I don't know about you all, but I'm quite grateful to have this site as a resource. I feel like it is starting to enter a decline, which has me worried. I see fewer good questions being asked, and less activity. We are even down to only 2 moderators! What can we do to help this site to grow?
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2$\begingroup$ possible duplicate of Is there a Plan for driving more traffic to the site? $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJun 19, 2015 at 21:10
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1$\begingroup$ You are probably right, but I think it might be worth talking about again. $\endgroup$– PearsonArtPhotoJun 19, 2015 at 21:13
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1$\begingroup$ Isn't the Right Thing™ to bump the old post? But yes, weak opinion, only one vote. $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJun 19, 2015 at 21:15
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1$\begingroup$ Happened to be reading this on Meta SE which talked about getting involvement from (in the context of that proposal, SE staff) who “know something about community development”. Maybe we need an outside viewpoint. I think I know some things about How People Interact Online, but I know I don't know a good way to solve this problem. $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJun 19, 2015 at 21:18
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1$\begingroup$ By the way (this is tangential but you did mention it) if we actually need more moderators I'd be happy to help. $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJun 19, 2015 at 21:37
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1$\begingroup$ I notice that this week, we've had good-quality questions from 5 or so new users. $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJun 26, 2015 at 18:12
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$\begingroup$ @PearsonArtPhoto Unless one just resigned or was removed, we have three moderators. :-) $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 4, 2017 at 21:20
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$\begingroup$ @MikeWaters That wasn't the case 2 years ago... $\endgroup$– PearsonArtPhotoJul 4, 2017 at 21:21
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$\begingroup$ @PearsonArtPhoto I said what I did because I saw that you (or someone) edited your post 2 days ago. $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 4, 2017 at 21:47
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$\begingroup$ @KevinReidAG6YO I thought that it was the Right Thing™ to bump the old post today. $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModDec 3, 2019 at 1:08
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4 Answers
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Let me give a few interesting tidbits. It turns out that site views are up, but questions are down. Thus, I think we are attracting people to the site, but no one seems to want to stick around for more than just getting the answer to their question.
I think we need to see if we can do something to increase the number of good questions on this site. Perhaps we could go with a theme, as we have tried to do in the past?
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1$\begingroup$ Make a weekly topic which you try to ask lots of questions on that subject. $\endgroup$ Jul 4, 2017 at 21:46
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$\begingroup$ I just found your November 2013 post about this. Interesting. $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 5, 2017 at 17:07
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The original question was from 2015, but since there is recent interest:
My evaluation of the current state of things (mid-2017) is that everything is fine and we don't need to do anything. I look at the history of activity on the site and I see seasonal cycles and an overall consistent upward trend.
I recommend against specific promotional activities. (The cost is that we annoy people the way all advertising annoys people sometimes, and look like we have some incentive to "drive eyeballs to the site" or such.) It's not broken; don't fix it.
answered Jul 4, 2017 at 19:58
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$\begingroup$ What are the pros and cons of promoting the site vs. not promoting it? $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 4, 2017 at 21:44
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$\begingroup$ @MikeWaters I added a few words. $\endgroup$– Kevin Reid AG6YO ModJul 4, 2017 at 22:22
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$\begingroup$ Well, it's been 4 years. Do you feel the same way? My opinion has always been that we need more activity, especially after Glenn W9IQ went back to eham.net. We lost a valuable technical expert. $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 18, 2021 at 14:32
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This isn't much of an answer, but I think that the low participation rate is a natural consequence of the design of all the Stack Exchange sites. Since most questions that might occur to people have been answered already, the rate of questions being asked has declined, and a lot of the questions that do get asked are of lower quality. This tends to turn off people who might otherwise be attracted to the site. It doesn't help that amateur radio is a mature field, and so new topics evolve slowly.
That's how I see it anyway; my opinion plus $2 will buy you a cup of coffee...
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$\begingroup$ I dunno. Other sites are far more active. $\endgroup$– Mike Waters ModJul 18, 2021 at 14:27
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eHam.net has a Links page for listing ham-radio related websites there. You just pick the correct category, add the URL, and write a brief and appropriate description about it. If someone wants to do that, I suggest you include a question-and-answer site in the description. Perhaps some text from the main tour page would be appropriate.
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Area 51 lists hundreds of formerly very active folks that are no longer active for some reason. Someone wanting to increase the activity might consider encouraging some to come back. Possibly, find out if there was a reason for leaving that no longer exists. (I asked PearsonArtPhoto (a former moderator) some time ago (in another meta post), and I doubt whether he is interested.)
eHam.net has a Links page for listing ham-radio related websites there. You just pick the correct category, add the URL, and write a brief and appropriate description about it. If someone wants to do that, I suggest you include a question-and-answer site in the description. Perhaps some text from the main tour page would be appropriate.
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$\begingroup$ The reason a site like STACK EXCHANGE gets a low rating is that it is not fancy apparently. So be it! $\endgroup$ May 10, 2018 at 16:59