The main trouble with forums is that the medium is imperfect, but what on earth is perfect anyways. Therefore we have to rely on one of our senses to interpret our communications with each other.
Our sense of sight.
You have people from all over the world. Different backgrounds, different educations, different values, different attitudes, and different personalities. The medium itself is expressionless. Expression and body language are big parts of communication. Many forums have used smileys as a means to express yourself better by giving the post a mood. There are many little notations you can add to express your mood or reactions. Unfortunately even those can be misinterpreted easily by different people. There is also the writing experience of the poster that is a factor. There are different levels of posters - beginner to advanced all mixed together. There are different styles of writing influenced by education or geography. Every forum has rules that can be slightly different from one to another. One will allow a little self promotion and another will prohibit it. Sometimes it's a fine line to follow.
A large issue is the fact that we often depend on the number of posts a person has to determine the validity of statements or intentions. Many posters with a few posts are in awe of those with thousands. If you have 3000 posts, you can say something about anything and have an impact whether it's based in truth or not...
The volume of posts alone cannot determine intelligence or the experience of the poster. One person can have 100 posts of pure brilliance. Each post composed of profound thoughts, well written comments, smart ideas, and relevant information. Another can have 4000 posts which are composed of nothing more than fluff. Most contributing little to the forum.
Someday I hope to see a universal method that stretches across all forums. Create a way to document a persons journey and experience in forums. Essentially a fingerprint that can be implanted in the posters profile. A stand alone database that can be accessed for information on this poster. That combined with some new innovations to help communicate... Is it a size factor. The larger the forum the easier to control.
I don't think so. It's the management of the forum. The Administrators or Moderators are in control. The trouble is some forums lack leadership. I've seen, on several occasions, forums destroyed or at least wounded, because of the lack of control. Then regular people in the forum will try to act as police and it will mushroom into a war. The Admin or Mods need to police the halls. They need to control the crowds.
It can happen fast. One second all is calm. The next, the forum is on fire. A Policing Presence is so important. Also there must be a clear system of conduct. Clear to anyone stepping foot through the doorway. There also has to be a clear discipline policy that is followed to a "T". It's not an easy task to keep things together. This is especially true for a newer forum. Unless you already have a team of people in place you can trust to control things, it's a crap shoot. So, know, if you are considering starting a forum for any reason, it's not as easy as just uploading it to your server and letting the visitors have at each other.
You have to have a game plan. It has to be well thought out. Try and recruit some people to help you out with it. This is if you have the traffic and expect a lot of signups. If the process is slowed it may be easier to control on your own and people will grow with the forum. But if you dump hundreds of people from all over the world in a short period of time... look out! And lastly, it does depend on the topic of the forum. If it's a forum about Scams, you will attract the scammers as well as the people trying to get help. If you create a forum for hungry entrepreneurs, expect some conflicts. If you have a forum about the Care of Rabbits, you'll probably be safe.
Certain topics will attract certain personalities. Just some thoughts about the subject I had on my mind. It's interesting. Forums have become a good way to create community. So I know a lot of people are already doing it or probably considering it. You just have to know that it will take some of your resources (i.e., time especially) to manage it. This isn't a thing that can just put up and forgotten about. Plan well before taking it up. Have a nice day.
Our sense of sight.
You have people from all over the world. Different backgrounds, different educations, different values, different attitudes, and different personalities. The medium itself is expressionless. Expression and body language are big parts of communication. Many forums have used smileys as a means to express yourself better by giving the post a mood. There are many little notations you can add to express your mood or reactions. Unfortunately even those can be misinterpreted easily by different people. There is also the writing experience of the poster that is a factor. There are different levels of posters - beginner to advanced all mixed together. There are different styles of writing influenced by education or geography. Every forum has rules that can be slightly different from one to another. One will allow a little self promotion and another will prohibit it. Sometimes it's a fine line to follow.A large issue is the fact that we often depend on the number of posts a person has to determine the validity of statements or intentions. Many posters with a few posts are in awe of those with thousands. If you have 3000 posts, you can say something about anything and have an impact whether it's based in truth or not...
The volume of posts alone cannot determine intelligence or the experience of the poster. One person can have 100 posts of pure brilliance. Each post composed of profound thoughts, well written comments, smart ideas, and relevant information. Another can have 4000 posts which are composed of nothing more than fluff. Most contributing little to the forum.
Someday I hope to see a universal method that stretches across all forums. Create a way to document a persons journey and experience in forums. Essentially a fingerprint that can be implanted in the posters profile. A stand alone database that can be accessed for information on this poster. That combined with some new innovations to help communicate... Is it a size factor. The larger the forum the easier to control.
I don't think so. It's the management of the forum. The Administrators or Moderators are in control. The trouble is some forums lack leadership. I've seen, on several occasions, forums destroyed or at least wounded, because of the lack of control. Then regular people in the forum will try to act as police and it will mushroom into a war. The Admin or Mods need to police the halls. They need to control the crowds.
It can happen fast. One second all is calm. The next, the forum is on fire. A Policing Presence is so important. Also there must be a clear system of conduct. Clear to anyone stepping foot through the doorway. There also has to be a clear discipline policy that is followed to a "T". It's not an easy task to keep things together. This is especially true for a newer forum. Unless you already have a team of people in place you can trust to control things, it's a crap shoot. So, know, if you are considering starting a forum for any reason, it's not as easy as just uploading it to your server and letting the visitors have at each other.
You have to have a game plan. It has to be well thought out. Try and recruit some people to help you out with it. This is if you have the traffic and expect a lot of signups. If the process is slowed it may be easier to control on your own and people will grow with the forum. But if you dump hundreds of people from all over the world in a short period of time... look out! And lastly, it does depend on the topic of the forum. If it's a forum about Scams, you will attract the scammers as well as the people trying to get help. If you create a forum for hungry entrepreneurs, expect some conflicts. If you have a forum about the Care of Rabbits, you'll probably be safe.
Certain topics will attract certain personalities. Just some thoughts about the subject I had on my mind. It's interesting. Forums have become a good way to create community. So I know a lot of people are already doing it or probably considering it. You just have to know that it will take some of your resources (i.e., time especially) to manage it. This isn't a thing that can just put up and forgotten about. Plan well before taking it up. Have a nice day.
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