Is it just me or is PF dying?

[Drakkith]

I'd like to point out that we do have members that wish PF was more stringent about enforcing rules, closing down threads, banning people, etc. It's a confusing, never-ending task of balancing our actions between the two sides.

A suggestion: may be worth for a trial run.

When a thread is locked by a moderator, it will have an anonymous accept/do not accept option that every member could click (only for the thread lock post, not for all the posts). The accept/do not accept statistics is visible only for the moderator who locked the thread and a few others with privilege. This way, the admins could get a bigger picture of what is causing displeasure for the majority members. Not many people are going to send PMs or start threads in the feedback section about the moderator's decision, especially if they are not actively participating in the thread.

An interesting idea.

 

[Dadface]

Up to about a year ago I used to scan through the posts and would usually find threads that would interest me, several of which I would contribute to. All the different forums seemed to be together and I could easily and quickly find out what was going on in QM, Classical Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Engineering, GD, Education and so on.
Nowadays I find it much more time consuming to find topics. I always scan through new posts but it seems I have to click on each forum separately to find other posts. Usually I don't have the time to do that and I feel I may be missing out on some interesting stuff. If other people are having the same experience they may be missing out on interesting stuff.
It could be that I'm searching inefficiently.

 

[ZapperZ]

Whenever I see something like this, I think most of us who are ardent PF supporters often get defensive. I, on the other hand, try to see if the starting, original premise is correct or valid.

So, the question is, is PF "dying"? Because, frankly, if this cannot be clearly established, then we might be trying to give medicine to a patient who isn't sick and might make it worse! There has been no clear evidence being presented to support such a claim, other than anecdotal account. And to be frank once more, just saying that you no longer find as much enjoyment out of something doesn't hold that much credence because I can easily counter that maybe 2 or 3 other people find it to be more enjoyable than before. I can also counter that maybe it is YOU who have changed, and not PF. After all, if you are using yourself as the gauge, then there are two parties involved here, and either one could affect the conclusion. If any of you out there are experimentalist, you are fully aware that you must pay attention to not only the object that you are measuring, but also the instrument that you are using to measure it!

Only Bystander, as far as I can tell, cited any kind of statistics regarding this forum, and from what I can gather, things do not look that much different from 10 years ago as far as posting frequency is concerned. And as someone who has been here for MORE than 10 years, I can easily vouch that the quality of posts and threads on PF are significantly HIGHER than they were 10 years ago!

So, unless there is clear evidence/statistics to back it up, there is no indication so far to point to the notion that "PF is dying". Until that has been established, we are trying to solve a problem that may or may not exist. The patient is fine, so don't prescribe any medication that he/she doesn't need!

Now, this doesn't mean that there can't be any discussion on improving how PF is run. That is a different topic than claiming that PF is dying and something must be done. If that is the intention, then that's fine, but state it as it is, rather than making an unsupported claim to justify such a discussion.

Zz.

 

[Drakkith]

The patient is fine, so don't prescribe any medication that he/she doesn't need!

*Puts away the chicken soup*

 

[DaveC426913]

Posts decreasing?

No.
PF's message is mainsteam science.
PF's signal-to-noise ratio has been increased - by filtering the noise.

 

[mfb]

Up to about a year ago I used to scan through the posts and would usually find threads that would interest me, several of which I would contribute to. All the different forums seemed to be together and I could easily and quickly find out what was going on in QM, Classical Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Engineering, GD, Education and so on.
Nowadays I find it much more time consuming to find topics. I always scan through new posts but it seems I have to click on each forum separately to find other posts. Usually I don't have the time to do that and I feel I may be missing out on some interesting stuff. If other people are having the same experience they may be missing out on interesting stuff.
It could be that I'm searching inefficiently.

Do you know the active threads and https://www.physicsforums.com/unanswered/threads lists?

 

[micromass]

Do you know the active threads and https://www.physicsforums.com/unanswered/threads lists?

Meh, that doesn't really do it for me. A couple of years ago, there were regularly very interesting and cool math questions. Nowadays, there are no questions anymore on stuff that interests me, like functional analysis or point-set topology.
The most interesting forum for me nowadays is the Academic Guidance forum.

So yeah, I definitely see where dadface is coming from...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Meh, that doesn't really do it for me. A couple of years ago, there were regularly very interesting and cool math questions. Nowadays, there are no questions anymore on stuff that interests me, like functional analysis or point-set topology.
The most interesting forum for me nowadays is the Academic Guidance forum.

So yeah, I definitely see where dadface is coming from...

So what can we do to attract members with interesting questions?

 

[micromass]

I think the staff is in a better position to answer that and to see what direction they want to go with the forum

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think the staff is in a better position to answer that and to see what direction they want to go with the forum

No, you don't get off so easy. The best equipped to have an answer are those who think there is a problem. It is your opinion on the problem. What is your opinion on the answer?

 

[micromass]

Sorry, but the last time I answered that, I experienced not all that constructive reactions, so you'll have to excuse me from answering that. So I'm just voicing my experiences right now, and I'll leave it to the mentors to see what they do with it.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

So I'm just voicing my experiences right now, and I'll leave it to the mentors to see what they do with it.

But you are the one with the opinion. Maybe the staff shares it, maybe not. If you don't want to be constructive then you can't hope for your problems to be addressed.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Nowadays, there are no questions anymore on stuff that interests me, like functional analysis or point-set topology.

Why don't you start some?

 

[micromass]

But you are the one with the opinion. Maybe the staff shares it, maybe not. If you don't want to be constructive then you can't hope for your problems to be addressed.

I don't really have a problem. The academic guidance forum is still fun and my main reason for sticking around here. There are plenty of other forums where I can fill in my desire for answering advanced math questions. So I'm enjoying myself, don't worry!

 

[micromass]

Why don't you start some?

Because I don't have any questions. And the questions I do have don't usually get answered here.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It could be that I'm searching inefficiently.

Don't forget to check the side bar for recent Insights and Featured Discussions

 

[dlgoff]

Posts decreasing?

No.
PF's message is mainsteam science.
PF's signal-to-noise ratio has been increased - by filtering the noise.

To add to your list. I lurk/post in the EE forum mostly, trying to be helpful. And over the years, I'm sure I've posted less. But the reason isn't because PF is dying, it's because there are so many more knowledgeable members that provide better answer and quicker than I.

 

[DiracPool]

Well, since this has become a popular thread, I will add my opinion. Personally, I don't think PF is dying at all. In fact, I think right now it's the best I've ever seen it. I can post a question on virtually any topic and get a quality and authoritative answer within hours or even minutes. What else can you ask for?

Also, as I said in an earlier post, PF has been a kinder and friendlier forum (for what reasons I don't know and, frankly, don't care) since the switch over to the new interface. So I feel more comfortable contributing here. In the old days, I felt like the mentors here dished out infractions and bans like UNICEF hands out bottles of water in disaster areas. And these always seemed very capricious to me, like they were summarily executed simply by the caprice of one individual without any consensus among the staff or otherwise oversight.

I don't know if that's changed or not, but I feel much more comfortable again, today, contributing to the forum.

As far as the issue of closed threads, to be honest I really don't care if someone closes my thread or deletes my post. If the staff isn't enamored with my wisdom, I'll find somewhere else to publish it

As far as the harsh attitude of mentors, science advisers, and otherwise senior members toward newbie questions, I don't really have a problem with that either. Science is serious stuff and nobody's doing you any favors by sugarcoating anything. Back in the early days, I used to submit papers to journals that I labored for months or even years on only to have to wait 3-4 months to get a harsh response that may have been only a paragraph or two, much less than you'd get here. So you're getting off easy here by only having to wait an hour or two.

Why do referees in journals seem so harsh? Because referees don't get paid to do what they do (typically). And they take what they do very seriously. Or else they wouldn't do it. So if they get a paper that they feel the author has sent in prematurely without having been adequately proofread or adequately referenced with the standard rigor that they, themselves, had to be held to when they submitted a paper, they tend to get VERY cranky. Case in point, I recently reviewed a paper where almost a third of the in-text citations were not included in the reference list. I was furious that my time was wasted referring this paper that the authors didn't take time to proofread. Forget about the rest of the article (which stunk accordingly, btw). That particular instance, though, was something of an anomaly as the chief editor usually screens for these gross problems in the submission. I'm not one to criticize an editor directly, but I think he felt my dissatisfaction with what I sent in as my review.

So there you have it. I personally think PF would be served better by a more vitriolic and battle-scarred diatribes in these threads. In my experience this is how science is done mostly in the refereed journals. In the scholarly conferences though, you don't really see this. You'd think there'd be these bitter debates there where people had "hand-to-hand" access to each other, but it's really the opposite. When people put down there money to fly to a conference, they're more often than not looking at it as a vacation; some opportunity to spend a weekend or a week to be around hundreds of like-minded people which you can't get back home. So these are typically really tame and friendly experiences.

Lastly, I think that if you are a member that has 900 posts or more, you should really be given a little more of a break, a little "senior" status, just my opinion

 

[Drakkith]

I'd like to thank everyone who's given feedback on this topic so far. Even if you feel like the staff ignores/picks-apart your feedback, I assure you that we take it all into consideration. Any perceived negativity or backlash is just our attempt to understand and process your suggestions or complaints. Please do not be scared to give feedback.

 

[DaveC426913]

Lastly, I think that if you are a member that has 900 posts or more, you should really be given a little more of a break, a little "senior" status, just my opinion

Yeah, but till then ...

That latrine needs some lovin'. Here's a toothbrush.

 

[DiracPool]

That latrine needs some lovin' Here's a toothbrush.

Ok, I don't have to clean BEHIND the toilet too, do I?

 

[WWGD]

One issue to consider is that the (supposed) downturn may be a blip and not necessarily a general slowing/down trend.

 

[cellurl]

You need advocates to always care about this hive. I left stackoverflow after they pissed me off, and I left Slashdot after they pissed me off. This site seems a little more caring, but you need full time "I care" people to keep sensitive people here. One thing I have always wanted on Quora or here is a tree of expertise, eg, some way to bubble unanswered questions up to super-experts and not waste their eyes watching noise. Its fair and sustainable. Crack that nut and you have innovation.

 

[mfb]

Lastly, I think that if you are a member that has 900 posts or more, you should really be given a little more of a break, a little "senior" status, just my opinion

I don't think a fixed limit is useful here. It should increase over time. Following the current example, what about "1 post more than DiracPool has"?

One thing I have always wanted on Quora or here is a tree of expertise, eg, some way to bubble unanswered questions up to super-experts and not waste their eyes watching noise. Its fair and sustainable. Crack that nut and you have innovation.

Find a new and better way to show everyone what that person is most interested in and you revolutionize the web...
Some unanswered questions don't get answers because they are too special (but then you have a hard time finding the right expert!), but some questions are also too broad, too unclear, too weird or in other ways problematic to answer.

 

[WWGD]

Is it possible to do some sort of data mining or analytics on PF ? I am not sure of what to look for, but maybe there are
proxies for good posts, good questions? I was thinking a sort of logistic regression re probability a post is good.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Is it possible to do some sort of data mining or analytics on PF ? I am not sure of what to look for, but maybe there are
proxies for good posts, good questions? I was thinking a sort of logistic regression re probability a post is good.

Does anyone use the "Top Threads" feature?

 

[WWGD]

Does anyone use the "Top Threads" feature?

I was not even aware it existed. Ref., please? Maybe if we have a data bank of good posts, we can mine them.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I was not even aware it existed. Ref., please? Maybe if we have a data bank of good posts, we can mine them.

To the right of top pagination at the forum thread list level. It's a filter button.

 

[mfb]

To the right of top pagination at the forum thread list level. It's a filter button.

It filters away your announcement of the new space news forum :p.

Data mining is possible, of course, but I don't see any automatic way to judge the quality of posts.
Number of likes received is a very weak and variable indicator and not useful for posts older than a year.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It filters away your announcement of the new space news forum :p.

Must not be interesting :)

 

[DaveC426913]

Is it possible to do some sort of data mining or analytics on PF ? I am not sure of what to look for, but maybe there are
proxies for good posts, good questions?

Stack Overflow has an 'Answered' flag that the OP can set. It helps subsequent readers skip to the answer.

I don't think that would work here, since, unlike programming, answers are not definitive.

 

[RJLiberator]

I like PF. I don't think PF needs to compete against any other service. PF and the posters here have helped me tremendously through a lot of courses.

I think the discipline/rigor is very high here, but it is high in any science related field/lab setting. I don't want to be on a forum with people discussing outlandish conspiracy theories -- i have facebook for that. I come to PF to learn and for me, out of all of my tabs / internet searches, PF is always #1 for my learning process.

High quality content, posters that help and produce good reading quality. I do also highly enjoy the insights section as well.

 

[WWGD]

Would it be too difficult to implement some measurements like, say , a rating of 0-5 by OP on quality of answer/satisfaction,
similar for moderators involved assigning a number for quality, originality etc. and then finding correlates/proxies? Maybe then a databank with the higher posted ratings and one for the lower-rated
postings can be kept and analyzed?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

a rating of 0-5 by OP on quality of answer/satisfaction

We had thread ratings for the first 8 years and they were rarely used.

 

[WWGD]

We had thread ratings for the first 8 years and they were rarely used.

Do you think it would be worthwhile mining them? I am no expert, but maybe I can look into it and learn more myself, hopefully helping
in the process?