The Orchid Source - Orchid Forum

What do you think?

I'd especially emphasize the good information. IMHO, part of what this forum is missing (aside from the crazies!) is the info exchange of yesteryear. People were asking really interesting questions left and right, and great discussions were being had. Now, its mainly become a repository for plant and pet photos, at least in the active topics where I look. There are currently 36 topics on the first page; a solid 30 are in critters and photos, which seems to be the norm. Theres an interesting topic every now and then, but not nearly as much meaty cultural stuff is being exchanged as there used to be.

No doubt being a source of good information is the backbone of a successful forum, but, is that enough to make it attract people that will contribute to the forum?

Are you saying the minutia of pettiness is a big draw?

I would counter that it has been my impression, since I returned to this forum, that there are far less people jumping in to answer orchid growth/care questions from newbies or old members than when I used to visit this forum. So, discussions peter out fast.

I have been wondering about that. It seems that the things one would think would be a big draw seem not to be enough by themselves to keep more than the momentary interest of Internet surfers. It would appear there is a need for a drop of acid to add flavor to the mix. On the other hand it may be that now there are many orchid forums to chose from and probably the more detailed discussions are taking place on the specialized ones. It perhaps it will come to a point where there are so many that you will need a microbiologist to keep track of orchid forums.

Chris, can you please be more specific? When was yesteryear?

Chris,

Maybe there are fewer people with "The Knowledge" to post now or fewer people who can be bothered to post. I find some very good information here but all this pet stuff for example is not really for me. However the categorization of the various topics means that I can easily avoid anything that does not interest me and if others want to go there or post there, all power to them.

Thats pretty much been my thinking, Andy. Since Jon and Forrest left and took half the forum with them, especially.

Urusula, see what i mentioned to Andy. For me, yesteryear was basically when I first started here 8 years ago, and even ran up to just a couple years ago.

I also have my memories of the yesteryear forum. In my memories there were learned discussions about orchids but they were far, far, less common that the vicious and intrusive flame wars. It was amazing that in a forum dedicated to the gentle art of orchid growing you would see threads in which women were belittled, ridiculed and insulted. Andy can avoid threads about critters thanks to our current format, but back in the day no thread was safe from hijacking for the purpose of venting vitriol or just because someone was bored. Of course if you were not the target of the bullies, the place was lovely. Anyone who protested was told that if could not stand the heat, he or she should go away. Isn't that something?

Thanks Chris. I thought already I had killed the thread.

Ricardo, my memory of yesteryear matches yours.

And I do think a lot of really good information is exchanged here nowadays. I like the fact that a lot of people on this forum share freely what they know. Good for me

LOL not killed. I just never saw your reply

Of course I remember the bullying: I was an unfortunate target...sometimes my fault, sometimes not. But I learned so much about myself and plants at that point that I had basically positive feelings about that time.

I think good information is the basis of a popular forum, but I am starting to suspect it is not even close to the main thing that a forum needs to be popular. Just look at the AOS forum, it is full of information that ranks among the best, if not the best in the whole web and yet it doesn't seem to command the level of traffic that the OSF. I am starting to suspect that the secret to a forum popularity lies in kittens, furry, cute, irresitibly huggable kittens. I am I right?

Ya know, I quit reading the AOS forum looooong ago, after it converted from its old antiquated format. I don't know much about that forum now, but I do know that its had a good amount of issues, whatever they were, that has kept people away.

To my mind, there is a difference between what makes a forum popular and what makes a forum interesting. The bulk of people searching for online orchid information are new, inexperienced growers wanting basic problems solved. There are several forums that cater to this market by having mods with big sticks who actively answer questions and create a friendly, easily accessible environment where people don't feel intimidated by pressing the reply button. There's nothing wrong with this and the traffic shows there is a need for this type of community. However, there do seem to be a lot of "ohh pretty", "here's my kitten with a funny hat" posts and the attraction for an experienced grower is likely to be more social than informative. They're nice, everyone's friendly but the level of discussion usually wont influence how you grow your orchids.

There are a couple of forums that I've come across where the level of discussion approaches something I'd expect from a good orchid society. A lot of it probably has to do with more focused discussion on certain topics that allows for more in depth discussion, rather than creating subforums to accommodate everyone. Traffic in these forums is, however, usually low. They're probably too inaccessible for someone with root rot on a Phal to post too, they probably suffer from the fact that the type of people that would engage in that type of discussion at an orchid society are not online and members tend to only post when they have something worth saying and don't post photo's of kittens in the interim.

If only someone could successfully combine the two forum scenarios.

Come for the info, stay for the comroderie

For the photos mostly, especially from those who have high quality plants, diverse collections, and/or a lot of experience and are willing to share. I like to see what everyone is growing, old and new. I've abandoned forums that lack at least a few experienced, knowledable users (at least those who post regularly), or forums that are not very active with new posts. I realize these are very much "social" networking outlets as much as anything else...and that is okay. I tire of some of the unproductive personal "flame" wars that seem to go on forever (although they can be entertaining). I only frequent a couple of the topics regularly, so am glad that they are categorized.

I guess that's the best summary I have ever read , although I am not sure what comroderie is

Andrew, thanks for your thoughtful post.

You are right in pointing the fact that with only a few of most experienced growers (which at to be greatly admired for this) take the time to post and interact with the newbies, this is regrettable. But the problem of a site where the discussion is so rarified that is inaccessible or uninteligible to the newbies is that it will have a hard time growing and in essence will have to feed from other less specialized forums or else runs the risk of becoming marginalized and could conceivably collapse if the core members drop out.

Interesting read, personally I do not consider the OSF a pure Orchid forum. I see it as a community made up of Orchid lovers where we all can get together and discuss what ever we want in a somewhat civil environment.

I truly wish I had more time to devote to answering questions on the forum but I work a minimum of 11 hours a day, every day so I am lucky to be able to check the bug/problem report forum a few times a day

I'm an isolated orchid grower and this forum is my only contact with
other orchid growers. I love the diversity of topics on OSF...pussycats and dogs and birds and photos and political scraps.
All the things that make a community with related interests enjoyable.
Generally, I think we try to answer questions from newbies quite
well. There are more specific forums for various growers and they
are welcome, but for making friends this is the best. I think
Woola has accomplished what he wanted to do very well.

Regarding Andrew's post...in my opinion I think it's far more effective to have a division of labor when it comes to forums...a forum for beginners and a forum for more advanced growers...rather than trying to combine the two. Ortho Books Guide to Orchids is a great book for beginners but most of us probably wouldn't buy it at this stage of the game.

I couldn't disagree with that more Carlos. Separating advanced growers from beginners ensures beginners are answering beginner questions. This was a problem at GW for the longest time and the quality of info was not good. I learned more as a beginner among experienced here than as a beginner among beginners over there. Plus many people learn better mixing higher concepts with simplistic basics. Personally I'm motivated by it. It makes me research more.

Carlos, I hate to be a real jerk but links or posts about the OB are not allowed on this forum. I had a seriously ugly war with the owner of that forum -

Carlos, why do I get this nagging feeling that you entered this thread to post these links to Magcloud...Hmmmmmmmmm .

The issue of whether there is the need for a forum for advanced growers is pretty marginal to the topic of this thread, which is what makes an orchid forum popular. But I suspect a forum for advanced growers would fail sooner of later due to lack of traffic. Why? because advanced growers already know a lot and don't need to post much questions, they most likely know the other advanced growers and can communicate handly without the need of a forum and lastly because it takes time to answers questions which in case of professionals they may view it much like asking a doctor for a free consultation.