Stagnation In the Forums

As of late, it seems the same threads are being posted in horrid repetition over and over in the forums. Vampires, werewolves, mermaids, flying spells, etc have become the main discussion and are currently the forum postings which attract the most views and the most debate. This, to me, is a bit bothersome and upsetting. I, for one, spend most of my time on the forums rather than the chatter and it seems to have been slowly working its way towards stagnation for some time now.

Not too long ago, a topic came through the forums called "Sensible People Stand Up"- and it discussed why we need to take some sort of action. If we really want the forums to be a place for learning, we have to shape it that way. And currently, I feel it has simply become a place of "ask your question that has already been asked a multitude of times" or "post on something that you have not looked into" instead of what it should be. It feels as though the forums are simply a cesspool for cognitive misers- where people prefer the quickest, simplest answer instead of exploring and discussing things. These topics are a bit angering to those who are tired of seeing them posted, and tend to spark more arguments than anything- pushing more people away.

So the question is: How do we turn the forums around and draw in the activity and learning we want to see again?

I wanted to know what others who have been around the site and have seen the recent forum posts think we could do as a whole to improve the quality of the things being posted. And before you think I am simply complaining and not taking action: I try to occasionally post informative articles, but even those take considerable time to write up and post, with the including of sources and whatnot. And even when something new has been posted or written up nicely, it does not bring in the same results these repetitive threads have been. This isn't so much a rant as a call to action, or a plead for advice. Personally, I will remain watching and trying to add to the forums where I feel I can- as the forums usually seem to go back and forth between good discussion and other- but as of late, it has really been a bit disheartening.

Perhaps people simply need some encouragement to take the time to write their own forum posts and spread new and interesting topics around the forums? Or perhaps we need to start trying to post on things that are rarely discussed to provoke more intellectual debate and ignore the posts we have been plagued with as of late? What happened to studying, researching and writing?

Any ideas on what to do to help speed up the forum recovery?

Sensible People Stand Up:

http://www.spellsofmagic.com/read_post.html?post=372785&offset=10

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This is just an idea..
Is it possible for someone to post a topic of the day or even week.
Anyone who has information and sites or sources should post to the topic for that day. This may provoke some thought and possible sensible forum postings.

I totally agree that the forums have entirely too much ridiculous notions such as vampires and werewolves and such.

I strive to find information and to research on a regular basis. I am sure many others do as well.

That is a great idea. Or whenever somebody starts a forum thread about an existing subject, we merge the existing threads of likeness together and redirect the person to other sources.

I like that idea Deliliah. A post of the week type of thing could be interesting.
Perhaps somewhere as well we could try and formulate a list of various topics that could be covered so as to give people an idea of things they could study and write on.

Agreed! I think the site itself needs a good cleaning.

Personally I do not see it improving much at this time. Regardless, I will post what I learn and feel has not been covered a million times already. Discussion of new topics would help, but it seems some shy away from that idea because we would not want to "spoon feed" others what has taken us long to research. Hmm perhaps that might be the thing to do, or we can watch it decline and either ignore it, or continue complaining as so many have. Thanks for the well written post Personified. Hopefully it wont just be ignored and buried like the rest of the significant ones.

Blessings xx

Angel

This thread is exactly why I have stopped posting, and only answer mail. I still read the posts, and when I come across somebody who seriously wants to learn, I send them a mail message.

I haven't started much here, or in my own Coven forums, in a while.

I tend to respond to other people while I multitask, to distract myself from the dreary nature of the day.

If I can get life less busy, I'll be working to ask more questions of people and try to provide some random tidbits of knowledge.

I completely understand where you, Brysing and AwakeTooLong, are coming from. And it's members like who, who are both knowledgable, that have interesting and relevant things to add to the forums. But unfortunately said members are often not listened to. I know you both get aggrivated at the nonsense- and it can be quite a constant struggle, but there will always be those members who appreciate and value the information you have to offer.

I personaly agree with the merging of the threads. far more easier to do. I have seen other sites like this, do a merge of threads and it cleaned up the boards.