How to make the SDMB more social?

[jackdavinci]

@Tibbytoes

How do I route my avatar through PayPal?

You can’t. Raft’s many attempts at creating a straw avatar have failed in their obvious complete lack of anything to do with resemblance to reality.

[DrFidelius]

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Straw avatars have been proven to be useless.

That is why I built my avatar of bricks.

[jackdavinci]

@DrFidelius

That is why I built my avatar of bricks.

Wolf proof perhaps. But troll proof? :eek:

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Martini_Enfield

@Cat_Whisperer

I don’t think many people want an influx of newbies who can’t use proper English if they try or string two thoughts together, but standing still and getting left behind on the internet isn’t a good solution for a vibrant, thriving board. And that brings up another point - we are on the internet. The stodgiest of us here should go back to writing letters to their local newspaper if they don’t want to use any of the benefits that this medium offers.

Further to the “local pub” analogy I used earlier, try a “Member’s Club” analogy. You don’t got to Blades or Whites or the Colonial Club or somewhere like that and say “Hey, you know what? We should get rid of the oak panelling and the high-back leather chairs, and get a pumping sound system, play the hottest music, sell trendy cocktails, and see if we can get some celebrities to put in an appearance every now and then.” It’s not what they’re about.

If you want to do that sort of thing, there are heaps of places where you can. There aren’t as many places- especially on the internet- where you can metaphorically relax in your high-backed leather chair in the metaphorical oak-panelled study and have an intelligent conversation with other people who also value being able to do the same.

I’m not saying the introduction of avatars would be the same as turning an exclusive club into a uni bar, but there valid reasons for people here to not want change for the sake of change or because everyone else on the net is doing it.

Whereas I see the addition of avatars here to be analogous to the old-school private club adding wifi for its members.

[Acsenray]

[QUOTE=jackdavinci]
While I admire those of you who can see a username and immediately imprint on it and associate it with future posts, I just can’t do that. I need to see some kind of visual cue to make that kind of instantaneous imprinting on my internal address book. It’s possible I’m some kind of unique mutated freak, but I don’t get that impression.
…
I think the current situation is more like a masquerade party where everyone has the same costume and mask, except for a very small, single typeface sticky badge that says “hello my name is…” And having optional avatars would be like taking the mask off so we recognized the characters in our pub and felt familiar and maybe even slightly exclusionary. As of now, it’s not really apparent when newbies show up. Or when old standbys have gone missing.
[/QUOTE]

You’re the one not getting it. You’re not defective. This place concentrate on ideas, not personalities. If no one is distinguishing themselves with their ideas, that’s a feature not a bug.

[MrDibble]

@CarnalK

@MrDibble

Ditto. In fact that’s why I haven’t been back to Giraffe Boards in forever.

Do you visit any other message boards then?

Yes. Mostly single-interest boards related to the SCA.

[MrDibble]

@srzss05

@MrDibble

Ditto. In fact that’s why I haven’t been back to Giraffe Boards in forever.

If you have an account there, you can turn them off. That’s what I do.

I did. I was just replying to the idea that those boards look “clean” or “uncluttered” when they’re turned on. They don’t. Maybe if everyone was restricted to a certain *fixed *size. Or a limited set (that all users can add to subject to mod approval). I’m on different boards that do one or both. Those I don’t mind

[RaftPeople]

@Tibbytoes

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O [O]  [O] O  [ This Space Reserved for Advertisers   ]
O          O  [   contact me at Avatar-Ad.com         ] 
O    o     O  [_______________________________________]
O  _____   O  
O   \_/    O  Hello Ladies - I am Tibbytoe's Good Time Click/Lick Avatar*
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How do I route my avatar through PayPal?

Well played my friend, well played!

[RaftPeople]

@jackdavinci

@Tibbytoes

How do I route my avatar through PayPal?

You can’t. Raft’s many attempts at creating a straw avatar have failed in their obvious complete lack of anything to do with resemblance to reality.

Unfortunately for me, my avatar is almost exactly what I look like.

[VinylTurnip]

@Una_Persson

I think at some point the Straight Dope Message Board is going to have to offer avatars or else end up being passed over by more prospective posters than would be lost due to having avatars.

Back when I waited tables in a five-star restaurant, my manager—despite my fervent pleas— flatly refused to reconsider our strict shirt-and-shoes requirement.

I’m troubled to see repeated here the same prejudicial short-sightedness that in those days excluded Hobbits and hillbillies from both our dining clientele and our waitstaff.

[DrFidelius]

Waitstaff?

Why not hire a hobbit as a short order cook?

[RaftPeople]

  OOOOOOOO     _______________________________________________
 O        O   [                                               ]
O [O]  [O] O  [ Dirt, Dingy, Yellow Teeth?                    ]
O          O  [   Now you can have beautiful white teeth...   ] 
O    o     O  [_______________________________________________]
O          O  
O [_____]  O  Hello - I am RaftPeople's Avatar!
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  OOOOOOOO

I’m starting to get hits on the advertisers already.

[elmwood]

@acsenray

This is a very weird argument. This is a discussion board. We are using all the Benefits the Internet offers for a discussion board. There are other discussion boards that are something else in addition to bEing a discussion board and the use features that facilitate those other purposes, such as Avatars which are are entirely superfluous to discussion.

Do you drive one of these? Just wondering.

Private messages? Superfluous to discussion.
Friends, favorites and the like? Superfluous to discussion.
Search? Superfluous to discussion.
Smileys? Superfluous to discussion.
Different fonts? Superfluous to discussion.
Custom titles? Superfluous to discussion.
Thread subscriptions? Superfluous to discussion.

[Acsenray]

@elmwood

Do you drive one of these? Just wondering.

Have you been out on the streets? Nearly everyone drives one of those. Mine is called a Toyota Corolla, but that’s essentially what it is.

Private messages? Superfluous to discussion.
Search? Superfluous to discussion.
Smileys? Superfluous to discussion.
Thread subscriptions? Superfluous to discussion.

None of these things are superfluous in my view. They facilitate discussion. Private messages are discussion and they help prevent private tangents from mucking up public discussion. Search and thread subscriptions help people find the discussions they want to participate in thus facilitating participation in discussion. Smileys for some people aid in coloring the meaning of words.

Different fonts? Superfluous to discussion.

Maybe. Sometimes discussion is facilitated by a fixed-width font. And standardizing display fonts can be an important factor in facilitating the efficient exchange of information.

Friends, favorites and the like? Superfluous to discussion.
Custom titles? Superfluous to discussion.

Perhaps. I’d be happy for them to be eliminated.

[RaftPeople]

@elmwood

Do you drive one of these? Just wondering.

That is pretty damn funny

[Una_Persson]

@Martini_Enfield

@Una_Persson

There will come a time when the richness of the content and features offered by other forums will be so much greater than the SDMB that casual browsers who might contribute to the forum won’t even bother to look at it, thinking it’s a penny-ante operation run out of someone’s basement, rather than the great resource it is. I think that time is very soon, if not already here.

The thing is that lots of people either don’t care or actively prefer it like that.

Lots of people also want pay-to-post to go away, don’t like smilies, complain about sigs, etc. Lots of people also want avatars, IMG tags that work, and more features.

Perhaps you can list in detail who the “pretty influential” posters are on here you mentioned earlier and exactly why they are so influential with respect to business decisions regarding the board. I’ll bet your list isn’t the same as my list; mine is exceedingly short.

I’m not on the message board staff, as I keep getting told, but I work directly with Cecil and help him with occasional tasks for the Straight Dope - remember, the Straight Dope is the core, driving theme of this entire message board. Not to speak for him, but my understanding is Cecil wants the message board does stay current and attractive to new members to keep the member base at worst constant, and at best growing. I do not believe Cecil likes avatars very much, if at all, but I’m trying to gradually convince him of the potential merits.

[Giraffe]

@Una_Persson

do not believe Cecil likes avatars very much, if at all, but I’m trying to gradually convince him of the potential merits.

Tell him he can have a picture of a talking hamburger as his avatar. If that doesn’t work, nothing will.

[elmwood]

If you want to do that sort of thing, there are heaps of places where you can. There aren’t as many places- especially on the internet- where you can metaphorically relax in your high-backed leather chair in the metaphorical oak-panelled study and have an intelligent conversation with other people who also value being able to do the same.

The idea that the SDMB is an island of civilized, intellectual and rational discussion in the chaos that is the Internet is a myth. Sure, one might get that impression if they spend all their time in Great Debates. Outside of there, it’s just like any other general interest message board, albeit one with older demographics and somewhat fewer “lulz”. The threads on zit popping, dating advice, fan wankery, celebrity gossip, OMG KITTEHS!, and the like outnumber the threads on subjects like esoteric postmodern philosophical concepts or the deconstruction of St. Thomas Aquinas’ commentaries on Aristotle by 20:1 or more. There’s really not that much heavy-duty mental masturbation gong on here, relatively speaking.

Really, the SDMB isn’t that exceptional.

@acsenray

This place concentrate on ideas, not personalities. If no one is distinguishing themselves with their ideas, that’s a feature not a bug.

I must respectfully disagree. The SDMB has taken the idea of message board celebrity to a much higher level than other message boards I regularly visit. Consider users that so many seems to fawn over whenever they post, no matter how mundane the message.

[Acsenray]

@elmwood

I must respectfully disagree. The SDMB has taken the idea of message board celebrity to a much higher level than other message boards I regularly visit. Consider users that so many seems to fawn over whenever they post, no matter how mundane the message.

If that’s the case (and I honestly can’t remember any user being fawned over in this fashion), then they’ve earned their recognition through their verbal expression. That means memorable people are remembered, and unmemorable people aren’t, based on their contributions.

[chrisk]

@acsenray

@elmwood

I must respectfully disagree. The SDMB has taken the idea of message board celebrity to a much higher level than other message boards I regularly visit. Consider users that so many seems to fawn over whenever they post, no matter how mundane the message.

If that’s the case (and I honestly can’t remember any user being fawned over in this fashion), then they’ve earned their recognition through their verbal expression. That means memorable people are remembered, and unmemorable people aren’t, based on their contributions.

Or they’ve ‘earned’ recognition through infamous misadventures that made them the butt of funny and not-so-funny jokes for months afterwards.

Such as Hal Briston