What makes a good forum and what makes this forum so good and popular?
I reckon this forum runs pretty smoothly. You're always going to get disagreement where music is involved and if it wasn't the raison d'tre of this forum then it would join Religion as one of the banned subjects such are the passionate viewpoints it raises.
Given that this forum has input from from such a diverse group, it by and large governs itself with minimal intervention from the moderators.
Although the Forum is Modern Blues Harmonica the input is varied and seems happy to accept many different styles of music and anything that promotes this largely publicly unloved little instrument.
I've learnt tons of stuff here from harp choice to harp customising, techniques, music theory, performance vids, old blues, new blues, Jazz, country, rock, pop etc., throwdowns, interesting and occasional OT Videos and much, much, more.
I think it's pretty remarkable that the Forum stays as civil as it does given the nature of communicating on the net.
How does the balance work for you? What would you personally like to see more of/less of?
I think the simplicity of the format and the fact the site is not crammed with loads of adverts plus the fact the harp attracts loads of nerds and geeky types :o) That's what works for me. ----------
Personally, I try to stay sober. But I don't recommend it for everyone. In fact, I think some people maybe should drink more. Also, when I see a couple of people starting a scrap, I think it's right to stay out of it. Even though I have an opinion, I don't think it helps to stick my bib in. If there is an injustice and there needs to be advocacy that's different, but I think most fights are quicker settled if the protagonists take it outside and everyone else just stays in the bar and let's them sort it out. Maybe there needs to be a referee, but maybe not. Anyway, that's what I see happen here a bit. It's the barroom brawl thing. And then there are the sneaky cats who try to stir people up when there's no need. I can see that happening right now, but I suspect the intended victim is too smart for that. I hope so, because I really like his contributions. Anyway, you know I'm sure, some folks are kinda predictable. You can watch a thread and you know it's only a matter of time before such and such is gonna say the thing they always say on the topic. I made a minor study of the threads which get the most posts. Just over a couple of weeks. It is the human stories. A young guy who posted about being depressed because his family and friends didn't relate well to his harping, a guy who was cross that Adam violated the creed and didn't ban himself. The guy was ostensibly slamming the door on his way out, but it generated about 70 posts. Another thread where someone was agonising over using a stage name, a guy who seemed to be at the crossroads but not really seeing it. All these threads made me realise that 1 function of this forum is that it is really a community, and I think that has only been allowed to happen because it is quite free. And wide ranging. And I think the forum creed for all it's imperfection is actually pretty good. I like the bit that says "please assume your fellow forum members are well-intentioned". That's what I try to remember, even when, or especially when, I think they are not well intentioned. It means I don't post a lot of what I think, and usually after awhile I see no one is worse off. I also try to avoid posting when I don't know what I'm talking about. That's not always so successful. And I probably should shut up now ----------
The best thing about this forum is that it's open to all, from raw, bleeding lipped beginners to grizzled old, lived 10 lifetimes bluesmen and everyone in between. Also, and this is just my own opinion, I think it's the only forum that actually makes you welcome and want to go back again and again. I try to look at the site every day and it's the only site that I do that. Before MBH the only site I used to look at regularly was Harp-L but I never ever posted there because I was actually afraid to do so after reading some of the threads there. It seemed like if you said the wrong thing they'd bite your head off. I love this Forum and I wouldn't change anything about it.
Ditto to all above, and I'd also like to point out that this is the place where I go to everyday. I've made a ton of friends on here, some of whom I've met face to face, and some of whom I've never even seen a picture of, but who I consider friends nonetheless. I come here for the people, and I stay for the people. All the wonderful things I've learned and shared here are BECAUSE of the people who are on this list. You guys rock! ---------- == I S A A C ==
I'm a traditional blues harper with 45 years of experience, jamming and gigging. I play in numerous genres. One thing that makes this forum a good one is the availability of learning tools for all levels of harpers. It's true that many harpers are ignorant of music fundamentals, esp. regarding keys,scales,dynamics,notation,etc., and this site does a great job of moving the "culture needle". I was trained in music fundamentals through trumpet and choral training, and I've been able to pick up alot more education through this site. It's a good public service here.
I think size matters. I've been on forums that don't get enough traffic to keep people coming back, which of course leads to even less traffic. I've also seen forums with way too much traffic. You post something and unless someone with some clout happens to read it and comment it sinks to the bottom of the page and dies a quiet death. When you get to a certain size, sub forums almost become a necessity. I think we are pretty solidly in the sweet zone. There will usually be something new to read when you log on, but posts don't disappear right away. There are enough members so you find diverse opinions, but few enough that you can keep tabs on posts from your friends with a little diligence. Adam's videos keep enough new people arriving to add some new flavors to the stew.
I think Superbee hit on something quoting Adam's "Assume your fellow board members ... are well intentioned". That is the glue. It's as good a piece of advice as has ever been issued on a forum. If you do that, and make sure you don't carry any grudges from one thread to another things run pretty smoothly.
As a newer member to MBH, I have been enjoying many of the threads and back and forth between the talented musicians of all levels on this forum. I really appreciate when cooler heads prevail and can usually spot when something has the potential to light things up. I think Adam has done an amazing job with the forum and his contributions to the harmonica community overall.
Something @Superbee said above:
"Personally, I try to stay sober. But I don't recommend it for everyone.", ....veering off harmonica topic for a moment,
reminded me of a time in my life when I ended up as the webmaster, and ultimately President of a Competitive Youth Soccer organization. The forums, web posts, and email comments from very competitive coaches, players, motivated parents, and highly political and personal comments from board members and league representatives put me in a position of having to navigate and referee some serious and personal disputes.
What seemed to be a pattern would be when someone would be fired up and very upset about something, they would dash off an email or post, usually very accusatory or personal, without really thinking it through, and the boards and emails would light up. It was worse when they CC'd everyone else outside the list via secondary emails.
I can't remember where I saw it, but someone came up with a device for your computer that was much like the devices they put in folks cars who have had too many DUI's. You have to blow into this tube which would determine if you were sober enough to start your car. Conversely, you would blow into the device next to your computer and if you had had too many glasses of wine or whisky, it would not allow you to send the email until you sobered up enough to read it again. Usually then next morning or hours later you were glad you didn't send it right away.
For the harmonica community, maybe such a device could double as some sort of practice technology for learning your first over blows hooked up to some computer software emulation of your favorite harmonica model? :)
Avoid the teapot tempests and try not to make wind when there are no waves.
this is a good forum because it has solid ground rules and good moderators. it also espouses mutual respect and some care and concern between members. it does not matter if you bought your first harp this afternoon, or are shopping for one tomorrow, or like little bubba and me have 40+ years of tin sandwich under your belt. we all have something to offer, or we all have a need to be met by a member or members here. things do get interesting sometimes but it used to be much more negative. some folks have left because their agenda was more a pissing contest than to help or get help with some aspect of harmonica playing, live performance, technique, or whatever. after some growing pains i think that we as a body of members have developed some good habits here for the most part. there are posts i do not read if i see that they don't pertain to me or are blatantly confrontational. there are posts by members that i read a lot because their attitude is one of helpful concern, and they have experience that can help me. and a forum that does not attract new members and hold on to them has a short life span usually. it seems that we do enough right here to attract and keep new members and that is a real plus. new players are to me the future, it's up to us older guys to pass the fire on.
i have been a member here since very early on and iplan to stay a member as long as it's a healthy forum. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
I participate in two other forums that many times larger than MBH. Both forums have better search features, a range of sub forums, and more user controls.
While having thousands more people actively using those pages (and I've been members there years longer than here), which are both music sites, there is much less need for moderation due to a significantly lesser incident of personal attacks.
In fact, the only time I've ever had an issue on either - and keep in mind that being a harmonica player makes me a total oddball on these forums which are ripe with guitar players guitar players - I've only ever encountered one negative posting experience...and guess what? It was a rift with another harmonica player! One that I am pretty sure has hung around here too.
IMO, the subforums and ability to block posters you don't want to see information from lets people of different opinions avoid conflict for the sake of conflict.
This is my favorite all time forum. I come here at least once a day and sometimes more. I've been a long-time member of several other forums--this remains the top notch best--I think of the people who come here as friends (with some exceptions)--even though I have never met almost all of them.
I do find it a kind of amusing that a forum called "*Modern* blues harmonica" would continue to use archaic software as a platform--but maybe even that is for the better--Big Road Blues has all the fancy (free) software and no ads to speak of and subforums and on and on--but you're lucky to see a couple of new posts a month--that just gets dull.
It's the people who make a great forum--and, even with our occasional hiccup, by and large there are a lot of really good people here who have enough interest in the subject matter to post often--so it doesn't get boring. . . ----------
For august 2009 on, I was a member of the biggest (in amount but also quality) french harp forum; thanks to some guys who were there, I was able to restart playing harp. All styles of music and harps could be discussed over but this may also multiply the risks of conflicts. It's what happened between two jazz harp players, they had each other patent grudges that sometimes turned into general brawl ending in deleting many posts. The most interesting people leaved bit by bit and eventually, only newbees were remaining. The forum death happened on the end of 2011. Now, I think that french people take everything too seriously, odd to say: without humor, like when they discuss politics, they can't stand back from their viewpoints even if there are exceptions. My harps are good friends but best among the best remains having gentle involvements and humor. That makes likely part of what I observe here ("observe" in the two meanings).
Probably the best forum iv come across, the only thing I would say to improve it is to lock all threads over the full moon period. :-D oh and introduce a wee yellow smiley face thing. :-$
Bump = To Bump (move) the topic to the top of the list to encourage more viewing or contribution by Forum members. ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
Last Edited by on Apr 13, 2012 12:53 AM
Frank, my favorite handle related incident was when one of the other moderators asked me what a particular handle meant. He was a native German speaker, and the handle was all run together as one word, so he couldn't just Google translate it.
The members have to understand the rules and play by them without letting them hamper their enthusiasm or input or creativity. It has always been the case with creative people. Without wishing to discuss religion, this is how artists have always lived within Christianity or Islam.
I belong to three main forums: -
1. MBH (in the middle) 2. At one extreme, a highly moderated classical guitar forum where no-one is permitted to contribute anything that isn't constructive 3. At the opposite extreme a ukulele forum where there are no moderators and no rules but where continual joshing, toilet humour and sarcasm live side-by-side and in harmony with a lot of expertise in owning, playing and making musical instruments.
All three forums are great because they are vibrant. Things only fail when the rules are misunderstood or broken so that people give up. ---------- Andrew. ----------------------------------------- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000874537399
Last Edited by on Apr 13, 2012 7:17 AM
"(I'm proud of this major contribution)."...and so you should be and I for one will be using the word bounce in future!
'Bump' is the cool internet speak.
Here Wickipedia enlightens us:-
To bump a thread on an internet forum is to post a reply to it purely in order to raise the thread's profile. This will typically return it to the top of the list of active threads. It has been suggested that "bump" is an acronym of "bring up my post",however this is almost certainly a backronym and the usage is entirely consistent with the verb "bump" which means "to knock to a new position".It can also be used in personal messages (PMs) or instant messages (IMs) on the Web, to return an older message to the top of the list.
What do we have? A street-wise former busker with a huge back catalogue of video lessons, books and other teaching/reference materials. A gang of moderators who keep an eye on the playground and sometimes shut the gates when the games get too rough. Occasionally it spirals into petty name calling and down right rudeness, and it always saddens me a little when I see this. Note how may times the word "please" appears in Adam's opening paragraphs on the main page. We should all be this courteous. Seasoned players who are ready, willing and able to offer their tips and tricks to those following their lips-steps (or tongue steps, as the case may be). A mix of lurkers, serial posters, innovators, traditionalists and in-betweeners who keep the mix fresh. In common we may only have a passion for this alluring and frustrating little instrument. IMHO, the forum is pretty well everything we need it to be. So thanks to Adam and all who contribute and keep this machine humming. It is a great corner of cyberspace to hang out in.
I type and I type Get the words from my head It's gettin' real late I should be in bed But I got so much to say Or at least I think I do I'm a serial poster Got the typing disorder blues It's 3 am And my fingers they twitch Yeah, this typing disorder Man sure is time for bed
Kudzurunner has six good paragraphs about what makes a good forum at the top of page one of this, the Dirty-South Blues Harp Forum. Read and heed. But, let me add my thoughts--
A good forum is
1. A forum that sticks to its raison d'être. (No talking about the second Canucks' loss to the L.A. Kings yesterday; stick to harmonica) 2. A forum that has a good balance between technical, fact based discussion vs. taste/opinion ("Put blu-tack on the tip of the reed to lower pitch" vs. "Rod Piazza is not an original, all he does is copy") 3. A forum that is neither censored nor free-for-all 4. A forum whose members are mature enough to communicate in a way that does not require constant policing by a moderator 5. A forum with at least a few members who are experts about the subject of the forum 6. A forum that does not become a clique; i.e. does not make first time posters feel unwelcome 7. A forum whose members don't get sucked into arguments that have devolved into, essentially, pissing contests
Comedy is helpful to keep a forum from feeling snobby or elitist based or overly serious.
Speaking of "pissing contests" I can proudly say I have won one in my day, or should I say drinkin days...Have'nt drank for decades, gives me a headache.
Well - I let loose a stream of water that went 15 ft high and 18 ft long...Not sure what the world book of records is but I'm confident I should be in it!
Mankycodpiece if your still around I think your handle ties with LWS....
"Nacaron"- sounds like it was taken from a greek god...Perses son of Titan... Nacaron son of _____________ ? Not sure what god you want in there?
BTW...I am a cat lover- look for some beautiful pictures of our 5 cats coming soon,,,My wife sez I am the best "cat daddy" in the world, I like to think so :)
Last Edited by on Apr 14, 2012 10:39 AM
Haha Frank. I hate to contradict you, cos you sound like a decent bloke, but my wife has already assured me that I am the best Cat Daddy in the world!!
I have a video featuring one my cats who does show some small signs of disturbance shortly after I start playing but decides to try and sleep through it hoping it will all be over soon.
GreyOwl - Not sure if you can claim the title of the "best cat daddy" just yet by the content of those vids...But, for the "best at shameless self promotion" you take home the prize... You did let your wife steal a little bit of your stage time, hahahahaha....Good vids and playing my fellow bloke brother.
Could I use "serialposter" as my new handle? or is it copyrighted already...
Last Edited by on Apr 15, 2012 9:05 AM
When I was a kid I was a big Nolan Ryan fan. I joked a very long time ago that I wanted to have as many posts as he had strikeouts. He holds the all-time MLB record, striking out 5714 hitters. He's got to be hearing me breathing down his neck.
Rumor has it Nate that that extra "5" was added in front the 547 illegally after there were out bursts of jealousy and corruption among serial posters on this site. I also heard through the grapevine your count is actully on the low side of 600 posts...I, and many others have more then that, but who's counting?
Last Edited by on Apr 15, 2012 5:39 PM
I really won't comment about cats for fear of being thrown off the forum.
But what makes a good forum is the interchange & sharing of ideas & knowledge. I think being able to help others & being able to ask for help knowing that there is a wide field of expertise to draw from.
I believe this is a wonderful forum offering its members great benefits. ---------- HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
Nate: Nolan Ryan was the man. He was like Chuck Norris in a Rangers uniform, using live rattlesnakes for condoms, getting Nigerian spammers to send HIM money, etc. He was badass. ---------- David Elk River Harmonicas
I dunno what I was thinking, that thing I said about Chuck Norris and Nolan Ryan using live rattlesnakes for condoms was REALLY crude. Here I am with an English degree and I go type some crude thing like that. Adam, I am REALLY sorry about the "live rattlesnakes for condoms" comment. I should have said "live rattlesnakes AS (or in place of)condoms." I will try to restrain my errant syntax. ---------- David Elk River Harmonicas
