[Rudra Sen]

6000+ members in two and a half years!

Sounds extremely impressive. Possibly can create a big envy for other forums. And I’m sure it does.

During this period we’ve seen new forum from big publisher. Started and that’s about it.

We’ve also seen cases where somebody tried opening new forum through this forum. Didn’t have a success though.

So what could be the reasons for this success? Or is it only success or there is also some failure?

A SWOT analysis may help.

Strength:
1. A large group of members and numbers growing daily.
2. Huge knowledge bank. Almost everything under the sun related to (automobile) subject is here.
3. Good posts from knowledgeable members for everybody to share.
4. Extremely helpful members.
5. Unbiased views.
6. No financial support from any organisation. Hence, freedom of voice.

Weakness:
1. More members mean more of everything. Wrong posts, bad posts, often using forum as a chat room.
2. Misusing forum. Results are there across the board. Often not maintaining board rules, making personal comments and attacks. Using forum as market place to promote services.
3. More often than not new members don’t go through board rules. Their post quality reflects that.
4. Senseless one line posts. More to add post counts than adding any value.
5. Starting new threads without checking out if that subject is already discussed or not.

Opportunity:
1.Take time to read various threads. Probably one would get to know more than what he does today.
2.Unearth old threads. It’s a treasure trove there.
3.Think twice before opening a new thread or posting a reply. Remember, your views are read worldwide.
4.Maintain forum’s pole position. We’re far ahead from the competition. Well, if there’s any.
5.We’re on top of the chart on Google search list.

Threat:
Our reputation will get seriously dented if we don’t take all of the above in cognizance. We all know it’s easier to break than to build. One can possibly add more points. One can also throw questions. But give it a thought and you’ll find how true are these mentioned points.

When we join a public forum, we’re bound by the board rules. It’s only to ensure quality. All of us have the equal responsibility to maintain that. Sadly we’re slipping down . Recent example is team-bhp national meet thread. I’m not going to elaborate on this but we all know what’s happening there. It’s up to the members now to take it forward.

What car is another section where we have problem. Please check previous threads on this section before putting up a new thread about your enquiry. It’s not that complicated. Search function works pretty ok. Besides, we don’t have so many choices of cars in India yet.

Same applies for tyre, wheels and ICE. Enough and more covered there.

Stop putting single line meaningless, valueless posts. It adds nothing except degrading your value. Please do not use this discussion board as chat room. All new computers come with enough memory to allow multiple open windows. Use one of them for chat. C’mon I’m sure there are other ways.

Finally let us remember, this forum is our own. We’re responsible for it. We, the 6000 odd members who have used our genuine experience, interest, knowledge and had the generosity to share with other like minded people.

We’ve built this forum and earned the respect and stature it commands today.

We’re free. That is why we need to be in control.

We’re liberal. That is why we need to be sensitive.

We’re knowledgeable. That is why we need to respect others views.

We love the automotive world. That’s why we’re here on this forum.

We’re Team BHP. That is why we need to come together.

And make sure we don’t become just-another-of-those-forums-on-the-net.

[jkdas]

one of a kind forum.. I have only one request to TBHPians, please post more during weekends too. Come weekend and everyone gets busy :(

oh and another one, Use teh 'search' option before you start a new thread.

Nice news on GTO's wedding day , 6k TBHPians!

[Rtech]

The old man speaketh the truth.

Guys, we need to get our act together and maintain the quality of our forum.

[malgudi]

6K+ members is very impressive. I came across this forum when I was looking to ICE my car and the wealth of information I found here was simply amazing. I have seen forums where you need to be a member, if you need to read any post on the forum. I guess a trick that they use to simply increase their member count. But on TBHP the 6K+ members are there not because they were forced to register but out of their own free will. This makes it all the more impressive. And to top this I think the moderators here do a very good work to make it a pleassure place for all the TBHPians.

[Rayden]

Agree with jkdas. But the search option sometimes doesnt work.
Guess the mods could do something about that.

Great forum anyways. :-)

[revharder]

i have been onto many automotive forums and stayed there for sometime, but they all are so ill-managed that after few weeks, i just moves out of those graveyards!
but i am really very happy to be on this forum, where moderators are trying their best to keep the quality intact. very commendable job!

the knowledge, taste and enthusiasm of almost every member here is worth a praise, although there are some exceptions, but thats everywhere, so nothing worth botheration!

being a member of this strict-managed forum, i am trying my best not to
mention anything wrong/knavish, and trying to go as per the guidelines laid down for all of us.

P.S.:-
OT: by the topic name of this thread, i got confused for a second that it might be regarding Rear View Mirrors/Cameras

[Harrie]

2 cents from my side

Type out a post. But dont post it as yet. Wait for a minute or two. Get back to your post and read it once again. Ask yourself

• If its really necessary for you to post it.
• Is someone going to benefit from your post or is it going to contribute to the thread in anyway?
• Do you really mean to say what you are saying? Or is it just an emotional outburst? Emotional outbursts dont do any one any good.
• If you are hurt by a remark some one has made, let them know and stop there.Let the mods know if you want the remark deleted. Dont let the your's and the forum's standard down by getting back at them.

And most important of all remember you win no prizes for posting the maximum replies in a day.

[Steeroid]

Old man

Wise words! Quite often we forget to look at the rear view and tend to forget the way we came down. And if we happen to be ahead, we tend to think that we're in a world of our own when there might be others snapping at our heels.

It also helps us see the muck we've accumulated in the back seat over the years, for too often we're preoccupied with the way forward.

Amen to all ye said, Old Man. Be assured that we're here to join the party, not to spoil it.

Cheers

Steer

[Psycho]

Rudra: Amen to those thoughts with the mods all the way

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Old man

Wise words! Quite often we forget to look at the rear view and tend to forget the way we came down. And if we happen to be ahead, we tend to think that we're in a world of our own when there might be others snapping at our heels.

It also helps us see the muck we've accumulated in the back seat over the years, for too often we're preoccupied with the way forward.

Amen to all ye said, Old Man. Be assured that we're here to join the party, not to spoil it.

Cheers

Steer

Couldn't have put it across any better. It is important to first look at ourselves and make improvements beofre we can start pointing fingers at others. I hope all of us can work towards eliminating our weakness and guard ourselves against any threats. Adopting this approach will only help us better an already amazing community. Cheers to the likes of Rudra. May your tribe grow.

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by rtech

Guys, we need to get our act together and maintain the quality of our forum.

The solution is in Sideways' post:

"It is important to first look at ourselves and make improvements before we can start pointing fingers at others. I hope all of us can work towards eliminating our weakness and guard ourselves against any threats. Adopting this approach will only help us better an already amazing community."

and if we respect each other and chuck the attitude out of the window.

[Rehaan]

islero, tifosikrishna, varunroy, revharder & nitinhedge
I have moved your posts to a thread which touched upon the same topic earlier.
The reason we allow non-posting members > mentioned here.

Rudra, very clearly laid out, excellently written!

jkdas, Rayden & EVERYONE ELSE
We are aware that the search feature is our achilles heel, and it is high on our list for the "post honeymoon upgrade".
For the meantime check out this useful guide we put together > Search Feature For Advanced Users

Harrie, i couldnt agree with your post more! Before posting people need to think if their post is going to have any value for the thousands of members that read the board, before they actually click the button.

cheers,
R

[Samurai]

Somehow this thread just got ignored after few hours of attention. Not something that usually happens to Rudra's threads. That after being a sticky in the best collection of threads section. What happened, was the usually emotional content missing? Probably that's the cause.

This thread was talking business, in fact it was a SWOT analysis, you can't get clearer than that. Why was Rudra talking in a business tone which is quite a departure from his normal approach? Simple, he was not looking for accolades like "Great writeup" or "Cool stuff, keep it up", etc, etc. Instead he wanted some serious introspection into the current status of the forum. In fact he wrote it during business hours so that no one would credit it to scotch. I suspect this thread was not created just for glancing at the rear view mirror, but to discuss concrete ideas and steps to be taken to fix the problem. So, let's give the response it deserves.

Folks, we have a snowballing problem as mentioned in the first post. We are having an accelerated growth, while that is usually a good thing, it also becomes a problem if we don't manage it well. As you guys are aware, number of moderators have been increased recently and we guys are getting stricter in enforcing the existing rules. But we constantly get two kinds of feedback:

1) Team-BHP quality is going down... because of all the reasons mentioned under Weakness in Rudra's post.
2) Team-BHP not fun anymore and is turning into a military school or primary school... because the mods are being trigger happy.

Ironically we get both the above comments mostly from senior/longtime members. While we welcome the feedback, it is very confusing as to how or what members want us to do.

Listen, we moderators are not super-humans, we can't monitor every thread and catch every violation. Also, we vary from very old, old, young and very young, with different value systems, with different life experiences from different decades. So, we think very differently across the mod spectrum thereby adequately representing the Team-BHP member pool. But we all have taken up the responsibility of enforcing the Team-BHP rules to the best of our interpretation. Some rules are very clear (like 2 smilie rule) and some are guidelines to the moderators to use their discretion. And none of us are full time moderators, we have day jobs or colleges to attend.

Many senior/longtime BHPians don't take mod action on their post well. Often we get protest PMs or public protests when we take certain mod actions or even talk about it. One classic example is break the smilie rule and say "sorry mods, please ignore this time". Hey, I am human too, I like to ignore it in all bonhomie. But, I am thinking what next? If some members start ignoring rules and we don't enforce out of goodwill, next we will be accused of partiality. You didn't delete the excess smilies from member X, why are you deleting mine? Once moderators lose credibility, that's when a forum starts going downhill. I know this routine pretty well, I have been active on various Internet forums since 1993. Similar thing is happening to most other rules, especially the ones that involve some interpretation.

When we do enforce the rules, we are often accused of being trigger happy or implementing primary/military school discipline. Often newer mods get the brunt of it, probably because members tend to think they are new on the job. (Trust me guys, we all get ample training in the moderator school. ) The problem is actually something else. I know this feeling, I too have been at the receiving end of mod action in many forums including this one. I know it hurts our fragile ego to have our posts edited or worse deleted. But one should stop taking it personally, accept the decision and move on. We moderators often edit hundreds of posts collectively in a day. If you guys start protesting even 25% of the mod actions, it becomes very difficult for us to be careful with your bruised emotions. Moderating a highly popular forum like Team-BHP is like walking a very thin tight-rope. See what I wrote about it here, that was much before I became moderator, so it is an unbiased opinion. If I delete or edit a post, it is not censorship or military dictatorship. I am only enforcing a board rule which somebody violated either in the heat of the moment or lack of awareness or just carelessness. In case of rules that involve some interpretation by the moderator, if you don't agree with the interpretation, just make your point politely and move on. Don't sulk or make a scene, it only hurts your credibility as a member.

In light of the above, we really expect a hand from senior/longtime BHPians in keeping the quality of Team-BHP high. Even active BHPians/Newbies can help. You guys are aware of the rules as much as the moderators, therefore it would be a great help if you report violations more often, smile when you are the victim of any mod action, and don't violate the rules in the first place.

[Rehaan]

I think Samurai has laid out the mods perspective very clearly.... i guess a lot of members do not take a look at the larger picture when they do certain things or pass certain comments.

Remember that it is YOUR good content & high quality contributions that keep the quality on TBHP high.

cya
R

[paharino1]

My 2 cents of thought on "Quality of Search "

Most of the new members who join this forum - stumble upon this site - in search of specific information like :
- Which car to buy ?
- User review of cars
- Car x Vs Car Y
- Brand x Vs Brand Y (Cars, ICE, Accessories, etc)
- Mileage

While lots of information is availble in New Car Drives, Long Term Reports - but searching through threads for "specific" information takes time.. So maybe Mods can give a thought on this - eg. by Brand/Model - Queries, Drives & long term reports.

This would be a great help to Newbies & would help all by :
- Reduction of duplicate posts
- lesser work for mods