~Bunbunmaru News~ > Letters to the Editor
News thread format
Ghaleon:
I don't mean to cause trouble or anything, but I recall a few months ago, when TSO was making new threads in Renko's featuring various news articles, that they generated more discussion than the current megathread. Edible thought it was a bad idea because it knocked off other disputably worthy threads off of the front page of Renko's. However I think overall activity and interest was greater with those multiple news threads. Furthermore, I thought pretty much everyone BUT Edible said they liked it that way, or at the very least, said they didn't care.
sorry Edible, I don't mean to call you out, I mean I'm just going by memory here so it might not just be you, but yeah. Anyway, if there really was a reasonable number of people who thought the megathread thing was better, so be it. But I think it's kind of a waste to disallow what I thought many people seemed to prefer.
Tengukami:
Edible wasn't alone. I felt that having separate "whacky news of the weird" threads was making Renko's look like FARK. None of the threads received more than a handful of replies (which seems to be the case with the general News thread), which wasn't justifying the clutter they were causing. Sort of why in TARC, there's a general Misc. Questions thread, instead of separate threads for separate question. So no, I don't think having a separate thread for each individual "yo check this out" news thread is a good idea.
A major, groundbreaking, history-making news story could and maybe even should stand on its own as its own thread. But the FARKy, Slashdot-ish mini-articles that got maybe a page or two of replies before people lost interest? Not so much. Having the news in one thread keeps things clean, and so far as I've seen, it hasn't gotten overwhelming or confusing in there.
Edible:
--- Quote from: Tengukami on March 10, 2011, 12:59:28 PM ---A major, groundbreaking, history-making news story could and maybe even should stand on its own as its own thread. But the FARKy, Slashdot-ish mini-articles that got maybe a page or two of replies before people lost interest? Not so much. Having the news in one thread keeps things clean, and so far as I've seen, it hasn't gotten overwhelming or confusing in there.
--- End quote ---
Quite so; the world cup thread comes to mind.
On the other hand, I can understand the appeal for simpler organization in viewing thread titles, so there may be a slightly more permanent solution depending on if we go ahead with plans to add a new board. It's something we're considering, at least.
helvetica:
If you're talking about the anime board, it's not happening anytime soon because you guys just went back to the megathread crap rather than split the topics apart for each show like we tried to push towards. So why even bother at this point?
My problem with megathreads is it's really hard to see if there's something interesting to see unless you're actively reading the thread. I see another reply to the HERE THERE BE NEWS thread and I don't know if it's a story I'm interested in or if it's just a comment or whatever. The fact that you continue to gravitate towards them makes no sense either. They're too bulky for new people to get into or casual people to follow and they're horrible for any sort of organization.
The other thing is, is it really hurting anyone to have a bunch of threads with only a handful of replies? How is this any worse than cramming everything into a giant convoluted thread where you don't know who's commenting on what? There's hardly any activity in Renko's as it is now, so acting like it "cluttered" things up is stupid. The world isn't going to die because there's more than 3 active threads in Renko's at any one time.
It's one thing to have catchall threads for minor things like reporting accomplishments in Touhou, or minor things that have happened to you, or what you're currently watching/reading/eating/lusting/stabbing over. But for stuff that's supposed to generate discussion I think it's stupid to shove it all into a big thread where it requires dedication to follow.
Tengukami:
Dedication? Confusion? I'm not seeing it. A news story gets posted in the News thread, people make a few comments on it, then another story is posted. Easy peasy.
The purpose for the News thread, as far as I see it, is to give a home to all the "oh hey that's neat" news stories that might get a couple replies. It's the same logic we use for countless other "megathreads" on this site.
I just think there should be a balance. Huge news events could and should probably have their own thread. While posting individual threads for "WTF news of the weird" stories isn't hurting anyone per se, anyone coming to Renko's could be forgiven if they thought they stumbled upon our FARK board or something.