Why are people put off from posting here?

matthiask

January 13, 2010, 07:54 PM

1) a matter of time

2) a matter of interest

3) a matter of timing

Matthias

PS: the Ranking site is not complete - and as you see, active participation changes over time.

zhenlijiang

January 14, 2010, 10:03 AM

Well hape did you go and read through that discussion? You wouldn't want us to repeat things here we've already said there would you?

Ridiculous as it will be, I don't mind being part of an experiment if CPod wants to try this, in which we are all limited to say a maximum of 15 comments per week (yes I know that sounds like still too many to most of you). At least then we still have the control and freedom of when to comment, until we reach our limit! I'm quite serious.

zhenlijiang

January 13, 2010, 09:09 PM

hape,

and, last but not least: Chinese becomes more and more important
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by that.

I would like to see more different people discussing Chinese here, not only the same group of 10-20 persons (see here).

Actually this has recently been discussed to death--yielding many thoughts and views but no actual consensus I don't think, nor remedies (= deterrents).
I don't agree that there's an inner circle. I guess you could identify a sort of circle of CPod study pals, and I think these people are necessarily more involved, but there's nothing "inner" about it. And I'm quite bored with saying this already but it's not an exclusive group.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes threads are changed in topic from this inner circle (like this one) - ok, you cannot prohibit this, but this puts people off...

Again--apologies for the hijacking. I was aware I was doing it and felt bad about that.
But yes, you're right. We should all try our best to observe etiquette I think, but a non-customer is probably not in the best position to suggest what we paying users shouldn't be allowed to do here.

The recent change to threaded comments for one thing was implemented in order to make the user experience better for everyone.

chanelle77

January 13, 2010, 11:33 PM

Hello Hape,

Nice to have you here and hope to see you participate more / often!

For me "the" community is what made me join Cpod after being silent for the first few months. The familiar "faces" are like friends (and motivate me to continue), and there is always room for a new one :-). Regular posters like Changye, Zhen, Tal, Henning etc. have learnt me a lot for which I am grateful.

Why are you a non-customer if I may ask? Do you use other recourses to study?

pretzellogic

January 14, 2010, 03:37 AM

great question, and the people that know the answer aren't answering, leaving everyone else to speculate or generalize. 

changye

January 14, 2010, 03:46 AM

Hi hape

Don't worry. Most Chinesepod users are just so busy learning Chinese (or doing other things) and don't want to waste their precious time coming here, unlike us frequent posters.

changye

January 14, 2010, 04:17 AM

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

matthiask

January 14, 2010, 04:38 AM

try a hose on the horse ;-)

henning

January 13, 2010, 08:58 PM

Hape,
when I browse through the first 5 pages of comments, the percentage of posts by "Top-10-2009-posters" is rather small. It is true that you can find them present in most discussions, but is that "domination"? Especially as they are usually helpful and supporting.

If you really want to change the numbers - why not start with some constructive posts? Nobody shut you out.

 

BTW: I don't understand your "topic change" example - that thread clearly displays that your question has been extensivly and positively adressed by the community and even a CPod staff member. An off-topic discussion came happened after that, which is fine, though.

mikeinewshot

January 14, 2010, 08:29 AM

No, there is no exclusivity, but comments from non-frequent posters can get completely drowned out by the frequent posters.

It is like this: You comment on a topic or a lesson, but the next time you come back to that place, you find that there may have been tens of posts by the frequent guys often very long ones.  Their posts inevitably take over the topic and steer it their way, so your thought gets lost.

It can feel it bit like being shouted down at a meeting.  There is also no way you can match their seemingly endless amount of time they spend commenting.

mikeinewshot

January 14, 2010, 08:41 AM

I just tried to edit my comment above, but there seems to be no way to accept the changes.

I wanted say that actually there are frequent posters and then there are Very frequent posters.  I guess my comments mainly apply to the latter.  I am not trying to say that people should not post - clearly that should be encouraged.

user76423

January 14, 2010, 08:42 AM

Sorry, I didn't know that this topic been discussed "to death" already.

user76423

January 14, 2010, 08:47 AM

My reasons being a "non-customer": see this post, plus CPod is too expensive IMHO - there so much cheaper or even free material on the web, no need to subscribe. I also like to learn from several sources...

user76423

January 14, 2010, 08:48 AM

Well said!

Tal

January 14, 2010, 09:41 AM

Here we go again!

Maybe we should have like a vote or something, like do you want (very) frequent posters to
a) shut up
b) go away
c) post less
d) post pics of themselves wearing sackcloth and ashes.

Or how about a 'hate box' - might relieve tensions, and CPod need only pass on the contents on special days.

phil's experience sounds a lot like my own. Back then I was kind of awed by the apparent knowledge and coolness of the VFPs, and even the FPs. Perhaps it's just part of the deal with a site like this, which is all about foreigners learning a difficult language, some of whom will excel/have more time than others/enjoy showing off etc (maybe a combination), and thus newcomers are bound to feel it's cliquey. Anyway on with the show.... 

...*(discussion continues for 94 pages, punctuated by a visit or two from the sock-puppet in residence mocking everyone)*...

user76423

January 14, 2010, 09:53 AM

沉默是金 chénmòshìjīn or "Talk is silver, silence is golden".

_tal, your profile shows only 113 pages of comments, that doesn't qualify you as VFP.

xiaophil

January 14, 2010, 04:55 AM

I have been following CPod since just about the beginning.  Back then, I didn't post at all.  I just took advantage of the (then) free lesson downloads.  (I just realized that my original account is still floating around here.  If you bother to take a look, not much posting going on in that account.)  After downloading for a year or two, I finally posted a few times but then lost interest for quite a while.

Now as to why I didn't post way back then, to tell you the truth, I think I was a bit intimidated by the apparent cliquishness of the community, but the thing is, I started posting and that feeling quickly went away (obviously).  I don't think there is truly much exclusivity around here, but I think it is definitely perceived as such by some (hence your post).  I honestly couldn't guess what the solution should be.  It isn't as if the frequent posters are going to slow down just to change the ratio.  There is probably something CPod can do, but it is hard to say what.