The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post

***Mister Underhill*** · 06-13-2004, 05:45 PM

There's a lot of great advice here.

I certainly am aware of how difficult it is for a new person to carve out a niche on an established board. Getting a curt, dismissive reply can be discouraging, but having your post be completely overlooked and ignored can be just about as dispiriting.

Here's a couple of tips on ways for less established members to successfully join a discussion:

Try to engage other members when you post. You can build a reputation just by making good posts and waiting to eventually get noticed, but it can be a slow process on an older, faster-paced board like the Downs. One thing that can help you along is to actively engage the other participants in the discussion. Read others' discussion points, then challenge them, ask questions about them, give your reactions to them, expand on them.
Give reputation -- and sign your comments. We all like to get positive feedback, and few things will get someone to stop and check out your posts more than remembering that they got positive comments from you. Naturally, I don't mean that you should run around handing out fake reputation just to get people to like you. Be genuine. If you liked something, say so. Don't blow smoke, just be sincere.

If the established members really want to see more new faces actively participating, then we need to encourage them when they appear. It's easy to forget that if you're an established member, you can post just about anything and feel confident that at least a few people will read and respond to what you've said.

These same two tips can be used by more experienced and established members to help others out.

Engage other members. If you notice that someone has posted and that no one has reacted to it, throw the person a lifeline and engage their post.
Give reputation; sign it. You know the drill; if you see something you like, reward it! Think about how cool it feels to get positive comments, then take the time to give some of that back to others who deserve it. It will embolden them to post more often.

To wind up an overlong post, I think Son of Númenor's advice in post #16 is right on the money.

Read, share, discuss.

It's that simple.

06-13-2004, 05:45 PM	#22
*Mister Underhill* Dread Horseman Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Behind you! Posts: 2,743	There's a lot of great advice here. I certainly am aware of how difficult it is for a new person to carve out a niche on an established board. Getting a curt, dismissive reply can be discouraging, but having your post be completely overlooked and ignored can be just about as dispiriting. Here's a couple of tips on ways for less established members to successfully join a discussion: Try to engage other members when you post. You can build a reputation just by making good posts and waiting to eventually get noticed, but it can be a slow process on an older, faster-paced board like the Downs. One thing that can help you along is to actively engage the other participants in the discussion. Read others' discussion points, then challenge them, ask questions about them, give your reactions to them, expand on them. Give reputation -- and sign* your comments. We all like to get positive feedback, and few things will get someone to stop and check out your posts more than remembering that they got positive comments from you. Naturally, I don't mean that you should run around handing out fake reputation just to get people to like you. Be genuine. If you liked something, say so. Don't blow smoke, just be sincere. If the established members really want to see more new faces actively participating, then we need to encourage them when they appear. It's easy to forget that if you're an established member, you can post just about anything and feel confident that at least a few people will read and respond to what you've said. These same two tips can be used by more experienced and established members to help others out. Engage other members. If you notice that someone has posted and that no one has reacted to it, throw the person a lifeline and engage their post. Give reputation; sign it. You know the drill; if you see something you like, reward it! Think about how cool it feels to get positive comments, then take the time to give some of that back to others who deserve it. It will embolden them to post more often. To wind up an overlong post, I think Son of Númenor*'s advice in post #16 is right on the money. Read, share, discuss. It's that simple.