Stay on Topic

[SVT10th]

I'm posting this in the hope that everyone will read and think about your posting habits.

Can we PLEASE start being a little more mindful of our posts? It seems like every thread on here goes off the rails very quickly. If you are going to post about something COMPLETELY different than thread topic, MAKE A NEW THREAD! We have several moderators, but I can't tell you the last time I saw a moderation post. While posts should never be be deleted except in the most extreme circumstances, if a post goes seriously off-topic, the moderators should be stepping in and saying "Back on topic, folks" or locking the thread.

Forums live and die based on the accuracy and relevance of the posts. I have been involved with setting up, running and moderating several forums including every iteration of the NHMC forum. (And I have asked Jason to make me a Admin or moderator of this forum at Rick's request.) I have seen forums die slow deaths because they either become a hangout for a small clique and are not welcoming to new members (I think that's this forum, now.), or the good information on the forum gets lost in the static of in-jokes, trolls, bickering and general nonsense.

Remember this forum COULD BE a resource for ANY Mustang fan, from anywhere in the world. Membership of this forum is not restricted only to NHMC members and with a little work, it could become a resource and destination for a lot of the local Classic and Muscle car scene. Those of you who have been around since the days that Tony Marchand hosted our forum on MCRParts.com have seen the vibrant community that can be achieved on a forum. Yes, Facebook has stolen a lot of that fire -- but the very size of FB makes it less personal and is what gives a good forum it's advantage. The fact that there are still a lot of large and very active Mustang forums shows that forums can be valid, relevant and engaging.

So let's do what we can to get this whole forum back on track. For those of you who are adamantly opposed to Facebook, think about this: There have already been rumors about whether the forum should remain in place -- it will only survive if it shows relevance and "value".


Stepping off my soapbox, now......

[ToplessPony94]

I think Jim is right, and I'm probably one of the guilty parties. Unfortunately, it's sometimes very, very tempting to post a humorous "in" joke or comment about one of the members in a thread that started on a serious note. I know I've done it.

On the other hand, I think there has to be a place for that humor on the forum. I don't know the answer for how to keep serious threads serious and still have that humor, but I hope someone has an idea, as I think the forum would be losing something important if those humorous comments aren't allowed somehow (disappear voluntarily or are removed when posted). I feel there needs to be a place for the funny comments about (for example) yellow/black mustangs, Todd, bacon and the weather, Ian's mileage on his car, and (of course) ED and whatever. (And NO, we should not give ED his own forum section! ) Anyone have (serious) suggestions on how to do this?

[SVT10th]

To be clear -- I'm not advocating getting rid of in-jokes and friendly banter. That is part of what makes this a community. But when nearly every thread de-volves into a Black is Fast thread or just goes completely off-topic within the first page, it's a problem.

Look at some popular forums -- SVTPerformance, for instance -- there's plenty of humor and good-natured ribbing. But the moderators keep it to a dull roar and monitor for threads that are going completely off-topic.

[whtmare]

We should just have a daily chat running thread for people to bs on that's what the larger forums do pretty simple.

[LILBLKSNAKE]

corral.net actually moves threads to where they belong, like into a tech section, or into a lobby

[Jays66gt]

corral.net actually moves threads to where they belong, like into a tech section, or into a lobby

So does VMF. But they have hundreds of posts daily. I would imagine monitoring those is a full time job.