Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Lifehack.org: Personal Effectiveness without Intention Manifestation

dustin · 01-31-2008, 04:38 AM

Brutha: Thanks -- those are some good ideas. I'm not sure how many are feasible, since I'm not in charge of the forum's operation, but there's a lot there to think about.

I agree, forums are for conversation -- I don't want ti imply that the forum's content would be a resource (in the same way featured articles are) but that the orum itself would be a.. well, maybe resource is the wrong word. A useful thing for readers to have access to. A good place to have around.

Most importantly, I want folks to hae a sense of connection with each other and with us, the writers. I'm wondering, though, f the forums become the place where people comment, what is the difference between having active commenters and an active forum? It's the unique stuff, the "I have a question" stuff and the "hey, this is interesting" stuff that seems to me the reason behind a forum -- is there a case for integrating the two functions (commenting and original threads)? Is it simply a matter of not splitting people's attention?

Over the past several months, I've focused a lot on increasing comments. I don't have any special insight, but have just followed what I thought was right. And it's worked, the average number of comments per post have increased, and they're pretty good stuff -- sometimes as informative if not moreso than the post itself! The same strategies have not worked much at all for the forum, though I didn't put the same energy into it after the first few attempts failed to see much result. Like you said, maybe the forums never worked right -- it was there well before I came onboard, and I have no idea of its history. But it would be nice to see them take off -- preferably without closing them down first (which I'm not sure I can sell).

I'm not sure what you mean by "I see lifehack as a site that brings different blogs together". The content is all original, though the writers almost all blog elsewhere.

Last thing: you're dead on about moderators. I think there were some, but they've become inactive -- I do what I can, but I'm one person, and like you said, we probably need a good number of active moderators who can commit some time and energy to really working the forums. Party organizers, of a sort. Maybe guest contributors would want to take that role; I think that's what you're saying in #5 (though I'm unclear -- are you saying "their" forum section would connect back to their own sites?)

Thanks again -- you've given me a lot to think about, and even if I can't swing all that, hopefully it will inspire some new ideas that I *can* convince the rest of us to take up.

01-31-2008, 04:38 AM	#17 (permalink)
dustin Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 3	Brutha: Thanks -- those are some good ideas. I'm not sure how many are feasible, since I'm not in charge of the forum's operation, but there's a lot there to think about. I agree, forums are for conversation -- I don't want ti imply that the forum's content would be a resource (in the same way featured articles are) but that the orum itself would be a.. well, maybe resource is the wrong word. A useful thing for readers to have access to. A good place to have around. Most importantly, I want folks to hae a sense of connection with each other and with us, the writers. I'm wondering, though, f the forums become the place where people comment, what is the difference between having active commenters and an active forum? It's the unique stuff, the "I have a question" stuff and the "hey, this is interesting" stuff that seems to me the reason behind a forum -- is there a case for integrating the two functions (commenting and original threads)? Is it simply a matter of not splitting people's attention? Over the past several months, I've focused a lot on increasing comments. I don't have any special insight, but have just followed what I thought was right. And it's worked, the average number of comments per post have increased, and they're pretty good stuff -- sometimes as informative if not moreso than the post itself! The same strategies have not worked much at all for the forum, though I didn't put the same energy into it after the first few attempts failed to see much result. Like you said, maybe the forums never worked right -- it was there well before I came onboard, and I have no idea of its history. But it would be nice to see them take off -- preferably without closing them down first (which I'm not sure I can sell). I'm not sure what you mean by "I see lifehack as a site that brings different blogs together". The content is all original, though the writers almost all blog elsewhere. Last thing: you're dead on about moderators. I think there were some, but they've become inactive -- I do what I can, but I'm one person, and like you said, we probably need a good number of active moderators who can commit some time and energy to really working the forums. Party organizers, of a sort. Maybe guest contributors would want to take that role; I think that's what you're saying in #5 (though I'm unclear -- are you saying "their" forum section would connect back to their own sites?) Thanks again -- you've given me a lot to think about, and even if I can't swing all that, hopefully it will inspire some new ideas that I can convince the rest of us to take up.