Jumping th shark.

From the point of an Admin of a succesful forum (thats not me by the way, just a Generic Admin) I would alter your diagram:

POSTS: posts = SE listings = SE visitors = more members = more posters = more posts + bad posts = poor retention = less posts = less SE listings = Less SE Visitors

Thats no indication on your posts since I like them but it just shows things from a forum owners perspective.

I personally think that there are so many good posts here it outweighs most of the new Nintendo threads but I am just relaying the opinions of some as to why they contribute more to the Webmaster side then the General Chat side these days.

I find Amit funny in certain contexts, for example, but 3 threads dedicated to him just loses me....He is funny enough on his own,...Same with the whole Cute Lara thing

 

So the life of a forum is a build up, then a let down and in the middle you try to balance all the crap for as long as you can. Basically there is no right or wrong, just a guy standing on a balance beam trying not to fall off.

 

Kinda, except what some see as a let down (those that come for General Chat), others see as a build up (those interested only in webmaster talk)

Running a forum is difficult, and Shawn is definately the exception as he has had an amazing amount of success.

Look at SEOChat - They decided on a different route and lost 95% of their traffic in one week (Already taking a slow and steady hit over the last year)

Looks like Nintendo started a poll for "Mayor of DP" so the recovery is upon us (A bit of sarcasm - sorry about that )

 

Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome forum and a great resource. I was a bit tiffed at having a post deleted as this should not happen except in the event of abuse. Nevertheless I needed to voice my frustrations (which are far and few between) in an attempt to keep a good balance. I truly believe that pretty much every thread and every post adds to the character of this forum and censorship and rules need to be carefully considered.

That's it for me, off to my wife.

 

Did you PM Shawn? I know his sig says not to PM him but you have been a contributing member here a long time and I am sure he would give you a straight answer.

Very few threads are locked or deleted (Except Cute Laras) so there may be a reason that you haven't thought of.

Just my thoughts

 

I personally didn't have a problem with that thread either. I even posted in it, but it was just one thread. Now it seems like very one is trying to start up their own YART thread and eveywhere you look their are threads like that.

I feel the same way about taking a lot away from this forum and adding very little to it.

To me it seemed like a lot of the people's posts who I liked ready weren't posting much any more. Sure you have an active forum, but what's it active with?

What first drew me into the actual forums of DP was the general chat. It was a section I could comment on while I was reading and learning SEO stuff. If I was coming into DP now as a new member I don't know if the 12 new daily Wacko related threads or the threads with posts like

"^has a chicken as an avatar"

would draw me in enough to join.

Roman1 I like to read your posts. The whole couldn't get into the US and they wouldn't let you and your family use the bathrooms told me a lot about you in an entertaining way.

I'm just saying I miss those types of threads.

 

The first caption thread was another of my favourites. It came out of nowhere and was funny as hell.

As Hodge said, we like wacky! We like funny! We like pointless!

Its just the forcing of one type of thread but I have a feeling it will slowly be improving.

Don't be afraid to start a unique new thread....Just if its a poll or a contest, think it through

 

I would like to see more posts in a professional manner myself. I like the community, but I am here to learn. I see a real lack of threads on the true topic of SEO and development here as of late.

Seems to be saturated with post about what YPN is, why a site isn't indexed , paypal sucks, or why a site isn't at the top of a saturated market. Even if users answer, the person asking doesn't get it either.

I dont have issue with what goes on in the general chat. I think we should install the VB hack that gives a shock to all users that dont do a search before they ask about indexing, ad placement, or the rep system.

I do enjoy this forum, have many contacts here and will continue to post as the tools available are worth answering a few questions daily. Anyone have any comments on my thoughts? Maybe there is a different forum known that will suppliment my needs.

 

I agree somewhat and I know you would have Fryman, Jim, and a few others on your side. I have posted a lot in a variety of SEO Forums and this is always a common problem and a hard one to solve.

The thing is an SEO forum needs newbies (who tend to ask basic questions) because they are the ones that become contributors 6 months down the line...FAQ's are always good but few new members consult them.

A better option may be having a dedicated thread for PR guesses, etc and combine threads each time a new one is started but I know Shawn prides himself on having a forum that nearly runs itself.

I find some of the truly dedicated forums filled with only "experts" tend to get stale after a while. SEOChat commonly had this complaint. New members are needed and unfortunately with that comes some pretty stupid /commonly asked questions.

I learned a lot from this forum so I take it as "repayment" to answer those stupid questions no matter how many times they have been asked. After all, I probably asked a few of them back in the day.

I see your point but DP still has a LOT of cutting edge info and if you network here, you can get a whole lot of benefit from some of the advice which flows through PM and email.

 

OK, after I got the beer out of my system I was informed and realized my deleted post was merged with the one above it so I feel stupid about that, but I still think I'd miss dumb threads.

 

I agree with needing new users, but I still think we should push more for users to research and come to the table with enough information to ask a question or even give enough info in the question so they can get an answer.

Maybe the search link should be hot pink

 

I think more interesting than this thread is the history behind the term "Jumping the Shark". I think it is in reference when the Fonz went water skiing in the leathers if I remember correctly.

There is even a paperback book on it: http://www.jumptheshark.com/


WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

 

Pretty sure, my point was that pointless post like the one I made about maggot baths a while back show up in the serps and bring traffic to this forum. I think it would be a safe bet to say that at least one person has visited this forum after searching for "longest maggot bath". I know I get about 10 people/month for that term.

As for the merging, it was pointed out to me this morning and I felt stupid about that (see post #30). In my defense I did have a beer or 6.

I thought it was the 2 part episode when he jumped the shark pool at Arnold's on his motorcycle.

Not sure though and to lazy/busy to look it up.



EDIT: Bah, never mind, looked it up. At Arnold's he didn't jump a shark, and it was indeed the waterskiing episode that jumped the shark.