Can there be too much of a good thing?

[Conficio]

Hi there everyone,
I'm about to make myself unpopular, but this is a free country (and hopefully a free world) and free speech is a valuable thing as it provokes thought and progress.

Here is my question: Can there be too much participation of a particular member on the board(s)?

I follow various discussions on and off and have tried to particiapte with knowledge, tips and comments. Over time I have come accross some fellow members time and again. That is a psoitive thing. It tells me there are many helpful people out there.

But it starts to annoy me, that I meet some folks (don't want to name names, because this is not personal), that I meet always and everywhere. I mean it is hard to find a topic where they do not comment on. Let me call such frequent board members "professionals".

I'm somewhat suspicious about people that do have a comment for everything. I somtimes wonder where the "professionals" get the time to write so much and follow so many discussions, because they often comment multiple times on the same subject and comment on other peoples comments. I can't complain about the quality of the comments made by the "professionals" and still the fequency and persistense annoys me.

I have seen many boards die, because the level of communication went from help to bickering and personal comments. Over time this gets boring for the public at large. WebProWorld hasn't reached that yet.

But I'd argue, if I'm annoyed, others might be too. It is not encouraging, if one can't post anything without discussing it with always the same people. Please participate in the poll attached!

Sometimes less is more!

So I'd propose to look at oneself and make a reasonable guess to how much participation is good - to restrict oneself and not comment on everything. Also, one comment per post is enough. Multiple comments in the same thread should be the exception (typically when asked for more explanation or info). One can let other people's posts stand on their own merrits, even if they are factually wrong. Most readers are smart and figure it out themself.

Does anyone share my opinion, fellow WebProWorld members?

K<o>

[Brittany]

Conficio,

You bring up good points, BUT I enjoy seeing members returning to WebProWorld, engaging in mutliple discussions, and posting multiple times to threads, simply because this tells me we're doing something right. I know that all our time spent and effort put into this site is paying off because members keep returning, and become regulars. And to me, that's very encouraging.

I don't mind having conversations with many of the same people, as long as they display a "professional" attitude and follow the forum rules (http://www.webproworld.com/rules.html). By having discussions with regulars both in the forums and through private messages or emails, I really feel like I've gotten to know many of these people, whom I've never even met. And it's many of these same people who keep the conversations flowing.

However, I think part of the problem that you mention is that there are still MANY members who are not posting regularly. The main problem seems to be time (as you mention). Another factor is many people are reluctant to post, and consider themselves to be part of our read-only audience. And still other members don't consider themselves to be knowledgeable enough in any particular area to give their two cents.

So, perhaps instead of saying "less is more" maybe we should ponder some ideas for how to get new members (or 'quiet' members) to speak up and voice their opinions. I love hearing new ideas and seeing new faces (or new members, even if they don't submit photos) here on WebProWorld.

What do you think? Any ideas?

Brittany

[matauri]

I'm about to make myself unpopular, but this is a free country (and hopefully a free world) and free speech is a valuable thing as it provokes thought and progress.

I'm a little confused here Conficio, you say:
"free speech is a valuable thing as it provokes thought and progress",
but you also say:
"So I'd propose to look at oneself and make a reasonable guess to how much participation is good - to restrict oneself and not comment on everything. Also, one comment per post is enough. Multiple comments in the same thread should be the exception (typically when asked for more explanation or info). One can let other people's posts stand on their own merrits, even if they are factually wrong. Most readers are smart and figure it out themself"

It's a bit like saying "start", but "now stop".

I could even be one of the members you speak of. I know I post on a variety of subjects, and I make multiple posts on same thread. Do I see a problem with this...no. And yes, I do cruise the boards checking out what people are talking about, and yes I will debate a point with them if necessary. I know I get emails & PM's off people thanking me for what I say, and I know other WPW members do too. Many times people are a little timid or think themselves too inexperienced to post, but feel comfortable writing to the poster personally.

Pesonally I think WPW has formed a great network of 'professionals' who have always been ready & willing to help with even the most minor problems & issues. You only have to look at how popular the forum has become in such a short time.

The one thing I do have a 'thing' about, is a continual habit of one liners. When someone will continually post through a thread "he is right", "she is right". I personally enjoy hearing how a person thinks and why, so those kind of posts mean nothing to me, just waste space. No matter how inexperienced the poster is, I like to hear their opinions on the matter. Man invented fire without an education!

So I encourage people to post, as many times, and as often as you like & become part of our community !! :-)


Cindy