Posted by Dinah on July 31, 2010, at 11:25:35
In reply to Re: The Question Remains: Why Is Babble Not Babbling?, posted by manic666 on July 31, 2010, at 3:40:04
> i have 1 hour on the the computer in the morning an 2hours at night, not all on med sites, but babble needs mods an bringing up to date to get young members.An you aint going o get them on this old fashioned format
I think you have something there. Mind you, I not only like the old fashioned format, but I rather like the people it draws. So a flashier Babble might not suit me so well. But there are more people who aren't like me than are like me. So if Dr. Bob is looking for numbers, the newer software might draw more people.
There are just so many more choices nowadays. It's a lot harder to carve out market share. And when momentum shifts, it's hard to reverse that shift.
And while I personally dislike disappearing posts, I wonder if Babble would be more appealing to newcomers if the moderation and subsequent negative posting were done off board, as they are in so many sites. I can't help but think that if I were new to a site and saw post after post about how awful the moderator is, and how much people dislike the site, it would send me looking elsewhere. Depending on my tolerance for discord, it might send me looking elsewhere even as an established poster. While in reality it's difficult to judge how much greater discontent is here, compared to places who remove such posts and handle discord off board. Moreover, it might be less shaming to posters to have Dr. Bob privately ask them to rephrase or apologize if they don't wish to be blocked rather than the current process which I personally interpret as demeaning, though obviously Dr. Bob interprets it differently. I never thought I'd be in favor of off board moderation, but I think I'm slowly coming to favor that alternative. With the Admin board being left for more prosaic and less heated suggestions for improvements and technical issues.
But those are all choices Dr. Bob has made, many based on his own values. As he said, Babble can't be all things to all people. As it stands right now, maybe it's greatest possibilities are as a niche market for people who don't like the more modern format and who value transparency over peace. Who don't mind the more public profile of Babble. And who value the intelligent and thoughtful posters who post at Babble of course.
poster:Dinah
thread:956448
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20100716/msgs/956557.html