Posted by Adam on July 8, 2000, at 20:36:39
In reply to Re: Possible 2nd board, posted by Dr. Bob on July 8, 2000, at 16:29:00
Hmmm.
I'm not sure if I have any good ideas to contribute as to how this board should or might be organized in the future.
I do think, though, that something needs to be done. The board has gotten a bit unweildy of late. It used to be that I could follow a thread pretty easily, and though there was some redundancy in the threads, it was kept, just by virtue of the of the number of participants, to a reasonable minimum. Now in a matter of a week the number of topics can swell enormously, and often they are comprised of questions that have been asked numerous times before (is mirtazapine right for me? Parnate vs. Nardil? etc.) There's nothing wrong with being a newbie, and I certainly have contributed to the redundancy myself, so this critique is not in any way meant to insult or belittle new psychobabblers or their relative lack of information.
However, a LOT of useful information has been posted in the past, and there have been some very, very knowledgeable 'babblers who have contributed reams of great stuff that seems more or less lost to the ether now. I must admit I find it difficult to dig up old posts or find those particular nuggets of advice or lists of facts because the size of the archived information is becoming intimidating, and the question:answer ratio is growing at an accelerating pace.
I'll put my thinking cap on (if you'll pardon the conceit) to see if I can be a contributor to the process of change rather than a mere critic (assuming, of course, that such contributions are welcome). My oppinion: This place needs a major overhaul. Not because it's bad, but because it could be EXCELLENT given the wealth of smarts and experience gathered here. The latter especilly is just becoming increasingly diluted by the volume of posts. I fear many bright old-timers have moved on out of frustration with the redundancy, and sadly we effectively lose not only their growing experience and insight, but also (due to the challenge of mining for their old posts, not to mention the missed opportunity of those who are newcomers and never saw the old threads) their past contributions. I'm hoping the changes would allow all to contribute to and peruse the same space, but would somehow better accommodate the growning number of participants, and would also somehow minimize the loss of extant but essentially buried information, so that newcomers could benefit from it, and also not inadvertantly contribute to the swell.
A tall order, I know, but hey, I can dream!
Adam
> > > How long would you have to have been here to be on the oldie's board? What if you used to post a lot, but haven't been posting much lately?
>
> I don't know, I haven't thought about the specifics...
>
> > > What if I got picked for the board that I didn't want to use?
>
> Then you could just not use it! :-)
>
> > > What if there are certain people I would like to be on the same board with?
>
> Um, well, maybe start your own eGroup?
>
> > I like to be able to skim through & check people who I like to keep track of & don't think I'd have time if there were 2 boards.
>
> But wouldn't too many posts be too many posts, no matter how many boards they were divided up among?
>
> Bob
poster:Adam
thread:39451
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000708/msgs/39840.html