4 ms·

I've been thinking quite a bit recently on the subject of online forums; namely, why do they seem to inevitably deteriorate into a desperate, trolling flame-fes

by donw 19y ago

I've been thinking quite a bit recently on the subject of online forums; namely, why do they seem to inevitably deteriorate into a desperate, trolling flame-fest? More to the point, how can this be prevented? What can be learned from other forms of group communication, such as scientific journals? The author makes a point that I hadn't really thought much about; namely, that observing the mayhem is itself entertaining to a large number of people, which in turn drives site owners to, at the very least unconsciously, permit nearly uncontrolled ass-hattery, in exchange for eyeballs and advertising revenue. JoS seems to have maintained a decent signal-to-noise ratio; let's hope that Hacker News manages to do so as well.

raganwald 19y ago
Interestingly, both Joel and Paul have essayed about this topic: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BuildingCommunitieswithSo.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BuildingCommunitieswi... http://www.paulgraham.com/trolls.html http://www.paulgraham.com/trolls.html
johnm 19y ago
Part of it's expectation setting by the core group of users. Part of it is the same as in "Average Down" hiring. I.e., as a community grows out of the early adopters, the cluefulness/etc. of the average user will drop. A given community can only effectively support a certain rate of newbies and still be able to absorb and inculcate them into community (or drive them away :-).
jkkramer 19y ago
I've noticed that forums I frequent that have high signal-to-noise ratios fall into two camps (with some overlap): 1. Niche topic. For example, I frequent forums about Go and salsa dancing that have next to zero noise. The trick I think is keeping the focus narrow: the programming reddit has worked rather well, technology-in-general forums have become cess pools. 2. Strictly moderated. It seems the only way to maintain a non-niche forum is to aggressively counteract unthinking contributions ("me too" posts, Internet memes) and trolls. Having a sanctioned area to vent and flame in, to keep the main area focused on serious (or at least on-topic) discussion may also help. The Ars Technica forums and The Straight Dope Message Board come to mind. The dynamic on social news sites is a bit different than a traditional forum, however. Different tactics may be required to keep things in check.

by donw 19y ago

raganwald 19y ago

Interestingly, both Joel and Paul have essayed about this topic: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BuildingCommunitieswithSo.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BuildingCommunitieswi... http://www.paulgraham.com/trolls.html http://www.paulgraham.com/trolls.html

johnm 19y ago

Part of it's expectation setting by the core group of users. Part of it is the same as in "Average Down" hiring. I.e., as a community grows out of the early adopters, the cluefulness/etc. of the average user will drop. A given community can only effectively support a certain rate of newbies and still be able to absorb and inculcate them into community (or drive them away :-).

jkkramer 19y ago

I've noticed that forums I frequent that have high signal-to-noise ratios fall into two camps (with some overlap): 1. Niche topic. For example, I frequent forums about Go and salsa dancing that have next to zero noise. The trick I think is keeping the focus narrow: the programming reddit has worked rather well, technology-in-general forums have become cess pools. 2. Strictly moderated. It seems the only way to maintain a non-niche forum is to aggressively counteract unthinking contributions ("me too" posts, Internet memes) and trolls. Having a sanctioned area to vent and flame in, to keep the main area focused on serious (or at least on-topic) discussion may also help. The Ars Technica forums and The Straight Dope Message Board come to mind. The dynamic on social news sites is a bit different than a traditional forum, however. Different tactics may be required to keep things in check.