Additionally: I am resentful that you tend to screw with aspects of the site that you yourself profess not to use but the stuff that the rest of us use and gripe about never rise to your level of concern.
I also don't see why making the site more alienating and less clear will somehow make it more user friendly. A new user is going to have zero ability to suss out the logic at play. Finally, we've gone around and around and around on tags: Yet it seems that integrating the voluminous community discussion from previous adventures with content taxonomy does not interest you.
Personally I think you are coming at this a little hard but I don't think you are wrong. These experiments have, over time, made the site better. Many of the experiments were total failures but gave mk and others something to ruminate on. I really have to give mk and the team credit, when they have ruined the site to the point where all I can do is shake my head at their folly they have reversed course in a hurry. I don't know if trying to head this change off at the pass is worth it but something might be gained from things getting smashed up to see what happens. If the problem that is trying to be solved is two groups aren't jiving with each other and we'd like to keep those groups on different sides of the room, than I think this will fail. It will probably make a few people happier to be put in a feelings playpen but I think it would suck more life out of a site that is teetering. My two cents. Please someone post a screen shot of the time they changed the UI into three columns, that was the absolute worst thing ever.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this. A lot of time and effort went in to that. Such a colossal failure, but I still think it looks beautiful.... not functional, but beautiful. My favorite part of seeing that are the names. scrimetime, caio, StJohn, barradarcy, alpha0, NotPhil, insomniasexx, these were some cool hubskiers. (pours out some of his 40oz)
You know, I bet they sell 40’s at the High Dive bar where we met. Perhaps we will have to plan a post-covid reunion? I enjoyed meeting you in person. I would love a Hubski SF meetup
I miss hanging out! That was a great evening, even though your car got very broken into. I would love a post-COVID reunion, but full disclosure, I live in New Orleans these days. You or mkshould give me a jangle if you're ever in town, I know all the best dives. Or did, before they all shut down. Even the Hunk Oasis on Bourbon Street is still shut. Won't someone please spare a thought for all the poor misfortunate hunks who are out of work now?? Adopt a hunk today and you could be saving a life.
And here's why I'm coming at it hard: MK: I have an idea. ME: That is a terrible idea for the following reasons. MK: We're doing it anyway. ME: ... MK, A MONTH LATER: Well that was a terrible idea note that not all changes are terrible and I don't shit on every change. But these little focus groups aren't really about gathering input, they're about paving the way for a change that has already been decided on.I really have to give mk and the team credit, when they have ruined the site to the point where all I can do is shake my head at their folly they have reversed course in a hurry.
I have tried to be benevolent and productive. I've failed multiple times. The one thing I like about experiments, is that we can actually see what it feels like, and how it works. I don't see reverting as a complete failure. We haven't done one in a long time. I am ok with being wrong. At the very least, it might be interesting. I do get a good amount of thanks from people here, but over the last few years, I get more expressions of grief. Many tell me that they feel that magic is gone. I feel it too. It makes me sad. I think it's worth trying something new. I don't feel that we have much to lose considering the current state and trajectory. We can always roll it back.
I have been asking people their opinions offline, including you. I do care. This was not my first take by any means, but it's one that is doable. I'm still on the fence about whether or not we try to make following affect posts and comments or just comments. I've gone back and forth on that. In some ways it's simpler if it affects both, but it assumes you want both from a user which might not be the case. Also, it'd be interesting to see what happens with tags if they actually matter, including community and personal tags.
This means only that you've been seeking approval, not that you've actually workshopped the change. At no point did you discuss any of the above with me or I would have told you it's a terrible idea. Then why don't you build out a better tagging system? I have been asking people their opinions offline, including you.
Also, it'd be interesting to see what happens with tags if they actually matter, including community and personal tags.
mk, I love tags. I use the shit out of tags. They're a sorting mechanism for me. I have dedicated 10 years of my life to posting to #hubskioriginalmusicclub and a good amount of effort towards #tngpodcast and #songsforpabs and #higgsy and #feelgoodhubski etc.... Hell, even #wheresthebeef Tags matter.
I thought your critique was that we didn't have enough people. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. The one thing that most everyone seems to agree on is that the site has declined, and that commenting is not great. I want to make an effort that tries to address that, and maybe improve upon it. Everyone is rightfully skeptical, but if nothing can be done, then Hubski is in very a bad spot. This could prove cause for improving it.At no point did you discuss any of the above with me or I would have told you it's a terrible idea.
Then why don't you build out a better tagging system?
This is interesting... I feel like this... but I acknowledge that it's mostly my lack of interaction that both contributes to this feeling for me, AND others. I don't know that the site has changed... people have. We get different jobs. We have births. We have deaths. We get new jobs. We graduate. People are in different places at different times, and the traffic on the site ebbs and flows. Sure... it's in a pretty big dip these days... but I'm not convinced it's a mechanical thing. I still don't understand (but am trying). There's no doubt that chat has become an EASY way for me to interact quickly with the users on the site without dipping in to the bigger pool. When I have ten minutes, it's easier to pop in to chat and have some laughs than to read a goodlongread and then discuss it at length. In that respect, perhaps chat has reduced my commenting... but arguably, it brings me here more often than not, and then I stick around to read. In the end think comments here are so much better than anywhere else on the web.The one thing that most everyone seems to agree on is that the site has declined,
and that commenting is not great.
It was and is. This will not improve the situation whatsoever. The fact that Hubski requires a tutorial and a video in order to acclimate new users says a lot about the learning curve and you are making it steeper. More than that, you are punishing the people who are contributing. You're effectively giving me Alzheimers - I can say something but I don't know who heard it, and people can respond to stuff I said without me knowing it. You say you're going to solve this problem by adding yet another toggle - in other words, if users are deep enough into the minutiae of driving your site, they can opt out of brain damage. Commenting threads are inane because everyone knows everyone else, everyone knows everyone else's positions, and everyone knows who will add what. Making those conversations harder won't improve the signal to noise ratio, it will reduce the bandwidth. If you had asked me "what can we do to get more users" I would say "100% UI, dude" much like I've been saying "100% UI, dude" for lo this past decade. But you didn't ask me that, because you knew I'd say it, and then you'd have to rationalize yet again why you aren't going to do anything about it.I thought your critique was that we didn't have enough people.