How big is too big?

I just revisited another (non-woodwork) set of forums I used to be a regular poster in about 3 years ago. 3 years ago these forums were fairly friendly and members seemed to be helping each other.

Today these forums now have nearly 700,000 Threads, nearly 8 million Posts and nearly 200,000 Members, about 75 members with over 10,000 posts, with some members posting ~ 25 posts a day. But they only have ~40 forums, and it is all based around one brand of equipment!

It's fairly international and a bit more artistically focussed than WWF but what struck me is as follows;
- there's a lot more talking than listening
- lots of posts very few or no replies
- lots of of low information replies many that don't relate at all to other posts in the thread
- lots of posters and new members repeating the same basic questions
- a somewhat pathetic irrational equipment model loyalty - remember it's all the same brand.
- there are so many posts in a forum it is impossible to keep up let alone across several fora
- self styled opinion predominates over logic and common sense

What worries me is that I reckon most of this is has come about because this forum has simply too many members. It's become a tower of babel.

Sure size isn't everything, I have posted on some woodie forums that are smaller than UBWWF that are a bit like the mega forum above.

My questions are,
Could WWF become like this?
How big is too big?

i sure hope not.

Yeah I sure hope it doesn't go that way either. But then again, there is always that possibility for any open forum when it expands. The more people who sign up and participate, the more personalities & differing views there are. Can potentially create an environment which isn't so inviting and helpful. It's a shame, but an unfortunate side effect of many very different people put together to comment in one place.

However I think WWF would be a long way off this. Everyone here is fantastic and very helpful. It would take many many more people to throw off the good vibe that WWF gives off. To be honest, and I don't mean anything by it to all the international members who I think are great anyway, I think Australian's are pretty good at keeping a very helpful and encouraging environment. It's just the way Aussies are - always willing to help a mate out. I've been on other forums around the world which are just hard work and very 'cold'. My 2c anyway.

If you don't mind me asking Bob, what was the other forum?

Cheers,

Will

Bob,
I think WWF is a long way off being too big current active members 14 odd thousand........that's 14,000 or there abouts oh you know what I mean.

The good thing here is there is a solid group of members like you who are prepared to offer advice and assistance based on knowledge and experience rather than only opinion. I gather this is an important difference to the forums you refer to.

I only drop in on one other forum similiar in size to this I do not post often as I do not wish to advertise my ignorance on the topics :D however it operates in a friendly and generally supportive way like WWF.

How big is too big......... dunno too many variables.

Cheers
Mike

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Originally Posted by jackliveshere

To be honest, and I don't mean anything by it to all the international members who I think are great anyway, I think Australian's are pretty good at keeping a very helpful and encouraging environment. It's just the way Aussies are - always willing to help a mate out. I've been on other forums around the world which are just hard work and very 'cold'. My 2c anyway.

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yep I agree - call a spade a spade and things generally stay pretty tidy.
Helpful and encouraging is a pretty good theme, but I still worry if we get dominated by external members even if woodie types are generally nice people.
Am I being Xenophobic?

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If you don't mind me asking Bob, what was the other forum?

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Sorry I won't say because it's against this forum rules to openly bag another forum.

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Originally Posted by BobL

Am I being Xenophobic?

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Yes, that's my opinion and don't argue :D

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Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

Bob,
The good thing here is there is a solid group of members like you who are prepared to offer advice and assistance based on knowledge and experience rather than only opinion. I gather this is an important difference to the forums you refer to.

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Yep I agree, I like jackliveshere's, "helpful and encouraging" theme - if we stick to that I think we'll be fine.
Also the fact that we have specific outlets for drivel and off topic I think helps keep the chaff out of the other forums and the mods (not me, I'm pretty useless) keep a tight rein on the boundary pushers.

We have heaps of forums but keep the whole thing in pretty good condition and under control through our amazing and tirelessly working Moderators, and Administrators and also with the help of the members. It's now 1:00am and there are 2 moderators and 2 Administrators including me on line as I type.

We have over 14,375 Active members, from a registered base of well over 100,000 members which has been regularly pruned and kept at around 40,000 to 42,000 members over the past few years. We have regular deletions of spammers and all sort of ne'er-do-wells and others. Deleted or banned and denied entry to around 60,000 + people giving us our current membership list. We are currently averaging around 2,500 new registrations a month, so it's pretty easy to figure out just how many we actually delete, etc on a regular and ongoing basis.

The problem with some of the out of control forums is they don't care. They're badly moderated, never prune their member list and unwittingly allow bands of forum hunter/killers to register. These people get their kicks from their sole aim, which is to disrupt and eventually bring down forums by literally posting thousands of posts they know won't get answered and eventually creating fights and arguments that that spread throughout the forum leading to loss of members and inevitably to forum closure. They attack in packs and (I believe) have been responsible for the demise of hundreds if not thousands of forums to date. :~

They have not hit us and hopefully never will, but I think we have the wherewithal to defeat them because of our brilliant moderation team and our terrific members who are also responsible for helping to keep this the safe and enjoyable site it is.

Just posting this info can make us a target for these lowlifes so this post will be deleted Sunday night.

Cheers - Neil :U

"........... because of our brilliant moderation team and our terrific members who are also responsible for helping to keep this the safe and enjoyable site it is." I totally agree, and am pleased that rarely do I notice Admins and Mods 'controlling' messages. This is truely one of the very best sites.

soth

Yes the moderators and administrators do an excellent job behind the scenes to keep it all pumping along. I'm sure that is a huge factor in making WWF the place it is - the other one is a great array of helpful and friendly members.

Good job Neil & Crew :2tsup:

Cheers,

Will

It is big but a reasonably friendly place. Sure there is a lot of useless and sometimes even poor advice but it is a public forum and that is to be expected. There is also a lot of good advice and info on here and I for one have gained a fair bit of handy to know tips. The bits of banter that go on keep things alive. If I just wanted facts I would read a textbook. There is a friendly feel to it that keeps me here. I reckon being big is a sign of success. Something must be attracting all those people. As the regulars are still here things are probably not too bad.
Keep on keeping on:2tsup:
John

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Originally Posted by ubeaut

Just posting this info can make us a target for these lowlifes so this post will be deleted Sunday night.

Cheers - Neil :U

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It's a really good post, Neil.

How about just hiding the numbers,
or replacing them with smilies? (5,280 -> :):rolleyes::p)

Cheers,
Joe

Know what you mean about other forums, Bob, and no doubt the mods and admins do a great job on this site :2tsup:

One of the problems with a lot of forums (fora?) is that they are really opinion based (this brand better than that, etc). Now, I don't want to suggest that this forum has a dearth of opinions ....

But, it's one thing to say I think this or that, quite another to say I did this and here is a picture of the result. Helps to keep us (me at least) a bit humble about how many ways there are to achieve results, and I always enjoy seeing how others have tackled problems I've faced or may face in the future.

Some of those other places frankly remind me of a bunch of medieval doctors arguing about humours and essences and how much to bleed, where here we have evidence based medicine - if I can stretch an analogy.

So, I think all that helps keep this place a bit more civil than most, but primarily the great work done by the moderators and administrators keep this the best forum on earth.

Many thanks,

Tex

I think you have to accept that new members may not be able to search and find their answer, but if you restrict this to old members, its not like, "They dont grow old as we grow old". So you are liable to find the members, like the hair on my head, becoming sparce. Also you never know where you will find that illusive answer. I still search for an answer to what to glue red box with (density 1.4) with water at 1 and yes I used 2 part glues, they sat on the top and sheared. Rob.