Post by Empy on Feb 22, 2008 20:50:19 GMT -5
Attention Everyone!
As you may have noticed, the OGB has been going under a few changes this week. The staff has decided to take a more proactive effort against spam. We realize that sometimes you just HAVE to post but we would prefer if you do, to make your posts meaningful and one that furthers the conversation. The forum is not a chat room, it is a place to discuss things and as such, we would like to see some thought in your posts. Admittedly, creating a fun, productive conversation takes work but we are sure that all of you are more than capable of it. Please remember if we remind you for spam that we are just doing our job. We don't want to get into fights, we're not "out to get you!" we just want to make the forum a better place.
The changes we are making at the moment might not be the most popular now because it is change but we feel that it will be better for DH in the long run. Hopefully, you will come to like these changes as well. You'll learn more about your fellow members and what they're like and their stories in this process
In addition, here are some helpful hints for posting. If you just have to post in a thread, keep some things in mind:
-If you do not know what the current conversation is about, find out! In this we don't mean posting "Hey guys, what are we talking about?" and nothing else, but just look back a few posts and try to figure out what's being discussed at the moment. It only takes a few seconds and in the end, the conversation will most likely have a lot more flow.
- Before you post something, ask yourself, how does this topic affect me? For instance if the topic is Ducks and you want to comment, think about how ducks have effected you? Do any of your friends like them? Have you had past experiences with them? What? Tell your story! They're fun to read and they also will help prompt others to do the same.
- One of the most important in my opinion is to EXPLAIN. Explain why you feel a certain way about a subject. Just saying "I like it" or "I don't like it" won't cut it. This is related to thinking about how a certain topic has affected you. The greatest word ever used in a post is "because"
"I like ______ Because....." You have no idea how much better your posts become when you have an explanation until you actually do it! Then it becomes well, fun if you ask me =D In addition, if you agree with what someone else has posted, please post why. "Agreed" and other one-word posts make it extremely difficult to move on in the conversation unless you want to be ignored. You don't want that, do you?
- Please don't repeat what the past poster said. Paraphrasing is basically spam in disguise for instance
"I like cheese because it's tasty and my personal favorite is Gouda cheese"
And the next poster says:
"What they said"
- Finally, think quality over quantity. When you post, post because you genuinely have something to say, hopefully the hints above can help with that. It's not the number of posts people judge you on; it's the quality of them. And also, keep in mind that the staff takes quality of posts very highly into consideration when discussing promotions. So if you want to be promoted, put thought into your posts, help out around the forum, and love doing it ^_^
I would also like to add that grammar and spelling factor immensely into quality of posts. It is difficult to determine the exact message when it is littered with spelling and grammatical errors. Imagine if you were to send a message to the president, would you write that way to him? (If you don't like George Bush, please don't let that affect your answer). No you wouldn't! You would want to make the best impression possible by dotting your i's and making sure everything is spelled correctly, etc. Keep the same attitude here.
People receive their first impression of you from the appearance of your posts. It is likely you won't have the best first impression if you appear that you are incapable of pressing the shift key. Unless I am mistaken, people want to have a good impression and want respect here. When people cannot tell what you are writing, that does not garner respect. In fact, it is likely people will ignore your posts so they don't have to work through and try and figure out what you're saying. You don't want that.
We have a spell check function in the forum and Mozilla Firefox has spell-check in the browser. When you disregard these tools and post like a kindergartener or use chat speak extensively, it shows to us you don't care. You don't care what others think and you don't care enough about the impression you make on others to go that extra step and spell your words correctly.
Along with these hints I would also like to say, if your behavior towards spam is viewed as a problem, there will be consequences.
UPDATE!!
Please, make your posts READABLE! This is common courtesy to other members as well as making things easier on yourself. If you have a massive wall of text or a font color that blends with the layout, the post is extremely hard to read and respond to. Many ties if members see such posts, they ignore it and that's not waht you want. So remember:
- DO divide your post into paragraphs if it is long
- DON'T make your post in a really hard to read color
Also! About member-modding: If you see a member spamming, causing trouble, or other sorts of rule breaking, do not order them around like an honorary Mod. Vigilantism will not make the situation better. Friendly reminders to help them follow the rules and get the thread back on track is allowed however, as long as you also contribute to thread's topic. If things start to get out of hand though, please contact an online staff member immediately.
That is all ^_^
As you may have noticed, the OGB has been going under a few changes this week. The staff has decided to take a more proactive effort against spam. We realize that sometimes you just HAVE to post but we would prefer if you do, to make your posts meaningful and one that furthers the conversation. The forum is not a chat room, it is a place to discuss things and as such, we would like to see some thought in your posts. Admittedly, creating a fun, productive conversation takes work but we are sure that all of you are more than capable of it. Please remember if we remind you for spam that we are just doing our job. We don't want to get into fights, we're not "out to get you!" we just want to make the forum a better place.
The changes we are making at the moment might not be the most popular now because it is change but we feel that it will be better for DH in the long run. Hopefully, you will come to like these changes as well. You'll learn more about your fellow members and what they're like and their stories in this process
In addition, here are some helpful hints for posting. If you just have to post in a thread, keep some things in mind:
-If you do not know what the current conversation is about, find out! In this we don't mean posting "Hey guys, what are we talking about?" and nothing else, but just look back a few posts and try to figure out what's being discussed at the moment. It only takes a few seconds and in the end, the conversation will most likely have a lot more flow.
- Before you post something, ask yourself, how does this topic affect me? For instance if the topic is Ducks and you want to comment, think about how ducks have effected you? Do any of your friends like them? Have you had past experiences with them? What? Tell your story! They're fun to read and they also will help prompt others to do the same.
- One of the most important in my opinion is to EXPLAIN. Explain why you feel a certain way about a subject. Just saying "I like it" or "I don't like it" won't cut it. This is related to thinking about how a certain topic has affected you. The greatest word ever used in a post is "because"
"I like ______ Because....." You have no idea how much better your posts become when you have an explanation until you actually do it! Then it becomes well, fun if you ask me =D In addition, if you agree with what someone else has posted, please post why. "Agreed" and other one-word posts make it extremely difficult to move on in the conversation unless you want to be ignored. You don't want that, do you?
- Please don't repeat what the past poster said. Paraphrasing is basically spam in disguise for instance
"I like cheese because it's tasty and my personal favorite is Gouda cheese"
And the next poster says:
"What they said"
- Finally, think quality over quantity. When you post, post because you genuinely have something to say, hopefully the hints above can help with that. It's not the number of posts people judge you on; it's the quality of them. And also, keep in mind that the staff takes quality of posts very highly into consideration when discussing promotions. So if you want to be promoted, put thought into your posts, help out around the forum, and love doing it ^_^
I would also like to add that grammar and spelling factor immensely into quality of posts. It is difficult to determine the exact message when it is littered with spelling and grammatical errors. Imagine if you were to send a message to the president, would you write that way to him? (If you don't like George Bush, please don't let that affect your answer). No you wouldn't! You would want to make the best impression possible by dotting your i's and making sure everything is spelled correctly, etc. Keep the same attitude here.
People receive their first impression of you from the appearance of your posts. It is likely you won't have the best first impression if you appear that you are incapable of pressing the shift key. Unless I am mistaken, people want to have a good impression and want respect here. When people cannot tell what you are writing, that does not garner respect. In fact, it is likely people will ignore your posts so they don't have to work through and try and figure out what you're saying. You don't want that.
We have a spell check function in the forum and Mozilla Firefox has spell-check in the browser. When you disregard these tools and post like a kindergartener or use chat speak extensively, it shows to us you don't care. You don't care what others think and you don't care enough about the impression you make on others to go that extra step and spell your words correctly.
Along with these hints I would also like to say, if your behavior towards spam is viewed as a problem, there will be consequences.
UPDATE!!
Please, make your posts READABLE! This is common courtesy to other members as well as making things easier on yourself. If you have a massive wall of text or a font color that blends with the layout, the post is extremely hard to read and respond to. Many ties if members see such posts, they ignore it and that's not waht you want. So remember:
- DO divide your post into paragraphs if it is long
- DON'T make your post in a really hard to read color
Also! About member-modding: If you see a member spamming, causing trouble, or other sorts of rule breaking, do not order them around like an honorary Mod. Vigilantism will not make the situation better. Friendly reminders to help them follow the rules and get the thread back on track is allowed however, as long as you also contribute to thread's topic. If things start to get out of hand though, please contact an online staff member immediately.
That is all ^_^