The Direction In Which The Site Is Going, And what to do about it Options

[Coomer]

Recently,
I've became fairly discouraged with this site. I get on the site multiple times every day, and each time I get on, I find all kinds of new stuff that irritates me.

Mindless, completely-useless posts in off-topic; non-related, stupid, or mean posts that ruin what would be good threads; topic titles that don't follow the rules in buying/selling that have been there for well over a year; people who only come to the site to cause trouble or irritate people; It all irritates me, along with the rest of the site's management.

We, the management of the site, think that lately the forums as a whole have gone a bit downhill, but we're curious what all of you think.

We're also curious as to what you all think should be done. Pete's in Japan and couldn't get in on the discussion of this idea, but Tim and I are considering changing the off-topic forum to be an "other cars" forum. That most likely won't happen, but we're sick of the completely pointless posts in off-topic. We all also are considering what to do about the people who constantly question others such as in the Lori Ann thread, and what to do about the people who constantly post pointless, off-topic stuff in the Celica forums, and what to do about the people who always post mean stuff on the site, and what to do about people who are mean to girls and treat them as if they've never talked to a girl before. I've had at least four girls talk to me and say that they didn't want to join the site or post in the forums, simply because of the way girls are treated on the site.

Tim is sick of it. John is sick of it. Pete is sick of it. I'm sick of it. Tim put it well when he said, "i feel like i havent left highschool yet when i go on 6gc..."

We're just wondering, what do you all think about what's happened lately, and what do you think should be done?

[jgreening]

Here is my $.02.

Although I agree with the comments about O.T., I also think its harmless - its off topic. People that do not want some mindless distraction need not visit that section of the site.

The real problem from my perspective is the hostility in the on-topic sections. We need to recognize that not everyone has the same level of expertise with these cars. The longer you are on these forums, do other research, and talk to others, the more you learn. However, we all start with knowing nothing. What is really discouraging to me is that the most knowledgeable and talented members are often times the ones who are the most critical of questions from new people. Quite frankly, this site needs you guys. That is what automotive enthusiast forums are for - to obtain and share information. If the answer to a question is "this has been asked a million times, use your search button you idiot", a number of things happen. (1) the guy will probably not come back - and if you dont care about that then; (2) you sound harsh and mean; (3) no useful information was shared; and (4) others that have a similar question in the future will find this thread when they are searching and not get any useful information.

I have noticed that when a question is asked that has been asked dozens of times before, it usually comes from someone very new to the site. These people simply do not know the importance of searching yet. Also, it can be difficult at first to even know the proper terms (e.g. whats the difference between a strut and a shock?). If a guy needs to learn to use the search button, lets tell him but not degrade him. Better yet, lets get him started with the answer and point him in the right direction.