Regional Forums? [Merged]

[Timothy]

I've been hanging around MacRumors for years now, but I find myself posting less and less. Why? The major threads tend to fill up way too quickly, and there is so much repetitive posting, that the discussions seem to lose my interest.

Here's a thought; why not regionalize MacRumors? Split us into groups, so that we can maintain some sense of community, we can slow the rate of posting on the big threads, and feel as though we can participate on some manageable level.

Anyway, just an idea. I think MacRumors has grown too large.

[stoid]

Originally Posted by Timothy

I think MacRumors has grown too large.

Don't go visit spyMac then.

I personally don't post in the 'big' threads too often, but that's the fun part about these discussions, just getting to read what other people think, and react to those thoughts in your own way. If macRumors split up into regions, you'd miss out on ideas that you might otherwise see. That's what the different sub-forums are for. Not to go off-topic, but it would be nice to have a forum for foreign languages that could be all in German or French or Spanish or Chinese or whatever for our overseas friends.

[PlaceofDis]

nice name Timothy, i like it because we share it LoL, but i totally understand where you are comming from, i go on posting spurts because there is a lot of repetition and once a thread reaches a certain size there really isnt that much more you can say about the topic, unless of course the topic has essentially changed, ect, but Stoid is right that we would be losing somethings too....i feel like this place is crowded sometimes, other times i feel like the only one here.....

[kettle]

You mean macrumours.co.uk?

[baby duck monge]

Originally Posted by PlaceofDis

there is a lot of repetition and once a thread reaches a certain size there really isnt that much more you can say about the topic, unless of course the topic has essentially changed

this may be true, but i think there is another reason that these long threads get incredibly repetitive: people don't bother reading what has already been posted (this is particularly bad when the post begins by telling you that they have not read the other posts and what they are going to say/ask will probably be repeating someone else's post. and it is.), or they just want to make a "me too" post. if people would take the time to read threads before posting, and would think about their post before making it, threads would be a lot shorter and would probably cover more ground.

just my thoughts about it, anyway.

[MacFan26]

Yeah, I don't often post in the really long threads either, I always figure that someone has already said what I was going to post. But it is good to have one MacRumors, it's great to hear from so many different people!

[Mav451]

I think repetitive posts is just an inherent disadvantage on multiple paged threads...its not just here. Take a look at other forums. I don't think there's one easy solution, I mean most forums already have the "No one-word response, please read the entire thread" tip at the beginning.

I think it'd be nice if 10 page threads, for example, at least let you select like the pages in 3-4 page intervals. Usually I see 1,2,3 Last, which forces you to use multiple clicks just to get to page 5 or 6. Maybe 1-3, 4-7, 8-10 or something like that would make it easier. I dunno.

[j26]

I think it might be a good idea to have regional forums for the international users on macrumors. It would be handy for these users to have somewhere to ask country specific questions without having hunderds of bemused Americans point to US solutions which may be of no use to us.

Obviously most issues people have are common to everyone and should go on the main boards, but say I want to ask about the Irish iTunes Store, or an Irish rebate offer, it's of no interest to US posters, and a waste of bandwith to have on the general boards.

The regions I'd suggest are;
* Ireland/UK
* Continental Europe
* Southern Americas
* Asia
* Australia/New Zealand
* Africa
But obviously these could be altered.

Anyone else think this is a good idea??

[spicyapple]

No. We can have a Paddyland sub-forum where you can be the only member to post there.

[tobefirst]

And where's the North American forum? Don't we get our own? (:

For the record: I don't think it's necessary. I honestly don't see this being an issue all that often, and when it is, it is usually pointed out quickly and set on the right track.

[j26]

Ye have the whole thing at the moment, quit whining!!

Originally Posted by tobefirst

And where's the North American forum? Don't we get our own? (:

[tobefirst]

Originally Posted by j26

Ye have the whole thing at the moment, quit whining!!

Not good enough. (:

[Blue Velvet]

No. All it takes is to put the country of relevance in the post title and maybe emphasised in the first paragraph.

Why duplicate identical forums across continents? If I have a query, I hope the best-qualified person might help, not the geographically-closest.

Forum proliferation: go with the Steve, don't add features you could withdraw later.*






*Except for Firewire on iPods. But that doesn't count, does it hmmm?

[bousozoku]

Originally Posted by Blue Velvet

No. All it takes is to put the country of relevance in the post title and maybe emphasised in the first paragraph.

Why duplicate identical forums across continents? If I have a query, I hope the best-qualified person might help, not the geographically-closest.

Forum proliferation: go with the Steve, don't add features you could withdraw later.*






*Except for Firewire on iPods. But that doesn't count, does it hmmm?

That certainly makes the most sense.

Why are we re-visiting this idea? Isn't the last thread about this still out there?

[j26]

Originally Posted by spicyapple

No. We can have a Paddyland sub-forum where you can be the only member to post there.

Oooh, King of my own domain!!

[Blue Velvet]

Originally Posted by j26

Oooh, King of my own domain!!

No... master of your domain.

[Kwyjibo]

when I read the topic I thought this would include division of the continental united states suck as by time zone, but without those its not that great ...

[devilot]

Originally Posted by Blue Velvet

No... master of your domain.

What is this, Mistress Velvet?

[iMeowbot]

Originally Posted by j26

Anyone else think this is a good idea??

No. It's really that people need to ask better questions. People ask about iTunes problems that seem nonsensical because they're running it on Windows and neglected to say so. Or they have hardware problems but don't say what kind Mac they have. Or they just assume that everyone remembers that they are staying in a different country from the one in their location banner. Or they assume that posters' location reflects their nationality (my pet peeve).

For pop culture stuff, a quick Google usually clears up any puzzlement, so that's no big deal.

[bousozoku]

Originally Posted by iMeowbot

No. It's really that people need to ask better questions. People ask about iTunes problems that seem nonsensical because they're running it on Windows and neglected to say so. Or they have hardware problems but don't say what kind Mac they have. Or they just assume that everyone remembers that they are staying in a different country from the one in their location banner. Or they assume that posters' location reflects their nationality (my pet peeve).

For pop culture stuff, a quick Google usually clears up any puzzlement, so that's no big deal.

Assumptions are the bane of civilisation, aren't they?

Ask (properly), and you will receive.

[mad jew]

Australians know everything so we wouldn't need a fourm. Although, I guess we could put aside a spot where we could tell the New Zealanders what's what. They're nice people...

[BRLawyer]

Originally Posted by j26

I think it might be a good idea to have regional forums for the international users on macrumors. It would be handy for these users to have somewhere to ask country specific questions without having hunderds of bemused Americans point to US solutions which may be of no use to us.

Obviously most issues people have are common to everyone and should go on the main boards, but say I want to ask about the Irish iTunes Store, or an Irish rebate offer, it's of no interest to US posters, and a waste of bandwith to have on the general boards.

The regions I'd suggest are;
* Ireland/UK
* Continental Europe
* Southern Americas
* Asia
* Australia/New Zealand
* Africa
But obviously these could be altered.

Anyone else think this is a good idea??

There is no "Southern Americas" - it's North, Central and South America - besides, Brazil for instance is not hispanic or "latino" (whatever that nonsense means, of course).

So it might make more sense to group languages together (in my view a much stronger integration factor) instead of lumping diverse countries from the same geographical area in a non-integrated community.

I for one would love to see that in MR; it would make it easier for people to discuss, especially when they are not fluent in English.

----------

Originally Posted by arn

Not sure there would be enough interest. Seems almost like a thread could handle it in the interim.

Worth trying - then you can check the results/success rate and revert in case it doesn't work. Think of it as a "stock split" for MR.

[ChristianJapan]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

I for one would love to see that in MR; it would make it easier for people to discuss, especially when they are not fluent in English.

While I would be ok with regional/country sub forums I think English still should remain main/only language. Not sure if MR would have enough moderator in all relevant languages to keep the site under control. And it's a good way to learn/improve English (I'm trying hard )

[SandboxGeneral]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

...besides, Brazil for instance is not hispanic or "latino" (whatever that nonsense means, of course).

Actually, Brazilians are Latino's. One of my good friend's is a Brazilian and I just texted him to clarify. Additionally, Wikipedia advises the same.

"Latino" is more frequently used to refer more generally to anyone of Latin American origin or ancestry, including Brazilians

[marshallbedsaul]

Not sure if this has been asked or mentioned, so how would a region section be.
Example
capital area
tri-state

ect... just a sub forum local users to find other locals ect...?