Comments on: Sustaining Online Communities for the Longer Run http://gailwilliams.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/sustaining-online-communities-for-the-longer-run/ Community and social creativity, online and off Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:16:54 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Charlie Swindall http://gailwilliams.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/sustaining-online-communities-for-the-longer-run/#comment-2420 Charlie Swindall Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:16:48 +0000 http://gailwilliams.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/happy-halloween-and-november-events/#comment-2420 I think I have been a forum fanatic ever since I was first show a couple hat forums a time back. I joined these forums and realized that the folks on them was mostly acting as experts on the subject of hats. I was very eager to share and teach them a life time of skills and thought it should start with pointing out the hats they was spending 500+ dollars on each and being advertised as beaver hats was in fact low end rabbit felt hats. STUPID ME ! Here I think I have done a great public service to save the ones that had not invested enought to buy a house in low end hats and yet found I was actually blocking the ones that had supposedly spent this much from shilling for this company. I also alienated the masses due to truth was far from being desired. I seen these same groups grow to a point and then stagnate due to they choose a flavor of the month hatter and this was the extent of this hatters career for most part as all the members get this hat and then nothing more to talk about. Seen the one forum that started grow to 7000 members and yet the leadership still follows the same bad rules or allowing trolls to band together and put pressure on them to remove anyone with knowledge on a subject and this did not just include me but any knowledagle vendor that refused to give product privately for use of the mods and admins as shills. Now some almost 5 years later I see the one of those communities have all but dried up at a time it logically should thrive as it is Indiana Jones hats forum and the new movie they have squaked about for years is shooting now. The other 7000 member forum is getting maybe 7-20 people a day and less post than that last I looked. On the other hand the small community I started 3 years ago with a meager 300 members but lurkers from every major hat company in the world continues to thrive with the few post we get but more due to the commercial appeal of what happens in the back ground. I hate background administration but it seems to be a necessary evil. Our community is as suscessful as it is due to our members are REAL People and not teen agers in anon. We may never be full of millions of members but we survive and grow slowly due to that we are real. If the insert community name here _______________ stays real and if the Admin is not swayed by the tears of the insecure and if left open for all kinds of folks and not just the kind that may have once been the leading contributors then they will grow and be well. If they made the rules they did due to the limited exposure they once had and refuse to grow and change they will stagnate and die. I hate change but its the substance of life. Charlie I think I have been a forum fanatic ever since I was first show a couple hat forums a time back. I joined these forums and realized that the folks on them was mostly acting as experts on the subject of hats. I was very eager to share and teach them a life time of skills and thought it should start with pointing out the hats they was spending 500+ dollars on each and being advertised as beaver hats was in fact low end rabbit felt hats. STUPID ME ! Here I think I have done a great public service to save the ones that had not invested enought to buy a house in low end hats and yet found I was actually blocking the ones that had supposedly spent this much from shilling for this company. I also alienated the masses due to truth was far from being desired. I seen these same groups grow to a point and then stagnate due to they choose a flavor of the month hatter and this was the extent of this hatters career for most part as all the members get this hat and then nothing more to talk about.

Seen the one forum that started grow to 7000 members and yet the leadership still follows the same bad rules or allowing trolls to band together and put pressure on them to remove anyone with knowledge on a subject and this did not just include me but any knowledagle vendor that refused to give product privately for use of the mods and admins as shills.

Now some almost 5 years later I see the one of those communities have all but dried up at a time it logically should thrive as it is Indiana Jones hats forum and the new movie they have squaked about for years is shooting now.

The other 7000 member forum is getting maybe 7-20 people a day and less post than that last I looked.

On the other hand the small community I started 3 years ago with a meager 300 members but lurkers from every major hat company in the world continues to thrive with the few post we get but more due to the commercial appeal of what happens in the back ground.

I hate background administration but it seems to be a necessary evil.

Our community is as suscessful as it is due to our members are REAL People and not teen agers in anon. We may never be full of millions of members but we survive and grow slowly due to that we are real.

If the insert community name here _______________ stays real and if the Admin is not swayed by the tears of the insecure and if left open for all kinds of folks and not just the kind that may have once been the leading contributors then they will grow and be well. If they made the rules they did due to the limited exposure they once had and refuse to grow and change they will stagnate and die. I hate change but its the substance of life.

Charlie

]]> By: Web2point2: The Point is (still) people - » Web 2point2: Day 2 Agenda http://gailwilliams.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/sustaining-online-communities-for-the-longer-run/#comment-152 Web2point2: The Point is (still) people - » Web 2point2: Day 2 Agenda Tue, 07 Nov 2006 10:46:36 +0000 http://gailwilliams.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/happy-halloween-and-november-events/#comment-152 [...] 11:15AM Managing and Sustaining Online Communities for the Longer Run. Great post and great questions from a long time member of the Well whose experience will be of great value to community managers and developers. According to her excellent blog post, she is hoping to understand your perspective on the impact of Web 2.0 on some of the online communities that have been around a while. Highly suggested reading! (Gail Ann Williams) [...] [...] 11:15AM Managing and Sustaining Online Communities for the Longer Run. Great post and great questions from a long time member of the Well whose experience will be of great value to community managers and developers. According to her excellent blog post, she is hoping to understand your perspective on the impact of Web 2.0 on some of the online communities that have been around a while. Highly suggested reading! (Gail Ann Williams) [...]

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