Galaxy66
Jeremy Beadle
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I didn't even know you could sell things on facebook !
Where ? How ?
https://www.facebook.com/help/894935210589667/
I didn't even know you could sell things on facebook !
Where ? How ?
I went away, providing the freedom that you enjoy...back now. Flippant remarks aren't welcome
however it doesnt really explain
It does really
No it really doesnt - if you've got time to post in classifieds you've got time to post elsewhere .. of course maybe you don't want to and thats fine, but "I didnt have time to post outside the classies is the sorriest excuse since "the dog ate my homework"
Just review the classifieds vs activity say 6 months ago vs other 2nd hand mechanisms vs 6 months ago. This forum on the grand scale of things is a very small proportion of the 2nd hand market and it's not that other markets have increased or decreased. It's a direct result of changes to the forum. IMHO any other view is just burying your head in the sand
Except you miss the point. The admins of the forum want the classifieds to be a small add-on to the forum and they don't want it to be a classifieds site with a small forum on the side.
What you describe is what they wanted to achieve...
But I havent once seen the admins state that their goal was to make the classifieds a lesser part of the site? Happy for you to prove me wrong with a quote from an admin but I havent seen this.
I think you actually missed the point of my post. I'm not saying that wasn't the point it's just that admin haven't openly stated that and people have suggested the classifieds have reduced for other reasons.
The classifieds have always been a perk for contributing members, there are traders here that pay for the privilege to sell their wares, do you think that its fair that some members,I would agree with recent comments in here apart from staff/mods don't really seem to admit that the classifieds have died due to the change / clarification of rules.
oh the ironyAnd it was curious that only ones that complained, in the thread, were the ones that were well over or fast approaching that magic 50%.
The classifieds have always been a perk for contributing members, there are traders here that pay for the privilege to sell their wares, do you think that its fair that some members,
only interest in TP was buying and then selling equipment ( for a profit) and not paying any fee's, be that eBay's / paypal's or TP's?
And never posting an image or joining in discussions / helping other members etc etc?
Over the last few years, we were spending 90% of our time, "sorting out" the classifieds and its various problems,
chasing down and asking perpetual habitual buyers / sellers to at least post around the forums a little,mostly the warnings / requests were ignored.
The system was automated, I'm sure you have seen the discussion thread where all the different scenario's were discussed.
And it was curious that only ones that complained, in the thread, were the ones that were well over or fast approaching that magic 50%.
Now its automated, I guess less than 10% of our time is taken up with it.
I think you are missing the point of this thread?
It's not a "is the automation of the classifieds threshold a good idea" thread, it's a "what has caused the classifieds activity to decrease" thread.
Which also misses the point that most people seem unconcerned, the Classifieds just isn't that important to many (most?) members.It's not a "is the automation of the classifieds threshold a good idea" thread, it's a "what has caused the classifieds activity to decrease" thread.
It seems that previously the classified thread was a major drain on resources. Automating has reduced their workload, and that if the knock-on effect was that classifieds activity dropped then that was an acceptable price for the reduction of moderation required. The standpoint over classifieds appears to be that it's only be a very minor part of overall activity, and this quietening is not at all a bad thing. There have been calls from some (not mods) to shut it altogether.
Not sure what you are asking?My point was that moderators / admin don't seem to be willing to state that.
Not sure what you are asking?
The threshold for classies access is to stay below a ratio of 50/50 posts.
Is that what you mean?
Or why has activity dropped off?
Its always peaked and troughed, many posts that were in the classifieds were "old" and items had been sold months before,
the other thing that is now automated, is that posts with no replies, either from buyers or a "bump" from the seller, automatically get archived,
after 5 days, so only current items for sale remain on view.
You wouldn't believe the amount of RTM's we got from people wanting to buy, having read through several pages only to find that the item(s) was (were) sold weeks ago.
Its leaner and meaner
Is that what you meant?
I'm sorry but I think it's you that has missed the point. The OP question was why activity has reduced. Your point would be correct if they asked "why is the classifieds posts so low compared to other areas of the forum". But then again the threshold for having access would also be a reason as well.Which also misses the point that most people seem unconcerned, the Classifieds just isn't that important to many (most?) members.
And I see the OP disappeared from this thread ages agoThe latter ie why it's dropped off as after all that was the OP question ie why less than say 2 years ago.
I can only guesstimate that its taken about 40-50% of (old defunked) threads out of the equation.I wasn't fully aware re 5 days rule so that has obviously also contributed by cleaning up any old threads
That has been in place for years, I'm not sure how many but certainly well over two, maybe nearer 5, I really can't remember.But then again the threshold for having access would also be a reason as well.
That has been in place for years, I'm not sure how many but certainly well over two, maybe nearer 5, I really can't remember.
Actually your'll be surprised, with over 60,000 members, ( and new ones joining every day) unless they just join for the hell of it, and not post, everyone of them, that has been here a couple of months and joined in,I was just pointing out that obviously the classifieds should be less busy than other areas of the forum because it isn't open to all.
The standpoint over classifieds appears to be that it's only be a very minor part of overall activity, and this quietening is not at all a bad thing. There have been calls from some (not mods) to shut it altogether.
l've often said close it, it does seem to cause more whinging then anything else.
Would the forum be worse off without ?
For those truly here to enjoy a photography forum l seriously doubt it
Posts that seem to have been made for no other reason than making a post????7 posts to this thread in the last 2 days
l've often said close it, it does seem to cause more whinging then anything else.
Would the forum be worse off without ?
For those truly here to enjoy a photography forum l seriously doubt it
That was put in place, in the days when we were a small community, and goods were being sold at a good price, member to member.
Several people cottoned on to this, mates telling mates etc, people were joining up, just to buy cheap gear, never to be seen again.
Ah so you are oneIn my case, I only came to the forum because I'd heard elsewhere this was a good place to pick up a used camera, and then only stuck around
It's purely coincidental I'm sure ..It's ironic, isn't it, that talking about the classifieds helps one to get/maintain access to the classifieds.
As above the forums ( all of them) do peak and trough, but yes at the moment its "quiet" and people do drift away,.My perception is that the forum is quieter now than any time I can remember since 2013
As above the forums ( all of them) do peak and trough, but yes at the moment its "quiet" and people do drift away,.
When I joined, nearly 10 years ago, there was well under 2000 members and most of them active.
Quite a few people I knew back then have drifted away, and / or have not posted in a very long time ( years some of them) Of course I don't / didn't know everyone,
but its an example how things change, people move on to other things.
Also, it appears than a lot of people also moved to posting images on FB and the like, they seem to prefer "love it" "its stunning" from their mates, and relatives,
rather than honest critic from "strangers"
Just observations from someone that's been around awhile, rather than hard data.
talking about the classifieds
Funny enough Toni, I take all your points, and its curious, I was on a couple of falconry forums when they were actually "Yahoo groups / lists" that must be about 15 - 20 years ago,I nearly included comments about watching forums grow and shrink over the years, having been involved in different forums since the late 90s. They come and go, sometimes like the tide, but more usually peak and then decline gradually. There's usually a key factor that seems to trigger the decline: Bikemagic had a key figure behind the website leave, Harmony Central had forum software management issues and then wanted to become 'family-friendly', Diaspora had a change of direction etc etc. There's usually a bunch of original contributors who make a forum a place people want to go, they move on when it gets popular, then someone gives the pile a nudge for one reason or another and the 'ordinary' mass slide away to the next interesting thing, the final stage being the forum that clings on at reduced size without many of the originals who made it amazing at the start.
Forums are still a relatively new social platform, even though they've been around for 20 years, and I don't think we've quite figured out how to use them yet.
I like your thinkingand also give the Mods lots of scope to collect bribes...
Funny enough Toni, I take all your points, and its curious, I was on a couple of falconry forums when they were actually "Yahoo groups / lists" that must be about 15 - 20 years ago,
both still exist, but have also changed a lot, and is a shadow of their former selves, and we were having the same discussions way back when, "have the groups had their day"? who would have thought they would have morphed into the internet forums that we love to hate these day's?
Or I way actually answering the OP. Which you were not. Or maybe because Cobra quoted my posted I obviously then get a notification so it brings my attention to this thread, and then responded. If you've read the thread properly you will see that my posts are some of the few that are actually on topic on this thread and post have actually be in response to other threads. If you don't won't be to post on this thread, simple, then don't pot about my posts ...I wonder if it's a coincidence that the person who has made 7 posts to this thread in the last 2 days has a classifieds ratio of 48%? That's perilously close to 50%. It's ironic, isn't it, that talking about the classifieds helps one to get/maintain access to the classifieds.
You mean like your post above? Except mine was actually answering the OP where as your wasn't? The phrase "pot calling kettle" springs to mind!Posts that seem to have been made for no other reason than making a post????
Hence my feeling re one poster; 560 posts in 1 year, 51% of those in the classifieds, then follows a similar repeating pattern of not posting anything for a while, then........posting a dozen `crits` in a day.
Doesn't always leave `feedback` & also keeps thread posts/replies in classifieds to a bare minimum.
Also I don't think they've posted a single image
Personally I prefer forums to facebook etc, but crowds seem to draw crowds and as we know, 50 billion flies can't be wrong
I guess its the same answer as why do 8/10 cats prefer whiskers?TP appeared to be notable exception in the extinction of common-interest forums, and I'd wondered what it was that had kept it so active.
And not for the first time either (under a different guise or two! )Well well, not surprisingly, the person I was referring to has been busted & banned as a `trader`
I guess its the same answer as why do 8/10 cats prefer whiskers?
Some are just better than others