Considering Consolidation: Perspectives

[akuAizen]

If you ever find yourself considering a little consolidation ... I'd vote for it.

Management, General, Questions, Experiences...

Those all seem very similar to me, not only in the meanings of the title, but I but put me in any I could never guess, from the postings, which one I was in. And I couldn't imagine why someone would check one of these but not the others.

On the other hand a lot of us probably aren't interested in off-topic questions, or emotional support questions -- those make great separate categories.

I think there would be fewer duplicate thread topics if there were fewer forums. Or then again maybe not, since multiple forums means you see more thread on the first screen.

Anyway. It seems that you now have a lot of empirical data and experience on which you could base a recategorization.

but I'm sure you've thought about all this alread.

 

[DJohnDavies]

I was just about to post this same recommendation. I love this site and all the information shared here is so helpful. It just seems like you could combine several of the forums into one general forum so that people don't have to check several different forums for basically the same information. It would also make posting a new topic better as you wouldn't wonder which forum to post in for the most possible responses.

 

[BoyyDavoMan]

I disagree. I think the problem is too many people post things in the wrong forums, or duplicate posts on a few forums.

The symptom management forum should be for questions regarding managing symptoms, not people looking to share their experiences or garner emotional support.

The support forum is for people who need emotional support dealing with their fears, etc.

The experiences page is where people can post share their experiences with BFS. It is alway interesting to see how many other people twitch in the same place as you!

General topics are probably anything that doesn't fit into those categories, or that spans all of them.

I think the problem is on the "user" end and not on the site design end.

 

[BoyyDavoMan]

I disagree with your disagreement of my disagreement. )

It is a user problem. It reminds me of a typical office problem -- You can set up a filing system, but if the people don't put the files in the proper place, you have stuff all over.

People need to put things in the proper place. I am an organized person, by nature. I don't put my underwear in my sweater drawer. I put it in my underwear/socks drawer. You can have a system of organization, but if people don't use it you get a mess. However, at least there is a little bit of organization -- most of the posts in a specific forum deal with topics that fall under that category. Some posts get put in the wrong place. That's like finding a pair of socks in your sweater drawer. Consolidation would be like one big pile of clothes in your closet, which would make it hard to find anything.

)

 

[BoyyDavoMan]

So, you're saying that you're a "lumper" not a "splitter!" )

 

[EyeoftheWild]

I am one of those guilty of putting at least 2 of my posts under the wrong category. I blame the 1st one on my agitated state of mind and my haste to post on the BB. That being said, I do believe that there are, perhaps, too many categories and that consolidation might be something to consider. I think people really just want to tell their story or ask for help/assurance. Management, General Topics and Experiences would seem to be similar enough to encourage erroneous postings. Also it is a shame that the "lions share of users" are biased in favour of one category and not another. Consolidation might give people a broader experience of BFS, as they would be more likely to read all the new posts. This would in turn lead them to reading the archived material, which has got some great stuff in it.

Cheers,
Basso

 

[akuAizen]

Just saw this. Very very cool. Thanks Basso.

(and that's right: splitter by nature, lumper by necessity -- I'll be quoting you someday soon)