Megathreads?

[beathappening]

I made a small rantish post on a thread complaining about the sheer number of redundant threads made on both general and reviews. Lately we've been seeing an influx of new members and it seems like we see a smiley thread made every other day (no offense smiley) along with other popular vendors. Most people don't utilize the search bar or want to bump existing threads, so we end up with an abundance of topics asking the same or similar thing. This is a common problem on forums, it's nothing new, but one solution to this issue is megathreads. We could have megathreads for all major vendors (smiley, rva, Sosa, plenty of others) as need warrants, and direct everyone wishing to post about a vendor specific question to one of these threads. This would majorly cut down on topic redundancy, as well as keep all vendor questions/answers/info in one place for future reference. There are probably some non vendor topics that could eventually use a megathread, an introduction thread for new members to introduce themselves, Indo suppliers/importing questions, coupon codes, etc etc. I'm sure there are more specifics that I'm missing right now, I just wanted to address this and get feedback on it. Seems like it would benefit everyone, including lurkers. Whatchu think?

[®eddit®efugee]

I like how it would be easier to see a transition in quality by reading the newest posts and then going backwards or comparing to the first few posts. On the other hand, sometimes shit (a coupon or drama) is going down NOW and so maybe people would be interested in cross posting (where applicable) to a stickied post of anything exciting going on this week with any vendors? But that might be making it too complicated. So maybe sticking with one vendor per megathread is the way to go.

[e_poison]

In general, I'm against megathreads as they're not great for browsing especially when they have a ton of pages. That means people coming in from search engines won't be able to find what they're looking for since the thread keeps expanding and, let's be honest, google will never index these properly. It also makes forums look dead when everything is condensed like that, and this discourages new users from signing up and feeling like their voice will be heard among the 100s of replies in a megathread. For now, going to stick with the current system.

Although, this does bring up a good point - we could definitely organize better into specialized subforums. Coming soon I am going to make an Advocacy forum for petitions and the more politic side of kratom, a forum for people looking to quit kratom, and a few other niche forums that would focus on specific subtopics. I was even thinking of making different subforums for each major vendor. But all of this will come later down the road. Right now I feel it would be overkill as we don't have enough members to support so many subforums.

I am all for making a megathread for things such as introductions though, similar to the daily burn megathread.

[beathappening]

So instead of having one thread for a vendor, we split it up into 9+, and that's easier for people coming in from google? Well that's great for potential lurkers, but what about the current members that have already decided to make an account here? Should we be inconvenienced for a theoretical person? Is this forum for lurkers or what...

Sorry, I probably sound like a dick but I'm honestly just asking... I just want to know what the mods think I guess

[®eddit®efugee]

Poison makes a good point. Sometimes having lots of new threads, even if a lot of them seem redundant, makes things on a board feel fresh which can in turn draw more participants in. I can see both sides.

I like the idea of bringing in a quitting kratom section. It never sat right with me the animosity that the quitting kratom sub had towards the regular kratom sub, which in turn caused the kratom sub to sometimes lash out as well.

[beathappening]

makes things on a board feel fresh which can in turn draw more participants in. I can see both sides.

I like the idea of bringing in a quitting kratom section. It never sat right with me the animosity that the quitting kratom sub had towards the regular kratom sub, which in turn caused the kratom sub to sometimes lash out as well.

I understand, but...Isn't that a bit deceptive? Maybe, maybe not. I guess it's a trade off... do you want to make things easier for your users or your lurkers...

Agree with more subs though that's a great idea. The more all-inclusive things are the better... Short of a random acts of speciosa sub....Reddit is a good template to start from, they were a good community except for certain issues where they had to protect themselves from the Reddit gods...here the mods don't have to answer to anyone and there's a lot of room for expansion

[e_poison]

So instead of having one thread for a vendor, we split it up into 9+, and that's easier for people coming in from google? Well that's great for potential lurkers, but what about the current members that have already decided to make an account here? Should we be inconvenienced for a theoretical person? Is this forum for lurkers or what...

When people create an account and can start their own personalized thread for their review, to me that is much more personal than leaving a reply in a megathread and allows for better conversations. Let's face it - replies and questions get lost in megathreads constantly. It's just not a great conversational format IMO.

Sorry, I probably sound like a dick but I'm honestly just asking... I just want to know what the mods think I guess

You're good. Being passionate means you care. Trust me, I understand. I'll discuss it with them and see what they think. I'll also keep my eyes on this thread to see how others feel as well.

[herbalhippie]

Not really a fan of megathreads. If I just want to note what strain of kratom I took today, fine. Otherwise, if I'm just coming to a forum I don't necessarily want to wade through a 68 page thread.

[beathappening]

I see the downside of megathreads. Thats just one idea. But I think using the search function should be actively encouraged. We don't need a repeat of the same thing over and over. That isn't going to make anyone's (including the large lurker demographic there seems to be) life (or since it was brought up, Google's) easier save for the person that creates the thread that is too lazy to search first. Look at r/kratom these days, do you really want that? The same "does kratom make you constipated" poop thread every other day (just an example)? Surely there's a better way than having 9 threads asking the same thing. That and megathreads aren't mutually exclusive, that was just one solution to what is still (and will become more of) a problem. This is merely a suggestion from someone that has posted on many good and bad forums. If you guys aren't concerned with it right now, then ok. It's not my forum or anything, I'm just basing this off of other already busy and successful forums that have already dealt with this same thing. Call it growing pains. If it's like this now, and it is what it was a year ago, think what it'll be a year from now.

[acejestyr15]

So as a member from damn near the beginning of doubeM, a member of r/Kratom as well as other different forum groups/subs, and also member of a some of the very few remaining FB groups I get the frustration about super repetitive post topics. But at the very same time I don't think that MegaThreads are the answer nor even work very well like eP and hh both said due to having to scroll do many patches just for the 1 or 2 posts you're after. I don't know what else could possibly fix that issue and am kinda at the point that ya pretty much can't.... Just is what it is! There are much bigger and worse problems that I think there can be either which way. Idk, I personally feel this is the best group or forum I have been a part of.... Great combo of simple format, awesome group of people, and top notch founders/mods to keep it all together.

I guess essentially my Outlook is don't sweat the small stuff, which coincidentally is totally contrasting to my day to day real life hahaha!!! I've always looked at this place and group as a bit of a get away for me so I try and make the best of it and enjoy the little bit off time each day that I can't spend here.....

Rock on!! Pleasant Kratoming everyone!!