OT: Groundhog Day

[eddjedi]

Apologies for the off topic post but I couldn't see a better place to put it as it relates directly to this forum.

I've been a loyal user of this forum for over 5 years, but the amount of repetition is really starting to grate. I'm sure others feel the same too.

Every single day there are multiple new threads about the MBP keyboard, or when the 2018 MBP is coming out, etc. If people bothered to scroll down a few inches they would see the same posts over and over again already.

On some forums I use people get banned for asking questions that have already been answered. I'm not suggesting this forum should be heavily moderated as I appreciate any forum will have some repetition, but lately on here it's got ridiculous and I don't remember it being this bad in previous years. It's like a timewarp with the same few questions over and over again.
[doublepost=1514908244][/doublepost]Note: this post has been moved by a mod, but relates specifically to the Macbook Pro forum which is where I posted it. I don't see the same problem in any other areas of the site.

 

[C DM]

Apologies for the off topic post but I couldn't see a better place to put it as it relates directly to this forum.

I've been a loyal user of this forum for over 5 years, but the amount of repetition is really starting to grate. I'm sure others feel the same too.

Every single day there are multiple new threads about the MBP keyboard, or when the 2018 MBP is coming out, etc. If people bothered to scroll down a few inches they would see the same posts over and over again already.

On some forums I use people get banned for asking questions that have already been answered. I'm not suggesting this forum should be heavily moderated as I appreciate any forum will have some repetition, but lately on here it's got ridiculous and I don't remember it being this bad in previous years. It's like a timewarp with the same few questions over and over again.
[doublepost=1514908244][/doublepost]Note: this post has been moved by a mod, but relates specifically to the Macbook Pro forum which is where I posted it. I don't see the same problem in any other areas of the site.

This kind of thing exists here in other parts too, like the iPhone forum, the various iOS forums, and more than likely quite a few others. It's more or less (unfortunately) part of the reality of discussion forums in a lot of cases.

 

[Weaselboy]

Every single day there are multiple new threads about the MBP keyboard, or when the 2018 MBP is coming out, etc. If people bothered to scroll down a few inches they would see the same posts over and over again already.

If you see a thread like that, please report it and we can merge it with an existing thread.

If you want to be extra helpful, you can include a link to the suggested merge destination in your report.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

If you see a thread like that, please report it and we can merge it with an existing thread.

If you want to be extra helpful, you can include a link to the suggested merge destination in your report.

Agreed.

Most people on this site who register an account do so in order to ask a question about some Apple product or other that they have bought; they do not know the etiquette of the site, and some might not be digital natives, or English language native speakers.

The vast majority of posters make only one to five posts, and usually, these are questions.

Banning someone who opened an account to ask a question simply because that question has been asked before (perhaps even a thousand times) strikes me as excessive and unnecessary.

Instead, why not answer the question, or post a link to a thread which does?

 

[maflynn]

Instead, why not answer the question, or post a link to a thread which does?

Yes, and many people come here to ask for help. I find that many threads that indeed have some level of overlap are different enough and it would be a disservice to the OP to merge them in some sort of mega-thread.

 

[MacDawg]

To me the overlap isn't so much the threads that ask the same questions
But rather it is the repeated number of threads that ask no question at all and are just complaining about the same things as though it is something new
The iPhone X is too expensive, Face ID v Touch ID, the notch is ugly, ad infinitum

Some users feel they have to have their own thread so they can be Post #1 and feel like they have a unique and authoritative voice
"Is it just me, or..." as though nobody else noticed the notch or price

 

[Scepticalscribe]

To me the overlap isn't so much the threads that ask the same questions
But rather it is the repeated number of threads that ask no question at all and are just complaining about the same things as though it is something new
The iPhone X is too expensive, Face ID v Touch ID, the notch is ugly, ad infinitum

Some users feel they have to have their own thread so they can be Post #1 and feel like they have a unique and authoritative voice
"Is it just me, or..." as though nobody else noticed the notch or price

Well, personally, I just ignore those threads.

 

[maflynn]

Some users feel they have to have their own thread so they can be Post #1 and feel like they have a unique and authoritative voice

Perhaps, but its also wanting to express their opinion and their experience may be a bit different and they feel their opinion will get lost in a 500 post thread. I understand how at times this can be a bit annoying but I think its one of those difficult to strike a balance things. We want to encourage discussions and expressions of ideas but at the same time try to keep the discussions organized.

The throttling is a prime example, we had an explosion of threads on that, some of them were merged, some were different enough to warrant being on their own. Even now I think much of the discussion has slowed down to a handful of existing threads.

As for the the MBP keyboard issue, that seems to ebbs and flow as well. Just doing a quick perusal in the MBP forum and I only see three threads that have the word keyboard in them (on the first page).
1. Asking if Apple solved it for the 2016 model
2. A comparison of 2016 and 2017 keyboard models.
3. A member having keyboard issues on a 2017 model.

There are more to be sure, but as @Scepticalscribe mentioned, if a given thread doesn't interest you or you don't wish to interact with that discussion, then just scroll down to another thread.