[ringsofsaturn]

Hi All..
as we have seen recently ..PG and especially the lounge section is visited by a very few people.
we just have 10-15 quality people posting there and no newbie even dares to enter here except a few named Man friday and company...
this is the conversation we had on SB regarding wat can/shud be done...

Mods please take cognizance of this:
------------------------------------------------
ringsofsaturn http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/chit-c...ive-their.html wats with opening new threads fr everything?

nikhilkulk new social issue everyday :huh:

ringsofsaturn nikker: this is too much...something shud be done

Plumber ros---yaar issue kya hai yaar?

grondmaster *grondmaster wonders what needs to be done about this daily new nonsense... one thread locked nad everyone shouts holy mother*

ringsofsaturn plumber: har issue par naya thread is not done..cant this be combined with the immorality thread? both are related issues

subodh_iit Nik: Let the market operate.. And the thread abt court ruling will die its own quiet death..

subodh_iit ROS & Nik: We can have a new thread titled Latest Issues and Controversies: Offer your take

ringsofsaturn subodh: true but it gives incentives to others for opening up a new one fr each court ruling

Plumber subodh---yaar it bcomes confusing it means that one issue has to b discussed completely before we discuss other one!

ringsofsaturn plumber: better that then having a new one fr eah issue

subodh_iit Plumber: Right, But if some structure is followed it can materialize.. We need a discussion on it before starting

Plumber otherwise imagine 2-3 views on issue "a" 4- views on issue "b" and then again 2-3 views on issue "a"...it bcomes chaotic yaar!

grondmaster There are too many people... and each one having a favorite issue to discuss... now, how much can one hold back others? Once a thread is opened, half the damage has been done

subodh_iit Plumber: We can have a rule like "Unless a prior issue has been finished, the other issue can only be cropped up along with a take on the prior one.. Both will continue sideways in every post until the new one takes centerstage"

Plumber gm--dood whats the harm if people open releavant threads yaar?...as long as they are not repeating its ok...what diff doesy it make?

Plumber subodh--dood a issue is never fully discussed yaar...some one will always have sum opinion yaar...mayb some1 new

grondmaster @Plumber... some limit has to be there... opening threads left right n centre is not the right way... too much dilution of good topics

Plumber grond--true...but there are millions of issues in India...cant help it rey

subodh_iit Plumber: Then we can have codes for the Issues 01,02,03, ....... but off course user will have to dig page after page for the issue relevant to him..

nikhilkulk in a few days we will need a new section for social issues..... Chit-Chat supposedly meant for relaxing.. and i wonder discussing murders and court-rulings is whose ideas of relaxing :mg

Plumber niks---yah we can split chitchat section

grondmaster @plumber... but the visibility that the forum can provide is limited na? And do you think its right only for two-three ppl to give their views, and then hte issue be relegated to hte PG archives?

Plumber gm---dood the problem is we need more people to participate..rite now chitchat is dependent on 10-15 posters....one thread/many threads...

continued on next post
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[ringsofsaturn]

Plumber our focus has to be to get more people to participate somehow...

subodh_iit Plumber: The seperate section is a gud idea yaar. I feel Chit-CHat is becoming a General Market. Dump for anything.

Plumber subodh---true but again dood i dont see that as an issue...our priority has to be get more people to participate...lets do that first...ideas?

Plumber out of 500-600 active regularlry, we need 100 people atleast to participate...i think depending on 10-15 posters(mayb even less) is a big threat!

nikhilkulk yeah but you will get to see the views of some old smart posters

subodh_iit So what prevents regular visitors from participating..

ringsofsaturn nik: PG does not work on some smart posters? does it...we nee more ppl here

Plumber subodh---typical indian mindset is too just take all the best things w/o participating/contributing


subodh_iit ROS and Plumber, First we need to dig the cause?? What prevents the active posters from participating..??

Plumber also indians have alwas given priority to acads...this is seen as "timewaste" by most of the people!sadly

subodh_iit Plumber Right.. But we can't change that?? Can we??

Plumber bcos PG is free, people dont value the knowledge/entertainment they get...they just read/enjoy and sit on their a**es!

subodh_iit The whole country is full of stupids.. Do u know who is called mature here.. One who sits down at his computer and writes dow code and makes spreadsheets..

Plumber subodh--it's time we start hiving away indifferent/nonactive posters!...the member base wil go down but people who participate will go up

subodh_iit Plumber: Not the right way yaar. And against ur Free Market ethics.

Plumber or we start having exclusive section for bright/very active posters!

ringsofsaturn Plumber and subodh: the first thing that comes to mind is the coterie frmd by oldies..thy generally dnt care abt new posters and thus the new ones dnt post more

subodh_iit Exclusive section Idea is quite right?? What can we have is someone as the mod who will give the rights to exclusive section depending upon the quality of posts.

ringsofsaturn I have heard this from many ppl whom i told abt PG

Plumber ros---very true buddy...we have seen this mindset in last few days...infact even i might be guilty of that

subodh_iit ROS: U r on point yaar. I have seen sometimes very good posts which are thankless -- and then some ordinary posts being thankes many times..

ringsofsaturn Subodh yeah...and those thanks are due to the fact that we know the person..no other reason

subodh_iit So, I think My idea is have an exclusive section and have the mods from among ppl who have been active posting good content at Chit-Chat

Plumber i think the biggest concern has to be hw shud we ensure we have a pool of newbies comin in...rather than hw to retain oldies

subodh_iit Yaar U know, a newbie needs more motivation than an oldie for posting..

ringsofsaturn Plumber exactly..because the oldies will go away gradually and they wont refer new ppl here....Newbies can and do spread the word and thus the membership base...

subodh_iit so we shd give benefit of doubt while thanking a newbie while an oldie shd be thanked only when he has come with some real good stuff.

grondmaster technically... n00bs don't need help in coming n joining.. but some1 whose basic work is done needs to stay back

subodh_iit Plumber: No doubt.. But I feel the Exclusive section should have a Newbie as the Mod..

ringsofsaturn another thing that i have seen is the complexity in finding th relevant stuff

Plumber gm---we need constant supply of good bright posters...i dont see that PG is getting good posters regulalry..

ringsofsaturn i experiened it myself as i tried to find the reqd threads and was more often than not lost in the innumerable threads that came up

Plumber imagine if 10-12 regular posters run away, PG will face a big void!

subodh_iit And One thing also: There shd be a little bit of democracy in the exclusive section.. So, a thread will not be closed if it has not attracted certain number of groans.

subodh_iit Plumber: One more thing that I feel dissuades a person is typical way of thinking of all the ppl here.. They just can't appreciate alternative view..

Plumber yea more democracy...more freedom...more encouragement..."incentives"

subodh_iit pLUMBER: That applies to u as well.. U have many a times come down heavily on noobs

Plumber subodh---dood i dont recollect yaar...?.

subodh_iit See a noob can be initially allowed to have an ordinary post and he shd not be groaned at..

Plumber subodh---yea i reme once i did

STALWART even i was banned frem PG for having done nothing serious which might have caused red eyes

subodh_iit Ros: Yups, not only noobs,, but then oldies are capable of withstanding it..

Plumber noobs dont knw that they can fight back...man_friday has he not been mah friend might have been demotivated and wud have quit!

subodh_iit Plumber - U know crazyphoton.. PG lost him mainly due to this tendency to groan at watever u don't like..

Plumber subodh---yea man...his banning was uncalled for...whatver stupidity that he might have done!

subodh_iit Plumber - His first post was a gem.. He devoted considerable effort on it and got 50 GROANS for it.

ringsofsaturn sub: did u hear wat he said on SB that day

Plumber ros---i know...but dood he was joking!

subodh_iit Off course he was suffering from superiority complex.. But that alone shd not be the reason..

ringsofsaturn that was a bit too much however i totally agree with u on the fact that his post was a true gem

subodh_iit ROS: I had a hearty laugh reading his logic for groaning at posts.. Yaar, I strongly feel he could have been a good contributor..


Plumber i feel mods and admins need to stop worrying abt stupid/arrogat users...unless they start swearing a troll

subodh_iit Plumber & ROS: What I feel PG's code of conduct should include To behave politely with Noobs and not to Groan at them

subodh_iit And if someone violates it, he shd be given an infraction..

subodh_iit This will mean, they will not be put off in a way Vrazy got..

subodh_iit Plumber, ROS: Me right Naa.. gnrs will get maximum infractions then..

buzzeG
*buzzeG feels banning sum1 is no solution.. he/she can always ceate a new id and get back*
-------------------------------

[Plumber]

Good topic

(I think)this thread's objective is to:

Make Lounge better in terms of :
a) Ensuring that more of current members participate by the way of making posts.
b) Making efforts towards enusring that there's a continous supply of passionate/talented new-posters for this section.

Let's start with some of the aspects(not an exhaustive list, of course)where there is a scope for improvement, for the purpose of meeting the above objectives.

The Lounge depends on 10-15 posters:

I see this as an area of major concern from both viewers' and the forum admins' perspective. Considering that this forum is viewed by 1000 users(a conservative estimate) daily, the participation rates are abysmally low. One can reasonably assume that people who visit Lounge visit it because they have a few interest areas. But, it seems most of the people, participate in only a few threads, with their posting rates being quite average in those.

I can very confidently say that there are 10-15 users(may be less) who have been regular posters, and are virtually there on every thread...Apart from that, the others simply thank/groan and chose the easier option-not to participate/post, that is. Imagine a scenario where these 10-15 posters dissapear one fine day...this section will face a major "void" then.

If the Lounge section has to sustain/improve itself, these things are needed at this point of time:

1) Regular viewers-who are used to viewing & thanking/groaning at posts-start participating by making a few posts regularly.(not one-liners!)
2) More noobies start participating...An average noobie, one can assume, is full of passion/excitment!

Now 1) Can happen easily IF the regular viewers understand that if they just wanna view threads, there will be a time when the currently-active posters will go away because they din't have much participation from other users.For example, there's a limit upto which Subodh and esjay can argue with each other...there comes a time when they will start agreeing with each other on certain issues,and get bored to post because there wasn't much of involvement/alternative opinion from other users.

Now certain regular posters getting bored and not posting, would not be an issue if there is a continuous supply of noobies...However, this is not happening if the experience of last 3-4 months is anything to go by. And that brings me to my next point:

2) Encouraging noobs:

This is of utmost importance. Somehow, noobies on this forum are always expected to follow extremely stringent standards, in terms of what kind of the threads should they open, what is the writing style they should adopt etc. Oldies & regular users have their own pre-concieved notions as to what this forum should be, and expect noobies to follow them. A brilliant post/thread by noobie is always judged by higher standards, by the non-noobies- who are also extreme "misers" when it comes to thanking their posts. This applies to most of us (including me)...we want the noobs to follow our diktats, because we think "he'a a noob...and we "know better than him""

A small number of noobs who have emerged so far in Lounge section have emerged, inspite of the "high-handedness" and "superiority-complexes" that oldies/regulars users display.

So coming to some solutions:

1) We identify atleast 2-3 talented noobs every month, and give them some incentives to become more regular-posters-like a noobie-rank or something. This will not only give the noob the confidence that people are reading/recognizing his posts, but also make him more attached to the forum.

2) For making the non-noob-existing-users post more, I am still thinking what can be done...


...Will pitch in again...with better ideas, if any...I will appreciate views/criticism on whatever points that I have stated...

Regards!

Cheers!

[subodh_iit]

Plumber has captured the essence of what is wrong with Lounge Section. I will carry on from where he left.

2) For making the non-noob-existing-users post more, I am still thinking what can be done...

The problem with the existing users seems to be this - suddenly Chit-Chat has been swarmed by different kinds of topics, discussions and so on.. From what I have seen, it was initially mainly for wishing happy birthdays, Awards and some Contests, discussing some trivial issues in funny manner like Is Sachin past his prime?

Now it isn't exactly the fault of that existing user, because he comes here t see some general chit-chat going on where he can harmlessly chip-in with good one two liners or rekindle his relationship with some more oldies who prepared along with him for CAT or whatever.

What is actually required is a further streamlining of the discussion. Now the kind of threads that I, and Man_friday have started are better suited for Article-Discussion thread. But in essence, even Article-Discussion section is meant for discussing Newspaper or online articles. So, it isn't an exact match.

The best option under the circumstances seems to be spinning off Chit-Chat into two sections - One with harmless Chit-Chat and the other with Serious discussions about maybe Politics, Country, World or whatever.

In the Your-Interests section I will propose that some more threads be made sticky including:

1. Cricket - Trivia and Discussions
2. Tennis - Trivia and Discussions
3. Links to Other Sports Threads
4. Book Reviews
5. Movie Reviews
6. Favorite Series Threads

Another thing that I have noticed about PG is that it still operates on word of mouth. If anandv starts a thread in the Article discussion section, he will drop a PM to 2006-2008 batch guys to contribute. And then that section will become active for 10-12 days. After that again a lull will follow.

During my last 3 months of experience with PG, I have seen that the only active sections are CAT, Exam Resources, and Study Abroad all related to students and the other one is Chit-Chat for every kind of user.

It is here that PG loses the battle. Off course its core competency is MBA forum and people will remain active in the MBA related forums. However if it wants to diversify, the section that needs more attention is Lounge. I will even recommend a spinning off of Lounge from all other sections present at maybe this URL:

http://saneguy.com/forum (Example Indicative Only. It may well be http://pagalguy.com/lounge)

Now this forum can contain these sections:

1. Chit-Chat
2. Your-Interests
3. History, Issues & Controversies: A Discussion
4. Career-Discussion
5. Community Service
6. Exclusive for top posters - The Extreme Pagalhood

with clear rules for segregation of topics and streamlining of individual sections, I believe Pagalguy can easily come out of its MBA only forum image.

[the.bombardier]

here are my views:
with regard to the discussion u guys were having bout having multiple threads on related topics..i guess as plumber puts it,these topics are such,that they cant be in one thread,n as ROS puts it,they r causing cluttering in the chit chat section.i think the main problem here is that posts come in chronological order.maybe v should adopt a different approach for the chit chat section.
for those who r interested,u can check out the lounge section at this site:
The Code Project - Free Source Code and Tutorials
the thing bout the lounge there is that the posts r not in a chronological order,but in a tree like order.wat i mean is,if i post a reply to a post,my post would be displayed under that post.this way related discussion stays together,while seperate discussions may also be put on the same thread..i think its the perfect solution for that problem,n i hope at least the mods check out this site's lounge..it would stop a lot of cluttering in chit chat..

coming to the next point:
i think plumber's suggestion bout getting noobs to chit chat,by giving some newbie rank is great..also i suggest v start a noobie awards thread or something(but maybe it wont have too many posts :confused..but tapping noobs is essential for PG in my opinion..

well bout the non noob regular's,i dont think anything much can be done bout it..if they r not posting,its mostly because they r not interested(whereas in the case of noobs it is mostly a fear of being groaned at ) n i guess they would post when they find a post of their interest..

[maulin]

Originally Posted by the.bombardier

here are my views:
with regard to the discussion u guys were having bout having multiple threads on related topics..i guess as plumber puts it,these topics are such,that they cant be in one thread,n as ROS puts it,they r causing cluttering in the chit chat section.i think the main problem here is that posts come in chronological order.maybe v should adopt a different approach for the chit chat section.
for those who r interested,u can check out the lounge section at this site:
The Code Project - Free Source Code and Tutorials
the thing bout the lounge there is that the posts r not in a chronological order,but in a tree like order.wat i mean is,if i post a reply to a post,my post would be displayed under that post.this way related discussion stays together,while seperate discussions may also be put on the same thread..i think its the perfect solution for that problem,n i hope at least the mods check out this site's lounge..it would stop a lot of cluttering in chit chat..

@bombardier:
Correct me if i am wrong, but i think what you are talkin about is the threaded/hierarchical mode of listing the threads for better/effective viewing, which exists even currently in PG.
chk out this Screenshot

The problem is cluttering of threads/posts in the Chit-Chat section and according to me that can be avoided by
having Sub-Forums under the Main Chit-Chat Forum
The structure can be something like

1.0 chit-Chat [Main forum]
1.1 Sports [Sub-Forum] (shall contain threads related to Sports)
1.2 Politics [Sub-Forum] (shall contain threads related to Political Events
Discussions)
1.3 Literature [Sub-Forum] (shall contain threads related to Literature,
Books etc..)
1.4 Media [Sub-Forum] (shall contain threads related to various Media
like NewsPapers,ADs,Radio etc..)

and so on..

I believe this would ensure less cluttering and ease of navigation & ease of
usage for everyone(especially Newbies)...
Am not sure how much feasible it is given the current structure/organization of PG forums but i feel this is a better way of organizing..

[PGcalling]

Hi,

One of the things i feel is all the newbie guys come and they just take information frm the site without bothering to reply.. the issue is not locating the thread, so the clusturing of threds really doesnt make a difference..

I feel the section has to be marketed properly. we have this latest posts section on the left hand side when we enter the homepage.. now because most threads are active for MBA related queries, those are the links which are normally visible.. so this section isnt really visible.. plus if u see the section is located towards the bottom of the page,hence many ppl wont notice also that such a section exists..

If we could have something like a frequent posts for the lounge section on the right hand side, then we would have more ppl instinctively clicking on topics which they feel are related to their interests..

Also the shoutbox.. its mainly used by oldies, the location of it is again near the bottom, so many ppl dont realize it also.. if the location is changed a bit then maybe we could have more ppl using that as well..

regards
Sriram

[the.bombardier]

Originally Posted by maulin

@bombardier:
Correct me if i am wrong, but i think what you are talkin about is the threaded/hierarchical mode of listing the threads for better/effective viewing, which exists even currently in PG.
chk out this Screenshot

yeah its somewat like wat i was saying,but its still in chronological order..so that doesnt solve the problem..check out the site that i quoted..

[amit_vce]

Well , to help you guys further to improve lounge section. I would like to let you know about my usage of PG while going through different phases of transition from noobie to trainee and then further.

In my noobie days ( around 2 months back ) , I used to use PG only for MBA prep threads like quant and english. As was not aware of other section on PGs in starting days , so never used to go to lounge section etc. As my participation increses on PG , got to know about the thread structures and started participating ( though still in transition phase).

Hardly opened any thread on PG.

What i intended to say by quoting my experience on PG is that , the general perception among noobie about PG is all about CAT prep. So as previously quoted the better marketing of other threads may help increasing the audience.

Also I have an another idea to make the lounge section more visible to people using PG.

As we know the left hand side(Latest Posts) of home page contains the list of active threads. The thread can be from any section will be displayed in that column. At one time a limited number of threads can appear in that section. The following can be followed to make every section threads visible in that list.

Divide the area in following sections.

1. General
2. MBA exam and insti.
3. Exam Resources.
4. MBA studies abroad.
5. Alumni Talk.
6. Lounge.

Put 4 latest posts for individual sections in each of section.

So by doing that , the threads from every section will be there in latests post and visible everytime.

This is an example , the number and names can be discussed.

Also I feel , may be while signing up for PG , giving noobies the brief decription about the threads and process followed on PG.

[chuck_gopal]

Hmm!

Now what is the USP of PG? MBA gyaan. Even the banners that we had outside the CAT centers read 'The Everything of MBA', right?
Why do 99% of the newbies join PG? To participate... Oops, read the CAT prep threads et al.

We do not need to dilute this brand image of PG. It's first and foremost function should be to cater to what it was started out for - as a forum where MBA-related material can be freely exchanged.

The chit-chat section was opened as, well, as the name suggests. A bit of a break. Madness from the madness, as it were

Now, how many newbies would join PG just for the sake of participating in chit-chat? While this itself is not a bad idea - I always thought that PG could be famous for it's discussions, getting in even medical students and all rather than for the MBA resources itself - this is not practical nor what PG stands for.

Now I'm a strong believer in Reisian theories of not digressing from what the brand originally stood for, especially when it is doing so well. While I do want the chit-chat section to flourish, I do not believe in marketing that section or overpopularising it.

I can think of a few 'type' of people:

1. Who started off joining PG for CAT material, and after that purpose was served, was active on Chit Chat. Like MvB ACM No9.
2. People, who, from the moment they joined, were active on both CAT and CC. Moi
3. People who restrict themselves to either CAT or CC (Plumber )

I'm not against the idea of the CC section growing - and possibly of late there seem to be a few topics that really don't belong in Chit Chat... Too much serious stuff

I'd suggest a whole new section: Rather than current affairs or something, it could be called GD topics so that it serves both purposes.

In any case, there will always be just a handful of people who are coming in to post - we boast that PG today has 1,00,000 members. But how many of these are significant contributors in one way or the other? It's just natural though - if all of us were as good as the other then we wouldn't have a few PaGaLs standing out :satisfie:

At the same time we have to make sure that a newbie coming to PG is not inundated with too much stuff when he joins. It' easy for us hardcores and addicteds to say this because we're very comfortable with the working of PG now. Put yourself in the Newbies' shoes for a while.

Waise at this point, I'd just like to give a shout out to subodh_iit and Plumber - two outstanding posters who seem to have added such a mature angle to PG discussions these days Sorry I didn't know enough about you to nominate yeh ;-)

ChUcK