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MasterCaneman -> RE: What can we do to retain new posters? (12/18/2013 12:09:45 PM)
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I've been following this thread for a bit now and here's my two cents. Regarding the trite "Welcome to the discussion side of the board" is what I feel a nice way to remind a new poster that this isn't just another place to stick their personal ad. I was guilty of this my first post because I skimmed the TOS when I landed here, just like many of the ones who came after me. I got slammed by a few of the older posters, but you know what? I learned from it.
Oh yeah, I got cocky and pig-piled on some hapless or clueless ones, got a couple gold letters, and learned some more. Now, I do try to be a bit more accommodating to newbies because I did the same dumb things. Unfortunately, any solution I could come up with would involve some coding and would probably piss off a lot of people because it'd make certain things a requirement to read before making a post, so that's out. One would be to require a mandatory read-through with both a quiz and a captcha at the end to prove understanding of the rules. It won't happen, so there's that.
I like the 'mentor' idea, but again, the site would have to have a ready and willing supply of volunteers to handhold a new poster through the first few steps, another impossibility. There will always be those who feel that the rules don't apply to them, and they will continue to drop weird and wild initial messages here, and the mentors would have their hands full dealing with them. There will always be the rent-day's due findommes posting teasers here, followed by the no-more-findomme guys, and the dudes who are OD-ing on femdom porn thinking this is an avenue to fulfill their fantasies.
I think the only way for new posters to remain is for the rest of us to think a little bit longer before pressing the "OK" button on a post. I know there's a number of times I wished I'd previewed what I wrote better, but what's done is done. No coding, mentors, or other changes needed. Yeah, I would love to savage some of the idiots who come on here thinking it's another means of achieving their off-beat goals, but as of late, I've taken to not replying at all or being very circumspect in what I write. Not out of fear of another gold letter, but because what I write here becomes a part of the history of this site, and I don't want an old posting of mine dragged out to point out what an idiot I was.
Conversely, new posters should be aware that the denizens of this particular spot on the web aren't the nicest of people at times. We are either practicing or have practiced, a form of social interaction that involves pain, violence, and other nasty things to other people, all in the name of hedonistic pleasures. They have to expect a certain level of nastiness as it's part of the scene as I see it. I don't want to see this board become "CoddleMe". Compared to some boards I'm on or have been on, this place is pretty tame.
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