Don't apologize. I don't dislike lurkers. I'm just curious who the 35,000 people who view a thread but don't speak. I wonder who they are.

Thanks for a useful explanation, Fanny.

guilty

Hey Fanny, next time the two of us are out I think it would be awesome to just go up to a random group of strangers, stand there and listen to their conversation and not introduce ourselves or add anything to the conversation.
Although, I think it would be much more fun, if the conversation was intresting, to just add something to it.

If I started conversations all the time and all anyone did was just look at me and not say anything, not even a nod, I might after a while just stop talking. Of course I am setting myself up for something here by wording it like that.

Quote:

gaberollins wrote:
By the way, I don't think VB keeps anyone logged on, which, along with not having a push button option for quoting, really hinders the user friendly aspects of this particular board.

quoting is available if you select the DHTML editor. I may take down the more full featured but quoteless 'tiny editor' so that people are able to use the board easier.

As for staying logged in. If you check off the "remember me" box on login, you should stay logged in. It works for me, so unless someone says it isn't working, I just don't know about it.

Hi Barry!!!! I just want to pinch your cheeks!!!

:-o :-( :-) :-D :-? 8-) :lol: $-) ;-) :heart: :idea: :tongue: :straight: :pint:

Quote:

gaberollins wrote:
An actual complaint though is that there aren't any silly emoticons. Another one is that nothing too silly really ever happens here.

We are very serious here at Volcano Boy! :) :) :)

come on Gabe. We have silly emoticons here, always have.

One thing that we have done with the site is moderate everything so that for the most part it is a welcoming environment for new people. One of the things that ruined WTDO in my opinion was the personal attacks and lack of moderation, eventually people just gave up on it. What it did have that is sadly missed is a real feeling of networking amongst the community. That site existed before MySpace and the social networking craze that went along with it. Now web networking is being done with MySpace, Facebook, Linked In etc.

If there is an idea that anyone has about how to make this site more valuable to the readers and to yourself please let us know.

You know, it's probably just the fact that the other 4 boards that I frequent are all invision boards I think? Therefore they all operate the same and when I come to VB it's a new set of stuff I have to figure out. That might make me lazy I guess, but I don't know.

I guess I just find the invision boards to be a little bit more user friendly.

Like for instance the menu of emoticons is all just laid out for you in a place you can't miss it as opposed to under a menu that you need to click on.

Quotes just appear automatically instead of something needed to be cut and pasted, at least that's how I see it but there may be a better way that I just haven't figured out yet.

I think we would all like to believe in the awesome networking aspect that a board can have. Those of us that were around for the peak of WTDO know that this can absolutely happen. There is a thread over at WTNL about this exact thing right now. I owe a couple of very good friends to WTDO.

In my opinion though, message boards are kind of like TV. Occasionally you can get some good info, and more than likely you will get some good laughs and occasionally some excitement. For the most part though people just use a message board to pass the time. Interacting with other people doing the same thing while they are stuck wherever they are stuck with nothing to do until they can go out and interact in the real world.

I think if you think of it like that, that a message board is what it is, a place people stop in at 3 minute intervals during their work day to waste time, then all the other cool stuff will happen naturally. I am convinced though that most of your traffic comes from people just stopping in, and to make it look like a highly trafficed message board you need to make things as easy and simple as possible, yes even childlike, for people to just come in and spout whatever crap they were going to and then go back to TPS reports and spread sheets.

Of course if this isn't at all what you are looking for and you are fine with a message board that does not look like it gets the traffic that it actually does that's fine too.

Am I the only one who feels like there's a difference between not having a user account or ever contributing to the board versus having an account, signing in to say something occasionally, but just reading without signing in if you have nothing to say? I don't really consider that lurking.

Gabe, what happend to make you a Dick since I've been gone?

Do you comment on every topic you view? I just checket out 10 topics here and only saw your comments on two. Did you only view the two you commented on? Really? You have no interest or opinion on Doug Chapel, The Dive Bar anniversary, Worcester Beerworks or the Eagles at WalMart? Really? You never looked at the threads and have nothing to add about those subjects? Really? No interest? And the board isn't user friendly enough for you? Really? Maybe you should post over at Wormtown.org and converse with Steve Blake and the other 40 people that view the site every week (myself included) . I believe the Quote feature works better there. 

 And as an aside to the people behind Volcanoboy, that other site I mentioned may have a no so active board but it does have a lot of great, well written information about what's going on in an around Worcester and a pretty in depth "Listings" section. 

 

Gabe, I do get that you are partially kidding around. Also, situations like that do kind of happen. Happens to me all the time at the grocery store.

You can't equate face to face communication with message board communication. They just aren't at all the same.

A message board or a blog is an anonymous way to throw your ideas into the world. Sometimes people read them and want to talk about them. Sometimes people read them but have nothing salient to add. Sometimes people just want to see the drama unfold and watch like a train wreck.

A face to face conversation has a whole other set of rules including body language that dictates whether or not a person can join in. Even then, sometimes people contribute when they're not invited. I've sat and listened without contributing to many conversations. Although my ADHD does sometimes compel me to start singing in the middle of some of those conversations. :)

Also, my point about the logging in is that if you don't have your own computer you can't just have the remember me option on. It's not a big deal, I'm not complaining about it. It's just an observation.

People on this board happen to know each other pretty well so it takes away some of the anonymity that otherwise would exist. But it doesn't change the fact that sometimes, you just don't feel like "talking."

I lurked for about 8 months without signing up to post.

 But I will admit that the volcanoboy conglomerate has been a fountain of cool info for me  ever since I moved into the city in the beginning of the year.