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What is happening to this forum?

Discussion in 'General Issues and Discussion Forum' started by Brian A. Rothbart, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member


    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    This forum has changed. Ten years ago, one found a great deal of discussion among many different podiatrists. Now when I go on this forum, almost all of the posts are entered by the administrator (NewsBot).

    Any comments as to why this is occuring? I would hate to see this podiatry forum go the same way as the DoDo (Raphus cucullatus) Bird.

    Professor Rothbart
     
  2. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    It would be great to see more active discussions on this forum, and not just threads posted by the administrator.

    10 years ago I saw many different healthcare providers adding their comments/expertise to this forum. Where have they gone?
     
  3. efuller

    efuller MVP

    They got tired of people coming on the forum and trying to sell their wares and promote their websites.

    They probably also grew tired of the same academic debates repeated over and over again.
     
  4. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    That would be very said if that was the case. I think there might be other reasons for the demise of expertise on this forum.

    Any thoughts on this?
     
  5. Greg Fyfe

    Greg Fyfe Active Member

    I don't have a view on the demise of expertise from the forum.

    I agree that some discussions were repeatative and could recycle.

    Perhaps the forum is a " product" that has run it's course.

    My experience is that the website layout was given a "new look" a couple of years ago I found it a lot less user friendly to navigate.

    There now seems to be a proliferation of a feed of "autobot" posts.

    I miss having the most recent/current posts of users discussions, appear on the front page, which would of most immediate interest to me.

    I find the autobot feed presents a barrier to access.

    The end result is that I use the site a lot less.
     
  6. DaVinci

    DaVinci Well-Known Member

    All forums are now quieter than they used to be. Its all happening on Twitter and Inst now.
     
  7. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Your points are well taken. Possibly this forum has run its' course and becoming a 'White Elephant', so to speak.
     
  8. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    "Possibly this forum has run its' course and becoming a 'White Elephant', so to speak."
    and
    "I would hate to see this podiatry forum go the same way as the DoDo (Raphus cucullatus) Bird."

    Do you have an axe to grind , Brian ?

    I find the site most useful , and welcome Bot posts as a good way of staying current .
     
  9. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Strange question to ask.
    No axe to grind. Just asking questions.
     
  10. Mark_M

    Mark_M Active Member

    News Bot makes it more difficult to see posts from members.
    Also i think new members are scared to post. Used to see a lot of posts start with "go easy on me' when looking for advice
     
  11. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Mark,

    You may have hit the 'nail on the head'. This has not been the most friendly forum on the net (no criticism intended). I think that is reflected on what you said above - regarding posts starting with 'go easy on me' when looking for advice.

    I can tell you my experience on Researchgate.net (a site where many of the top researchers in the world blog on). I have never, and I repeat, never see anyone on Researchgate.net preface their query with the comment 'go easy on me'.

    Draw your own conclusions.
     
  12. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Hi Greg,

    You said " I agree that some discussions were repeatative and could recycle. Perhaps the forum is a " product" that has run it's course."

    No doubt some discussions were repetitive. However, I do not believe this forum has run it's course. I do believe there might be an intolerance/inflexibility towards new ideas or ideas not in sync with current thought. If this is the case, exercising greater tolerance might really open up this forum with a flood of new discussions.

    Allow me to be perfectly clear what I am suggesting. I believe it would be a positive move if we adopted a more tolerant attitude on new ideas, similar to the format we see on Researchgate.net. I am not suggesting we turn this forum into a 'see all, tell all site without any restraints. Keep this site professional, but open.

    Just my suggestion.

    Brian
     
  13. Lab Guy

    Lab Guy Well-Known Member

    Hi Simon. Hope all is well with you and I agree with you.

    I do not know Craig’s reasoning for allowing Narcissistic self-promoting members to continue posting and driving away all the epic contributors. They should be banned.

    This remains the best biomechanics site for the student as the archives are golden.

    Steven
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
  14. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Amazing Steven, You just substantiated, and so quickly, the point Mark was making about 'go easy on me'!!!

    I agree, The archives on on this forum are excellent. But, in my opinion, this forum could use some 'new blood' and not rely on what you term 'epic contributors'.
     
  15. William Fowler

    William Fowler Active Member

    This thread is a good indication of what happened.
     
  16. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Yes William, it is a good indication of what happened. Certain individuals, with their childish and unprofessional behavior intimidated potential contributors to this forum.

    And we are now seeing the end result of this type of behavior. As Mark said above, new members were afraid to post.

    What is really said about all this, is IF this forum goes the same way as the dodo bird, all the vast archives of years of information may be lost. And that would really be a shame.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
  17. Seamus McNally

    Seamus McNally Active Member

    I don't know Brian A. Rothbart from Adam but I thought the questions were good. It's still great for the archives. But it has always been intimidating. Simon Spooner has been a great contributor, but on this occasion I laughed out loud at his contribution. Can't figure was it tongue-in-cheek or totally Monty Pyton?
     
  18. Did you click on the link, I posted above? The one where Rothbart claimed that Robin Williams suicide was due to his feet? I suggest you do. In fact did you click on the thread where Rothbart claimed he could cure infertility with his insoles... search Rothbart podiatry arena and you’ll see many of his gems. It’s not just me that thinks Rothbart is a charlatan, it’s much everyone that used to post on here regularly. Here’s another beauty from the past: https://podiatryarena.com/index.php?threads/rothbart-again.36679/

    be sure to read that thread through to the second page where Rob Isaacs put up a link to claims that Rothbart insoles can make, and I quote: “children with Down’s syndrome look “normal””.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
  19. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Appreciated your comments, Seamus. Let's see if we can save this forum by introducing 'new blood'. I suggest one way this could be done is by the elite contributors 'lightening up' on the new members. Be more supportive and less sarcastic.

    One of the reasons new members come to this forum is to learn. The fact that they might be ignorant on certain subjects that the elite contributors take for granted, is no reason to be hard on these new members.

    Just my thoughts.
     
  20. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Simon,

    Thank you for epitomizing exactly what I have been eluding to in this discussion. Many readers might find your comments directed towards me offensive or even threatening. Personally, I find your comments ludicrous which provide me with amusement and a good laugh.

    The delectation is much appreciated!

    Brian
     
  21. Seamus McNally

    Seamus McNally Active Member

    Thanks Simon for the reply. I confess I was being the devil's advocate. Sounds like I have some interesting reading ahead! Please keep up your valuable work on the site.
     
  22. Mark_M

    Mark_M Active Member

    Also the Podiatry Arena weekly e-newsletter always seems to show the same threads. Not sure how the algorithm works, but If we want to entice members to the Arena, it should show new threads posted by members.
    One thing that seems to have dropped off over the last 10 years is members seeking patient treatment advice.
     
  23. I suppose I have contributed as much to Podiatry Arena as much as anyone, other than Dr. Spooner. However, I have not been contributing here much lately for a number of reasons, which I will restate here.

    1. I do not like that recent posts on interesting topics are, within 1-2 days if no one has responded, not listed anymore in the "Recent Topics" section on the right hand side of the site. This elimination of personal posts is directly due to the enormous amount of "Newsbot" postings which may, in one days time, eliminate any of the postings made by Podiatry Arena members. I have objected to this problem of "NewsBot" taking over the Podiatry Arena website at least twice before, but nothing has been done about it. In my opinion, "Recent Topics" should only include posts by members of Podiatry Arena, and should not include posts from "NewsBot" since I never read these and I assume, most others don't find them near as interesting as having a real-time comments from real people on important subjects. In other words, administrators, leave "NewsBot" out of "Recent Topics" so that those of us who want to read what others have recently commented on, can easily find these discussions so we can see if they are worth taking the time to contribute further to the discussion. If that one thing was was done, I would definitely start contributing more again.

    2. As Steve (Lab Guy) so rightly stated, a few self-promoting individuals have driven many of us away from Podiatry Arena. For example, people like Brian Rothbart, Ed Glaser, and Dennis Shavelson destroy conversations and ruin whole threads with their self-promotions and hair-brained ideas. Over time, this has driven many of us, who do like to contribute for the purpose of educating others, away from Podiatry Arena. I suggest the administrators have a policy that individuals are not allowed to self promote products and if they continue to self promote, they should be banned from contributing. Eliminating a few people from Podiatry Arena, for the benefit of the greater good of providing expert podiatric opinions on various important clinical and academic topics to thousands of others seems, to me, like an easy decision to make.

    3. The archives of Podiatry Arena are amazing and looking back through these posts that many of us have made over the past 10+ years makes one realize what a wonderful historic academic resource that is. I would think that Podiatry Arena should, once or twice a month, pick a "top thread" and list it in a separate column on the website where younger podiatrists/foot-health professionals could read these posts on important subjects from years ago. This may stimulate further discussion from others on these, or other, important topics.

    I have enjoyed contributing to Podiatry Arena over the years, but do not like the way it is currently set up so I have stopped contributing. I would be happy to return if some small changes are made to Podiatry Arena to make it worth my while again.
     
  24. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Good observation Mark. What can be done about this?
     
  25. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    Don't agree. Not all forums are quieter. This one definitely is.
     
  26. Brian A. Rothbart

    Brian A. Rothbart Well-Known Member

    I agree with Craig, keeping forum open to all. Each individual reader can decide for themselves which comments are self-promoting or not.
     
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