So do you guys think this Forum needs alot more members?!
- Thread starter oonter
- Start date
- 21 May 2003
- 14,310
- 4,404
Some things I notice after almost 5 years here.
I'm amazed how many members join and never return. I wish all those Japanese people who read the JREF forum would stop and join. Like many new members, when I first came to JREF, I thought almost all the members would be Japanese(NOT). A forum seems to be a place to "take" but not give. Most people come here to get their answer to some question and never return. The "SEARCH" function does not get used enough , especially by new members. If you stay around long enough here, you see the same questions asked over and over and over. Some members are very "Territorial" they post over and over one one thread and no where else. I think in todays busy world, finding time to come on the forum everyday is difficult, so it is hard to maintain a "core family" of close friends. In the "old days" of JREF there were a large group who met in the chat room often and became good friends, that seemed to fade away(the chat room is hardly ever used now). I notice the "friendliness" level has dropped off. New members intros used to be answered with dozens of welcomes, now none or just 1 or 2. Birthdays wishes have gone the same way; used to be dozens wishing a member a happy birthday, now you are lucky to get 2 or 3 good wishes. I believe forums are like people, they change over time and their main focus changes. At times we have had threads here that focused on Japanese history, language, J-Rock, religion, and other times vague chit-chat posts tend to rule. I feel it is hard for forum owners and staff to control what happens on a forum, it tends to ebb and flow with a life of it's own. Just some personal thoughts of my own and not anyone elses. I look at JREF as my main hobby and try to devote a lot of time to it, it pays me back with many friends from around the world and a lot of joy in my life.
Uncle Frank
☝
I'm amazed how many members join and never return. I wish all those Japanese people who read the JREF forum would stop and join. Like many new members, when I first came to JREF, I thought almost all the members would be Japanese(NOT). A forum seems to be a place to "take" but not give. Most people come here to get their answer to some question and never return. The "SEARCH" function does not get used enough , especially by new members. If you stay around long enough here, you see the same questions asked over and over and over. Some members are very "Territorial" they post over and over one one thread and no where else. I think in todays busy world, finding time to come on the forum everyday is difficult, so it is hard to maintain a "core family" of close friends. In the "old days" of JREF there were a large group who met in the chat room often and became good friends, that seemed to fade away(the chat room is hardly ever used now). I notice the "friendliness" level has dropped off. New members intros used to be answered with dozens of welcomes, now none or just 1 or 2. Birthdays wishes have gone the same way; used to be dozens wishing a member a happy birthday, now you are lucky to get 2 or 3 good wishes. I believe forums are like people, they change over time and their main focus changes. At times we have had threads here that focused on Japanese history, language, J-Rock, religion, and other times vague chit-chat posts tend to rule. I feel it is hard for forum owners and staff to control what happens on a forum, it tends to ebb and flow with a life of it's own. Just some personal thoughts of my own and not anyone elses. I look at JREF as my main hobby and try to devote a lot of time to it, it pays me back with many friends from around the world and a lot of joy in my life.
Uncle Frank
☝
- 28 Jul 2005
- 5,238
- 172
Nicely put there Uncle Frank ! One thing that has bothered me is the little response to new comers--and I have to take some of that blame, I've just not been able these past two months the keep that you.
Yes, we are human beings--people--and we are one big on-line community (family) and as in real life, our contacts go and come...we are here stronger at times, weaker at times. . . more active within the community less so at other times. It would be nice to see more 'friendliness' more often across the boards.
Yes, we are human beings--people--and we are one big on-line community (family) and as in real life, our contacts go and come...we are here stronger at times, weaker at times. . . more active within the community less so at other times. It would be nice to see more 'friendliness' more often across the boards.
dreamer
後輩
- 15 Aug 2003
- 2,181
- 25
Well... I am not trying to appologize or anything but most people have their own life going on. For instance I have been sent all around the world during the past few years and because of studies, I feel too lazy to answer all the welcome threads...^^;
I suppose for other people, they were involved into a lot of things and never managed to come back?
I suppose for other people, they were involved into a lot of things and never managed to come back?
- 17 Sep 2005
- 6,017
- 1,970
Although I think more members are always welcome, I think having members posting more often is important. I am guilty of this myself. I used to post far more often than I do now. I have many reasons for this, but those reasons don't change the fact that my posting has leveled off quite a bit.
oonter
先輩
- 18 May 2006
- 79
- 0
- Thread starter
- #7
Yes. Very well put Frank. I never really thought of it that one. The first forums that I really found myself dedicated to were the ones on Gamefaqs.com. I had loads of fun, and I met alot of good online friends. We've become companions to the point that we're posting on each others youtube videos and playing Xbox games online constantly. That's what I really enjoy about forums.
I must admit, when I first came to this site, I was just researching information on getting an English teach job in Japan. Now, two years later, I've been able to contribute 72+ posts. I do really like this forum and am very surprised I haven't told most of my friends about it. I plan on doing that right now.
I must admit, when I first came to this site, I was just researching information on getting an English teach job in Japan. Now, two years later, I've been able to contribute 72+ posts. I do really like this forum and am very surprised I haven't told most of my friends about it. I plan on doing that right now.
- 19 Jan 2005
- 1,972
- 232
I believe that a forum's worth is the quality of the posts and the members not just the total number of members.
I have tested out other forums with far more members, but they consisted mostly of young people who only wanted to talk about anime and music and couldn't put a coherent paragraph together if ther life depended on it. And other forums just wanted to bash Japan and those that enjoy living there or didn't have much to say in the realm of serious topics.
I have found a home here at Jref because of the quality of the members and the quality and diversity of the posts. Participation goes up and then it goes down and then back up again, but the core members remain the same and keep the sight flowing smoothly. Besides, Jref is the only complete sight I have found as not only is the forum superb, but so is the main page and the info that is available. It is an all-in-one sight.
I used to greet almost every new member myself a few years ago after I joined, but I was subtly accused of trying to increase my number of posts (as if the number of posts matters!) so I backed off. To me, it's not the number of posts a person has, it's the reputation points of that person that I look at. That tells me alot more about them than the number of posts.
I have tested out other forums with far more members, but they consisted mostly of young people who only wanted to talk about anime and music and couldn't put a coherent paragraph together if ther life depended on it. And other forums just wanted to bash Japan and those that enjoy living there or didn't have much to say in the realm of serious topics.
I have found a home here at Jref because of the quality of the members and the quality and diversity of the posts. Participation goes up and then it goes down and then back up again, but the core members remain the same and keep the sight flowing smoothly. Besides, Jref is the only complete sight I have found as not only is the forum superb, but so is the main page and the info that is available. It is an all-in-one sight.
I used to greet almost every new member myself a few years ago after I joined, but I was subtly accused of trying to increase my number of posts (as if the number of posts matters!) so I backed off. To me, it's not the number of posts a person has, it's the reputation points of that person that I look at. That tells me alot more about them than the number of posts.
- 19 Jan 2005
- 1,972
- 232
You are quite correct dreamer and it is not a very reliable indicator as you mentioned, but the admins put a stop to most of it and keep a sharp eye out. I should've made myself more clearer in that rep points AS WELL AS number of posts, along with length of stay and participation, when taken altogether, are a pretty reliable indicator of the seriousness of the person to the web site.
In reality, as you mentioned rep points really don't mean that all that much. It is only part of the equation that I use.
In reality, as you mentioned rep points really don't mean that all that much. It is only part of the equation that I use.
- 18 Feb 2007
- 932
- 51
Some really great points here made by everyone!
I have just a little to add, just my thoughts. I've been gone for a fair few months now, and it seems that the forum's even quieter now than it was then. I understand that a few things may have changed recently, and it's also the summertime for many members, and thus likely to be slower.
However I was a bit surprised to see that many of my old posts were still quite high in the list of individual sections, and not only that but one or two interesting threads were posted months before and had not had a single reply!! I bumped one of them (with some video links I thoroughly enjoyed) and with a day five or six more people had commented that they enjoyed them, and thanked the OP - better late than never eh?!
I think that generally (though far from 'always' necessarily) the people with most interest in keeping a forum active, lively and friendly are the more-established members. I'm sure many of us do it already, but I think it's a good idea to add even little comments to interesting threads to help them bloom, largely by getting them into the 'most recent' threads list.
It's extremely disheartening to make a thread and not get even a single reply when there may have been hundreds of views, especially where the same thread in other forums would get pages of replies. Inevitably the urge to post topics here becomes less attractive than posting them elsewhere, or getting involved in other communities perhaps.
Greeting new members is very nice indeed, but as so many of these members seem to drop off so quickly it's probably a far less effective use of time in keeping the forum lively and interesting than making quality new threads, or contributing more to others. Just mho.
I have just a little to add, just my thoughts. I've been gone for a fair few months now, and it seems that the forum's even quieter now than it was then. I understand that a few things may have changed recently, and it's also the summertime for many members, and thus likely to be slower.
However I was a bit surprised to see that many of my old posts were still quite high in the list of individual sections, and not only that but one or two interesting threads were posted months before and had not had a single reply!! I bumped one of them (with some video links I thoroughly enjoyed) and with a day five or six more people had commented that they enjoyed them, and thanked the OP - better late than never eh?!
I think that generally (though far from 'always' necessarily) the people with most interest in keeping a forum active, lively and friendly are the more-established members. I'm sure many of us do it already, but I think it's a good idea to add even little comments to interesting threads to help them bloom, largely by getting them into the 'most recent' threads list.
It's extremely disheartening to make a thread and not get even a single reply when there may have been hundreds of views, especially where the same thread in other forums would get pages of replies. Inevitably the urge to post topics here becomes less attractive than posting them elsewhere, or getting involved in other communities perhaps.
Greeting new members is very nice indeed, but as so many of these members seem to drop off so quickly it's probably a far less effective use of time in keeping the forum lively and interesting than making quality new threads, or contributing more to others. Just mho.
