Posted by shellie on July 8, 2000, at 22:18:15
In reply to Re: Possible 2nd board » Dr. Bob, posted by Adam on July 8, 2000, at 20:36:39
> 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.
>
> ...... 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.
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> A tall order, I know, but hey, I can dream!
>
> Adam
I was really excited to find a board where knowledge of new medications, combinations of medications, and information about medications was shared by very well informed and intelligent people. I don't mind the rest of the stuff, (hey, mary (john), how ya doing, gone snowboarding, etc.), but I didn't come to the board for that reason, and they do add to the total volume, if that's what you all are worried about.(And I must admit, I do enjoy many of the short humorous posts-they make me laugh--laughing is worth a slight increase in volume to me.)
There are lots of boards and chatrooms for friendships. But this is the only board I've come across where I have gotten help and support with medications and been able to share with others the information I have picked up from reading and friends, and my own experience. I have been really impressed at how willing more experienced babblers have been to share their knowlege with newbies.
So the redundancy about meds doesn't bother me. All boards are cyclical, people come and go, and there is generally a swelling at the juncture. Since I've been here (a couple of months) the people who said why they were leaving--related it to wanting to spend more time in their real life, opposed to their virtual life.
Many pdocs are often not as well informed as they should be, and will not go the extra mile that we, as patients, will go, to achieve the quality of life that is possible. That is why I think this board is so great. So I think that everyone in the future should have the same opportunity as I am having to learn about their treatment options. If they start with "nardil or parnate?", that doesn't bother me. I guess I'm saying to me it is worth the redundancy, because that is the main thing that I find on this board that is not redundant on other sites.
Check out about.delphi.com's depression board and you'll know what I mean. No one seems to know they have any options in helping to steer their own treatment.
btw, it might help redundacy if the search functions actually worked. I never seem to come up with anything even when I know it's there. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I seem to be able to work searches on other sites.shellie
p.s., this thread is fast becoming the ultimate sweller!
poster:shellie
thread:39451
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000708/msgs/39845.html