Don't take this the wrong way, but shit's getting a bit boring round here. I think TiB would benefit from a fresh injection of new members, and a general tune-up. I'm not looking for anything like ad revenue or shit like that, I just want to hear new people say new things... not the same olds spouting the same old. FOCUS: Share your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve things around here. ALT-FOCUS: Spread the word and get people in here.
Off the top of my head, Nett you may wanna start an official "TheIdiotBoard" twitter account? We start a thread for it, and whatever "trending" topics come up, we make jokes/photoshops (to link) that are 140 characters or less. The best ones, you tweet and hashtag it. The twitter profile links back to here. If I spend a little more time thinking about it I can probably come up with some better stuff, but that's all I can think of right now that falls under the category of "free marketing." (I'm assuming you don't wanna go the route of SEO and all that.) Kuddos on wanting to get new people in here though. You've done a fantastic job with this board.
Back in the day of the Tucker boards, I'd never tell my friends I belonged because it was like a dirty little secret. There was a true sense of depravity and socially questionable things, and it was titillating. It was my dirty little secret, and I'd actually go out of my way to ensure people didn't know I belonged. In the early days of TiB it was similar, because this was, basically, a carry-over from the Rudius boards. Lately, though, I have to say that this place has become more of a water cooler on the internet that a few people drop by, more because it's familiar than anything. Sure, sites like Reddit have sprung up along the way and are a much larger, mainstream draw, but I find that the discussions we have around here are much more interesting and have a better signal:noise. For the most part, I prefer our discussions to the vast majority I find on Reddit. I have a couple of very specific subs over there that I follow for very specific hobbies/interests, but otherwise it's just a stream of consciousness news feed that I hit when I'm bored. Personally, I'd like to find more smart people who will contribute to that signal:noise, and have interesting discussions about various things. So what think you all?
I have no desire to do any kind of social/public marketing to push the TiB as a brand, etc. That's not what I'm looking for, and I have no interest, at all, in doing any work like that. What I am looking for is help from the members here to help spread the word amongst your own social circles... a grassroots expansion. It'll never go viral, obviously, but it'd be nice to see it expand from within, even just a little bit. And if people don't want to, I'd be interested to know why that is... is there something we can/should change to facilitate that? What are the barriers to entry? I see two main aspects of that; getting the word out to new people, and then getting new people to hang around. Not getting into the details of lurking vs participating, I'd like to better reflect on those two pieces and see what we can do to get them happening. Bascially: • what's stopping people from spreading the word • assuming that the word is being spread, what is causing people to not hang around
Some of the most interesting opinions I've read have come from here. Certainly expanded my knowledge base on a variety of subjects. Fresh meat I think is fantastic, provided that the standard of discourse is upheld. Because there is a relatively small group of regulars, we tend to self-moderate each other, as well as self-moderate ourselves. For every post I make, there's probably two or three I want to make but decide not to because it won't further the discussion... I can't be the only one who does that. If we go the route of getting fresh meat in here, I think the "regulars" have to be willing to continue that self-moderation and make a commitment to not only lead by example but to help new members realize what the standard of discourse is. I think if you get that commitment, then there won't be too much of an increaseed workload for the actual moderators (which would be the tipping point of this not working).
I have long believed that the harsh moderation we do around here is directly responsible for the signal:noise (aka quality) of a lot of the threads. When people aren't surrounded by idiotic mouth-breathers spouting bullshit just to hear themselves talk, they become more invested into the discussion and it immediately becomes more serious and achieves a bit more credibility. It raises the bar, a lot. Over time, because we don't really have any steady influx of new members, I think people have just learned that that is the expected behaviour in the non-WDT threads, so we don't need that moderation. It's still there at the ready, but it's hardly ever needed. That being said, we all know we need that one "water cooler" thread where shit is a free-for-all, and that is by design. Interestingly enough, there have been some very serious and interesting-as-fuck discussions that go on in those WDT threads. If I were more on the ball, those serious posts would probably benefit from being spun off into their own topic, but in the end I think it speaks to the overall desire for intelligent discussion around here. I may have my immature moments where I cross lines and go for the shock value, as do we all, but I find that this place has naturally parted ways with a lot of the frat-house bullshit that was much more prevalent in the early days. And I like that. I'd like to foster that, but get more people involved. We will always have our "make fun of retards" threads, or "is Bewildered's ass still bleeding" moments, but that's just so we don't take ourselves too seriously, and I never want that to go away.
It's kind of a narrow focused board in the sense it was a spin off of a author's board and really isn't connected to anything outside of that. My friends who frequent other boards usually choose them based on hobbies or sports. I've mentioned this place but not more than referencing something funny posted. I think it'd be weird having my real life friends posting here. Referencing in jokes from our life here or referencing this place as a point of conversation when hanging out. Odd but I seem to be more open here to strangers on some subjects than with people I know. I kind of like the social media suggestion just have someone run it that wants to if we want to draw outsiders.
Well, I do not plan on bringing my real life in here, it's besides the point. The best stories are about people who don't post on this board. Couldn't tell good stories because people would recognize themselves. In regards to getting more voices, there are a ton of lurkers who are fans of this place. We need to find a way to encourage them to post and contribute. Not sure I'm a fan of the concept at all. They create an account and just enjoy all the content we all put up and contribute little if anything. If anyone has some ideas in regards to that it, would be probably the best start.
Pretty much what he said. I have no intention of bringing my real life in here -- I use this place as a break from real life, so that'd be like shooting myself in the foot. Going off what Parker said, free content is cool, and I'm happy to be one of the jesters. But in my opinion, if you don't pay, then play. **edit** And if anyone else thinks the social media (at least Twitter) thing would be cool, and Nett approves, then I will throw my hat into the ring to take the time to run it. Not that others might think I am qualified to do so (I am), or that I really want to, but like I said -- pay, or play.
I get the idea that you can talk about shit here that you don't want your friends to know about... totally legit and understandable, and I've always thought that it is the main reason for having no real personal referrals. Does make for an interesting dilemma, though... how to bring in people who you don't know and want to remain anonymous from. And if someone does want to run any kind of social campaign for this place, hell, feel free... don't need my approval.
I like that my friends don't come here. Uh, that I know of. But, it would be nice for some new blood. Nett, you can just make a flyer that we can download in pdf. Then, anybody that wants to can print some copies and leave them behind in the bathroom of bars. If you don't want your friends included, just do it when you travel. Or leave them in hotel bars. Or college cafeterias.
You could always let 'Sack come back... Seriously though, I'm in the same boat as the others where I'd rather not have any real life people I know here as well, but I do think it would probably benefit to have some new blood around this place. I'm sure you could find someone desperate enough to get the logo tattooed on their forehead. I mean it worked for that online Casino, right?
I've admitted some embarrassing shit on here so I don't want people I know in real life frequenting this place. Even that aside, I just like keeping it separate. The size of this place hasn't usually bothered me because when a board gets too large it's hard for discussion to actually accomplish anything, plus you end up with a lot of trolls and 90% lazy one sentence posts. But yeah, in the last year or so as more people have left, this place could use some new membership.
Which is exactly why I'm asking for input... because I'm at a bit of a loss on how to bring more people in without taking advantage of members' peer groups. And the smaller the current group gets, the more people get bored and leave.
Similar to the rest, there's stuff here I wouldn't want my friends to see. Lurkers: We're not, as a whole, very welcoming to new people. Instead of a gentle correction, we tend to be belligerent assholes to people who post for the first or second time and get something wrong. So they go back to lurking or they leave. Also, we have a vicious cycle where the smaller the board gets the more self-referential and inside joke based it becomes which in turn makes newcomers feel like it's too much of a clique to be able to understand or participate and thus we have less new posters and people leave because it gets boring and the board is now smaller... New people to the board: Yep, it's a tough one. We got here because we somehow found Tucker's stuff and then went to his message boards (for the most part). That feeder mechanism is gone so we need a new one. If word of mouth is out, as it seems to be, then maybe figure out the demographic and drop some cold ads in appropriate places? So, somewhere on Reddit a short blurb about here and a link? Something similar on some sort of relevant facebook group? Do we want more college kids, they probably have online bulletin boards of some kind. And so on. But ultimately it'll be a pain in the ass for *someone* to do though the mods could split it up to make it less burdensome.
Is it possible to index the board so that it is searchable by Google? I am pulling that out of my ass but the BBQ board I belong to does this. Search for a topic and relevant threads for that search string come up in Google. Easy way to get some exposure anyway.
I'm all for new members, the more the better. This is a pretty unique group in some pretty substantial ways. For some reason we stick around here and talk consistently despite message boards being a dying medium and despite the fact we're largely anonymous to each other. However, I think the anonymity is the strongest asset this place has. Look at the rant/rave thread. If there ever was a place to express potentially damning things in a healthy, accepting place thats it. Because of that I won't refer my friends here. There are things I've divulged on here that not even my twin knows. If that changed, I'd be out of here in a hurry. But I'm all for trying to increase the Google presence of this place. The biggest challenge is we maybe have two dozen people who post here, a few of us has posted through the years. If I stumbled upon this place randomly now I'm not sure I'd stick around and assimilate. Its as niche place as it gets in terms of the internet
... Am I the only one who is taking the idea of sharpies in all the restrooms seriously? A few days ago I posted in some thread, I think the WDT, that I wrote my roommate's number in the bathroom stall of a shady gas station, and he got calls for several years. Half the people he got were drug addicts looking for a hookup. The other half were interested in hooking up with him and no they didn't have a recent STD test. I mean, hell, Netty Pot suggested it. I say let's go!!!