[P]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

MacNN also seems to be sort of in between the uber geeky ArsTechnica crowd and the newbie MacRumors crowd. Maybe it is best to sort of focus on one or the other? I think a place like Ars really has the geeky crowd pretty well wrapped up, and I'm sure it is fairly small anyway.

IMO, Ars has gotten significantly less geeky over the years - partially because they post so much more content now. It can be used as a single computing news source without missing much, and that was certainly not the case a few years ago. The forums, on the other hand, seem to be declining - or maybe that's just me, their data on quantserve is hidden.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by P 

IMO, Ars has gotten significantly less geeky over the years - partially because they post so much more content now. It can be used as a single computing news source without missing much, and that was certainly not the case a few years ago. The forums, on the other hand, seem to be declining - or maybe that's just me, their data on quantserve is hidden.

I'm not a regular Ars member, but I went there recently for some server hardware purchase type questions and was impressed with the knowledge of people there. Maybe their seemingly wider array of resident experts (whether genuine or self-appointed) in there has resulted in greater emphasis on particular parts of the forum in the midst of what you are describing. Perhaps the Mac parts are lacking while the others not-so-much?

[reader50]

Ars has made the same mistake we did. They rigged up their news comments so visitors need never visit their forums. I expect their active membership has been in decline ever since.

As someone else said, people drift away. Interests change. You need a steady supply of new faces to replace the old, and that is the job of the News page. With inline news comments, they only visit the forums once to register a handle.

[besson3c]

Well then, can the steady supply of new faces be generated without a minor/major reinvention of MacNN in general?

[reader50]

It would be easy - send readers who want to comment into a forum thread to make the post. Post would be mirrored back to the news page.

Unfortunately, my fine oratorical skills have not been up to the task. I've yet to talk management into the idea. Obviously, we need to up the ante. The next time this comes up with management, I could threaten to hold my breath.

[Demonhood]

That usually works.

Since this is a major feature of vb4, maybe we should attempt the argument once again.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Show of hands of active forum members who actually read the MacNN news pages? Not me.

RSS feeds most of the time for the news pages.*

*noting that most of "news" feeds is about the same across the few mac sites I get feeds from.

[Kerrigan]

When is the new redesign coming??

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Though I think quite a few people were driven off by some 'personalities' who have been allowed to post inane threads and offensive passive-aggressive attacks. I certainly spend a lot less time on here because of Besson3c. The atmosphere sucks with him around.

Originally Posted by besson3c 

There was this one time where I got my head stuck underneath the closet door in my fourth grade classroom... They had to get the janitor to come and unhinge the door. True story!

Point.

Originally Posted by besson3c 

It probably wouldn't hurt if that Apple prototype happened to have a little child porn on it, huh?

Point.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

When is the new redesign coming??

There is a new redesign in the works?

[macaddict0001]

There is always a redesign in the works, otherwise there is no use for designers.

On a slightly off topic note.
Harlot, Noun. Someone who posts under multiple handles.

[P]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

I'm not a regular Ars member, but I went there recently for some server hardware purchase type questions and was impressed with the knowledge of people there. Maybe their seemingly wider array of resident experts (whether genuine or self-appointed) in there has resulted in greater emphasis on particular parts of the forum in the midst of what you are describing. Perhaps the Mac parts are lacking while the others not-so-much?

The forum has some incredibly knowledgeable people in it, but the general level of debate is going down and the news is less geeky. Ars always had very lax moderation, but I think they let it go overboard - even a simple debate about specs degenerates into name calling.

Originally Posted by reader50

Ars has made the same mistake we did. They rigged up their news comments so visitors need never visit their forums. I expect their active membership has been in decline ever since.

I think you have a point there. Usually the stated purpose for doing the commenting that way is that you want more people to comment. I don't understand that - no big site I know of has problems with too few comments. Quite a few have the opposite problem, that the signal to noise ratio is so bad because so many people comment.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

There is always a redesign in the works, otherwise there is no use for designers.

On a slightly off topic note.
Harlot, Noun. Someone who posts under multiple handles.

Wot?

I've only ever been analogika and this nick.

[The Final Dakar]

Was this always in Feedback? I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Originally Posted by Demonhood 

That usually works.

Since this is a major feature of vb4, maybe we should attempt the argument once again.

Attempt again? That's encouraging...

[reader50]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

When is the new redesign coming??

Originally Posted by besson3c 

There is a new redesign in the works?

No redesign to my knowledge. We're supposed to get the new 'NN top of page at some point, but that's it. And vB 4 will doubtless turn up eventually.

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Was this always in Feedback? I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Indeed it was. The thread log is empty, so it was never moved.

Edit: Dakar, you made numerous posts on Page 1, starting halfway down. Better check your meds.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Wot?

I've only ever been analogika and this nick.

I assumed you were "Macnn Is Dying".

[Big Mac]

There's just one question I want answered: Who threw those pies?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

I assumed you were "Macnn Is Dying".

Ouch. No.

I have no beef with any of the moderators - except the odd issue with vmarks over in the Poli Lounge, but that is collateral damage only to be expected in that vitriolic cesspool. I had myself banned voluntarily from there a few years ago when I was starting to take some other users' bigotry a little too personally.

More than anything, I believe the Poli Lounge itself strongly contributed to the exodus of users. If anything, too LAX moderation was the problem.

Why should I be the slightest bit inclined to spend my free time hanging with people who've shown themselves (to my perception) to be complete assholes?

[Big Mac]

I don't think the Political Lounge has much to do with that concern of yours anyway, SH. First of all, I compartmentalize to an extent. I can have heated battles in the PWL and then have civil conversations with the same people on pure computing topics. But you're also right to the extent that a select few members are so offensive to me politically that I can't just decide to block out my political feelings for them outside of the PWL. If I see their names in other threads I'm still reminded of how much I dislike their online persona for what they have posted in the PWL. But that's rare, at least for me. And I'll tell you something, the PWL was not the original incubator of such rivalries. I can recall that when PWL topics were in the regular lounge before the PWL's creation, I had just as intense slug fests that resulted in just as strongly felt grudges against my adversaries. It's not the PWL that causes those conflicts but any controversial political discourse at all. Of course, one could justifiably claim that the PWL makes more conflicts between members because it is dedicated to heated political speech, but that doesn't mean that the PWL should be faulted as if it alone is the cause of some amount of anger and bad feelings.

Now some have called for the elimination of the PWL so that the Forums will be only about computing topics. There may be some logic in asking for that, but I don't think it's a necessary or desirable tradeoff. Some of us like discussing political subjects on here, and in doing so one must realize that there's the potential to get into fights with other members. I don't think we should ever be completely restricted from talking politics because the choice to do so should be left up to the individual member. Those who want to avoid conflict with other members should avoid participating in the PWL, plain and simple.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Edit: Dakar, you made numerous posts on Page 1, starting halfway down. Better check your meds.

Easy there, Fitty, it's very easy to post in a Feedback thread without going through the Feedback forum.

[Big Mac]

How?

[The Final Dakar]

"New Posts"

[Tuoder]

Politics threads are always controversial, on every forum in which they exist. Honestly, I think that it does more to keep people than to scare them away. You get invested in the battles, and, by extension, the forum.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Anonymous poster or previously banned?

Pedantic arguing, overuse of pretentious smilies, an assumption that he knows and understands everything better than everyone else, need for a new username, and need to believe that the forums are dying - shades of Kevin. Grammar and spelling seem too good, though.

[The Final Dakar]

I'll disagree. I think it was someone who still posts on here.

[Brien]

Yeah, me too.

[subego]

If it was Kevin, there'd only be three sentences.

Each would get its own paragraph.

Like this