Rapidly Declining Quality on Storm Track

[Martin North]

How do you think I got in Martin....

Never had any luck with the e-mail and you know I'm active on the tornado stuff over here.

Pete

There is no-one more glad than I that you finally got on here. Tropical Cyclone parner in crime and all that...

Welcome...and I hope you bring your knowledge to the tropical discussions on these fine pages.

 

[rdale]

I like the opt-in for the chase forums, but I'm not sure that current users should be grandfathered. If you look at the NOW thread for today's LA tornadoes, it consists of telling us what a local TV met heard, reposting an LSR, and telling us that it's been forecast for days. Nothing of any value. I say everyone starts fresh for those forums...

 

[Robert Dewey]

I've been finding the "report" button to be useless. I usually report one liners that show up in W&C and the Forecast Room, but nothing ever happens...

 

[Jeff Miller]

In the Spring the highest area for quality and views,and what makes Stormtrack Stormtrack, is the Forecast and Reports sections, housing FORECAST, NOW, REPORT and DISC threads. This area should maintain the highest quality and should be watched by moderators consistently and, to maintain quality assurance, strictly regulated as to content. As Rewey said, there appears to be a delay in action when it comes to reporting low quality threads in this area.

My suggestion would be a dedicated moderator for these areas, whether current or new, to specifically watch over the forecast and now threads, with overflow support from the rest of the moderator team. Someone with the talent and time to handle this responsibility, who is aware of quality standards, and will keep these areas consistently high in quality. The importance of these threads, in my opinion, warrants this position, especially as spring approaches. Editing and moderating these threads is of highest importance in severe weather season, when on-the-field access and timely uploading, especially LOW NOISE, is absolutely vital. Just a suggestion (and no, I do NOT want this position, this is simply consultative advice.) By NO means am I Suggesting the moderator team is not currently doing their job. I'm simply stating this area needs individual support on the highest level, just as a technical administrator handles technical areas due to its importance, a specialized moderator would ensure this area, this all important area, runs smoothly as well.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I don't think noise in the Chase Forecasts and Chase Reports forums is a problem, is it? We have quite stringent rules and regulations for these areas, and it seems that most complaints we receive revolve around the rules being too strict. We do not budge on this, however, since the FCST, NOW, DISC, and REPORTS threads are the ultimate "bread and butter" of Stormtrack. We've seen a substantial rise in the contributions of SPC, NWS, NSSL, and other meteorologists in the past 12+ months, which I think is a testament to the quality of this part of our board.

We continue to suggest people use the "Report post" button if one thinks a post is noncompliant or needs to be addressed by a moderator. The moderators see all these reported posts, and we take action as necessary. If a post you report is not dealt with to your satisfaction, then shoot a PM to a moderator (or moderators, but please tell us if you are sending your message to multiple moderators).

 

[William Rayner]

As an editor (now retired), writer and professional wordsmith for more than 50 years, I have indeed also noticed the bad writing in ST forums. However, I see sloppy writing all over the Internet (not to mention in the modern media and elsewhere), and I attribute it to lack of formal English training in today's schools. I would assume that college grads and undergrads, as many ST members are, would know how to write a simple declarative sentence, but then again...Also, there is obviously a large amount of laziness involved. Using a keyboard properly is boring --- and there are no pictures or live video streams to look at. Besides, just because a person is a dedicated stormchaser doesn't mean he or she has to be literate. (However, I wonder whether they communicate as poorly during a chase as they do in the forums.)

 

[Mickey Ptak]

William no offence man but expecting people to write as well as a "retired" editor whom has 50 years of experience under his belt is just not a good comparison. Of course most of us will not write like a professional writer and quite frankly I had to go back and look up what a 'declarative sentence' meant again. It has been a very long time since I had a writing class. I certainly do not remember everything I ingested in high school nor English Comp in College. People forget things if they do not do it every day. I knew all that at one time but hell it’s been years…

I have certainly seen a few posts in which I could not understand what the poster was trying to write. No punctuation, run on sentiences, improper capitalization, and such… These posts were from users who live outside the USA. What I did see in response to these “non-educated” users’ posts was just as much of nonsense as the original post. The sly smart ass remarks directed towards the ignorance of the post is quite frankly appalling and the regular users who posted the comments should be ashamed of themselves. I am sure they have no regrets however because I am positive that those are the power nark ‘Report Post’ users who probably push the icon a dozen times a day.

As far as one-liners, have seen one particular know-it-all poster (I can’t say his name because, well that would brake a rule) post far more one-liners than another user I have ever known on this board and most of his one-liner posts seem to degrade another user in some way or another.

I agree that ST should have high quality Forecast and Reports posts, but quite frankly I am not sure the rest of the boards is worth getting so uptight about. The other sections are simply used for off-season BS IMO.

I like ST and have for many years. ST has grown from a great magazine to a great internet based forum. It’s gone through many changes and will in the future in order to keep it that way. This is probably the best I have seen ST since I joint in 2000. It is much better than the Yahoo days, that board was horrible lol. The mods IMO do a great job keeping this board alive and running as designed so hats off to their time and efforts.

I thought this thread had died, but it has yet again risen from the dead. So I post my opinion whether it was worthwhile of not.

Mick

 

[Jeff Smith]

I second Mick, anyone call for a vote?? lol

 

[Evan Stubbart]

I think we all have to much time on our hands this time of year. I'm a newer member and I'm sure I've added "crap" to some forums, but you also have to remember that this is a learning community as well. There are a lot of members in here that are legends in some ways that are sharing their knowledge of chasing, forecasting, etc with newer members like myself. It pisses me off that some members are attacking the people that run this site as a service for the most part. Everyone should be able to voice their comments about improvements- but lets try to show some respect. If you don't like the way this board works- go start your own...

 

[MatthewCarman]

I think we all have to much time on our hands this time of year. I'm a newer member and I'm sure I've added "crap" to some forums, but you also have to remember that this is a learning community as well. There are a lot of members in here that are legends in some ways that are sharing their knowledge of chasing, forecasting, etc with newer members like myself. It pisses me off that some members are attacking the people that run this site as a service for the most part. Everyone should be able to voice their comments about improvements- but lets try to show some respect. If you don't like the way this board works- go start your own...

I agree with Evan. This site is a good place to learn about weather and forecasting and all new members should be welcome here even if they did not fill out a essay. I like how the staff cares about it's members to.

Mike I understand how you feel but you should not personaly dislike anyone because of what they post. Dont judge a book by it's cover.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

I agree with what Mick and Evan said. I personally don't care what a "declarative sentence" is, I don't think everyone could write well like a very experienced editor... we're human, mistakes happen and we aren't perfect. Lots of people don't have perfect writing skills and I'm one of them. I honestly don't care how well something is written... I just want to be able to read it and understand what is being said by the poster. If I can't read it, I don't try to read it... I just move on to the next post that interests me.

I've been a member since Stormtrack went online, it's a great place to be a part of. I give lots of credit to the people who have kept this place up and running since coming online, despite all the issues we've ran into along the way.

 

[Shane Adams]

I've found, after a decade of this stuff, the best way to avoid all the off-season silliness is to just walk away. I left ST, WX-CHASE, and every other wx-related forum I was involved with months ago, and am so glad I did. I don't look at SPC, NWS, or anything chase-related. I haven't watched a chase video in four months, and I couldn't tell you what's happening in Denver this year if a gun was to my head.

And it's awesome.

It's amazing the perception you get when stepping away from something you've spent so long immersed inside of. Coming back after several weeks and seeing these same old tired threads in January, I don't regret it a bit. I still love chasing, but the need to be involved in it year-round is completely, and utterly gone.

 

[fplowman]

Hang me from a tree.. lol

But i must say the problem with stormtrack is the lil' whiners and complainers.. I shoot from the hip and tell it like it is.. All the lil' whiners and complainers know who you are..

Same people who arent ever happy unless there is controversy of some sort. Same people who get the shiv in the state school. Same people that make our personal lives and our professional lives hell.

When society or someone within it reacts in a violent way to thier stupid lil whims then everyone acts surprised..

Can you now see why I have avoided this 13 page thread? people really need slapped sometimes ( literally ).. Only medicine that helps heal their mental ills.

 

[Robert Dewey]

All the lil' whiners and complainers know who you are..

My bad - hang ME from a tree (I started the thread) LOL

 

[fplowman]

My bad - hang ME from a tree (I started the thread) LOL

Yeah But i kinda like you lol