Post Tag

[DonRocks]

I'm always trying to think of non-invasive ways to drive up - not viewership - but active participation here. How about a game of Post Tag where I post a review (or recipe, or event, etc.), and when I'm done, I call someone else as being "IT" and then it's their turn. After they post, they name the person of their choice to be IT. Anyone tagging a NEW MEMBER to join and post resets the onus of the posting back on me. (This will be a good way to force me through my writer's block as well). One caveat: I get the right to post on dcdining.com's blog and link to it from here, deal? Anyone who ignores their tag gets publicly harangued until they comply.

This idea sucks, actually.

So, seeing though it is such a bad idea, I'd like to pose a question to our readers: what can I do to increase posting activity here? Everyone reads the site, of that I am certain; getting people to bear down and write a post is much more difficult. (The internet, after all, is mindless entertainment, and cheap escapism from work). Or is it? Why not make it a Wikipedia-like community where everyone can join in and have a vested interest? What can I do to foster this?

Could someone reluctant to post chime in here? If you're reluctant, for whatever reason, then I suspect others are, too, and I want to change that any way I can. Things written here will be useful and for the greater good, for years and years, no, actually, I'll say decades and decades. You're writing a piece of Washington, DC history that would not have been written otherwise. Also, you're writing your own journal. I'd be more than happy to set up blog accounts on this website if people would like to blog here. That sort of defeats the purpose of having the threads, but it's still better than nothing and why can't we have both?

What can I do?

[DC Deb]

Hi Don.

I am definitely more of a reader than poster. I don't always post because of my work affiliation. i.e. If I make a comment that someone disagrees with, I don't want it to reflect on my employer in any way.

That's just my two cents.

Deb

[DonRocks]

Hi Don.

I am definitely more of a reader than poster. I don't always post because of my work affiliation. i.e. If I make a comment that someone disagrees with, I don't want it to reflect on my employer in any way.

That's just my two cents.

Deb

Input much appreciated, Deb, and I suspect many others feel just like you do. This is why I have no plans for any type of real-name policy for this forum (only the Professionals & Businesses Forum, and even that's just a test case). Still, this website is made or broken by POSTING, not READING, so ... how to best encourage active posting while maintaining our integrity?

BTW, it's ALWAYS appreciated, even if you're only reading, to read as a signed-in member as opposed to a guest. Makes me feel like there's a sense of community instead of a bunch of bots.

[Heather]

I don't have the budget to dine out, or the time to cook anything worth posting about. (I'm still #2 overall in number of posts, which tells you something about my life previously). Until that changes, I just don't have much to contribute.

[weezy]

Don, I host a couple of small private forums with folks I've been internet friends with since the late 1990s (or my imaginary friends, as I like to call them). We still go through phases even now when we've known each other for so long where posting activity drops off dramatically. In the case of my forums, there are a couple of people who are catalysts for getting folks to join in and if they aren't posting -- vacations, service interruptions or whatever -- no one else posts much, either. Also, the biggest draw to these boards initially is the reporting on dining experiences, and a reportage style post usually doesn't generate much discussion, so you've got a double whammy there. My only suggestion is to figure out who are the catalysts here and do whatever you can to encourage them to stay active because their activity produces greater activity among other members and helps keep the momentum going and the board growing.

[DonRocks]

Don, I host a couple of small private forums with folks I've been internet friends with since the late 1990s (or my imaginary friends, as I like to call them). We still go through phases even now when we've known each other for so long where posting activity drops off dramatically. In the case of my forums, there are a couple of people who are catalysts for getting folks to join in and if they aren't posting -- vacations, service interruptions or whatever -- no one else posts much, either. Also, the biggest draw to these boards initially is the reporting on dining experiences, and a reportage style post usually doesn't generate much discussion, so you've got a double whammy there. My only suggestion is to figure out who are the catalysts here and do whatever you can to encourage them to stay active because their activity produces greater activity among other members and helps keep the momentum going and the board growing.

Charles Goodnight was quite a catalyst.

(I am sorry.)

I've asked countless numbers of people, both publicly and privately, what I can do to make the website better, and unless there's a huge conspiracy with black helicopters flying around, the consensus answer is, 'Nothing. It's perfect.' The one exception is that folks want mapping capabilities integrated with the dining guide (that will come with funding). I think the solution here is that we simply need more members - this factory, better known as My Brain, is running at only partial capacity.

I'm on it. This model scales up AND out very nicely without loss of integrity (I'm also fully aware of what I can, and cannot, do).

Someone needs to instruct and delight the masses - why not me?

I'm the guy you want in a foxhole (unless you're the fox).