State of the boards

Hell Puppy · 01-01-2006

Ok, let's see if Oprano has any of the other boards as banned words.

I think with the transition it's a good time to talk about the state of the boards in general. I think discussions of other boards is a taboo on a lot of other forums. In most cases if you just read one board you'd think that board and GFY are the only two that exist. GFY is impossible to exist as the 800 pound gorilla.

However I think to make a board successful, it's helpful to look at what others are doing....what they're doing right, what they're doing wrong. So let me break the taboo here with my own thoughts.

Perhaps others will chime in with thoughts on other boards they frequent as well. I really only frequent 3 other boards at this point, in no particular order here are my thoughts.

GFY -- As I said, it's the 800 pound gorilla. Everyone in the industry is there, and outside of the really hardcore board whores that live there no one can really keep up with it due to volume. Love it or hate it, it has the most eyeballs and consequently it's worth at least skimming the threads on the front page when you have time.

What's not to like? The bulk of that volume that makes it so hard to read are sig-whores and part timers (mostly college kids it seems). Kinda hard for us old timers to relate to them, but in some ways they are the lowest common denominator of this industry.

JBM -- Give the devil his due. Whether you like Brad or not, that board is a huge success. MFM likely provides a conscience that keeps Brad from being his own worst enemy in running it. It deserved board of the year last year for basically being created from scratch and growing to be a thriving community. For the past 6 months or so I've found it to be the most entertaining read of all the boards, and the fact that the JBM show was a success demonstrates the power of that community. These are people who want to hang out together.

The bad part of JBM? Paid posts and frequent contests draw a handful of folks who clutter up the board with inane posts sometimes. I avoid the board during the last day or two of contest periods, it gets really bad. Bots are squashed though and they do make efforts to maintain a decent signal to noise ratio.

GG&J -- I'm kinda new to GG&J. I find it to have the most business talk of any of the boards currently. It may be the best place currently to go to get a feel for what's happening in the trenchs. There appears to be a lot more eyeballs there than the post count would suggest.

Which brings me to the downside. This one is somewhat personal preference, but I do think it accounts for the post counts. And that is they are true folder nazis over there. Post the wrong topic in the wrong folder and your message will get moved. I'm a "one folder" only kinda guy....I like to read nothing but a "main" folder, so I find this hard to adapt to.

01-01-2006	#1
Hell Puppy Fat Fucking Nobody Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 6,523	State of the boards Ok, let's see if Oprano has any of the other boards as banned words. I think with the transition it's a good time to talk about the state of the boards in general. I think discussions of other boards is a taboo on a lot of other forums. In most cases if you just read one board you'd think that board and GFY are the only two that exist. GFY is impossible to exist as the 800 pound gorilla. However I think to make a board successful, it's helpful to look at what others are doing....what they're doing right, what they're doing wrong. So let me break the taboo here with my own thoughts. Perhaps others will chime in with thoughts on other boards they frequent as well. I really only frequent 3 other boards at this point, in no particular order here are my thoughts. GFY -- As I said, it's the 800 pound gorilla. Everyone in the industry is there, and outside of the really hardcore board whores that live there no one can really keep up with it due to volume. Love it or hate it, it has the most eyeballs and consequently it's worth at least skimming the threads on the front page when you have time. What's not to like? The bulk of that volume that makes it so hard to read are sig-whores and part timers (mostly college kids it seems). Kinda hard for us old timers to relate to them, but in some ways they are the lowest common denominator of this industry. JBM -- Give the devil his due. Whether you like Brad or not, that board is a huge success. MFM likely provides a conscience that keeps Brad from being his own worst enemy in running it. It deserved board of the year last year for basically being created from scratch and growing to be a thriving community. For the past 6 months or so I've found it to be the most entertaining read of all the boards, and the fact that the JBM show was a success demonstrates the power of that community. These are people who want to hang out together. The bad part of JBM? Paid posts and frequent contests draw a handful of folks who clutter up the board with inane posts sometimes. I avoid the board during the last day or two of contest periods, it gets really bad. Bots are squashed though and they do make efforts to maintain a decent signal to noise ratio. GG&J -- I'm kinda new to GG&J. I find it to have the most business talk of any of the boards currently. It may be the best place currently to go to get a feel for what's happening in the trenchs. There appears to be a lot more eyeballs there than the post count would suggest. Which brings me to the downside. This one is somewhat personal preference, but I do think it accounts for the post counts. And that is they are true folder nazis over there. Post the wrong topic in the wrong folder and your message will get moved. I'm a "one folder" only kinda guy....I like to read nothing but a "main" folder, so I find this hard to adapt to.