Difficult for many of us to become involved in what we are not interested in. Or a lot of the time with younger people I just have no idea of what they are talking about I guess because I don't have the right context.
I think you must like the kind of discourse which sharpens your mind, or your sword, or whatever that is in your avatar - the bow of a cello perhaps? Because seems you very much prize and are proud of your sharpness of mind and ability to reason and draw conclusions and refute, etc. Like in a rebate. So not so much interest in laxatives and getting drunk or fave movies or sex and relationships or constantly excoriating Trump. So I think very few of us on here can even come close to matching your powers because I think most of us are more mentally lazy and we prefer not doing the work that would require. Aren't their sites that specialize in higher end discourse and more learned discussion? Perhaps not though and the net is just one vast wasteland of gossip and pop culture and people running their numbers.
It’s true many topics aren’t appealing or even relevant to everyone, which is why more members, hence more varied interests, would be a boon to this (or any such) site.
My avatar? Don Barzini, himself. A character from ‘The Godfather’. Not sure what else you see there.
There are indeed a few other sites dedicated to more erudite discussions, and I am an active member on some of them. I do enjoy well-founded debate and intelligent discussions. This, perhaps, is what makes the level of interaction on this particular site so disappointing, if only by comparison. I hold some remote hope however, of encouraging an elevation of the discourse here. Time may tell if this effort is ultimately in vain.
I say there is merit in persuading people to really think and reason. I can accept that, sadly, many find that an unattractive option.
Glad that you do have more satisfying outlets for your efforts. Sorry I did not get the Godfather reference. Guess I thought that really is your name!
This post was edited by officegirl at May 5, 2019 9:40 AM MDT
For what it's worth, sites like this don't generally advertise. We rely on word-of-mouth and people finding us through search engines. Google crawls our site several times a day. I've run searches for questions in Google and found them minutes after they were posted here. There's the good and the bad. Whatever we have posted is what people find in search engines, so if all we have is witty banter and social questions, we're only going to get new members who enjoy those things. I think most members don't realize that the site is what they make of it. You guys literally have control over the types of new members we attract and whether they stick around or not. There are certainly formatting changes we could make, and I'd like to some day, but people rarely stick around for the features of a site. It's the people and the discussions.
Ergo, if you like a type of discussion that isn't happening here, I would humbly suggest you start asking questions that are similar to the ones you want to see asked. Even if our current member base doesn't show interest or provide the answers you're hoping to see, the questions you ask will be beacons, calling in others with similar interests.
In the past, I've gone so far as to pull up trending topics and start posing questions I know will rank well in Google. It's effective, but time-consuming, particularly because I want to be able to engage with people, not just put up questions I may or may not have interest in and then drop them. But, in all seriousness, if people started posting more of what they like and stick with it, then we will start attracting a larger and more diverse member base.
I'm not putting all this on you guys. I can do some things I think will make a difference too, but I do want to make sure that you guys know you have a considerable amount of power.
JA, your suggestion is a good one, and let’s give that a go. Depending on the current crop of inquisitors hasn’t lifted the discourse here, but clearly what is needed is stronger input.
I put up some “trial” questions early on, on substantive topics, but their reception was rather underwhelming. But it was about what is typical for most questions posted here. I have found that, as Office Girl mentioned, there isn’t always interest in weightier topics. Maybe we can encourage something better.
What I wish is that it had millions of followers. No idea how it lasted this long with the base it has.
This post was edited by Zack at May 6, 2019 6:39 PM MDT
Agreed. I periodically come back for short periods of time to see what's changed. But I definitely prefer larger sites like reddit that offers a lot more in terms of diversity and interests.
Don Barzini 