Hello! From the New Forum and Community Manager

Former_MSE_Matt

almost imminently :j

System

I was sporting a #MakeMSEGreatAgain recently Matt. Some things really need sorted! On my stash spot Marriage, Relationships & Families, newbie bullying is a massive problem! The same crowd ie the status quo will pretty much call any newbie posting a thread a troll within the first few posts i've seen so many newbie's slaughtered on that board and now you rarely see a newbie post a thread.

People on here say you need a thick skin to post on that board. That should never be the case, because its supposed to be a family friendly forum. Most people on that board are awseome but the unruly bunch all work together and have destroyed so many good threads.

MSE Nick's moral dilemma's were a great idea, poorly executed. We know they are made up, but losing your phone on a beach in Barcelona? We're supposed to be moneysavers! Most of us will more likely lose our phone on a beach in Bognor Regis :rotfl:

I would also like them to be more community related. I did my own version called a community quandary to try inspire but it wasn't noticed. An email where we can submit a dilemma anonymously or by username, and the best is published by MSE staff to discuss would be better. I think that would also appeal more to newbie's who are afraid to post a thread.

The forum needs more fun! When the forum is fun, you see more people posting and that trend will follow on with better threads being posted. It doesn't last long because a controversial thread will appear designed to make people argue and that's how the groups have formed :wall:

The Arms is a great board that reflects the true spirit of the great MSE community but i feel its isolated down there at the bottom of the list and all the action gets missed by so many people!

Another thing is a lot of people here dont post threads. Without creators the forum becomes dry, and we've seen that in the last couple of months. A way to inspire long standing members who have the most valuable knowledge, needs explored. Some have 5 times the posts of me but i have posted 10 times the threads of them and i've only been here a year :eek:

MSE have also lost a lot of members to super troll. I can name 5 with over 15,000 posts who have gone. I've joined that list now as well because i cant be asked any more.

I just thought i would give you an insight to what i've experienced as someone who used this forum for only a year. When this forum is good, its great but its losing its way so i hope you are the person who can make MSE great again

Mandelbrot

Has one of the Techies been doing something to the Forum overnight?

I have had 'width' problems this morning that weren't there last night.

fermi

Old version? Nothing seems obviously amiss here so far.

Mandelbrot

fermi wrote: »

Old version? Nothing seems obviously amiss here so far.

Yes. Old green version.
When I go into threads, the forum width is 'massive'.
Top level Menus are fine.

I thought at first it was the 'large embedded picture' issue, but it is (apparently) not that.

I then thought that my 'Forum Skin' option had been changed by the system (that has happened before), but it's not that either.

So I think I'll just give this Forum a rest and come back later.

Thanks for responding, fermi.

fermi

Mandelbrot wrote: »

Yes. Old green version.
When I go into threads, the forum width is 'massive'.
Top level Menus are fine.

Seems OK here in Firefox and Chrome at the moment at least. Perhaps clear you cache before you come back, as that will force your browser to reload everything forum related afresh and maybe get rid of anything odd and stale.

Mandelbrot

fermi wrote: »

Seems OK here in Firefox and Chrome at the moment at least. Perhaps clear you cache before you come back, as that will force your browser to reload everything forum related afresh and maybe get rid of anything odd and stale.

Yes, I've cleared a couple of MSE cookies that looked a bit doubtful, and so far (where's that 'cross your fingers' smiley? ) ... everything looks back to normal.

System

Spinkz wrote: »

People on here say you need a thick skin to post on that board. That should never be the case, because its supposed to be a family friendly forum. Most people on that board are awseome but the unruly bunch all work together and have destroyed so many good threads.

People have been annoying each other on the internet since before there was even an internet! The benefits board on here is rumoured to be among the worst for that sort of thing, but the marriages board also often descends into playground tactics.


Somebody suggested getting rid of the thanks button, which I thought was an interesting idea, given that the majority of unpleasantness does seem to involve people using the thanks button to show support for somebody's opinion rather than actually thanking them for a helpful post. I strongly suspect that if the thanks button were to go, so would 70% of the bullies on here. People of that inclination do seem to enjoy getting validation for their unpleasant views, via the number of 'thanks' they get from complete strangers on the internet!


Something else I can't help noticing, - why PPR a trouble-maker and then allow them to come back under a new user-name? It does seem to make a mockery of the PPR system if there is no means of preventing that person from re-registering.

foxtrotoscar_2

MSE_Matt wrote: »

almost imminently :j

...or not perhaps?

Pyxis

Hiya Matt! :beer:


(Do you still want this job? )