I was reading this thread, and I realized that after reading Arnold Winkelried’s post. and C K Dexter Haven’s post that I really liked the way the dope was set up. I’ve visited forums over the past years based on what I wanted to see. I like the way this board is set up…
However, when it comes down to it, CSR and CC are pretty slow. Honestly, the only time I actually visit those two forums is when I see an interesting topic on the main forum list. my suggestion is to merge those two forums. Both forums are for the same “type” of message, something that was posted on www.straightdope.com, they have the same basic rules (post a link to the column in question, etc). And, as a regular lurker who does post occasionally, but reads every day, I think it would be beneficial to merge CSR and CC.
By merging those two forums, you’ll keep the “type” basis of this board, while at the same time, lowering the number of forums. This will allow the new experiments such as the marketplace (what is the abbreviation for this anyhow?), election, Chicago, and Ed’s book one have a higher place in the forum list.
When was the last time people looked at merging the forums? It made sense originally to have them separate, but, I think now most people who spend time on the SDMB find us from the homepage, or links to the homepage, that anything posted as new on Straightdope.com should be in the same forum. Plus, again, they pretty much have the same rules, not like there is any major forum exceptions between CSR and CC.
So, as for the poll… I am setting a couple choices, and it is public. I want to see what other people think.
I agree. For someone (like me) that never goes to www.straightdope.com, the two forums have identical mandates; the only difference is who authored the question & answer that prompted the posting.
With respect…I find it very disappointing to see someone saying that they post on the Straight Dope Message Board and never visit the Straight Dope. The implication is that one never reads the columns or the Staff Reports either, unless they get the column in their local paper.
I am fairly sure that Cecil does not want the two columns combined.
So? This is Ed’s board, not Cecil’s. Or are you conceding the fiction?
But, more seriously: Haven’t staff reports been backed for a while? I haven’t even been checking for them.
And I’m pretty sure a lot of the newer Dopers don’t read the column. If their first post wasn’t in GQ, CCC, or CSR, I tend to assume they got here by other means.
Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, but it is true in my case (and you are correct, the only time I read the columns is if I want to actually see what caused someone to say what they did).
Note that I have no objection to keeping the columns separate (since I don’t read them anyway). Keeping the columns separate doesn’t force you to keep the forums separate.
Please don’t be like this; that wasn’t called for.
Anyhow:
If Ed is Cecil, then when I say “I am fairly sure that Cecil does not want…” that means Ed.
If Ed is Cecil’s editor, Cecil is in charge and what he says goes.
Look, before the trainwreck starts up again…I don’t speak for Cecil, but I speak to him every single week…sometimes every day. This subject came up recently and my understanding was that the holdup on Staff Reports was not permanent, and the Staff Reports, as well as the authors who put such hard work into them, are genuinely valued and appreciated by Cecil and Ed, and deserving of their own forum. Cecil and Ed both see great potential for the column and the Staff Reports and they, along with others, are working hard to keep them fresh, relevant, entertaining, and informative - and the “Straight Dope.”
Understand I’m not criticizing you personally, I just think it’s unfortunate that there are several folks on here who don’t find the columns or Staff Reports interesting or informative enough to spend a couple of minutes out of a week reading them. It would be interesting to understand why they’re not worth that minuscule effort, especially when one is posting on the Straight Dope message board. (emphasis deliberate)
No, again I’m not criticizing people again, no need for anyone to start yet another Pit thread about me…what I’m wondering is - is it that the topics aren’t interesting at all, not a single one? Is it the writing style? Are the columns too long, or not long enough? I was told in a class on how “the current generation” of 20-somethings communicates that “real life is tweets…if you can’t fit your message into a tweet, then don’t bother sending it.” Something which isn’t going to happen, but still…I guess I should ask.
Well, I always like to read the columns. I actually wish we would have more new columns instead of 4 out of 5 being old columns being republished (though those are interesting too). I originally came to the Straight Dope via the columns, so I definitely still read them! But, I can see the case for merging the 2 forums. Personnally, I don’t care either way.
Maybe this should be split into another thread, but since you asked: I came here via a link to a column that was posted on another forum. I bookmarked the main page, but instead of reading the columns, I ended up using the page to jump to the message board. I browsed the forum for over a year before joining and never read any columns during that time. I still don’t read the columns, unless I’m reading one of the threads referencing a column. It’s not about tweets or soundbites for me, I like reading (and occasionally contributing to) in-depth discussion of topics, which is what the forum threads provide. I’m not interested in learning random trivia, which is what the columns provide. I ignore the subforums for the columns, unless a thread title/topic grabs my interests from New Posts.
I very rarely read the columns, and it has nothing to do with their quality, content, writing style, etc. It’s more that they don’t fit into the way I browse online – I have a set of sites I open in tabs every time I start up and nearly every one of them is an aggregator of content in some fashion: forums, blogs, a couple of online newspapers. All generally have fairly rapid turnover, and I can pick and choose what to read from a large variety of headlines / titles. Devoting a browser tab to a single article that may not have changed since my last visit, or that I may or may not find interesting if it has, doesn’t really make sense for me.
I think regular features like the Straight Dope really need to attach themselves to a good online media site to get the audience they deserve. Back when I read Salon.com, I was a devoted fan of the This Modern World comic. Once I stopped reading Salon, I haven’t seen it since. We get the San Jose Mercury News paper (in actual paper form!), and I almost always read the Mr. Roadshow column. However, there’s no chance I’d go to a standalone site just to read that one column.
For me, regular columns are a bite-sized nibble that I eat and enjoy as part of a larger buffet, not a standalone meal.
I’m afaraid I’m another one who never looks at the Straight Dope. I did occasionally when I first came here, but they just didn’t seem that interesting. They seem just like those wacky questions columns in the New Scientist or on QI.
I also find the persistent in-joke as to who Cecil is, and his deification, to be rather tiresome. Sweet initially, but the joke has worn rather thin. He is either Ed, or someone else. I know people do enjoy it, but I’m the outsider looking in at a joke I’m not particularly interested in.
I’m sorry, Una Persson, if the above seems rather dismissive, but you did ask.
Believe me, us “insiders” hate it much more than you do.
The issue with the columns is their frequency. Cecil does one column a week. GQ alone had 281 threads in the last week. No matter how good the column is - and gophers in the Alaskan Gold Rush isn’t a top ten - it will inevitably be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of material on the Message Board. Missing a whole year’s worth of columns is equivalent to skipping a day’s worth of threads.
I do read the columns, both Cecil’s and staff’s. Even for someone like me, who stays out of the more personal forums, they are a tiny, almost insignificant part of the whole Dope experience today. It’s hard to see how they can be anything else as currently presented.
I hate to be the the one to pee out the campfire here, but
Polling is enabled in ATMB for testing only. Therefore, I’ve closed the poll. The thread remains open. This closure should not be read as a criticism or admonishment of the OP.
Well, the entire message board would not have existed save for the Straight Dope column. Perhaps more of us who are older in message board terms see much more of a direct connection between the two.
I’m not criticizing people who don’t read the columns or the Staff Reports, I’m just wondering why they might not do such. My reasons are my own; no one who doesn’t want to answer should feel compelled to do so. I honestly appreciate very much the answers given thus far.
I don’t read a great many things on the Internet (would be rather hard to read all but a minuscule percentage of what is out there in cyberspace! :)). On those rare occasions when I read the Straight Dope columns it is because I went to them from links in the SDMB, not the other way around. When I read CSR and CC it is because of what is being discussed in those forums; I occasionally follow a link back to the column in question but in most cases I don’t. So, from that point of view having CSR and CC as separate forums is just clutter - it makes no difference whether what is being discussed relates to something “Cecil” wrote or something “Staff” wrote.
