Awful quiet in the forums...Readers?....Posters?

[Bob McKeon]

There doesn't seem to be much traffic here at the TSCOC Forums. Maybe we have more readers than people who post. Satisfy my curiosity by posting a reply advising whether you are just a reader, or you do read and post. I'll start it off:

Bob M. Reader and poster

[Vincent LeVine]

Hey Bob-- I had the same concerns when I started blogging here. I even posted a blog about my concerns. Here it is:

http://thesunchronicle.ning.com/profiles/blogs/if-a-tree-falls-in-t...

[Bob McKeon]

Well Vincent, ...we know that there is at least two of us that are paying attention. With no traffic, a site becomes stale and boring quite quickly. The concept is a good one, but without participation it will be doomed.

Bob

[Vincent LeVine]

Bob,

I think the blog posts move through TSCOC pretty fast, no real shortage in that regard. The number of comments may be minimal, but this site is really an extension of the newspaper. The "Featured Bloggers" to my knowledge, are all Sun Chronicle staff and they use this site to bolster the paper & the paper to bolster the blog. I think it is all done to engage the community and to sell newspapers in what is presently a declining industry that finds itself more popular on computer screens than doorsteps. Quite possibly, the readers here are the same readers who once sat down to a morning paper and a cup of java, reading the daily rag quietly, by themselves, and without discussion. Perhaps they enjoy the blogs in much the same way? - Vinnie

[Siv Kenyon]

It is nice to read civil and thoughtful discussions of issues,and to participate in them. But when people use this type of forum to vent vitriolic opinions, it loses much of its appeal to this reader.
Nasty, mean-spirited persons are best avoided;and I personally prefer not to let their toxic writings intrude
on my mind.

[ricknkim]

I'm not sure the SC has done a good enough job in promoting this TSCOC to demographics beyond those entrenched in reading a newspaper. Promote it to the demos that the traditional paper has difficulty getting (under 45) and make it more contemporary and have topics geared to younger folks . . . I'd say only news-hounds come on here and post. SC needs to get out of the old operating model and explore new ways - just like you get all the soccer moms buying papers because of the picture of their child on the front page, you need to get this online community to get buzz in the hair salons, at the little league field and even at the local watering holes. Instead, it looks like the only buzz is from the senior center . . .

[Albert B Collins]

I beg your pardon...when all the real news coverage goes away with those senior citizens you'll be left with "entertainment" and a deficit that would choke a horse, bad air, crappy cars, endless wars, suburban sprawl, pandemics... but hey, if you're not interested maybe you are better off.

[Vincent LeVine]

Hey ricknkim,

Since I started blogging on TSCOC in October of 2008, I've seen the membership double to where it is presently, 495 members. I'm actually excited to see who the 500th member will be! What I'm seeing is a very diverse membership, one that's full of younger and older members from many different communities across the country and the world.

One thing to keep in mind is that the most successful newspapers, the ones that will survive this recession, will be those publications who have a loyal following, report local news honestly and accurately, and engage the local community in both local and global events. The Sun Chronicle is and always has been, very good at doing those things.

The Sun Chronicle print version is surviving quite nicely as is the online version. This Online Community has doubled in size in less than ten months (Oct '08) and there have been 1,858 blogs posted during that time. Not too bad!

Remember, this is not Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or Blogspot. It is an online community that was set up to be an extension of a local newspaper and a place to be heard. The "Welcome" appearing on the main page says it all:

"Welcome to The Sun Chronicle's social networking page. Here you can interact with other people from the community through blogs, forums, groups, pictures, video and more. We welcome your participation and we encourage you to analyze and comment on content found on The Sun Chronicle site as well as the social networking site. It is our hope that you'll take the opportunity to interact with leaders in our community, Sun Chronicle reporters and as well as other bloggers.
We ask that you be respectful, accurate and fair in your comments."

'nuff said--

[steves]

I wish it was more visible from the on-line paper.
I thought it went away, seems like it used to be shown more often on the banner side.
Maybe they needed the space for more ads.

[Michael Collins]

finding the Forum is not easy. It is buried several levels down and needs to be accessed in a very specific way. You also get competition from comments posted beneath most news stories.

Also, unless people are respectful and accurate in their comments, it degenerates into anonymous namecalling.

[ricknkim]

Of the 495 members, what percentage is under the age of 40? I think the service is nice for the community, I just think it is under-utilized, under advertised and am curious how it increases the paper's reach to the younger residents. Seems to me that this site suffers to the same degree as Twitter in that 90%+ of the posts are from the same 5% of people.

[Vincent LeVine]

Hey ricknkim!

I do agree with a lot of what you've been saying. But, this online community is not too unlike a buffet style restaurant. You serve yourself! Everything is there. Start discussions, forums, have your own blog, ad a photo or a video, whatever you want!

I'm not sure what percent of the population here is under 40, but with a little help from the younger members, that number could easily be increased.

"Ask not what your online community can do for you, ask what you can do for your online community!"

Now chop-chop, YOU can make a difference. (and I hope you decide to)

[ricknkim]

I'm all for a community blog - I think it is a valuable tool for fostering dialogue about community issues, difficult topics and gaining attention for events, charity and the like. I just think the SC needs to work on marketing it better to a broader slice of residents to get more opinions than the same old posters that are here. Not to say that those who post often aren't posting interesting stuff, just that new perspectives would be refreshing. I also think the look of the site adds to it being a little stuffy/old-fashioned - not somewhere that a younger person would pause to explore.