Re: OPEN DISCUSSION - Sub groups forums.
centurion said:
In another forum, HWZ, tons bigger than this one, extensive research has been done. Splitting it actually earns the forum more money, results in better organization and searchability and reduces OT and adds value to the forum. I have taken part in intense discussions on this and I have in the past objected just like you. But time has proven that my objections were wrong.
Are you comparing apple to apple? I mean the forumers' profiles, needs vs comfort level? What I have seen in the other forums are:
(1) clash of identities (the famous JDM turbo cars forums) resulting to the formations of two or more individual forums
(2) call to split the forum as a result of undisclosed sponsored trip for some of the admin
I tried putting the same scenario on BMW-SG. It will not happened. Why?
My observation with BMW-SG is this - there are strictly online forumers and there are both online and social forumers. The former are stealth readers who are keen on product information, developments, and good bargains. The stealth forumers do not have the time to stay logged on to BMW-SG. But on and off they will browse the forum. The latter comprises of car fanatics and social animals. As a result, you will see the same faces over and over again be it the month-end meet-up or karaoke or morning drive. Ironically, given the time they spend in the forum, very often the postings are cluttered with information neither pricy nor comprehensible to the first group. And I read that your premises are stemming on the purists' side of perspectives on the social group.
Now, if you follow the 80/20 rule, the most active forumers incidentally are the social group, which contributed the chunk of the postings. This group appears small and vocal, defined as your "vocal minority." However, this group of forumers also appears to be as the most supportive of various BMW-SG events. In fact, few moderators are part of this group of forumers. That makes this forum very different from other forums. The perceived-rebellious group are actually the more supportive group of both the forum and admin. How are you gonna split hairs crediting the well-behaved online forumers whose faces you might not have seen, and discredit those whom you know will constantly will meet socially? Can. Split the forum into a purely virtual BMW purist forum and a social BMW group. An ideal solution? Hardly.
Is organisation and searchability of the forum an issue? Nope. What was the issue then? We have agreed that it is the "excessive" bantering. Now, what is the solution to that?
Lemme use a real-life example. Take BoTay, who is a car lover of sorts, but not technically-inclined to post complex formulae nor share certain knowledge in the forum. But he yearns to join in. My guess is that the staunchest of the auto-purist will prefer him not to post, given that he cannot participate nor interact or share in the forum. Would you "dump" him in the social forum? If the answer is YES, then we might as well start another forum, given the segregating profiling of the forumer here. The purists wants nothing but an "organised" and "searchable" automotive forum. BoTay cannot fit in, prefers to skim that forum initially. BoTay gradually participates actively in the social forum in a more casual manner, one perceived by the purists as bantering and OTing. As time passes, given the information flows, BoTay will not need to surf the purist side. He will drop off the purist forum altogether.
And many BoTay will do the same.
End result - a split. Two meet-ups, two D&Ds, two sets of events....... worse, site sponsors will have to fork out higher fees and so on......
Is splitting the forum a solution to the problem to cluttered information? No.
Better solution - let BoTay assimilate and learn to conform to the cultures of the forum. Then the next issue will be to shape the culture of the forum, via various active forumers...... there might be more than a group with dominant sub-cultures, and there and then the sub-groupings are already formed without the admin drawing lines and enclose them in. The admin simply needs to work closer with the sub-group participants in shaping their forum cultures - which works perfectly in some sub-groups given the "infiltration" of few moderators.
This is already happening. Let it take its course.
WHY are we NO GOOD as ONE big and diversed community? I know the forumers for who they are regardless if they
