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So I've Been Thinking


Cobb
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How do we go about bringing in more members, which would hopefully lead to more activity? We have the Twitter and Facebook pages, but those don't seem to do anything. The site seems to be getting more and more inactive by the day and I don't even know if we get 100+ posts on a daily basis anymore. Even on Sunday's when NFL football is on, there hasn't been nearly as much discussion as there was last season. Kind of feel like one day I'll sign in and there won't be any new posts.

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How do we go about bringing in more members, which would hopefully lead to more activity? We have the Twitter and Facebook pages, but those don't seem to do anything. The site seems to be getting more and more inactive by the day and I don't even know if we get 100+ posts on a daily basis anymore. Even on Sunday's when NFL football is on, there hasn't been nearly as much discussion as there was last season. Kind of feel like one day I'll sign in and there won't be any new posts.

I still believe promoting OTR(DH) on other message boards (NOT by spamming) is a good idea. Remember when I asked if you posted on any other soccer boards? I mean, you seem to be a huge soccer fan -- I'm sure if you put on a sick DH sig and start posting on some soccer site - you could eventually bring some guys around (again NOT by spamming).

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I still believe promoting OTR(DH) on other message boards (NOT by spamming) is a good idea. Remember when I asked if you posted on any other soccer boards? I mean, you seem to be a huge soccer fan -- I'm sure if you put on a sick DH sig and start posting on some soccer site - you could eventually bring some guys around (again NOT by spamming).

Really don't care to join any other site. Use to post on a lot of other sites but just don't have the desire to anymore. DH is the only forum I have actively posted on in a couple of years.

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  • Owner

It would be incredibly awesome if we could take all of Twitter's activity during basketball games...and drag it over here.

 

So many people talk on Twitter during sports games nowadays, it's a killer. Even when there's breaking news, people would rather go to Twitter and discuss it, some hoping that one of the professional analysts/reporters will retweet them OR reply back (just an example).

 

Our Twitter doesn't help much because we get our news from the main outlets (such as ESPN), and they are quick as hell reporting it.

 

The things we have yet to do (spam, and offer staff positions) are out of the question. It sucks not having someone like Sacha, or that Pacers fan, here to recruit members for us...but they did it by spamming, and I will never accept that, even if it helps us out.

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Really don't care to join any other site. Use to post on a lot of other sites but just don't have the desire to anymore. DH is the only forum I have actively posted on in a couple of years.

I hear you! I find it difficult posting on other sites too. Even so, I try and post on other sites like at least twice a week with the sole purpose to promote OTR. A few years ago, on that Clippers forum, I kinda got carried away on purpose and put OTR everywhere I can in my profile info:

 

http://i.imgur.com/wZFim.jpg

^ Their admin eventually warned me and threatenedto ban me for 'promoting too much'. I'm sure RD remembers that.

Karma bit them hard and their site doesn't exist any more.

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  • Owner

So do we have some sort of plan? I just feel like we're going nowhere but down.

1) A plan asks for the help of the entire community, and we aren't going to get that.

 

2) Newer members don't feel welcome here. They feel out of place. This ties into #1 above. It's not that I'm assuming, either...I have had two new members message me and tell me they weren't staying for that reason (one basically telling me those exact words, the other hinting towards it). It's not because of everyone here, but quite a few just don't make this place an enjoyable board to post at.

 

Our community is getting older each season, Twitter is dominating, and new members can't feel comfortable in a community that doesn't have but half of its members accepting new blood.

 

A handful of members were screaming for me to eliminate a guy who has created a great deal of our basketball topics this year. That's how things are now.

 

Yet, when a member is banned after serving seven suspensions, more than likely trolling everyone at some point of their stay here, it's a bad decision.

 

Let me put it this way: Lakers fans were ran off because of that particular member (and a couple of others). Aaron (alcstarheel) was one of them, and he was a major contributor here. That's just one. Why, though? Most message boards accept the fact that there are more Lakers fans than any other...but when we had a new Lakers fan register, he was immediately welcomed with, "No, not ANOTHER Lakers fan."

 

I've added a video system, a referral system, team forums have banners and colors according to that team, added personal blogs for a while, tried a podcast, had multiple sim leagues running, the only basketball message board (okay, besides RealGM) that has a game topic for every game of the season, and still...nothing, for a couple of seasons now.

 

As of right now, I'm out of ideas.

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2) Newer members don't feel welcome here. They feel out of place. This ties into #1 above. It's not that I'm assuming, either...I have had two new members message me and tell me they weren't staying for that reason (one basically telling me those exact words, the other hinting towards it). It's not because of everyone here, but quite a few just don't make this place an enjoyable board to post at.

If newer members really don't feel welcome shouldn't something be done about that, especially if you've had multiple members PM you telling you that? Heck, I'm sure other members have had the same feelings, but just not expressed them to you. I understand that by removing the members that it would probably result in less activity, but I would think that in the long run it would pay off.

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I was about to suggest a new splash (intro) page (like the one we had a few years ago). Thought of suggesting a new one - full of sick walls and sigs section made by our GFX team -- like the backstage one. We ain't a gfx site though, so not sure if that'll be that dope.

Flash has been on the decline for years now man. I do agree that we should have a more interactive/content-filled homepage though.

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I know I'm only one member here but school has definitely taken up the majority of my time now. When I was in high school I could easily be on OTR throughout the night discussing games, trades, rumors, etc. Now with school and a social life, it doesn't leave much time to just hang out on OTR. I think a lot of the members on here are around the same age so I'm assuming this is similar to what they're feeling.

 

Also, like RD said, Twitter is dominating. I am on Twitter every day... especially when my teams are playing. Not only can you talk sports on Twitter but it's also with 99% of your friend group. That's a huge reason Twitter has the edge.

 

Once the NBA season actually starts I'll try to be a but more active here but I can't guaranty anything.

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I can understand why new members don't feel comfortable here. Honestly a lot of it might be to do with that there are no new members on here. When someone signs up for the site and sees that there isn't really any active members on here that have under 1,000 posts, that its most likely a huge turn off. No one wants to be the only noob on the site. Maybe we could encourage people to invite a friend to sign up when they do so that they have someone else with a small post count to start out with.

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  • Owner

While I can sit here and admit I don't have any recruiting ideas at the moment, I'm still going to look over new features, and consider other things that could help. I'm not going to let the ship sink until we are all ready, and it's understandable that some of you might be ready (lol), but I won't be for a long time.

 

So, yeah...I have work to do, and it's all going to be on my shoulders simply because I'm still here and in this position. Make no mistake: I'm not dumping blame on any individual, we just need to make small adjustments as a community, and I'll do more as an owner. We can't go shut down Twitter, and we can't prevent new NBA message boards from popping up and giving our members that "wow" factor (which happens with everything new), but we can continue to swim until we find new ground.

 

On the table, right now, I have to complete banners, complete rosters on the websites (which won't be THAT big of a priority just yet), figure something out with our homepage, and finally, consider a major upgrade to the message board (which also isn't a big deal, because it doesn't present us with new features).

 

Additionally, we can brainstorm and think of ways to improve our followers' experiences on our Twitter account, hoping to recruit from there, and also, consider affiliations that may bring in curious NBA fans (even casuals).

 

I'm not going to give up on you guys, as long as you can stay standing with the rest of the community, even if we are getting older. Most of us have been here since the first year or two, which was 5-6 years ago...so we can make it, and encourage our newer guys to do the same.

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So, yeah...I have work to do, and it's all going to be on my shoulders simply because I'm still here and in this position. Make no mistake: I'm not dumping blame on any individual, we just need to make small adjustments as a community, and I'll do more as an owner. We can't go shut down Twitter, and we can't prevent new NBA message boards from popping up and giving our members that "wow" factor (which happens with everything new), but we can continue to swim until we find new ground.

What kind of small adjustments do you have in mind?

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Another thing is that the petty little flame wars really need to stop. New members are going to be turned off if they see ____ vs. Shaliq in 10 different threads, when it isn't even necessary.

 

 

Just because you don't care enough to read all the things he posts or agree with all the the things he says, doesn't mean flame him in every thread. I don't really agree with alot of his posts either, but he's not really breaking any rules...so I'm not going to give him hell about it. Whether you want to admit it or not, he's one of the biggest contributors here and the forums would be even less active without him.

 

Should be trying to encourage activity, not trying to kill it.

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  • Owner

What kind of small adjustments do you have in mind?

That was geared more towards how we treat the new members, and others in particular, and the way we approach discussions that are a conflict of interest.

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Another thing is that the petty little flame wars really need to stop. New members are going to be turned off if they see ____ vs. Shaliq in 10 different threads, when it isn't even necessary.

 

 

Just because you don't care enough to read all the things he posts or agree with all the the things he says, doesn't mean flame him in every thread. I don't really agree with alot of his posts either, but he's not really breaking any rules...so I'm not going to give him hell about it. Whether you want to admit it or not, he's one of the biggest contributors here and the forums would be even less active without him.

 

Should be trying to encourage activity, not trying to kill it.

While I generally agree with this, I think it's the kind of activity that he brings that causes problems with most people. I think it's fair to say that quite a few people, myself included (sometimes), feel that he posts just for the sake of increasing his post count. Some threads that come to mind off the top of my head are the predict the score game he basically played by himself and the random clippers discussion thread. IIRC, he had a substantial amount of posts in each of the threads with not many, if any, replies from other members.

 

Another thing that comes to mind are the threads that he makes for NBA news and what not. When posting news, he usually just quotes a couple of paragraphs and leaves a link. From what I've observed, not many people tend to reply to them. Now whether he it's because he just simply posted a block of text with a link (I've been guilty of this in the past, but have come to realize the effectiveness of leaving my own thoughts) and no thoughts of his own or just that people simply aren't interested in the topics he posts is to be debated I guess.

 

Sorry if this comes out the wrong way, I just can't think of an easy way to type it. Also, FWIW, me and Shaliq are good pals and talk frequently outside of OTR.

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I just find it hard to maintain activity myself when half the posts on the site make me want to N4S myself, just saying, I can imagine how new members how would field. And I don't mean random 10 posts accounts from istanbul

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I just find it hard to maintain activity myself when half the posts on the site make me want to N4S myself, just saying, I can imagine how new members how would field. And I don't mean random 10 posts accounts from istanbul

 

 

And this is what I'm talking about...

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And this is what I'm talking about...

Sorry this forum used to be a place where you could speak your mind, I'm just being honest on how I feel and giving input on why maybe we don't get new members, i don't get why we keep dismissing something that is an issue to the entire community, nvm I remember now, k i'll be quiet i forgot smh

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While I generally agree with this, I think it's the kind of activity that he brings that causes problems with most people. I think it's fair to say that quite a few people, myself included (sometimes), feel that he posts just for the sake of increasing his post count. Some threads that come to mind off the top of my head are the predict the score game he basically played by himself and the random clippers discussion thread. IIRC, he had a substantial amount of posts in each of the threads with not many, if any, replies from other members.

With all due respect, I can't agree that 'it's the kind of activity that he brings that causes problems'. Sadly, here are some people who don't even read what I post -- because it's me who posted it.

 

Regarding the 'Guess the score game':

1.) That was an attempt to increase the activity of a guy I saw on one other board. He said he loved that game.

2.) There were replies by at least 3 other members in that thread.

 

About the random clippers discussion thread -- there is a similar thread in other team subforums: NYK, Philly. So, I'm sorry but I'm not gonna stop posting stuff about my favorite team just because I'm the only LAC fan here.

 

Honestly, I feel the same way about you, bro -- I feel that you too at times post just for the sake of increasing your post count. Some threads that come to mind off the top of my head are the soccer threads -- before I started posting there you were basically talking to yourself. You had a substantial amount of posts in each of the threads with not many, if any, replies from other members.

 

Another thing that comes to mind are the threads that he makes for NBA news and what not. When posting news, he usually just quotes a couple of paragraphs and leaves a link. From what I've observed, not many people tend to reply to them. Now whether he it's because he just simply posted a block of text with a link (I've been guilty of this in the past, but have come to realize the effectiveness of leaving my own thoughts) and no thoughts of his own or just that people simply aren't interested in the topics he posts is to be debated I guess.

4) POSTING ARTICLES
  • Similar to the guidelines protecting copyright material, the same applies to articles. Those that are for paying subscribers (such as ESPN Insider) shall not be posted in full.
  • Any article must be accompanied by a link and no more than a few blocks of text posted, linking back to the original website for the remainder of the article, unless directed otherwise by an administrator or moderator. Do not post the full article.

DiscussHoops.com| Guidelines: 4) POSTING ARTICLES

Edited by Sħãlïq̵'
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Shaliq, I didn't say that you were violating the guidelines by just posting a block of text and a link, I was just saying how when you do that not much discussion, if any in some cases, comes from it.

 

EDIT - I guess I'm just suggesting that you post your thoughts on the article and maybe people will post replies, in reply to your thoughts, as well as the article itself, thus creating some good discussion.

Edited by Cobb
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With all due respect, I can't agree that 'it's the kind of activity that he brings that causes problems'. Sadly, here are some people who don't even read what I post -- because it's me who posted it.

 

Regarding the 'Guess the score game':

1.) That was an attempt to increase the activity of a guy I saw on one other board. He said he loved that game.

2.) There were replies by at least 3 other members in that thread.

 

About the random clippers discussion thread -- there is a similar thread in other team subforums: NYK, Philly. So, I'm sorry but I'm not gonna stop posting stuff about my favorite team just because I'm the only LAC fan here.

 

Honestly, I feel the same way about you, bro -- I feel that you too at times post just for the sake of increasing your post count. Some threads that come to mind off the top of my head are the soccer threads -- before I started posting there you were basically talking to yourself. You had a substantial amount of posts in each of the threads with not many, if any, replies from other members.

 

 

 

DiscussHoops.com| Guidelines: 4) POSTING ARTICLES

dude you just posted a gif in a game that happened a week ago, you posted a random ass picture of a cfl game in the NFL section, if you don't know anything about american football why would you post there? You don't see ppl wandering into the soccer section posting random pointless things, thats what ppl mean by you posting just to increase your post count.
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