Let's upgrade/reform the USER FORUMS
DogPhonics
11 Apr 2012 03:48
Ironic, don't ya think? I want to put in my vote again here for restructuring the user forums. If we don't have active moderation, a rating/like/dislike and contributor confidence rating system might work to discourage some of the more negative trends in the forums.
time_lapse
13 Apr 2012 16:08
Marcus, thank you for the opportunity to give feedback. I agree with putting the effort into improving search results or reducing the review times. But the forums are a reflection on all of us and they do need a rehab. Here is my list of suggestions, apologies if these have already been posted.
Introductions - New Members Area
Area where members new to Pond5 or new to the forums can introduce themselves. Currently a new member has only the option to jump in to a thread with the more advanced users. This would be an area to get started and be welcomed without fear of strong opinions or being a "newbie".
Buyers Area
It would be very interesting to hear what the buyers have to say. What are they looking for? What do they think is important? The insights to be gained from the customers would be immeasurably valuable and giving them some space to discuss their issues would encourage them to share their experiences and ask buyer related questions.
Curators Area
It would be great to have a place to ask questions of or hear from the curators. These unsung heroes are the bedrock of the site, yet are invisible. Having a dedicated communications channel would provide transparency and highlight this very important part of the business.
Pricing Discussion Area
Seems like the blackhole of forum topics here is pricing. We may as well admit it, deal with it and dedicate an area for discussing pricing. Perhaps if there is a specific area to discuss pricing, the other forum areas will have a chance to blossom with fruitful discussion.
News and Announcments
Either delete the News and Announcements section or post more often. As of this writing the latest news thread posted was a year and a half ago! (which is embarassing).
Rules
Are there rules in these forums? Of course I've read the forum rules, but if rules aren't enforced, they are only suggested guidlines. If the expectation is set clearly, most adults are going to behave in a professional manner. If the rules are not followed then, moderation...
Moderation
This site is not a social network, it is a place where professionals buy and sell content for business purposes. As such, I would be in favor of Pond5 moderating forum posts to maintain a higher quality of professional discourse. One way to do this is if a posting has been moderated, remove the posted text and put up a message saying either "Removed for rules violation" or "Off topic posting" but leave the name of the poster. That way we can see who is being unprofessional and at the same time the offending text is not left on the site. There are some hurtful postings from the past, remaining like scars on this site, which is damaging to us all. There is even a posting where a user literally gave everyone the middle finger, that user is gone now, yet his vulgar expression lives on in these forums forever.
User Information
Beneath the name of each user posting to the forums, it would be useful to display some objective info that would help readers assess how credible the poster is. This would include their date of registration, number of forum postings and their number of clips.
Trolls
I myself got baited by a troll on my very first forum posting and it took some time and experience before realizing that this user shouldn't be taken seriously, they were only here to antagonize. I can see how someone not used to this behavior might decide to quit the forums. One method of fixing this would be to give a rating level to each poster that increases with good postings or decreases if their postings had to be moderated. Reward positive forums contributors and identify the trolls by keeping their scores low if they continue to post offensively.
.
Introductions - New Members Area
Area where members new to Pond5 or new to the forums can introduce themselves. Currently a new member has only the option to jump in to a thread with the more advanced users. This would be an area to get started and be welcomed without fear of strong opinions or being a "newbie".
Buyers Area
It would be very interesting to hear what the buyers have to say. What are they looking for? What do they think is important? The insights to be gained from the customers would be immeasurably valuable and giving them some space to discuss their issues would encourage them to share their experiences and ask buyer related questions.
Curators Area
It would be great to have a place to ask questions of or hear from the curators. These unsung heroes are the bedrock of the site, yet are invisible. Having a dedicated communications channel would provide transparency and highlight this very important part of the business.
Pricing Discussion Area
Seems like the blackhole of forum topics here is pricing. We may as well admit it, deal with it and dedicate an area for discussing pricing. Perhaps if there is a specific area to discuss pricing, the other forum areas will have a chance to blossom with fruitful discussion.
News and Announcments
Either delete the News and Announcements section or post more often. As of this writing the latest news thread posted was a year and a half ago! (which is embarassing).
Rules
Are there rules in these forums? Of course I've read the forum rules, but if rules aren't enforced, they are only suggested guidlines. If the expectation is set clearly, most adults are going to behave in a professional manner. If the rules are not followed then, moderation...
Moderation
This site is not a social network, it is a place where professionals buy and sell content for business purposes. As such, I would be in favor of Pond5 moderating forum posts to maintain a higher quality of professional discourse. One way to do this is if a posting has been moderated, remove the posted text and put up a message saying either "Removed for rules violation" or "Off topic posting" but leave the name of the poster. That way we can see who is being unprofessional and at the same time the offending text is not left on the site. There are some hurtful postings from the past, remaining like scars on this site, which is damaging to us all. There is even a posting where a user literally gave everyone the middle finger, that user is gone now, yet his vulgar expression lives on in these forums forever.
User Information
Beneath the name of each user posting to the forums, it would be useful to display some objective info that would help readers assess how credible the poster is. This would include their date of registration, number of forum postings and their number of clips.
Trolls
I myself got baited by a troll on my very first forum posting and it took some time and experience before realizing that this user shouldn't be taken seriously, they were only here to antagonize. I can see how someone not used to this behavior might decide to quit the forums. One method of fixing this would be to give a rating level to each poster that increases with good postings or decreases if their postings had to be moderated. Reward positive forums contributors and identify the trolls by keeping their scores low if they continue to post offensively.
.
DogPhonics
13 Apr 2012 17:30
Very useful and concrete suggestions. Good thinking. The level of exchange / interaction is noticeably lower here on the Pond5. Let's raise it up.