Q: Some help please navigating these forums and a little discussion as well?
There are a few questions I’d like to post, but first I need to determine how to use this newer style of user-to-user forum. Yeah, it’s been around a few years or so, but I’ve seen it take over the more traditional message board systems like v-bulletin and phpBB. Those boards were easy to navigate, as the forums, categories and topics were presented in a typical directory tree structure (even though the built-in search functions leaved a lot to be desired).
Now the trend has shifted to formats such as this. While some retain some semblance of categories and topics (discussions), others seem to abandon this altogether in favor posts or discussions being related via tags or keywords. Google is the worst offender – forcing the user to select up to 4 pre-defined descriptors when creating a new post.
Also confusing is how the terminology has changed. The forums are now calling topics, discussions. But they end up containing even less actual discussion on the topic and have de-volved into simple questions and answered. This is reinforced by the use of buttons to compel the original poster to designate responses as helpful or correct answers. This I would guess is in response to the myriad of answer seekers posting questions, receiving several helpful replies and never going back to say thanks, thus, the threads become all but useless for others who experience and seek out solutions to similar issues.
The new format also usually starts out with “ask your question here” which is just another way to say, “hey, how about at least giving the search a try before asking a question that’s been covered before”. Because many self-contained search features just don’t work, I can see why users just skip over it. But, what they may not know is that you can use Google to search a specific site. Forum, or blog which usually works pretty well. I’ve done this on a number of occasions, only to find the response as “this question has been answered here a hundred times – try searching”. If the responder is feeling generous that day, he or she may also present a link – a google search link that includes keywords.
So, here I do see the initial ask your question box, then underneath that, a bunch of icons that represent particular products/topics. I start searches using more keywords, the reduce them If there are too many results. This gradual decline works well for Google, but here at Apple Support, I went from over 700 results to just two by eliminating all but the two mandatory keywords. I will do some more searches and post in the appropriate section, but my gut reaction is that it would be hard to believe that I’m the only person who has ever had this question.
So, then – what’s the best and right way to use this new forum?
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONLINE MESSAGE BOARDS
I’m turning the double-nickel this year, so I’ve earned the right to gripe a bit. I don’t know everything, but for those of you youngsters, do yourself a favor a read up. If you truly are a techno-phile, you’ll find it at least somewhat interesting, at least enough to do a little research. Plus, this information isn’t all that old.
The first online community I was exposed to was the BBS – Bulletin Board System. I had just bought my first PC, a Tandy, and the sales guy sold me a modem and gave me a number to call to connect to his BBS. I installed the modem, dialed the number and for the first time heard the annoyingly beautiful sounds of modems connecting. The, almost like “Do you want to play a game?”, text appeared on my monitor and I was hooked. The BBSes were local – to avoid long distance calls – and operated by those who could afford a second, dedicated computer and phone line. Usually, only one person could connect at a time – browse the discussion topics, leave a post to add to the discussion, check private messages (email) then log off.
News Groups were the next form on online interaction I was introduced to. These required a special server running a dedicated protocol and a new reader, usually integrated in with an email client like Outlook Express. Each group was a specific topic – for example, Microsoft groups may have had a couple dozen or so groups covering topics like Windows 95 or networking, other commercially sponsored groups, or self-created groups. Like a BBS, you would log on, catch up on unread messages, respond to some and move on. It was in the News Groups where I learned how to program web pages to connect to a hosted database and many other things, thanks to the expertise and kindness of strangers. These groups soon became the territory of spammers, not to mention the real ugly recesses of the internet – international folks sharing “content” that the work obscene can’t even begin to describe. ISP’s soon dropped news groups from their services and they went away.
By this time however, the world-wide-web was now in full swing. We no longer needed AOL or Prodigy to get on the Net, just an ISP and browser. Broadband was becoming available in select markets. Web-based bulletin boards sprang up all over, filling the void that the news groups left behind. They evolved, but kept to the simple structure and format for a good long while. As the cost of web hosting came down, and the availability of online databases went up, and open source application became better and more robust, anyone could incorporate a forum into their site with little time or expense.
Social Media was on the rise. Sites came and went. From Friendster, to Myspace, then finally facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The net also settled in to a short list of other content sharing sites – YouTube, Flickr, Instagram. These took over the social discussion aspects of the online forum sites. That left the forums to take the only remaining role of software and product support – both as an extension of a company’s support solution or user-to-user help and support.
On more than one occasion, I’ve tried to engage other users in topical and conceptual discussion in these groups, but it seems that they’ve already used their energy for that keeping up with their social media obligations. Facebook groups get lost in the multitude of pages. So end user support groups have settled into Q & A, mark the answer as correct them move on. Then another person comes along with the same question, enters it into the box, sees the first ten “pertinent” results that don’t answer the question, posts the question, and the cycle continues.
If anyone has read this far, I commend you! Reading is fast becoming a lost art. I know it’s hard to read off a computer screen, easier on a tablet. And while I live my gizmos and gadgets, I have to still at least once in a while pick up a real book. I’m perfectly satisfied with my iTunes system with the only issue being the quality of any downloaded music. It’s better than it used to be, but CD’s have superior sound. Blu-ray Disc has superior sound and picture.
I did purchase several books from the iTunes Book Store. But why? I could have bought them anywhere and read them in iBooks, but not the other way around. I had to sell my iOS devices. And now I can’t read my books. But that’s another story, for another day.
Safari, Windows 7, Product not important to this post
Posted on Sep 28, 2014 5:46 PM

