Rapidly Declining Quality on Storm Track

I'm late to this party, but I have to say that it is discouraging to see Mike H. make the Post of the Thread and then apparently have it deleted so I can't read it (except for the quoted snippets left in the later posts). Guess that should teach me to stay up on threads a little more actively.

I agree with the posters who have said that if you want the board quality to go up, the only way each individual can do it is by posting high quality stuff to the board THEMSELVES. You can't hope to change anybody else - they are outside your circle of influence - and it is hard enough to change oneself.

If anybody is looking for an outlet for their offseason weather obsession, how about becoming a contributor/editor of StormWiki? (See sig below).
 
Darren Addy said:
I'm late to this party, but I have to say that it is discouraging to see Mike H. make the Post of the Thread and then apparently have it deleted so I can't read it (except for the quoted snippets left in the later posts). Guess that should teach me to stay up on threads a little more actively.

I agree with the posters who have said that if you want the board quality to go up, the only way each individual can do it is by posting high quality stuff to the board THEMSELVES. You can't hope to change anybody else - they are outside your circle of influence - and it is hard enough to change oneself.

If anybody is looking for an outlet for their offseason weather obsession, how about becoming a contributor/editor of StormWiki? (See sig below).
Click to expand...

I deleted it/them.
 
Seeing as the purpose of this thread is now ambiguous with the latest material - I wanted to actually throw a reminder out there:

You can edit posts, people!

Yep - I thought that it might just be worth reminding everyone out there that - if indeed you post here and then after clicking the "submit" button realise that your post is laced with typos or misspellings......it is entirely possible to go and hit "EDIT" and fix your mistakes. This saves people the trouble of having to read grammatically dubious posts and it saves the poster from looking illiterate.

KL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Spelling and grammer aside, one of the spammers has punched through and has posted multiple spams in various areas of the forum. First one I've seen here... uh oh!
 
I know I'm entering this whole debate way too late, but I thought I would chime in for any straglers who might follow behind me. I, like many of you was requried to write the short essay about my weather/chasing background, and after several weeks, I was accepted.
I haven't really posted all that much in the last few months, mostly because I haven't had the time, but I try to add to some of the less intuitive posts from time to time, seeing as there is nothing to forecast. I probably wouldn't be considered one of the most "productive" users when it comes to posts. I actually enjoy posting to the Bar and Grill and Weather and Chasing threads, because honestly, most of the material in the forecast thread is just a little over my head. Hopefully with experience and schooling, I will be able to join those of you who write essays on a regular basis within that thread.
I honestly enjoyed writing the essay for membership. It made me feel much more accomplished ( if you would consider it an accomplishement) whenever I was accepted and able to post my thoughts. As a member I personally feel this was a good way to monitor the new members. There will always be some who know very little, if anything about the weather. As long as there is a desire to learn about the weather and contribute the forum, I feel people should be accepted.
The bickering about misspelling, and petty little errors, to me, is futile. As long as the post can be understood without having to read it four times, it's not a problem.
This forum, to me, was an opportunity to converse with people, to learn, and to discuss my passion. I have gained so much from being a member of stormtrack through reading the threads and taking in more and more useful information. Stormtrack isn't only a place to discuss complex thermodynamics and storm relative motions, it's also a place to meet people and socialize as normal people do. People don't regulary talk to each other using hefty meteoroligical jargon. People just like to feel like they're part of a community who shares a common interest. So some posts are low-quality. I'd rather read a low-quality post that's mildly interesting than a high-quality one that I can't understand. Those are just my thoughts on the issue.

I guess I could have just said "I agree with Mike Holingshead". That would have made things a lot shorter.:)
 
This is an outstanding thread and I'm glad it's gotten a lot of discussion, as like you all, I too want to do the right thing for the board.

I have not noticed any big decline in quality. There has been some decline due to the open membership policy but it seems that it's been outweighed by a very large volume of positive, on-topic threads.

As others have said, we can't regulate stupidity, and shouldn't take on the role of spelling police. Social conventions are pretty clear about ad-hominem attacks, but it's not so clear cut with spelling and grammar, and it's not right to antagonize users on such a basis unless they are causing significant disruption. What do you do about a bright 11-year old or a Dutch storm chaser posting here? What should their grammar standards be? It's really a Pandora's box. About all we can do is continue to maintain and expect high -content- standards. I would gamble that most users trying to fit in with our community will not want to look uncultured, and will find themselves compelled to emulate our standards. Those that aren't trying to fit in will inevitably tangle with the moderators over other issues and will get pruned out. Essays of course do make it easier to screen for the people we want but it's not a holy grail.

The reason we went to non-essayed applications is because it was taking too much time to go through them all, and applicants were starting to fall through the cracks. I knew this was getting to be a problem when I found the essay from a prominent SPC forecaster about 2-3 weeks after he sent it (oops). Also in spite of the drawbacks I see it as a good thing to periodically open the floodgates, even if it's a few that don't make the grade. Usually some sort of equilibrium is reached where the dummies don't fit in and drift elsewhere, and the "noobs" rapidly get educated and soon start contributing positively to the board. We've already seen some prominent examples of that happening.

As far as the Chase Forecasts / Chase Reports area, it is very likely that we will soon make it an "opt-in" system, where users cannot post until there's some sort of evidence (like an agreement, a quick quiz, whatever) that they understand and agree to the rules. Our current users would be grandfathered, but new users would not be able to post in there until they've gone through the procedure. This is of concern since we're about to get into the early spring season.

Myself and the moderators welcome continued discussion including about systems that work for the other boards (the Weenie system is interesting, though I have concern that could stifle discussion among soon-to-be chasers). We will consider the essay application format, especially with spring approaching.


Tim
 
I remember I had to apply to join Stormtrack.

If I recall correctly I had to email an application with my background and reasons for wanting to join etc.

I remember the pleasant suprise (with some feeling of honour I might add) that I was accepted..as many were turned down.

Is it me...or sadly, can anyone register nowadays...?
 
We have enabled essayed applications effective today. I think we've found a system that works well. Last year we had no alternative but to examine applications over on GMail, but thanks to vbulletin we've made application submissions a part of the board.

This should maintain quality as we roll into chase season, and it will eliminate the trickle of spam we've seen lately.

Tim
 
This is great news Tim and thank you for having only the best interests of the board at heart!

True enough - as the chase season approaches (which is it!) - posting quality will become more important. I look forward to seeing some quality stuff during the severe weather season.

KL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Tony Laubach
'Not Feeling It' Chase Burnout?
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
Jamie H
Jamie H
Andy Wehrle
Some personal thoughts on chasing; the "chase" for social media glory and keeping it all in perspective (TL;DR/soapbox alert!)
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
JamesCaruso
JamesCaruso
Gavin Groth
Cheap chasing setup
Replies
4
Views
3K
Marc R. O'Leary
Marc R. O'Leary
Jesse Risley
  • Sticky
Target Area Rules - New
2
Replies
16
Views
12K
Jesse Risley
Jesse Risley
Brett Roberts
Top 10 chase days of 2013
Replies
5
Views
3K
calvinkaskey
calvinkaskey
Back
Top