when BIM started a thread about the Lakers and was trashed for posting it here. While I think most rational fans would be able to predict that having a Laker thread on a Suns forum would probably turn into trash talk pretty quickly(much like a Cowboys thread on a Cards forum) I don't think it was his intention. He obviously likes the online comunity here and just wanted discussion with the people he likes about the team he likes, unfortunatly there really is no place here for opposing fans(I don't think most opposing fans want to talk smack) except for the couple times a year the teams meet up and they offer their .02.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

The thing I find odd about not just this Suns board or msg board in general but other msg boards for Az teams is the lack of fans from other teams participating. A large portion of fan sites have an "Around the League" type forum that attracts posters from opposing teams and stimulates a great deal of discussion giving contrasting view points. While I don't think this forum is overly harsh to opposing non-troll fans I also do not believe it encourages their contribtions either.

For example when BIM started a thread about the Lakers and was trashed for posting it here. While I think most rational fans would be able to predict that having a Laker thread on a Suns forum would probably turn into trash talk pretty quickly(much like a Cowboys thread on a Cards forum) I don't think it was his intention. He obviously likes the online comunity here and just wanted discussion with the people he likes about the team he likes, unfortunatly there really is no place here for opposing fans(I don't think most opposing fans want to talk smack) except for the couple times a year the teams meet up and they offer their .02.

Maybe an Around the League is a good idea...but would you have one for every type of sport?

Mike

 

[NEZCardsfan]

Maybe an Around the League is a good idea...but would you have one for every type of sport?

Mike

How about the NFL, with sub forums for the NBA, MLB and NHL?

 

[Mike Olbinski]

How about the NFL, with sub forums for the NBA, MLB and NHL?

People hate sub-forums apparently

 

[SunsTzu]

Maybe an Around the League is a good idea...but would you have one for every type of sport?

Mike

I honestly coundn't say whether having one for every sport is a good idea or not. This message board is unique to the ones that I normally visit because it's geared more towards Az sports in general than to a specific team. I think having a general NBA forum or sub forum would encourage not only new posters but existing posters who may not be Suns fans but are posting in the other forums to participate.

I think it might work for the NFL too, based on other NFL team boards I've been too.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

People hate sub-forums apparently

People need to get over themselves. "Around the League," isn't going to be that heavily trafficed anyways.......

IMO, you are being way too nice of a guy here. No offense.

 

[SunsTzu]

People need to get over themselves. "Around the League," isn't going to be that heavily trafficed anyways.......

I think if it's not going to have a decent amount of traffic then it wouldn't really be serving it's purpose.

Maybe I'm wrong, but moving playoff talk, draft talk and general rumor talk to a general NBA forum and allowing fans from other teams(like the Lakers who already have fans present on the board) would have enough activity. I may be in the minority but I don't think a sub-forum would be bad either as long as it was active.

There would be be some problems though. I know some people would be upset having their non Suns threads moved(not sure why this is a big deal but I've seen posters on other sites complain about it) and the moderating may be more difficult because there would be a greater difference of opinion(which is good for discussions but also increases the chances of people resorting to name calling and whatnot).

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I think if it's not going to have a decent amount of traffic then it wouldn't really be serving it's purpose.

Maybe I'm wrong, but moving playoff talk, draft talk and general rumor talk to a general NBA forum and allowing fans from other teams(like the Lakers who already have fans present on the board) would have enough activity. I may be in the minority but I don't think a sub-forum would be bad either as long as it was active.

There would be be some problems though. I know some people would be upset having their non Suns threads moved(not sure why this is a big deal but I've seen posters on other sites complain about it) and the moderating may be more difficult because there would be a greater difference of opinion(which is good for discussions but also increases the chances of people resorting to name calling and whatnot).

I honestly think all general NBA talk is fine in the Suns forum...it's just the playoffs and the high emotion that occurs is what makes opposing fans presence a problem at times.

We just need to figure out a way to do things differently next year.
Mike

 

[pokerface]

I could say whats wrong with this board but you guys couldnt hack it so continue to wish and wonder

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I could say whats wrong with this board but you guys couldnt hack it so continue to wish and wonder

huh?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

huh?

I think that he means that he is all knowing, and could tell us why we are having these problems here....but we really do not want to hear it.

Come on pokerface, please enlighten us. Abiding by the new rules of course.

 

[nowagimp]

Without knowing the goals of the owners, its kid of hard to criticize moderators who maybe are just doing what they are told. Are we really doing the owners a favor by posting? I think not, its just a forum for discussion. There is a difference between discussion and different levels of hostile argument. Mostly discussions occur here, with some arguments. If posters would limit their hostile reactions, moderation of a discussion would be easy. Moderators here appear to have a hard job with all the emotional responses. Discussion is an important part of human communication and most everone benefits by learning to control their emotions in a discussion. I do think that free expresssion is also important, so it may be a bit of a balancing act. In a free society, its one of the hardest things to balance, rights and responsibility. Perhaps it could be said that posters and moderators have a responsibility to the owners to make sure that discussion is balanced. This does mean that opposing views are heard(as in trade marion), and also that the mean spirited nature of the discussion is limited either by self control of the posters(desired) or by the modertors.

Merging threads basically makes the past conversations inaccessible, I would hope it wouldnt happen.

 

[WuRaider]

I was banned a couple of weeks ago just for stating that I saw Eddie House, Tim Thomas, and Diaw at a WWE PPV on TV. I didn't attack anyone, didn't make fun of anyone, just said that I saw those guys a day before game 7 of the clips/suns series. And this is what I got when I tried signing in:

You have been banned for the following reason:
None
Date the ban will be lifted: Never



Board Nazis

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I was banned a couple of weeks ago just for stating that I saw Eddie House, Tim Thomas, and Diaw at a WWE PPV on TV. I didn't attack anyone, didn't make fun of anyone, just said that I saw those guys a day before game 7 of the clips/suns series. And this is what I got when I tried signing in:

You have been banned for the following reason:
None
Date the ban will be lifted: Never



Board Nazis

I highly doubt that was it.

Usually when someone gets banned that fast, it's because they've been banned before...

Have you been banned before?

Not like you'll answer that truthfully I'll bet.

 

[Boomer]

I think part of the problem is that this board as a whole has developed an elitist stigma to it. I've been lurking for a number of years, but don't really post much because of it.

New members are often put down for their ideas, which makes it hard for them to want to continue posting. But the other side of the coin is when an older member questions authority, or makes a suggestion on what can be changed, they get fed the standard line "this is a private board. You are a guest. If you don't like it, leave" which is all fine and dandy. This is a private board. Most of us are guests. However, without the "guests" you have no board. It all goes hand in hand. And most of it's all part of that elitistism that I think currently occupies most of the board.

But that's just the opinion of a longtime lurker