Would a blog-like "work in progress" thread fit into PF?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the feasibility of creating a "work in progress" thread on Physics Forums (PF) where a graduate student in applied mathematics would share updates on their research and insights. The scope includes considerations of community engagement, the structure of forum threads versus blogs, and the appropriateness of such a thread within the existing forum categories.

Discussion Character

  • Meta-discussion
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • A participant expresses a desire to replicate the experience of sharing progress in a game development forum by posting updates on their research in a thread at PF.
  • Another participant questions the organization of game development forums and suggests that blogs lack the navigability of forum threads.
  • The original poster clarifies that they envision a single long thread where they would primarily post, with the hope of occasional comments from others.
  • A participant states that PF no longer has blog space available, implying that the proposed thread may not fit within the forum's structure.
  • The original poster reiterates their intention to share various thoughts in the classical physics section, indicating a willingness to adapt based on feedback.
  • A later reply provides a link to a blog post as an example of the intended content, emphasizing the desire for community interaction over isolated blogging.
  • A final response from a mentor indicates that the proposal does not align with the PF paradigm.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not agree on the appropriateness of a "work in progress" thread within PF, with some supporting the idea and others indicating it does not fit the forum's structure.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the limitations of the current forum structure regarding personal blogging and the challenges of community engagement in a more traditional academic forum setting.

keenPenguin
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As a graduate student in applied mathematics (solid mechanics, elasticity) I find the process of writing difficult and I have been getting better at it progressively and very slowly. But as a hobbyist video game developer, I have opened a "work in progress" thread on my game in a game development forum and have made it a habit to post my progress several times a week (for months now). I found that forcing myself to present something to an audience at regular and short time intervals makes me focus, outline a self-contained and manageable question, identify what is truly important, stick to the plan and write it fast.

I would like to replicate the same thing with a thread at PF. I think that teaching myself to write short post would help me get better at writing papers and my thesis. I would write bite sized posts on things I am working on, recent mathematical insights of mine (which may be trivial to some), occasionally about the Mathematica software, and other things.

Having tried that on a wordpress blog, I find that one critical component is lacking: The audience. In the game dev forum, occasionally someone would comment, suggest to change something, criticise, or just give a thumbs up. This is incredibly valuable. Without that, I would not have sustained regular contributions in that forum.

I was wondering if you feel a blog-like thread would fit into PF. If yes, where should it go (General Discussion or Classical Mechanics)? I am looking for a way to recreate my productive experience of a "work in progress" thread in the video game development community.
 
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How is the game development forum organized? Does it have a special section for work-in-progress posts? Do you post your progress in one long thread?

Blog sites are hard to navigate. The organization of pages isn't concise. They'd do better to imitate the "sections and threads-in-sections" display of a forum. I occasionally comment on blog pages, but only after stumbling upon them during an internet search. I don't exert myself to follow blogs. An unfilled niche in the business of the web is a site that summarizes and organizes blog content.
 
The way it is done in game dev, and the way I would do it in PF, is having one long thread. Inevitably, it will be mostly me posting. But (hopefully) once in a while others would jump in and comment. In thr meantime, thr views counter would count up. I think knowing that someone might read this and might comment makes a big difference to me as a poster and will I force a certain standard, other than a WordPress blog which likely no one reads.
 
keenPenguin said:
I was wondering if you feel a blog-like thread would fit into PF.
We no longer have blog space available to members, so the answer would be no.
 
I am not really looking for a particular space. I would like to open a thread in the classical physics section of the forum. Only, it wouldn't be a question, it would be various things I have to say. I'd like to try and open it if you don't mind, and if you feel the content is inappropriate after a post or two we can move/close it. It is going to be my journey and my musings through mechanics in the classical physics section. OK?
 
keenPenguin said:
I am not really looking for a particular space. I would like to open a thread in the classical physics section of the forum. Only, it wouldn't be a question, it would be various things I have to say. I'd like to try and open it if you don't mind, and if you feel the content is inappropriate after a post or two we can move/close it. It is going to be my journey and my musings through mechanics in the classical physics section. OK?

Please don't do that yet. The Mentors are discussing this thread...
 
No problem, and thank you for discussing. If it makes things easier, https://airlich.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/ellipse-in-polar-coordinates-is-obvious-right/ is a recent post from my blog, and my posts would be in this fashion. They would be mostly about mechanics, though. The post I am currently writing is about one-dimensional growth of an elastic material. I simply would rather publish these within the community than on an isolated blog because users here will no doubt have helpful comments. Perhaps this makes things clearer.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@keenPenguin -- After an extensive Mentor discussion, what you are proposing just doesn't fit into the PF paradigm. Sorry. :wink:
 

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