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Subject: Select Forum - Ground Rules Posted by: Guru - [330592710] Thu, Aug 10, 09:41 The objective of this Select Forum is to provide a controlled collection of discussion threads that are likely to be of interest to most thoughtful fantasy football fans. The initiation of new threads will be controlled by limiting the number of people who can start a Select Forum thread. Initially, less than 5% of all forum users have been granted the ability to initiate a thread. That list will grow over time. If you want to be added to the select list, the best "audition" is to provide thoughtful, value-added replies to threads initiated by others. While only certain people can start a new thread, anyone can reply. Why this approach? Over the past half year, RotoGuru.com and the message forum have continued to grow and attract many new users. This has contributed to an increasing number of threads at the more active forums, and a decreasing average quality. It has become much more difficult to sort the thought provoking threads from the lazy, inane, and "feed me" threads. Many of the more thoughtful Gurupies have recently expressed a longing for "the good ole days", when you didn't have to weed through so many "weeds" to find the "seeds". I have considered a number of possible approaches to remedy this situation, and I have had active discussions with a number of widely respected Gurupies on this topic. The Select Forum concept was chosen because it is not programatically difficult, and because it generally relies on the good judgment of a select group of forum users to make it work, rather than some automated process. What consititutes an appropriate Select Forum thread topic? In general, it is any relevant topic that is likely to be of widespread interest. These could include player or position analysis, game strategy (NFL or fantasy), manager psychology, matchup analysis, tactical planning,... hopefully, you get the drift. Occasional light-hearted threads are fine, as long as they don't dominate. Those threads often make the forum more enjoyable and sociable. Inappropriate threads include roster-specific help wanted requests, daily action threads, division requests, babysitting requests, and anything that is not likely to be interesting to most users. If you want to initiate a thread but lack the authority to do so, you may add your topic to the Suggestion Box thread, or you may post it in the open forum. Will this be the death sentence for the open football forum? Hard to say. If it continues to be active and vital without significant need for moderator intervention, that I think the open forum can still play an important role. We'll just have to see how things play out. I am not committed to providing all things for all users. Growth is usually good. But quantity at the expense of quality is not a viable route to sustainable growth. In order to prosper, RotoGuru.com must foster the kind of growth that is supportive of its distinctiveness. RotoGuru caters to the fantasy sports fan who likes to think about the strategic and technical aspects of the games, and who is willing to engage in open and thoughtful discussions on those issues. It is imperative that this message forum supports that distinctiveness. Hopefully, this Select Forum concept is a shift in the right direction. | ||||||
| 1 | Guru ID: 330592710 Fri, Aug 11, 10:16 |
A point of clarification is in order. Someone has already sent me an email suggesting that "restricting the intellectual input to this small group will kill this site". First, it is important to understand that I have not materially restricted the intellectual input. Here are a few facts:
I am sure this new approach is not perfect. The biggest risk is that some of you will react emotionally to not appearing on the select list. I'm hoping that most of you will give this a chance, and let's work out the adjustments as we see what works and what doesn't. Doing nothing was not a viable option, and some of the other alternatives I considered and rejected were much more problematic (although perhaps more overtly diplomatic). One further note - being on the list does not imply that I deem you to be "football savvy" (just as not appearing on the list does not connote the converse). Clearly, some of you are not. It's just as valuable to start a thread with a question as it is with an answer. The key is that I'm relying on a select group of people to anticipate what topics will be of widespread interest, and what topics will not. Finally, please make use of the suggestion box if you'd like to suggest a thread topic. That will be one of the best places to get noticed - if being noticed is your objective. | |||||
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