Why do newbies join & not post?

[The Coon Dog]

Been noticing over recent months that there is continually more & more new members joining WOOF, but many don't then seem to post.

I guess that means there are 2 types of members; a) those who post & give us the benefit of their thoughts & some insight & b) those who the forum as a means of being kept informed.

Surely this board would benefit greatly if more people contributed to the discussion.

I guess I'm asking some of the non-posters to become more involved in the discussions & contribute.

It's another way of saying I'm sick of reading posts by Mantis all the time! :D

[The Underdog]

I heard they're scared of Sockeye and Ernie.

[LostDoggy]

Can't speak for others but for me personally I use this forum for information (particularly about the younger players, training sessions etc). I rarely post but will do so only if I feel that I have something worthwhile to say. What's the point of me posting I think Nathan Eagleton will struggle for a game this year if 5 people before me have already done so?

[Bulldog4life]

Been noticing over recent months that there is continually more & more new members joining WOOF, but many don't then seem to post.

I guess that means there are 2 types of members; a) those who post & give us the benefit of their thoughts & some insight & b) those who the forum as a means of being kept informed.
Surely this board would benefit greatly if more people contributed to the discussion.

I guess I'm asking some of the non-posters to become more involved in the discussions & contribute.

It's another way of saying I'm sick of reading posts by Mantis all the time! :D

I've got no doubt that I fit into the group who like to be informed. Unfortunately I haven't a lot of spare time to go in depth with my thoughts and also to be honest the inclination.
Nevertheless I do enjoy reading everyone else's point of view irrespective of whether I agree or not.
When I do post it is usually short.....like this one.

[The Coon Dog]

I don't mind short posts, most of mine are that way too. It's just nice to know what others views are.

[Big Will]

Can't speak for others but for me personally I use this forum for information (particularly about the younger players, training sessions etc). I rarely post but will do so only if I feel that I have something worthwhile to say. What's the point of me posting I think Nathan Eagleton will struggle for a game this year if 5 people before me have already done so?

Well said. Couldn't agree with you more... I post when I feel there is something worthwhile to add to the discussion.

[mighty_west]

I don't mind short posts, most of mine are that way too. It's just nice to know what others views are.

I think you hit the nail on the head with alot of people just really using forums like this to get the latest information, and alot of the times so much more than you would get in the papers, on the official Dogs site etc etc, where's alot of people go to training, give a more detailed report on things etc, it's not JUST a forum to have your views or debate, but as a great source of latest news.

Alot of people would also shy away i guess because so many posters have such strong views, sometimes you really need to be pretty thicked skinned, or just can't be bothered trying to defend their views most of the times.

I also find that you can get a sort of "boys club" thing happening, especially on Big Footy, but also seems a bit of the case here as well, and i could see some people not being bothered to get involved due to that.

[LostDoggy]

Can't speak for others but for me personally I use this forum for information (particularly about the younger players, training sessions etc). I rarely post but will do so only if I feel that I have something worthwhile to say. What's the point of me posting I think Nathan Eagleton will struggle for a game this year if 5 people before me have already done so?

I agree with all of this.

Also my posts tend to be too much like me thinking aloud, which means generally they're quite irrelevant and more just musing about players and their haircuts and such (which understandably, usually nobody really cares about) .
Dont get me wrong, i'm not superficial by this, as the Dogs mean everything to me, its more just...it's likely to have been said before me, and the knowledge of some of the posters like Mantis and Sockeye can be intimidating slightly. Basically after some of the detailed, more in-depth posts, it make you feel like an idiot who doesn't know anything. And I guess sometimes people hold back from saying things in fear of being attacked for saying it.
This might also be kind of irrelevant (but its just what I think), but I find this forum to consist of mainly male members, and being a female, I dont know, its sometimes like, alright i'm just going to stay out of the way. Like mighty_west said, occasionally it can feel like a "boys club". Although I do understand female members are completely welcome and encouraged to post here, it can just sometimes be like a bit full on and pretty serious?

I do love this site though.

[Scorlibo]

I disagree with people posting for the sake of posting, as happens on Bigfooty, so if some members here don't feel it necessary to post then good on them! Being a measured and controlled forum is what separates this forum from others.

[LostDoggy]

And we love you to Sophie - you go girl!

Don't let Sockeye and Mantis frighten you. They're pussies:D

[mighty_west]

Another issue due to people not being bothered would be that some people just go off topic alot of the times, it's ok if you do that, but also contribute something in that post to keep the topic flowing, sometimes it just becomes really boring, more of a chat session amongst mates than keeping at the subject at hand, and that can be pretty off putting.

[LostDoggy]

Another issue due to people not being bothered would be that some people just go off topic alot of the times, it's ok if you do that, but also contribute something in that post to keep the topic flowing, sometimes it just becomes really boring, more of a chat session amongst mates than keeping at the subject at hand, and that can be pretty off putting.

That's my pet hate ....why can't people stay on topic? Whats everyones favorite Seinfeld ep? I love the one where Kramer finds the Pigman in a hospital....:D:D

[mighty_west]

That's my pet hate ....why can't people stay on topic? Whats everyones favorite Seinfeld ep? I love the one where Kramer finds the Pigman in a hospital....:D:D

I can't STAND Seinfeld, he's a knob of the highest order....i wonder if he's moved to a remote island somewhere just to get out of paying his taxes.....no wait!

:cool:

[LostDoggy]

I agree with all of this.

Also my posts tend to be too much like me thinking aloud, which means generally they're quite irrelevant and more just musing about players and their haircuts and such (which understandably, usually nobody really cares about) .
Dont get me wrong, i'm not superficial by this, as the Dogs mean everything to me, its more just...it's likely to have been said before me, and the knowledge of some of the posters like Mantis and Sockeye can be intimidating slightly. Basically after some of the detailed, more in-depth posts, it make you feel like an idiot who doesn't know anything. And I guess sometimes people hold back from saying things in fear of being attacked for saying it.
This might also be kind of irrelevant (but its just what I think), but I find this forum to consist of mainly male members, and being a female, I dont know, its sometimes like, alright i'm just going to stay out of the way. Like mighty_west said, occasionally it can feel like a "boys club". Although I do understand female members are completely welcome and encouraged to post here, it can just sometimes be like a bit full on and pretty serious?

I do love this site though.

Hi Sophie.

I think we could definitely do with more discussions about players' haircuts and the like.

Cheers,
Lantern.

ps. one of the greatest things about AFL is the gender balance of the fans -- as one of the most female supported male sporting competitions in the world, it would be great to hear from the fairer half more often. Please don't worry about being condescended to here on the site -- BulldogBelle and dales.girl are some of our more regular female posters and their views are treated the same as everyone else's (that is, on their merits), as should be the case.

[LostDoggy]

Haha, thanks EJ and Lantern.

Some of my personal favourite threads have been those about the ugliest AFL player and such, probably because I get a laugh out of it, and it's a bit more light-hearted. I love threads I can laugh at. Maybe there could be more of a balance between serious and irrelevant threads, but I can totally understand an objection to these- particularly from the older posters. (I dont mean to come across as a delusional teenager with the opinion that "old people don't have a sense of humour", I dont believe this at all, my Pa is like 90, and he is HILARIOUS. Ehem anyway back to the topic... sorry mighty_west :)).
If I want more threads like this, I understand that I could start them, but like I said i'm still not sure how they'd be welcomed.

Also Lantern, regular posters such as BulldogBelle and dales.girl do make a difference in evening out the gender balance, and I can see that their posts are regarded just the same as if they were male. I dont think there's an objection to some of their opinions just because they're female, which is good. I find their views respected just like everyone elses (uh except, ...Jerrys sometimes..).

But with the newbies, I guess sometimes you can sign up for a site and just forget about it? Annoying when you do want the opinions or more people though.

[LostDoggy]

I understand what you mean Sophie, 90% of the time I don't feel like I can add anything mildly interesting or intelligent, so I don't- but I never feel like the guys on here are treating me any differently because I'm a teenage girl (well, maybe that one time TCD used a pink font when he was quoting me..).

The site can be pretty intimidating when you're all talking about tactics and techniques and stuff like that, so I understand why a lot of newbies don't post much, or they could just forget about it as well, either way.

[GVGjr]

The admins here actually spend a fair bit of time each week trying to encourage the newer folk to contribute however, some don't even bother to reply to the message. The ones that do have often advised that they just want to be readers not contributors

For Sophie, Big Will and bulldogsimmo (and anyone else) who felt they might have fallen into the not contributing group I can assure you from my perspective that this was definitely not aimed at you more it was asking a question of the people that join up, visit the site regularly and after 6 months still haven't contributed to any discussion.

No one wants people to contribute for the sake of it but having said that, somewhere down the track there will be nothing to read if the majority continue to leave it to just a select few.
Simply speaking we are a discussion board not a news board.


The admins have this well in hand and by the end of the month there will be a few things in place to hopefully encourage the newer folk to contribute.

I'll close this thread because it won't flesh out anything that we don't already know.