There was a suggestion last week on the ‘open thread’ that we have some kind of forums section here on Portland Transport (i.e., a place where anyone can post, without requiring approval from the management).
I’m interested what people think about that. I must say I’m a little worried that the trolls would take it over.
But I will also say that I continue to be interested in publishing a wide variety of voices. So if you have something to say (and can say it in an interesting and civil way), I’m always open to publishing a guest post.
13 responses to “Forums? Or…?”
How are you defining a troll?
MW
A forum section would be good, but personally I’d prefer it was as well policed as the site is presently. No anonymous posts/comments allowed and the ability to have posting privileges revoked by Chris if “trolling” occurs.
I still prefer that new users would have to “join” the site to post comments (i.e., validating the email address that we submit as being associated with our identity). This keeps discussions in other forums to which I belong very civilized.
I like the idea of an open forum, but also with the ability for Chris to discard undesireable posts. If it becomes a problem, shut it down. The more opinions, the better as long as they are orderly.
How are you defining a troll?
Someone who would prefer the site not have a focus on reducing reliance on the automobile.
I still prefer that new users would have to “join” the site to post comments
I’d be more open to using this as a control in an open forum. Here on the blog I saw it as an impediment to participation.
It sounds like a good idea but I think it would just get too uncivilized. These comments already get pretty crazy even when you have full control.
I think that forums would be great (with user registration, etc. as mentioned above). I think it’s worse the way it is now because it’s so easy for people to trot in here under relative anonymity and post their same stuff (like “bicyclists should pay for it themselves”). If you have registered users then you know better who people are.
And that goes both ways. If someone works for metro, I’d like to know. If someone lists their favorite website as the Cato Institute, that would be a good thing to know.
And in a forum, you would still have the same level of control that you do now… and as a bonus, you could refer people to other threads on topic that have already been rehashed, or have an FAQ section, etc. IMO having monitored forums would be a massive improvement to this website.
There are moderated forums out there — and okay, I’m thinking about Television Without Pity dot com which doesn’t involve potentially inflammatory political debate — where the moderators will simply ban participants who refuse to follow the rules (courtesy, staying on topic, using proper spelling and grammar, refraining from personal attacks). When you violate the rules, you get a warning. After five warnings, you are banned. It tends to keep the place very civil, and trolls are disposed of quickly.
Another thing I find appealing about TWoP is that new threads are strongly discourages. In this case, maybe you set up a “Portland Streetcar” topic and require anyone who posts about the streetcar go to that topic instead of creating a new thread for every possible discussion about the streetcar. It helps keep the discussion focused and the boards manageable — you wind up with four or five pages of topics instead of fifty.
While not directly dealing with transportation it is still a topic in the realm of transit-oriented development–Can high rise condos be “affordable”. For the last six weeks I have been working on a 15 story building in the Pearl District and have worked on some in Seattle as well. On a tour last Saturday a group of us were in the John Ross Building in SoWa, and went up to a thirtieth floor penthouse condominium. What would produce a cost–in this case– of five million plus? And why do smaller units costs several hundred dollars pe square foot.
This is an issue I would like to explore, since I think the market is somewhat skewed in favor of folks with deep pockets. In decades past there was a fair amount of high rise condo construction that was much more affordable to people with more modest means. It TOD is to be promoted in smaller cities this issue should also be analyzed for those communities. What has changed?
What would produce a cost–in this case– of five million plus?
At least two buyers willing to pay that much.
That’s about it. It really doesn’t have anything to do with construction costs. Real property sells based on whatever the second highest bidder is willing to pay, plus a little more.
How do you make affordable units? Make units that very, very few people want to buy and nobody is willing to pay very much for.
closed, moderated forum. Although I wonder if there’s a high enough nontroll:troll ratio of traffic on this site to warrant it, as well as raw number of people who would join.
I’m interested what people think about that. I must say I’m a little worried that the trolls would take it over.
But I will also say that I continue to be interested in publishing a wide variety of voices. So if you have something to say (and can say it in an interesting and civil way), I’m always open to publishing a guest post.
I think if people have articles they should submit them and you should use editorial judgment on whether they belong here. One of the values of this forum is that it has discussion of most of the important regional transportation issues.
Perhaps solicit story ideas from people occasionally so that they have some idea that you are interested in publishing something before they write it.
I think quality on an open forum will degenerate quickly. I suspect topics could quickly range far afield from issues with specific application to the region.
Consider listing an RSS feed of the latest forum posts down the right side of the blog.
Carey –
There is such a list on the main page. And there is also an RSS feed of the comments.