Concern with the Level of Discussion here at SEOChat

I want to apologize, first, to the community for neglecting to contribute some of the high level discussions that take place on some of the other communities (TW, SEW, HR, SER, etc.). I got my SEO training here and I should be bringing these topics back to SEOChat.

That said, I've definitely noticed the general quality at SEOChat is good, excellent even, but the level of discussion, which is to say the depth and breadth of our examination of the industry, algorithms, changes, etc. has been overshadowed by some of these others. I have just a couple questions:

Am I alone in feeling this way?

Does anyone have any good ideas on what we can do as a community to help solve this?

Some of the other communities that have the high-level discussions have far fewer members participating. I visit those places and in a day, I see maybe 10 threads with new posts in them. It is much easier for a handful of people (handful being used just as a way to differentiate between a whole bunch) to discuss topics at a high level when there aren't tons of other threads going on at the same time. 10 threads - 30 people....not much to read...easier to focus.

Some communities have tons of members, but the threads are pre-moderated, so only a few threads are allowed to start each day. Again...just a few threads to read - even with tons of people ... still easier to focus.

So the disadvantage of a place like SEO Chat is the large number of threads and large number of people participating means that there are tons of stuff to dig through, and things don't get as focused. On the other hand, I've found that SEO Chat is the ONE place that I absolutely KNOW will have the information on something that is going on. If something happens, I *might* find out about it somewhere else. But I am pretty danged sure that I can find a discussion about it here.

So, there are advantages and disadvantages. But even though I visit all the various other places every single day....only one tops my list as the favorite. It's the one I spend most of my time at. Right here.

True. Just because SEOchat discussions rarely turn up on threadwatch.org doesn't mean this forum right here is not as useful as the others.

I must say that I DO enjoy the odd link to a heavy "foreign" thread sometimes.

I just hope that people will keep choosing the right title for their threads, so we can keep scanning the New Posts list and pick the ones we fancy...

Nope... I remember 3-4 similar threads from the past issuing this problem. Nothing's happened except a lot of talk despite good suggestions

Like many *old timers* I don't get mutch from "my site dropped /Am I in sandbox" discussions. Currently I try to seek out topics started by few persons (like You) who I know focus on real issues.

To put it plain and simple: give us old geezers a "search algorithms" forum. I know it wont be the most popular forum, but so what ;)

2k, thank you for the response I couldn't come up with earlier. Randfish, you are one of the few people I love reading posts and actually look forward to because they are few and far between yet always offer tremendous substance. I am not the brightest bulb in the pack, so sometimes a discussion can be well beyond my depth but I always learn something new in your thread beyond the standard "Site Development Fare" typically asked for and served up.

I make it a point to try to read all the threads. I respond to the ones I'm interested in or I believe I have some understanding on. So, I think yes, a special section would be great! I think it won't hurt one bit and you'll find those of us serious about keeping up with more than just the basics following right in to this new Heavy "Search Algorithm" Analysis" section and contributing where we feel capable.

I for one vote Yes and look forward to seeing it and participating where I can.

Cheers

I too visit lots of other forums, but if I want fast, non arrogant answers to my questions and up to the minute news of what is going on, I come here.

Sometimes I need to bring my waders though...

i find seochat to contain not only an abundance of posts to read and contribute to, when i can, but also many, many people who actually "get it". Some other forums are good for general discussion, but as soon as the level gets too deep, out come the argumentatives that blatantly know nothing, throwing in their 2 cents just for the sake of it.
Because of the general willingness to learn and contribute of seochat members i think a forum for deeper discussion would be welcomed, and work well.

Randfish, i too love to read your posts, and 2K, you are totally right, many of us have wanted this in the past but nothing ever comes of it.....
So who do we have to sleep with around here to get this to happen.?

I too visit two other seo related forums but seochat is the only one I post in on a regular basis. I'm here to learn primarily from individuals who have more experience than myself.

I have to say though that of late many here just post for the sake of berating a particular search engine, rather than sit back from the screen and analyse what they have or havent done to rank well. I'm more interested in how and why such and such is not ranking, I'm here to try and find the answers and not to rant or listen to people ranting - If I want to do that I can do that on my politics forum .

Unfortunately with the popularity of this forum the good threads do tend to get watered down by the number of newbies wanting to vent spleen. That said I don't think there is much you can do about that. However there are enough very experienced SEO's here that make me return day after day. I realise that seo can be and does sometimes feel like a 24/7 job, but you don't get anything in this life without putting the work in.

My only addition would be in reference to "Newbies". I always try to answer new members questions even if it HAS been asked a hundred times before because many of these newbies of 6 months ago are major contributors to some of the heavier threads.

Also some of those newbies ask what may seem a daft question about something we have always thought of as fact, but changes the perception and turns into a beneficial thread.

Do I like the "agreed", "me too" or glancing posts - not especially but you will get a certain amount of these when you allow the free posting of ideas or theories. I too visit many other forums but don't post nearly as much as some edit the crux of your post which annoys me to no end. Although some complain about the deactivation of live links, one thing that doesn't happen is the changing of context to suit someone elses ego. All posters are welcome and yes that does mean some threads can be a bit bloated but the trade off is a steady stream of new users and new ideas.

SEOChat is rarely stale unlike so many others and thats why I have always posted here. Posters are challenged on their views but not talked down to (in general of course ) which is something not all forums have (arrogance was mentioned earlier).

ok ,now this is turning into the dreaded 'me too' post.
We know we all love sc, we wouldnt be here otherwise, so to answer the initial question, what can we do in order to cater to us oldies that want some more in depth discussion?
Two mods have now posted in this thread, (dd, jason),so now that we have their attention, what can we do?

There have been many ideas in the past, but none of them stuck. People lets see some suggestions.

deregular, as mods, we'll bring it up to the other mods and discuss. one of several things will happen. 1) all mods will agree and we will ask admin to do it. admin may or may not do it, and they have the final word. 2) mods will disagree and it ends there. 3) mods will consider it but never get around to really deciding and it stays in limbo. (mods are human too).

I guess I will jump in around now. I also belong to and visit a lot of other forums, but spend almost all of my time here. This, primarily because of the mix and diversity of everything.

Am I bored with some of the inane subjects and posts... of course. But, I think if we cannot even make major use of other SEO Chat higher-level sub-forums (SEO Scripts, HTML Coding, and SEO Professionals), what makes us think just because we create another "techie" sub-forum that it will fare much better?

My point being... we are what we are. To try to become someone else will require SEO Chat to force itself into a different mold and role. Do we really want to do that? To try a 100% techie sub-forum may be in order. I am willing to do that, but have misgivings as to how successful it will be. It will basically, IMO, fall by the wayside like the three mentioned above. I think we are already giving what the majority of our membership wants.

I'll make a promise. Every week I will review a search technology research paper (like this one - http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=4102)and add my comments and why I think it's valuable for SEOs. I wanted to post that here, but had the feeling no one would be reading it (and there's no good section to post it). The new section would probably be most aptly named - search technology & research, rather than algorithms, which is somewhat narrow. Adding a new section isn't hard (I hope), and maybe it will inspire some other people to do likewise and bring back some of the great topics we find at other communities.

SEO Chat has so many advantages, and it's the place I call home. I learned everything here. Just look at my posts from 7 or 8 months ago - it's hard to believe it's the same person. However, I'm sad when I see that a post like http://forums.seochat.com/t22356/s.html receives no attention. I'm not in this for any glory - If I was, I'd post info like that on my own private site, but I love to give back to this community that's given me so much. There's a LOT of 'old-timers' here, even if they don't post very often, and we would do well to all try to bring back the results of our learning elsewhere to SEOChat.

I'm not really even sure that creating a new sub-section would help us out that much, unless we made it work a little differently from others. Maybe we could only let those with signature privileges start new posts in that section? It might help reduce clutter. Everyone could contribute to a discussion, but new discussions would only be brought up by the 3-month-longers...

As I look in the members section, I see 120+ members with more than 250 posts. This is a fantastic resource of experienced people, but I want more - I'm greedy. I want to learn from all of you and I'm sure there are things that I can show you which you haven't seen before. This isn't going to be just about making a new section, it's going to be about making a more active effort as a community to contribute, by bringing high-level discussions back to SEOChat.