Chinahand Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I've been griping for ages about Newsbot ... for example how many topics has it opened on the various robberies we've had recently. A topic on the robbery ... a topic on the description of the robber .... a topic on the little scrots arrest ... its distracting and annoying. This is how sad I am ... I went away and looked at Newsbot's Topics and Manxchatterbox's ... guess what MCB is multiple times more popular, both in average number of posts and average number of replies to her topics compared to Newsbots. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Newsbot creates too many crap topics. People aren't replying in any great numbers to the majority of them or even reading them and so they just take up space. Manxforums isn't a news site about the IOM its a place where we come to chat about events going on in the Island that interest us. The idea that we need some machine to start topics off for us is insulting and a waste. I'd much rather people were encouraged to start topics and get involved. Newsbot actively stops this occurring with even MCB dismally failing to beat it ... and then what does Ans do ... he closes down MCB's thread not the Bots ... I realize MCB gets alot of stick ... but if this abuse continues I'll have to go and do some more statistics. I know for a fact her topics are more read and get more feed back than mine do ... while I'm a genius compared to the newsbot. Its crap, please get rid of it, or at least give it another section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 The reasons MCB's threads get so much attention are:- 1. People have not heard of her. 2. People find them funny (as in "you're a crazy chick, but you make me laugh") 3. People need to hone their flaming skillz. Newsbot just posts the news, in an err, local news section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lard Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I found it absolutely stunningly amazing that I actually agree with Lone Wolf Chinahand on something here. I had a etc. ps not really, 'cos I do agree with a lot of what our orientally portrayed friend has to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 ... I realize MCB gets alot of stick... but if this abuse continues I'll have to go and do some more statistics. Nooooooooo! Have mercy - anything but statistics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 This is how sad I am ... I went away and looked at Newsbot's Topics and Manxchatterbox's ... guess what MCB is multiple times more popular, both in average number of posts and average number of replies to her topics compared to Newsbots. Do you know why her topics are read more often? Because her topic titles are shit and you actually have to open them to find out what they're about. Newsbots are informative, and people will click on them if they're interested. I really don't see why this is so difficult for you to grasp. I don't click on that many Newsbot thread myself, but sadly I have to click on most MCB threads because I have no fucking idea what they're about! Oh, and please do some stats on how many replies in her threads or trolling or mocking her as opposed to the odd occasion people take the thread seriously. You're sounding like a broken record. There was ample opportunity for people to give feedback and opinion before introduction, during testing and post going live. It's been made clear that the majority of people prefer it to stay so I'm not quite sure why you think we should turn off a feature that the majority of users want us to keep just for the benefit of half a dozen people who are incapable of just passing the topics by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 You're sounding like a broken record. There was ample opportunity for people to give feedback and opinion before introduction, during testing and post going live. It's been made clear that the majority of people prefer it to stay so I'm not quite sure why you think we should turn off a feature that the majority of users want us to keep just for the benefit of half a dozen people who are incapable of just passing the topics by. Just finished up from talking to cousins in the US so still up for a few moments anyhow. I really do think you are getting a little hot under the collar about this one Ans. Chinahand and myself and anyone else for that matter are more than capable of passing topics by as you put it. That really isnt the issue though. RSS is a useful and attractive technology if utilised in an appropriate context. Not everyone thinks feeding diectly into a discussion forum is an appropriate context. But it doesnt really warrant everyone getting so worked up about it for God's sake! You have said the majority of users like it ,so as far as I am concerned end of story. No need for anyone to be so forthright or to get so excited. Not important really is it? It doesnt mean I have to agree with you though ! Keep up the good work. Its appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I really do think you are getting a little hot under the collar about this one Ans. Not at all, I'm just weary of certain people being incapable of accepting decisions that have been taken with the majority in mind. And it appeared to bother you enough to start yet another thread whinging about it, so it was important enough for you to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Has it not dawned on Lonewolf and Chinahand that the reason their "interesting" topics have been pushed down the list is that no one's replying to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Has it not dawned on Lonewolf and Chinahand that the reason their "interesting" topics have been pushed down the list is that no one's replying to them? Declan, my issue with the newsbot is that it is creating too many topics and is stopping forum members creating there own topics. I feel the members of this forum are important and they should be deciding what we debate and how, rather than a machine deciding it for us. Too often this machine is incorrect in its choice of what interests us, or more often it ignores the fact that the headline been presented to it is a part of another larger thread that has already been created. Why do we need a machine to create topics for us. I would rather if a person thought ... "oh this is interesting let me start a thread on it and see what other people think." By taking the person out of that first thought the newsbot is taking away from the spontananity of the forum and I think that is a serious problem. Unisol hasn't published any viewing statistics for ages ... but if he is going to include the Newsbots figures in the topics created field it will distort the results. For a forum to thrive, in my mind, people should not only be commenting, but also creating content and the newsbot is fundamentally opposed to that and so I fundamentally oppose the newsbot. A forum is about creation as well as comment ... the newsbot distorts our power to create topics ourselves. Rage against the machine over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 That's nonsense. People create threads about what they care about. Or they reply to threads they care about. So what if a thread or discussion is started by a robot highlighting an item of Local News, it is the discussion that matters. And people haven't stopped creating threads. There may have been a drop in recent months, but this is a phenomena that has happened every summer since the Manx Net days, if anything less so this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I've never used the feature so don't know - but does this not work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Sadly it only presents a text giving you the option to show their post, doesn't completely get rid of their topics and you can still see where they posted. It's almost like choosing to have their posts in spoiler text if you like. I wrote a custom Greasemonkey script which removes table elements matching certain terms to completely ignore one user on here that I simply don't want to see anywhere. However, the code is clunky, it doesn't work for PMs and it throws a wobbler when this user creates a topic (which is admittedly rare). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 Has it not dawned on Lonewolf and Chinahand that the reason their "interesting" topics have been pushed down the list is that no one's replying to them? Well I for one havent mentioned "interesting topics". So you shouldnt be surprised if it hasnt dawned on me as you so neatly put it. You might take the troube to look about at other sites to see how RSS has been executed in context then come back and let us know if you think the way it is being used here is appropriate. I have already said as far as I am concerned it is end of story if the majority think it is an enhancement and Ans tells me that is the case. No problem with that at all. It isnt me who is so worked up about it and I certainly didnt expect WW3 to break out over a bit of trivia. What a pity Forum members couldnt have taken the same interest in the thread someone posted about the forthcoming election. Has it never dawned on you Declan that perhaps you might not always be right? Notwithstanding your undoubted ability and penchant for smart ass comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Well I for one havent mentioned "interesting topics". It moves the board along at a rate of knots and maybe buries some interesting topics. You're doing this on purpose, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-demerits Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I personally think that the RSS feeds are very usefull. They should stay in the Local News forum as they are, after all, LOCAL NEWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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