Carrie99

Hi, everyone.

Mods have been informed that the ‘Official Board Post Count Evaluations’ are fast approaching and that the format will be a bit different that last time.

The counts will begin on Sunday September 5 and post count checks will be done every week until Sunday October 31. The higher ups feel that doing the post counts over a two month period is the fairest way to gauge the traffic. Any board whose post count average is less than 100 posts per week will be closed. Yes this means that technically we don’t have to have exactly 100 posts every week if we have some other good weeks, but I think we should have as many posts as we can get.

I did an informal post count check this past week on this board. You can monitor our number of posts here as well. I found that from Aug 21 at through 8:30pm Eastern on Aug 27 that we had 103 posts. If we get this number every week during the evaulations then we would be fine.

I'm not really worried about this board but it might be a good idea to try to brainstorm ideas on how we can get more interest/posts on this board. One thing I did is I put links in my sig to the boards I mod. I figure more folks look at the bottom of posts than on the side (where the board are linked under each mod’s name). I also am trying to ‘publicize’ the board by visting boards I have an interest in but usually never post on. Don’t spam other boards or anything obviously but if you have links in your sig others might notice and stop by here.

In the past post count this board was considered a 'niche' board and was exempt from the evaluation. This time around the only boards exempt are ones that have been added in the last 6 months and the Help/Support boards. So this board is not exempt.

Everyone that posts on this board has always been terrific when it comes to supporting our little community here so I'm confident we'll meet and excede the requirements that have been set.

When everyone finishes reading this, I’d like for y’all to take a minute and just post that you’ve read this, so I know that people on this board are aware of what is going on.

If you have any questions about the evaluations please feel free to post them here.


Thanks.

Soz

I read your post Carrie.

My question is why do the policies keep changing? I don't understand why every time there are post counts, things are different. Can't the higher-ups settle on one policy? It's just getting really confusing and frustrating.

onionroach

I've read and am prepared to keep this board alive.

Carrie99

Yeah I totally understand that these changes can get confusing and frustrating, because it's that way for me too.

From my understanding, the higher ups noticed a significant drop off in posting after the last post count evaluations in some of the boards so they're trying to come up with a way to do the post counts that's as "fair" as they can make it, but which also should hopefully give a more "accurate" picture of the traffic on all of the boards here. In regard to the board not being exempt again, they said that they want all the boards to be active and they're "confident we can keep our boards alive."

So in other words I guess they didn't think that the last time was a good way to evaluate the boards. That's why it's going to be two months, instead of one and an "average" of posts instead of exactly 100 posts every single week.

I'm really sorry that this is frustrating and everything. If you (or anyone) would like me to try to get a more direct/specific answer I can take your questions to the higher ups personally. This info I gave you came from info that was given to all mods in general.

22 Umbrellas

Read it. Putting a link to this board in my sig ASAP and will try to brainstorm more ideas to keep the board alive.

Chris

Great answer Carrie, but I'd just like to expand a bit ...

The Management Team consulted the Moderators and the consensus was that other than the 'New' boards and those in the 'Help and Support' category, it was fair to expect all boards to be able to maintain an average of 100 posts a week. Yes, the policy has changed but all moderators are aware of it and are free to pass the information on to their posters, as Carrie has. We've announced exactly when we'll be looking at traffic, so now it's up to our members. Consider every post you make a vote to keep that particular board open. Our goal is for Fan Forum to have active message boards where people want to post. We don't want to close any boards, but if interest in a fandom has waned to the point that it can't achieve 14 posts a day, then it's time to move on.

Crossbow

I read it.

I don't know why the post count on this board isn't higher. There are many times more books in the world than there are movies and TV shows!

Soz

Carrie99, thanks for the info.

Crossbow, yeah really. I guess the problem is that less and less people are reading. I'm worried for the future of this board, maybe not for the upcoming post count evaluation, but for further down the road. When mega-sellers like the Harry Potter books can't even help the publishing industry much, you know there's a problem, and I think it's reflected here. Reading is harder than switching on a TV or playing a video game or surfing the web.

evaki

Read it. Thanks for the information.

igloo155

I read it.

StellaSlight

I'm a little bit late, and Carrie and Chris have pretty much said it all, but I wanted to make few remarks.

I don't want to answer for the highers up, but here's the way I see it. With a site and a community that is as large as FF, flexibility in the policies is something that is necessary. The thing with the evaluations is to reach a balance between an entertaining site (with lots of boards) and an active site (with lots of posts). Because the last two evaluations were the first two evaluations ever, let's say that they weren't really accurate to the real needs of FF. Changes in the methods of evaluations were necessary, and it has been discussed in depth between the Management Team and the Moderators how the next evaluations should be proceeded. Thefore, I don't see the changes of policies as a sign of inconsistency from the highers up, but rather as their constant desire to reach the perfect balance for FF.

I understand that it's confusing and frustrating. I, myself, was quite confused with the two months period thing at first. Let's just keep in mind that, although the methods changed, the number of required posts didn't. The goal is the same, guys, that is to say 100 posts per week.


To be fair, the number of posts per week is something really changeable. It really depends on the period of the evaluation. I counted the posts the first weekds of July, and the numbers were great, almost reaching 200 posts per week. Of course it's still less than the TV boards and other über-active boards... but considering the nature of the posts in the books board, I think it's an excellent number.

The problem with the Book Board is that the majority of the threads (not counting the different "Last book you bought/read/bought but didn't read" threads) are about particular books, and if there are only few posters who read those particular books, the discussion won't last long.
Maybe we should find more general topics that would start a discussion, not on a particular book but on a particular theme, and where everyone can add something to the discussion with books they read (ie: "Do you think it's best to read a book before watching a movie", etc.).

I'll be back later with other ideas to increase the traffic, but right now my inspiration's gone dry.


Anne

thescoobygang

read it. I'll try to think of some new thread topics.

I visit several book forums on the internet and generating ongoing conversation is a common problem unique to books. As someone pointed out...it's difficult to have a discussion about a particular book if only a few people have read it.

I agree, more generalized topics will encourage posting. At least that's what I noticed over at bookcrossing. A few months ago their main book talk thread was "what are you reading now?"...with the typical 1 word responses. Their topic selection has since improved by using simple threads like:

How do you organize your bookshelves?
What are the essential reads from your country/region?
Worst books you were forced to read in school?
Used books? (love them/hate them?)
I am a little tired of "to be continued" novels
what are your reading goals for 2004?
the book that it amazes you that you haven't read yet...and why?
Cultural allusions you don't get (when reading)

etc...

barelylegal

read it.

Crossbow

Good suggestions. I should start the "Reading goals for 2004" thread.

MalloryKeaton

I read it.